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Joe South Dies: ‘Games People Play’ Song Writer, Singer Dies At 72

Posted: September 6, 2012

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Joe South, a Georgia music legend best remembered for writing the hit songs “Games People Play” and “Down in the Boondocks” in the 1960s and 70s, has died. He was 72.

According to Butch Lowery, president of music publisher Lowery Group, South passed away at his home in Buford, Georgia Wednesday after suffering heart failure.

“He’s one of the greatest songwriters of all time. His songs have touched so many lives. He’s such a wonderful guy and loved by many,” Lowery wrote following South’s passing.

Born Joseph Alfred Souter in Atlanta in 1940, South kick-started his pop career in 1958 with the novelty hit “The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor” and went on to establish his songwriting skills the following year by penning two tracks (“I Might Have Known” and “Gone Gone Gone”) which were recorded by Gene Vincent.

During the sixties, Joe continued songwriting but became better known as a session guitarist playing with artists including Aretha Franklin (“Chain of Fools”), Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel (“The Sounds of Silence”). In 1969, Joe’s recording of “Games People Play” was a Top 20 hit and won two Grammy Awards.

South went into semi-retirement after his brother’s suicide death in 1971 but briefly returned a few years later with another album. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame eight years later (1979) and entered the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1981.

In 2009, South released a new song for the first time in decades entitled, “Oprah Cried.”

He is survived by a son, Craig, and a granddaughter.



Comments


13 Archived Responses to “ Joe South Dies: ‘Games People Play’ Song Writer, Singer Dies At 72 ”

  1. Bob Reavis
    Sep 6, 2012

    May God rest his sweet soul. Prayers for the family.

  2. Brenda Harding
    Sep 6, 2012

    RIP Sout

  3. Anonymous
    Sep 6, 2012

    No single song ever captured the full story of life better than "Games People Play." RIP Joe!

  4. Anonymous
    Sep 6, 2012

    R.I.P. Joe. WE all would do well to listen to the lyrics of both "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" and "Games people play". God has another great singer/songwriter to entertain Him now.

  5. Michael Dunbar
    Sep 6, 2012

    GOSH, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I saw this this AM, and had to share it. So many of "our gen" gone so young. Very sad. R.I.P. JOE!

  6. John Kinge
    Sep 6, 2012

    I was a teenager when "Games People Play" first hit the charts. I knew even then it was a special song but, looking back over the past 40+ years, it has turned out to be almost prophetic. And "Down in the Boondocks," a hit for Billy Joe Royal, was one of the great 60's classics. Sorry to hear that Joe South is gone….he will be missed.

  7. Vance Elswick
    Sep 6, 2012

    RIP……

  8. Lisa Gehrling
    Sep 6, 2012

    RIP thank you for all the great tracks and making us feel just a little happier.You was a angel that shined!

  9. Janet Ennis-Beard
    Sep 6, 2012

    Wow, it gives you goose bumps doesn't it? I mean to think we are losing so many people and they still seem so young to us…

  10. Anonymous
    Sep 6, 2012

    "These are not my people." I had that embroidered on the back of my bush hat in VietNam.

  11. Janet Shaw
    Sep 7, 2012

    Do we know him?

  12. Bob Reavis
    Sep 7, 2012

    I knew him.

  13. Jim Agee
    Sep 9, 2012

    "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home" he's home now. Rest In Peace, Joe!