Past masters: Joe South
Posted: September 6, 2012 Filed under: Past masters | Tags: music 2 Comments
Image from chronicle.augusta.com
Sad to note the passing of Joe South. Great songwriter, singer, musician, producer. Played on Simon & Garfuukel’s “Sounds Of Silence,” Aretha Franklin’s “Chain Of Fools,” and Dylan’s “Blonde On Blonde.” Wrote “Down In The Boondocks,” “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden,” “Walk A Mile In My Shoes,” and “Hush” (first US hit for Deep Purple).
My favorite song by him is “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home” from 1969. It’s been one of my guitar songs for years.
Oh, the whippoorwill roosts on the telephone pole
And the Georgia sun goes down
Well, it’s been a long time but I’m glad to say that I’m
Goin’ back down to my home townGoin’ down to the Greyhound station
Gonna buy me a one-way fare
And if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creeks don’t rise
By tomorrow, I’ll be right thereDon’t it make you want to go home?
Don’t it make you want to go home?
All God’s children get weary when they roam
Don’t it make you want to go home?But there’s a six-lane highway down by the creek
Where I went skinny-dippin’ as a child
And a drive-in show where the meadows used to grow
And the strawberries used to grow wildThere’s a drag strip down by the riverside
Where my grandma’s cow used to graze
Now the grass don’t grow and the river don’t flow
Like it did in my childhood daysDon’t it make you want to go home?
Don’t it make you want to go home?
All God’s children get weary when they roam
Don’t it make you want to go home?
Name-Brand Ketchup. 
Sad. I love his music. Don’t make you want to go home is beautiful. Sang Walk A Mile in college for a thing at the Theater Department as a young one. RIP.
I always thought that R.E.M. should have done this one. Stipe would have knocked it out the park with harmonies by Mike Mills, and a little jangly guitar from Pete Buck.