Joe South Games People Play

Although the album as a whole did not achieve commercial success, Introspect contained Joe South’s most successful song, “Games People Play.” The song reached number twelve in the United States, but South’s wider appeal was reflected in the single’s top-ten rating in the United Kingdom. At the 1969 Grammy Awards “Games People Play” won both Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song.

Joe South continued to write hits for both himself and other musicians. Johnny Rivers had success with “These Are Not My People,” as did Deep Purple with “Hush.” Lynn Anderson’s version of “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden” stayed at the number-one position in America for five weeks in 1970. South appeared on television shows, performed in Europe, and produced numerous albums in 1970 and 1971. Singles such as the nostalgic environmental warning “Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home” and the timeless plea for racial equality, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” maintained an international chart presence. Never comfortable as a live performer, South spent more and more time in the studio.

In 1971 South’s brother and drummer, Tommy, committed suicide after struggling with drug addiction. While South retreated to Hawaii to grieve, Capitol Records released South’s final album for the company in 1972, the dark, introspective A Look Inside. South emerged briefly in 1975 to release his final album, Midnight Rainbows, and he battled his own drug addiction. He recorded sporadically during the 1980s and 1990s but largely remained reclusive.

Musicians and the music industry have paid tribute to South’s work numerous times. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1981. On the 1990 album Highwaymen 2, Johnny Cash makes reference to the South in “Songs That Make a Difference.” On the 1993 compilation Good Vibrations, the Beach Boys sing “it was out of sight/Joe South was singing/’Games People Play'” in the song “Games Two Can Play.”

Joe South died on September 5, 2012, of heart failure in his Flowery Branch home. He was seventy-two.

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