"Hush" is a song written by American composer and musician Joe South, for recording artist Billy Joe Royal. The song was later covered by Somebody's Image (an Australian band fronted by Russell Morris) in 1967. It reached #15. It was also covered by Deep Purple in 1968 and by Kula Shaker in 1997. Each artist had a Top 5 hit with their version.
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"Hush" | ||||
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![]() Cover of the 1967 Norway single | ||||
Single by Billy Joe Royal | ||||
from the album Billy Joe Royal featuring Hush | ||||
B-side | "Watching from the Bandstand" | |||
Released | September 1967 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Swamp rock[1] | |||
Length | 2:30 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Joe South | |||
Producer(s) | Joe South | |||
Billy Joe Royal singles chronology | ||||
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Billy Joe Royal would record "Hush" in a 12 July 1967 Nashville recording session which featured Barry Bailey, future lead guitarist for the Atlanta Rhythm Section, on guitar. In the mid-1980s Royal would recall how while he and his regular songwriter/producer Joe South were driving from Atlanta to Nashville for that recording session (Billy Joe Royal quote:) "Joe was writing 'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden' [in the car]. I didn't like it, so he wrote 'Hush' right there [leaning] on the dashboard."[2] ("...Rose Garden", an album cut on Billy Joe Royal featuring Hush, would prove to be South's most successful composition, spearheaded by the 1971 Lynn Anderson hit version. (Billy Joe Royal quote:) "To this day I can't figure out why I didn't like that song.")[3]
Although more successful than Royal's last six single releases, only two of which had ranked even low on the Billboard Hot 100, "Hush" would not afford Royal a Top 40 comeback: managing only one "top-tier" market breakout in Chicago - whose prime Top 40 station WLS would rank "Hush" as high as #5 tying the WLS hit parade peak for both Royal's 1965 career record "Down in the Boondocks" and also Deep Purple's 1968 "Hush" cover[4] - "Hush" would rise no higher on the Hot 100 than #52,[5] with a Canadian pop chart peak of #45.[6] The qualified success of "Hush" was sufficient to allow for the release of Royal's second album Billy Joe Royal featuring Hush.
"Hush" did afford Billy Joe Royal a one-off hit on the European continent, reaching #12 on the German singles chart and becoming a Top Ten hit in Belgium (#1), the Netherlands (#5) and Switzerland (#2).[7]
A promo clip for Billy Joe Royal's release of the song was filmed at the boardwalk amusement park and outskirts of an unidentified Southern beach town.
"Hush" | ||||
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![]() Cover of the 1968 UK single | ||||
Single by Deep Purple | ||||
from the album Shades of Deep Purple | ||||
B-side | "One More Rainy Day" | |||
Released |
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Recorded | April 21, 1968 | |||
Studio | Pye, London | |||
Genre | Psychedelic rock | |||
Length | 4:24 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Joe South | |||
Producer(s) | Derek Lawrence | |||
Deep Purple singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
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"Hush" | ||||
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![]() Cover of the 1988 German single | ||||
Single by Deep Purple | ||||
from the album Nobody's Perfect | ||||
B-side |
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Released | June 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1988 | |||
Studio | Pye, London | |||
Genre | Rock style: blues rock,[9] hard rock[10] | |||
Length | 3:32 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Joe South | |||
Deep Purple singles chronology | ||||
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The song was subsequently recorded by British hard rock band Deep Purple for their 1968 debut album Shades of Deep Purple, group member Ritchie Blackmore having heard the Billy Joe Royal original while living in Hamburg: (Ritchie Blackmore quote:) "It was a great song [which] would be a good song [for] our act, if we could come up with a different arrangement...We [recorded] the whole song in two takes."[11] The track became the group's first hit single peaking at number 4 on the Hot 100 on 21–28 September 1968,[12] number 16 in Italy in late 1968, and number 2 in Canada while going largely unnoticed in the United Kingdom. Cash Box called it a "psychedelicized reversion of the time-back Billy Joe Royal song," saying that the instrumental work and tailoring of the rock song all point to sheer force".[13] A live, US-televised version of "Hush" appeared as a bonus track on the 2000 CD-reissue of the Shades of Deep Purple album.
In 1968, Hugh Hefner introduced Deep Purple, who performed live on the Playboy After Dark TV series. After Hefner heard a ghost story from Jon Lord and had a guitar lesson from Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple performed "Hush" which is available in the Playboy After Dark -2nd Collection 2007 DVD release.
In celebration of the band's 20th anniversary, Deep Purple re-recorded the song in 1988 for their album Nobody's Perfect. The track was released as a single and reached number 62 on the UK singles chart and number 44 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock chart.
"Hush" is one of four songs originally recorded with vocals sung by Rod Evans that Deep Purple have performed with Ian Gillan on vocals later on. Others are "Kentucky Woman", originally from the album The Book of Taliesyn from 1968; "Mandrake Root" from the same album that originally featured "Hush" ,"Bird Has Flown" from the album Deep Purple, or Deep Purple III, released in 1969.
1968 Deep Purple version
1988 Deep Purple version
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