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Tony Joe White – vocals, electric guitar, harmonica
Marc Cohen – drums
Arranged by Tony Joe White
Written by Tony Joe White
1 LP, old-style tip-on jacket by Stoughton Printing
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12’’
Stereo
Live
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings (QRP), Salina, Kansas, USA
Label : APO Records – Blues Masters Live Series
Original Label : APO Records
Recorded in October 2003, during the sixth annual Blues Masters at the Crossroads festival Salina, Kansas, USA
Engineered by David Baker and Katsuhiko Naito
Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, Salina, Kansas
Photography by John Volk
Originally released in 2026
Tracks:
Side A:
1. Rich Woman Blues
2. Willie And Laura Mae Jones
3. Undercover Agent For The Blues
4. Do You Have A Garter Belt
5. Rico
Side B:
1. Steamy Windows
2. Even Trolls Love Rock And Roll
3. Tunica Motel
4. Polk Salad Annie
Reviews:
“Tony Joe White's Legendary 2003 Blue Heaven Studio Performance Finally Released!
You've probably seen the Coventry Direct life insurance commercial in which a miner under an elderly couple's home remarks "She's sitting on a gold mine and doesn't know it...." because she can sell her life insurance policy for cash. Chad Kassem has been knowingly sitting on this musical goldmine for 23 years—Tony Joe White on Telecaster accompanied by his drummer Mark "Boom Boom" Cohen, making an enormous, soulful, swampy, room filling sound, just the two of them running through White's best known and some not so well numbers too before an adoring, awed 2003 Blues Masters at the Crossroads crowd.
Last November at an Innovative Audio NYC event Kassem wowed the crowds (4 groups of 50 attendees) announcing and playing some of the then upcoming "Rhino 45" series he'd licensed. Lots of great titles, well recorded and all sounded great on the big system featuring Wilson XVXes driven by D'Agostino electronics sourced by a TechDAS Air Force III Premium turntable.
That task completed, Kassem played a test pressing of this Tony Joe White live set and another by Tab Benoit, and two things happened: first the showroom evaporated leaving an enormous space in which Blue Heaven Studios magically appeared and second, the crowd went crazy (though Tommy didn't hit the stage).
People in the room wanted the record now and if not now, they wanted to know when. Now is when. Adding to the record's luster was the recording team of the late David Baker, a recording engineer legend, mostly in the jazz field, who passed away a year after this recording was made, and Katsu Naito another jazz veteran engineer, both with intimate knowledge of the Blue Heaven Studios acoustics, which they deliver in full on this recording.
As Chad writes in the annotation, "The swamp, the soul, the slow heavy groove that was always so cool and casual." There's an Elvis-like quality to White's voice, but his is more earthy and less operatic. White delivers pain, regret, endurance and grit like few others. How can just two people produce this much music and fill such a big space?
The purity of the Telecaster and drum sound is as good as it ever gets and that may sound like hyperbole but it's not. Add the way the engineering duo captures the room sound—a sonic picture that will blow the ceiling off your listening room and deliver the church rafters and how they deliver the perfect balance of direct and ambient sound and you have in your hands a memorable, powerful event engraved in the grooves of a record you're sure to play and celebrate often.” Tracking Angle Review by Michael Fremer
Ratings:
Michael Fremer : Music: 11 / 11 ; Sound : 11 / 11