Joe South: Difference between revisions

Joseph Alfred Souter, known as Joe South (born February 28, 1940, in Atlanta, Georgia), is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter with a distinctive guitar sound. He had mega hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s with songs such as "Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes". His biggest and most-remembered single was "Games People Play" (1969), a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic, which won the "Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song" and the prestigious "Grammy Award for Song of the Year", and which bears a striking resemblance to the children's gospel song, "I Don't Want to Be a Pharisee". It was featured on his first album, Introspect.

He had met and was encouraged by Bill Lowery, an Atlanta music publisher and radio personality. He began his recording career in Atlanta with National Recording Corporation, where he served as staff guitarist along with other NRC artists Ray Stevens and Jerry Reed. South's earliest recordings have been re-released by NRC on CD.

Joe South songs have been recorded by other artists. They include Lynn Anderson's 1971 hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", Billy Joe Royal's hit "Down in the Boondocks," Deep Purple's "Hush" (a British hit many years later for Kula Shaker), the Osmonds' hit "Yo-Yo," and Elvis Presley's Las Vegas-era version of "Walk a Mile in My Shoes", also recorded by Bryan Ferry and Coldcut.

South was also a prominent sideman, recording the memorable guitar part on Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools, Tommy Roe's Sheila as well as appearing on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde. He also played the electric guitar part that was added to Simon & Garfunkel's first hit, "The Sound of Silence".

The suicide of his brother Tommy drove South into a deep depression. Tommy had been his band's drummer and accompanied Joe not only in live performances but also on recording sessions of South-produced hits for other artists including Billy Joe Royal, Sandy Posey, and Friend & Lover.

Joe South was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1979 and is a member of the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame.

External links

• Allmusic Entry