Customer Reviews

Anthology 1968-75

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD chronicles Joe South, a popular 60s songwriter from his peak careerwise to his final album in 1975. Included are cuts from his many albums, uncluding the often ignored albums 'A Look Inside' and 'Midnight Rainbows.' The only album not present in this compilation is 'So the Seeds are Growing' and of course his early material. Any fan of Joe or 60s music in general will want to pick this one up!! To truly experience Joe one must pick up all of his albums, but this collection is close, and better than the now out of print 1990 release by Rhino (However that CD had 'Fool Me' which I miss on this one).

Joe South had it all. He could write. He could sing. He could play. He could produce. All of the man's talents led to some of the most memorable music of the late 60's and early 70's. His music contains elements of pop, country, gospel, folk, rock, soul and psychedelia. All the styles are seamlessly melded together. Many of these songs have been hits for other artists . For example, "Hush" by Deep Purple, "Down In The Boondocks" by Billy Joe Royal, and "I've Never Promised You A Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson. Also, the collection includes songs that were hits for Joe South - "Games People Play" and "Walk A Mile In My Shoes." The sound of the compact disc is very clear and detailed. The c.d. also contains a fine essay about Joe South.
For me, the most memorable thing about his music are the lyrics.
The words are insightful and socially relevant. There are too many lyrics that I could quote that are thought provoking. Also, the musical production includes biting electric guitars, electric sitars, strings, horns, gospel type choruses,and just about anything else that was prevalent in late 60', early 70's pop/ rock. I hope a record company would make his whole catalog available on compact disc

Joe South began as a session guitarist, working in both Nashville and Muscle Shoals. He played on many country records but also on records by Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. He later had a major international hit with Games people play and another major American hit with Walk a mile in my shoes, but may ultimately be better remembered as a writer of hits for others, notably Deep Purple (Hush), Billy Joe Royal (Down in the boondocks), Lynn Anderson (Rose garden), These are not my people (Freddy Weller) and Birds of a feather (Paul Revere and the Raiders) - a truly diverse selection of artists.

Joe's songs often contain very interesting lyrics that generally reflected his own insecurity and frustrations (so obvious in Rose garden, a song in which he clearly indicates that he's not going to live up to other people's expectations). As such, many people found them easy to relate to and that may be the basis of their popularity - listen to Concrete jungle, Clock up on the wall, Children and some of the other songs.

Die-hard fans may not be satisfied, but this compilation contains all the essential Joe South tracks that everybody else expects to find here (his own hits and his original versions of his other famous songs), plus some other great songs that are also worth hearing.

Joe South deserves better. So do his longtime fans. What's needed is for some wise and knowledgeable record company to reissue Joe's entire catalogue on CD instead of forcing us to get by with unsatisfying compilations like this one and the one that Rhino came out with several years ago. For starters, where's his greatest rocker, "Heart's Desire"? How about the stirring "Glad To Be Living On The Earth Today"? Or the lament, "To Have, To Hold, And Let Go"? Then there's another of his biting social observations, "Hole In Your Soul." He also did a fine version of "Stranger In A Strange Land." Joe South could do rock, blues, soul, folk, ballads -- you name it. And that guy could play some guitar, too. So c'mon, one of you record companies, get with it and reissue ALL Joe's albums from his various labels. Remaster them from the ORIGINAL tapes, get somebody who can pen detailed liner notes, find out "who played what" on all the songs, and include the session dates if you can. Make Joe's legions of fans happy. Until you do, these weak compilations don't cut it -- even one that includes "Midnight Rainbows," which is the only reason I gave this CD two stars.

Maybe you have to be my age!! I think not. I've passed on the Joe South Anthology to people in their teens and early twenties and they are as astounded as I was at the same age. Amazing stuff! Hey, Joe, we're 60 now, but things have changed. There is respect for our pasts.You are still the best!!!!!!!

This career spanning disc is the first of Raven's 4 South releases. The 75+ minutes found here do a pretty good job of distilling South's career which spanned from 1968 to 1975, although he did release 1 new song in 2009. However, "Anthology" contains the songs that fans of late 60s, early 70s rock will immediately recognize, sometimes from South's version, but more often than not from a cover version which some other artist had a hit with. South supplied hits to Deep Purple, Billy Joe Royal, Lynn Anderson, Paul Revere and the Raiders, among others. This collection is the perfect introduction to South's work. His guitar work (he was a session guitarist before going solo) is incredible. Its no wonder he was in demand in Nashville and Muscle Shoals. His lyrics are quite introspective, as evidenced by "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home" "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" and "Down In The Boondocks." But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Many previous reviewers have pointed out the extent of South's talent. All I can do is affirm them and suggest that you pick this disc up before it goes out of print since it contains tracks from not only South's 6 Capitol albums, but also from his one-off album on Island. Grab it and enjoy one of America's great singer/songwriter/guitarist. Joe South is certainly all of that and much much more.

John Cougar Mellencamp used to do a medley of Joe South's song in his concerts and let a lot of people know what an important performer Joe South was. This album has it all. The hits he wrote for other people (I did not know before I bought this album that South had written Hush, I knew about the other songs but that was a pleasant surprise) and his own hits are here as well.

A performer who touches your sole and put out some tremendous music.

Don McNay...

I echo all of the previous posts praising Joe South's Anthology no question of his role in 1960's awareness music. But, one post indicated the writer enjoyed Joe South's version of a Deep Purple song Hush...well it was the other way around. It was Deep Purple's version of a Joe South song. Far too often Joe's songs were covered by others and he received little or no credit--at least initially.

This CD starts out rockin' with Joe's version of Deep Purple's song "Hush." It's surprising how good a rock song like that can sound without distorted guitars. I'm one of those people who has heard only Joe's top two hits "Games People Play" (1969) and "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" (1970) before getting this album. My overall impression of Joe South is that musically his songs are often technically flawed, but his insightful lyrics about the human condition pop out at you constantly. His voice is sometimes unpleasantly strained, the piano is surprisingly out of tune on "Birds of a Feather," and the guitar is out of tune on "Midnight Rainbows." However, "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" has a nice, powerful chord progression, and that and many of the songs have memorable philosophical phrases: "I wish I could go back somehow, knowin' then what I know now" ("Clock Up On The Wall"), "Children who think that they are grown, children with children of their own" ("Children"), "Hey, don't you know you can break away from the level of the world negation, get off of the sinking ship and a dyin' nation" ("Be A Believer"), "And the law of karma says you gonna reap just what you sow" ("Walk A Mile In My Shoes"), "But when you're sleepin' with the dogs, baby, you're bound to get a few fleas" ("Save Your Best"). Overall, I'm glad I got the CD. Its meaningful lyrics and several well-written songs make it worthwhile.

A pity this misses the care South put into his well-crafted albums. Really, he deserves a re-release of some of those, for me, seminal 70s discs. Most poignantly, 'Midnight Rainbows', which I have occasion to pull out of the racks for a spin. This is a marvellous and emotive work, wraked at moments with pain & loss and yet triumphant in the final assessment;crowned with joy & wonder.If it were available it would be 5 stars all the way. I think it's the deep gravity of his voice that takes some attuning to. 'To Have To Hold & Let Go'. & 'God Forgave Me' should absolve any doubts.