Customer Reviews

Retrospect: The Best of Joe South

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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...

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.

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!

Joe South has to be the most underrated and unappreciated singer and songwriter of my generation. Great lyrics, beautiful instrumentation, captivating voice ... this guy has it all. This man is one of the most talented artists I have ever heard, and deserves to be a household name. "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home?" should be an all-time classic. Perhaps this great CD will rekindle interest in Joe South's extraordinary music. God bless you, Joe South! May your music live forever...

Atlanta native Joe Souter (a.k.a. Joe South) is one of the unsung heroes in popular music as although a few of his hits peaked in the top 40 in pop and/or country, as noted, mostly other artists had hits with his material. This compilation contains many of the most influential songs in all of popular music including the #12 pop hit "Games People Play," (covered successfully by Freddy Weller, who had a #2 country hit with it), Birds of a Feather (a #96 hit for Joe that became a #23 hit for Paul Revere & The Raiders in 1971), Rose Garden (covered by Lynn Anderson who would take it to #1 on both country and pop charts), Don't It Make You Want To Go Home (which would peak at #27 on the country chart and #41 on the pop chart, which Bobby Bare and a few other artists have covered), Children (a #51 hit which Billy Joe Royal covered on his "Cherry Hill Park" album in 1970, available on a twofer with 1965's "Down In The Boondocks" which is available here at Amazon), Walk a Mile In My Shoes (a #12 pop hit, #56 country hit, which Elvis would later feature in his concerts regularly throughout the 1970s) and These Are Not My People (Freddy Weller also charted with this and it peaked at #5 on the country charts), Hush (one of Deep Purple's first hits internationally, also recorded by other artists including Billy Joe Royal), Down In The Boondocks (Billy Joe Royal's signature song and peaked at #9 in 1965 from the album, Down In The Boondocks, which is available as a twofer on Collectables with "Cherry Hill Park"), Untie Me (a song that would become covered by James & Bobby Purify, the Tams, and Manfred Mann), but the entire CD is classic singer-songwriter music and is essential to any collection of music from the 1960s-1970s not only in country and R&B, but all genres of music. Although could never perform live in front of an audience with an ease in spite of his talent in singing and songwriting, the singing and songwriting are both in full force on his recordings and that is a plus and is a major reason why Joe South's music is essential.

Joe South was a session musician of some renown having played on Bob Dylan's "Blond on Blond", + other Nashville LPs of the '60's.
Well respected and admired.
Capitol gave him an opportunity and in 1969, Joe came up with "Introspective", an LP filled with what would become classic songs/hits covered by such disparate artists as Deep Purple (Hush), Lynn Anderson (Rose Garden) Billy Joe Royal (Down in the Boondocks).
Country writers often took song titles/lyrics from contempory books/language i.e., "Tiger by the Tail", "What Made Milwaukee Famous" etc..
Joe took the newly popular psychology book about '60's mores titled, "Games People Play", and wrote a song with that title that explained the book within 2 minutes 30 secs that took 200 pages. The lyrics, after a Bob Dylan fashion of rhyming quarters and whirling back to the main title, were such that it ingrained itself more into the culture than the book. Listen, I'll start..."Oh the games people play now everynight and everyday now never meaning what they say now never saying what they mean" you can finish the rest, I bet... Another classic, "Rose Garden" start with, "I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden" and you know the song.
This CD has most of Joe's best songs, in stereo that fits well swell oh hell compelled to ring the bell that sells. Joe fell but no death knell will ever tell the full pell-mell of his...Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Joe South did not end his carrer with these tunes just listen to Billy J Royals hit "Old Briges Burn Slow" That was Joe again, Before TNN gave up its varity show with Ralph Emery Joe South came on and sang that song......Joe South is a very good singer of his own songs and a strong Guitar player but He never could perform on stage with any power.....Joe needed to go country years ago but missed it some how......

There's one song I have been trying to get & Its "the games people play" Don't know who he is, BUT Joe South has got people & the world down pat in that song. I'll buy the album for it. I just like the truth in that song!

The song, "Games People Play", tells it like it is !! What a voice Joe South has! I could find his music nowhere in Denver. So, thank heavens for Amazon.