Tony Joe White – Homemade Ice Cream Analogue Productions 200g, 45RPM Vinyl

Hi-Fi News 2019 Album Choice selection for Year’s Best LPs!

Hi-Fi News June 2019 Album Choice selection!

“This superb reissue is a fitting tribute to the finest purveyor ever of ‘Swamp Rock,’ White having passed late last year. Although best known for composing the Elvis hit ‘Polk Salad Annie,’ and ‘Rainy Night In Georgia,’ a smash for Brook Benton in 1970, his own LPs were also something special. Three seconds into this 1973 release and your jaw will drop: the most melodic, tactile lower registers this side of a Kodo album. Every composition mixes wit, wisdom and winsomeness, with musicianship of the highest order — it was recorded in Nashville with sidemen including David Briggs and Norbert Putnam. Above it all, though, is a voice so textured and deep that it makes J.J. Cale sound like Klaus Nomi.” — Sound Quality: 95% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, June 2019

“I have been tempted to buy a repress of this title … I’m pleased I waited, very pleased! And I can stop looking for a quality used original too. This is one of those intimate albums that gets better the later in the day you happen to sit with it; I know it’ll get even better with a glass of wine on a warm summer evening too. Kevin Gray mastered, nothing else need be said. … I’m not so sure about this not being a top seller; anyone who enjoys music would be a fool to miss out on this. With only 1,000 pressed initially it may well be that it fulfills that prophesy, so get it while you can. I hope demand results in another pressing run. … If you “do” 45 RPM cuts, what are you waiting for? You really can’t go wrong or will regret picking this one up.” — Gordon Johnson, Jimpress

Praise for our 33 1/3 version:

“Audiophiles, this is a must-have LP. The sound is completely natural with no studio artifacts. What stands out, though, are the timbral qualities of the instruments and White’s great voice. Organ, piano and bass are there for harmonic effect, but the sounds of the drums and guitars are some of the best I’ve heard from my system. Originally recorded in 1973, this reissue LP jumped to the top of my short list for Audiophilia’s Star Recordings of the Year, 2013.” Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia.com, May 2013

“From the fantastic opening groove of ‘Saturday Nite in Oak Grove, Louisiana’ to soul searching ballads like ‘For Ol’ Times Sake’ and ‘Ol’ Mother Earth’, Homemade Ice Cream will sustain your interest with great melodies and superb playing. And all are sung with charisma and sensitivity featuring White’s husky baritone voice.” Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia.com, May 2013

“This is, after all, the man who gave ‘Polk Salad Annie’ to Elvis (although White did hit the charts with it) and ‘Rainy Night in Georgia’ to Brook Benton, as well as creating hits for Dusty Springfield, Hank Williams Jr. and many others…TJW is swampier than the rest, so this will appeal to anyone who used to read ZigZag.” Sound Quality: 86% – Ken Kessler, Hi-Fi News, August 2012

“Not a song on this album is less than compelling and some are downright searing. White’s vulnerability and ability to convey heartbreak and hurt put him in Roy Orbison’s class, though he expresses these feelings less bombastically…The sound starts out really good but just gets better as it goes, with side two’s final four tracks being astonishingly transparent and intimate-sounding – as if you’re sitting on the other side of the microphones…The Quality Record Pressings pressing quality is state of the art.” Music = 8/11; Sound = 9/11 – Michael Fremer, MusicAngle.com, March 2012

“… Among the mass of truly memorable and talented songwriters who practiced their craft in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Tony Joe White is the quiet master. … It’s slightly mind-twisting to think that the LP reissue movement is now digging deep into major-label catalogs the way CD reissues once did. Dig on!” Performance = 3.5/5; Sonics = 4/5 — Robert Baird, Stereophile, January 2012

“You might not know this record,” says Chad, “but give it a try and I guarantee you will be blown away.”

You may or may not know of Tony Joe White, but we all know his two most famous songs — “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night In Georgia.” This record is up to the standards of those great numbers. So soulful, humid, rich and textured. Or as Tony Joe would say, “It’s swampy.”

And because it’s such a classic, such a southern musical touchstone, we’ve gone and upped the ante — making this standout a 45 RPM double LP release. Veteran audiophiles know and hear the difference. With more LP real estate, inner groove distortion is reduced and tracking by your stereo cartridge is improved. That’s a major sonic advantage! Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tape, this LP sounds phenomenal from the first note to the last fade out.

The last four songs on side two of this album are going to positively floor you. They are so sparse and bluesy and emotional. And the sound is as good as the music. With this new QRP pressing, the sound is so good it’s tape-like. So solid and jet-black is the foundation from which the music just jumps. Ya gotta hear it to understand what we’re trying to describe. It’s one of those jaw-hit-the-floor, sit-in-stunned-silence, goose-bump-raising, tears-in-your-eyes records. You know, the kind we’re all looking for as audiophiles?

When Chad decided to reissue this album, he knew that it wasn’t going to be a top-seller. But it’s one of his all-time favorites for music and sound, and we feel that whoever takes a chance on this one is going to be richly rewarded. We gotta figure this one is going to end up being one of the favorites of some of our customers, too. If you trust us at all, you can buy with great confidence.

Homeade Ice Cream was originally released in 1973 on Warner Bros. and was co-produced by White and legendary Atlantic producer Tom Dowd. It’s White’s sixth overall record and his third for Warner Bros. This is very much a back porch acoustic affair. The music has the space to breathe, one of the reasons for the life-like sound.

Track Listing

Side 1
Saturday Night In Oak Grove Louisiana
For Ol’ Times Sake
I Want Love (‘Tween You & Me)

Side 2
Homemade Ice Cream
Ol’Mother Earth
Lazy

Side 3
California On My Mind
Backwoods Preacher Man
Takin’ The Midnight Train

Side 4
No News Is Good News
Did Somebody Make A Fool Out Of You