Post by Rob Durkee on Sept 5, 2012 18:50:06 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
ATLANTA, GA. (RTDP) 9/5/12 -- Joe South, the singer-songwriter most famous for his breakthrough 1969 hit "Games People Play," the #1 pop and country classic song he wrote ("Rose Garden") and another hit that Elvis Presley did live, died Wednesday (September 5, 2012) at his home in Buford, located northeast of Atlanta. He was 72.
According to the Associated Press and Bill Lowery of the Lowery Music Group, South died of heart failure.
Joseph Alfred Souter was born February 28, 1940 in Atlanta, according to Wikipedia. It took over 10 years for him to become a nationally known singer. While still a teenager, South took advantage of the popularity of two #1 novelty records in 1958 by David Seville and Sheb Wooley. The result was "The Purple People People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor." The late J.P. (Jape) Richardson, a/k/a The Big Bopper, co-wrote the song and also released a version of it. Neither version made the Cash Box pop chart, however.
Ten years later in 1968, Joe South finally broke through as a popular singer. He had a minor #94 hit in early 1968 with "Birds Of A Feather," a song that Paul Revere and The Raiders would have a remake hit with in 1971.
Then came the song that gave him national fame as a singer. "Games People Play" cracked the Cash Box pop chart the last weekend of 1968 and would peak at #10 in early 1969. South had two more hits that year. After "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home" reached #47, South just missed the Top 10 with the #12 "Walk A Mile In My Shoes." However, "Shoes" would also be sung by Elvis Presley during his live concerts and would make his 1970 "On Stage" album.
South had two more Cash Box pop chart hits--"Children" (#47) in 1970 and "Fool Me" (#93) in 1971.
As famous as Joe South for his singing hits, he was even more successful as a songwriter. For instance, he wrote "Rose Garden," the classic song that was #1 pop for one week and #1 country for at least five weeks for Lynn Anderson in 1971. "Rose Garden" would become a #1 hit in 16 countries and win Grammy awards for Anderson (singing) and South (song-writing).
Later on in the fall of 1971, South nearly landed another #1 hit as a song-writer. He wrote "Yo-Yo," a #2 hit for the Osmonds.
South wrote the first three top 40 hits for Billy Joe Royal--"Down In The Boondocks," "I Knew You When" (which was a remake hit for Linda Ronstadt) and "I've Got To Be Somebody." Plus, he wrote "Hush," which became the breakthrough hit for the group Deep Purple. South even wrote a 1990's hit song, "Downtown Venus" by P.M. Dawn from 1995.
South was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame. Plus, he was a successful session musician. He played guitar on Tommy Roe's "Sheila," Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools" and on Bob Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" album. He may have been the electric guitarist on "The Sounds Of Silence," the mid-60's #1 hit for Simon and Garfunkel. However, some sources claim that famous guitar solo was actually done by Al Gorgoni and/or Vinnie Bell.
ATLANTA, GA. (RTDP) 9/5/12 -- Joe South, the singer-songwriter most famous for his breakthrough 1969 hit "Games People Play," the #1 pop and country classic song he wrote ("Rose Garden") and another hit that Elvis Presley did live, died Wednesday (September 5, 2012) at his home in Buford, located northeast of Atlanta. He was 72.
According to the Associated Press and Bill Lowery of the Lowery Music Group, South died of heart failure.
Joseph Alfred Souter was born February 28, 1940 in Atlanta, according to Wikipedia. It took over 10 years for him to become a nationally known singer. While still a teenager, South took advantage of the popularity of two #1 novelty records in 1958 by David Seville and Sheb Wooley. The result was "The Purple People People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor." The late J.P. (Jape) Richardson, a/k/a The Big Bopper, co-wrote the song and also released a version of it. Neither version made the Cash Box pop chart, however.
Ten years later in 1968, Joe South finally broke through as a popular singer. He had a minor #94 hit in early 1968 with "Birds Of A Feather," a song that Paul Revere and The Raiders would have a remake hit with in 1971.
Then came the song that gave him national fame as a singer. "Games People Play" cracked the Cash Box pop chart the last weekend of 1968 and would peak at #10 in early 1969. South had two more hits that year. After "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home" reached #47, South just missed the Top 10 with the #12 "Walk A Mile In My Shoes." However, "Shoes" would also be sung by Elvis Presley during his live concerts and would make his 1970 "On Stage" album.
South had two more Cash Box pop chart hits--"Children" (#47) in 1970 and "Fool Me" (#93) in 1971.
As famous as Joe South for his singing hits, he was even more successful as a songwriter. For instance, he wrote "Rose Garden," the classic song that was #1 pop for one week and #1 country for at least five weeks for Lynn Anderson in 1971. "Rose Garden" would become a #1 hit in 16 countries and win Grammy awards for Anderson (singing) and South (song-writing).
Later on in the fall of 1971, South nearly landed another #1 hit as a song-writer. He wrote "Yo-Yo," a #2 hit for the Osmonds.
South wrote the first three top 40 hits for Billy Joe Royal--"Down In The Boondocks," "I Knew You When" (which was a remake hit for Linda Ronstadt) and "I've Got To Be Somebody." Plus, he wrote "Hush," which became the breakthrough hit for the group Deep Purple. South even wrote a 1990's hit song, "Downtown Venus" by P.M. Dawn from 1995.
South was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame. Plus, he was a successful session musician. He played guitar on Tommy Roe's "Sheila," Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools" and on Bob Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" album. He may have been the electric guitarist on "The Sounds Of Silence," the mid-60's #1 hit for Simon and Garfunkel. However, some sources claim that famous guitar solo was actually done by Al Gorgoni and/or Vinnie Bell.
