Song:Games People Play
Album:Anthology: A Mirror Of His Mind-Hits and Highlights 1968-1975
Joe South had his biggest success as a recording artist with the 1969 hit Games People Play. But he has a lot of success as a songwriter and also played on plenty of sessions. He seems to prefer being behind the scenes as he could have been a much bigger star if he wanted. He was born Joe Souter Feb. 28, 1940 in Atlanta. He started out in Atlanta radio and recorded a novelty song in 1958 called The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor. In the 60s, he moved to Nashville and settled into session work, most significantly on Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde but he also worked with Marty Robbins, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett among others. He began to have success with his songs, most notably the Billy Joe Royal hit Down In The Boondocks. He signed with Capitol as a recording artist and the country soul song Games People Play reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and won a Song Of The Year Grammy. His biggest hit as a songwriter was Lynn Anderson's number one smash Rose Garden. This comp from Raven Records is worth checking out. South moved to Maui after his brother's 1971 suicide and retired from recording in 1975. He surfaces occasionally but he has mostly lived off his songwriting royalties ever since. He seems very uncomfortable in the spotlight. He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame in 2003. Here's Joe South performing Games People Play 1968.
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