Today: Joe South.
Joe South is a musician and song writer who is one of the finest talents that you probably don't know about. If you're on the younger side, you've probably never heard of him. If you're of the more, um, experienced perspective, well, you've still probably never heard of him. You have 
heard his work, though.
heard his work, though. Joe was born in Atlanta in 1940. He had a hit at 18 with a gimmick song, but made his reputation in the music business as a session guitarist for some really big names. Joe recorded with an eclectic constellation that includes Aretha Franklin, Tommy Roe, Bob Dylan, Eddy Arnold, Wilson Pickett, Marty Robbins and Simon & Garfunkel. Joe South is probably the only thing those stars have in common.
He wrote a lot of hit songs. The biggest commercial success was "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden". Joe also wrote hits for Freddie Weller, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Deep Purple, the Osmonds and Billy Joe Royal. Again, probably the only thing they had in common was Joe.
Joe South hit it big as a performer in 1969, winning a Grammy for "Games People Play". He also had hits with "Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes". Joe is credited with creating the music genre called "Country Soul". Performing wasn't his thing and he had his demons to deal with, so Joe's performing career was brief, but there was some gold left for us to listen to.
You feel Joe South's music as you listen. So, if you have a few minutes of private time, courtesy of YouTube, you can meet (or reacquaint yourself with) the incredible music of Joe South. Sit back and let it roll over you. Here's his three big hits as a performer and one he wrote that was a big hit for Deep Purple. The visuals are crappy (I try not to even watch!), but the music is sweet!
Games People Play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znh58WITU8
Don't It Make You Want to Go Home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AirBbS4R7Z0&feature=related
Walk a Mile in My Shoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM9Es4N4oGU&feature=related
Hush, from Deep Purple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilz5SxrHA3E
I hope that you'll enjoy them.
3 comments:
Billy Joe Royal did HUSH first, of course - and has more in common with some of those others than you might think!
You've piqued my interest...c'mon, dish!
I love that Games People Play song, it brings me back. As long as we're talkin music, I've got an interesting tidbit...Joe Walsh - best known from The Eagles has been playing guitar since he was twelve. At one point, he was trying to learn this one Beatles song and couldn't get it, but kept trying and trying until he finally figured out how to play it. Years later he was doing some studio work with Ringo Starr and told him about that song. Turns out that Beatles guitar riff that Joe learned was actually two guitars playing. Pretty darn good there Joe.
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