‘Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home’: Joe South, Appreciated

Billy Joe Royal, like South a Georgia native, had a special fondness for the man’s material and process. Royal’s biggest hits, “Down in the Boondocks” and “I Knew You When,” were both written and produced by him. But another South tune he recorded, “Hush,” made it only to No. 52 in 1967 — and this is where Deep Purple comes in. The British hard-rock outfit amped up the guitars and keyboards and let it ride and roar to the Top 10 the next year, solidifying South’s rep as a songwriter accessible to anyone. (Another British band, Kula Shaker, would revive it in 1997 for a major U.K. hit.)

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