The last time Polk Salad Annie was heard live on stage in New Haven was 35 years ago, when Elvis Presley sang it at the Colisuem, just a block away from Cafe Nine on the corner State and Crown Streets, where Tony Joe White sang his biggest hit tonight.
He walked through the crowd holding his old brown Fender Stratocaster, sat on a chair in a black cowboy hat and sang in a sleepy drawl with atmospheric guitar straight out of the swamp. Three songs into his set he brought out his drummer, saying "it's gonna get steamy in here now" and it did. He launched into a smoking driving "Undercover Agent for the Blues."
You can only see a bit of him from some spots in the back of the barroom but his sound fills the room. His propulsive guitar pulls the vocals along for the ride. In most songs he hits an effects pedal for a noisy electric lead, distortion fuzzed out and flanged.
"We're going to take it down to the swamp now," he says. "This song's about two boys" and starts singing "The river was dark and muddy...."
Tony Joe White is like a redneck John Lee Hooker. He played songs with Tejas/Train Kept a Rollin rhythms. Mike the sound guy has it just right, with understated power absorbed by the bodies and clarity over the chatter. Loud enough, but you can still carry on a conversation. Vocals and guitar nicely balanced. Guitar tone is both twangy and round...until he rips into a big delay-effect distorted lead.
He played his hits towards the end of the set. White grooves on Steamy Windows. Rainy Night in Georgia is quiet and soft, gentle, with an almost jazzy guitar sound. And then the moment comes. Polk Salad Annie. What can I say? He introduced it with the traditional, practiced rap and rocked it out. One more bluesy groove to close out the set and he's gone after a fat hour.
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