Joe South

After scoring a novelty hit with "The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor" in 1958, Joe South became a session guitarist in the twin studio meccas of Nashville and Muscle Shoals, backing the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, and Simon And Garfunkel. His first writing/producing successes came with the Billy Joe Royal singles "Down In The Boondocks" and "I Knew You When." South would eventually try his hand as solo artist, scoring a hit with the 1969 single "Games People Play," which also won the Grammy for song of the year. His other successes include "Hush" (a huge hit for Deep Purple) and Lynn Anderson's smash "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden." A talented yet complicated artist, South became something of a recluse from the mid 1970s until his minor comeback in the mid '90s.