When
"Polk Salad Annie"
blared from transistor radio speakers in the summer of 1969, the first thought was of
Creedence Clearwater Revival
, for
Tony Joe White
's
swamp rock
bore more than a passing resemblance to the sound
John Fogerty
whipped up on
Bayou Country
and
Green River
. But
White
was the real thing -- he really was from the bayou country of Louisiana, while
Fogerty
's bayou country was conjured up in Berkeley, CA. Plus,
had a mellow baritone voice that sounded like it had been dredged up from the bottom of the Delta. Besides
"Annie,"
side one of this album includes several other
originals. The best of these are
"Willie and Laura Mae Jones,"
a song about race relations with an arrangement similar to
"Ballad of Billie Joe,"
"Soul Francisco,"
a short piece of funky fluff that had been a big hit in Europe in 1968.
"Aspen, Colorado"
presages the later
"Rainy Night in Georgia,"
a
composition popularized by
Brook Benton
. The second side consists of covers of contemporary hits, with the funky
"Who's Making Love"
"Scratch My Back"
faring better than the slow stuff.
Dusty Springfield
had a minor hit with
's songs were recorded by other performers through the years, but
and the gators that got her granny provided his only march in the American hit parade. ~ Jim Newsom