Joe South
b. Joe Souter, 28 February 1940, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. South was obsessed with technology and, as a child, he developed his own radio station with a transmission area of a mile. A novelty song, The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor, sold well in 1958, and he became a session guitarist in both Nashville and Muscle Shoals. South backed Eddy Arnold, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Marty Robbins and, in particular, Bob Dylan ( BLONDE ON BLONDE) and Simon And Garfunkel (most of THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE LP). His 1962 single, Masquerade, was released in the UK, but his first writing/producing successes came with the Tams' Untie Me and various Billy Joe Royal singles including Down In The Boondocks and I Knew You When. In 1968, he sang and played several instruments on Royal's INTROSPECT. One track, Games People Play, made number 12 in the US charts and number 6 in the UK, and he also played guitar and sang harmony on Boots Randolph's cover version. The song's title was taken from Eric Berne's best selling book about the psychology of human relationships. Another song title, (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden came from a novel by Hannah Green, and was a transatlantic hit for country singer, Lynn Anderson. These Are Not My People was a US country hit for Freddy Weller, Birds Of A Feather was made popular by Paul Revere And The Raiders, but, more significantly, Hush became Deep Purple's first US Top 10 hit in 1968. South himself made number 12 in the US with Walk A Mile In My Shoes, which was also featured by Elvis Presley in concert, but his own career was not helped by a drugs bust, a pretentious single I'm A Star, and a poor stage presence. He told one audience to ‘start dancing around the hall, then when you come in front of the stage, each one of you can kiss my ass.’ South's songs reflect southern life but they also reflect his own insecurities and it is not surprising that he stopped performing. He had heeded his own words, Don't It Make You Want To Go Home.