Joe South, Of 'Games People Play' Fame, Dies

Joe South, who wrote such '60s and '70s hits as Games People Play and (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden, died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack at his home in Buford, Ga. He was 72.

South had quite a career, as the bio on his website shows. He was a session guitarist on such seminal albums as Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and Simon and Garfunkel's The Sounds of Silence. Then there was his solo success with Games People Play and the big hit that Lynn Anderson had with Rose Garden.

What really surprised us, though, is that he also wrote Deep Purple's first hit: Hush. For those of you who only know that band for Smoke on the Water, we recommend you check out Hush. It's among VH1's "100 greatest" hard rock tunes.

(H/T to NPR's Jean Cochran.)

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