"Polk Salad Annie" and songwriter "Rainy Night in Georgia" Tony Joe White died suddenly Wednesday afternoon at his home in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, according to his family.

"He was not sick at all," said his son, Jody White. "He just had a heart attack … there was no pain or suffering."

White was 75 years old and is known for his deep, serious voice and powerful "swamp rock" sound, which incorporates elements of blues, rock, country and R & B. Over the last fifty years, his songs have have been recorded by countless big names including Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Brook Benton, Charles Ray, Waylon Jennings, Tina Turner and many others.

"For me, it was only the definition of the soul," said his friend Budana Miller, the American Keystone, who invited White to play the first show "Americana at the Ryman" in August.

It was in 1972 White's "The Train I'm On" disc, produced by Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, who captivated the first: "The song writing, his singing, everything came together it was like the perfect storm of the soul in every way … and we need all the soul we can get these days. "

Tony Joe White was born on July 23, 1943 near Oak Grove, Louisiana. He was the youngest of seven children and grew up on a cotton farm.

His two parents and all his siblings were playing music, said White at Tennessean last summer, but he was not inspired by the idea of ​​looking for an instrument before his teenage years, when he heard the Lightnin bluesman 'Hopkins for the first time.

"Until then, I have never played anything, I sat down and listened." he had said. "But dude, I started sliding my dad's guitar into my room at night and learning the blues."

He was first inspired by writing his own songs after hearing the movie "Ode to Billie Joe," written in 1967 by Bobbie Gentry. Inspired by his own experiences, White wrote such enduring classics as "Willie and Laura Mae Jones," recorded by Springfield, and "Rainy Night in Georgia," recorded by Brook Benton and more than 100 other artists, all before his turn 30

In the mid-1960s, White lived in Texas when he decided to come to Nashville. He ended up playing his songs for Bob Beckham of Combine Music, the man who would become his publisher, his confidant and his mentor. "He was probably the only person in the whole city who listened to me, because my stuff was too far away from everyone else here," White told The Tennessean in 1983.

He added, "I played blues, about midway through the second song, he took me to his recording studio and we stayed there all day to play."

White's first album, "Black and White", was recorded in Nashville and released on Monument Records in 1969. His song "Soul Francisco" was a hit in France, but the American public ended up warming up at the rumbling baritone from White. Nine months after his single release, "Polk Salad Annie", the first song on the second side of "Black and White", made its debut on the charts; it peaked at No. 8.

Presley has recorded "Polk Salad Annie" and has often performed live. At the same time, the recording of "Rainy Night in Georgia" by R & B singer Brook Benton was zooming in on the charts. "It was just beautiful … it changed my life," White said.

In the 1970s, White toured with bands such as Sly and the Family Stone and Steppenwolf. In the late '80s, Tina Turner recorded four of her songs for her "Foreign Affair" album, including the title and "Steamy Windows;" White produced a track and also played on the record.

Last month, White released the blues album "Bad Mouthin", which he recorded on his Leiper's Fork property in a no-frills recording studio. which was once a horse stable.

The sparse record featured covers of songs recorded by Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Big Joe Williams, among others, as well as several originals, including a couple he had written before "Polk Salad Annie". The album was released on September 28th. That night, he did his Grand Ole Opry debut.

"The writing of the song is all that supported me," said White to The Tennessean in 1983. "Throughout my career, it has made me move forward … but I love to play even more than that. I like to write.

Shortly before his death, White recorded several new songs that hopefully will be released in the future, said Jody White.

White is survived by his wife, Leann, his children Michelle, Jim Bob and Jody, as well as several grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been finalized yet.

This story is in progress and will be updated.

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