Retrospect: The Best of Joe South

Joe South | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B00000J8PG
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,520 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Games People Play

2. Hush

3. Rose Garden

4. Walk A Mile In My Shoes

5. Untie Me

6. I Knew You When

7. Down In The Boondocks

8. Don't It Make You Want to Go Home

9. Birds Of A Feather

10. Children

11. Fool Me

12. These Are Not My People

13. All My Hard Times

14. Mirror Of Your Mind

15. The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor

16. I'm Snowed

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe South deserves 6 stars..., December 19, 1999

By 

dave vaughn (ashland, new hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Retrospect: The Best of Joe South (Audio CD)

I first heard this collection on the reel-to-reel tapes my older brother brought back from his tour of duty in Vietnam aboard an LSD ship. Even at the age of 16 I knew this guy was something special, with a style I hadn't heard before, and it was as if a part of my soul was returned to me. Here it is 25 years later and I again feel that part of me, once lost, has come home again. Joe sings of real life, real love with such feeling that you would want to call it your own. I don't know if he actually wrote the lyrics to these songs himself, but there is a lot going on in every one of these tunes. I would liken them to almost any Bob Dylan song - complex, weaving and so satisfying. THANKS Amazon for helping track down this old, dear friend...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb originals from a truly original voice & guitarist, August 9, 1999

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Retrospect: The Best of Joe South (Audio CD)

As a songwriter South penned hits for such diverse acts as Billy Joe Royal ("Down in the Boondocks"), Deep Purple ("Hush") and Lynn Anderson ("(I Never Promise You a) Rose Garden"), all presented here in South's own voice. "Rose Garden" is a surprising departure, swapping Spectoresque castanets for the hit single's Nashville production.

As a producer South helmed 60s hits such as Friend & Lover's "Reach Out in the Darkness," and as a musician he played guitar on seminal sessions with Simon & Garfunkel ("Sounds of Silence"), Aretha Franklin (providing the trademark opening to "Chain of Fools") and Bob Dylan ("Blonde on Blonde").

As a performer, he deftly mixed husky, soulful vocals with pop, blues and country influences on 1969's song-of-the-year, "Games People Play," and followed up with, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," a latter-day concert staple for Elvis. His subsequent recordings failed to top the charts, and he eventually retreated from the music business. His recordings faded from print, yet, as evidenced by this new collection, their power is every bit intact.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return of lost classics by a great songwriter, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Retrospect: The Best of Joe South (Audio CD)

Resurrected from out-of-print obscurity at last! Nobody deserves a comeback more than Joe South. If you don't know who he is but love Sixties soul music, here's a touchstone you'll be glad to have -- the product of a few years when Joe South was one of America's best songwriters, as well as a session guitarist for Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and a number of soul/R&B performers. The gems in this collection explore idyllic romance ("Birds Of a Feather"), fragile relationships ("I Knew You When," "These Are Not My People," "Untie Me"), and the price we pay when we neglect our souls and our social responsibility ("Children," "Walk a Mile In My Shoes," and perhaps his greatest song, "Games People Play.") The writing's economical, memorable but not bombastic, and the themes are timeless. Joe South's songs have been covered by artists from the Tams to Deep Purple to Lynn Anderson, but he's an expressive, soulful singer in his own right (not "blue-eyed" soul, please, just soul!). The arrangements are mostly classic R&B, with horns and backing vocals, but Joe the arranger also knew how to use strings without making it sappy. This great songwriter walked away from the business, but left behind a treasure chest -- lost when his records went out of print, back now and opened for music lovers. So dig in!