This is an encore presentation of a Battle of the Bands from March. I heard today that Billy Joe Royal, who did “Down in the Boondocks,” “Cherry Hill Park,” and of course “Hush” in the 1960’s, died in his sleep yesterday in Marietta, North Carolina. He was 73. My condolences to his family.
Voting is closed on this BotB; Deep Purple’s version won.
I’m going to try something a little different. The three versions of this song are are more-or-less contemporaneous, recorded in the late 1960’s, and all sound pretty similar to one another. Or do they? You get to judge!
Today’s song is “Hush.” It was written by Atlanta native Joe South, who also wrote “Games People Play,” “Down In The Boondocks,” “Yo-Yo,” and Lynn Anderson’s big hit, “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden.”
CONTESTANT #1: Billy Joe Royal
Billy Joe Royal was also from the Atlanta area. He recorded four of South’s songs, “Down In The Boondocks,” “I Knew You When,” “Yo-Yo,” and recorded the first version of “Hush” in 1967. His version only did so-so, reaching #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. Here’s his version.
CONTESTANT #2: Deep Purple
The following year, a band from England by the name of Deep Purple recorded the song. It reached…
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I just heard about this a couple of hours ago. I loved Down in the Boondocks and Cherry Hill Park.
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He was a good singer who lived not far from where I live now, so I felt kind of a connection to him. Joe South, who wrote a couple of his hits, is from this area, too.
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ah…Down in the Boondocks was my late…friend Fred’s favorite song, it always makes me think of him.
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Billy Joe Royal did a lot of songs that I didn’t realize he did. Down in the Boondocks was an especially good song and put him on the map right in the middle of the British Invasion.
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