Joe South

Among all the famous songwriters from the 1960s, this one name is very easy to overlook. Unrightfully so. Joe South was a musician of great scope and incredible talent.

Born Joseph Alfred Souter in 1940, South started writing hits already in his late teens. Today, he is best remembered for songs like Hush, which he wrote for his former roommate Billie Joe Royal and which later became a huge hit and first top ten single for Deep Purple, or Lynn Anderson's version of (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden, which went on to become one of the biggest hits of the 1970s, and for which Anderson won a Grammy and South received two nominations.

Joe South won two Grammys on his own, too, with the 1968 protest song Games People Play, which has been covered many times by the likes of Tom Jones, Tina Turner or Inner Circle. He was also a prominent sideman, having played on Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools or Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, among others. 

However, the monstrous success of Rose Garden in 1971 was overshadowed by a personal tragedy when South's beloved brother and frequent collaborator took his own life. Following his brother's death, South retired from the music bussiness and it seemed like he almost dropped off the face of the earth, living on royalties and making only seldom appearances. He died of heart failure in 2012.

I discovered Joe South about two weeks ago, while working on my own Best of the '60s compilation, which I'm about to share with everyone really soon. I was once again doing my research and his was the most interesting name to come out that I hadn't known before. One can only wonder how many great songs he could've written if it hadn't been for the unfortunate death of his brother.

Oddly enough, just as I was writing this post, Lynn Anderson's take on Rose Garden was playing on the radio...