"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 Somebody's Image was a short lived rock and pop Australian band, most famous for the Joe South's cover "Hush" which peaked at number 15 in Australia in 1967. History In 1966, the fledgling band began hanging around gigs by The Groop, who were ...

(an Australian band fronted by Russell Morris) in 1967. It reached #15. It was also covered by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

in 1968 and by

Kula Shaker Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a num ...

in 1997. Each artist had a Top 5 hit with their version.

Billy Joe Royal version

Billy Joe Royal recorded "Hush" on 12 July 1967 in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

with Barry Bailey, future lead guitarist for the

Atlanta Rhythm Section Atlanta Rhythm Section (or ARS) is an American Southern rock band formed in 1970 by Rodney Justo (singer), Barry Bailey (guitar), Paul Goddard (bass), Dean Daughtry (keyboards), Robert Nix (drums) and J. R. Cobb (guitar). The band's current l ...

, on guitar. Joe South, Royal's regular songwriter/producer, was travelling to Nashville with Royal and writing " Rose Garden" in the car. Royal didn't like it, so South wrote "Hush" for him while leaning on the dashboard. Royal did record "Rose Garden" for his album ''Billy Joe Royal featuring Hush'', though didn't release it as a single. In 1971, "Rose Garden" become an international for

Lynn Anderson Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, "Rose Garden," was a number one hit in the United States and internationally. She charte ...

, and was South's most successful composition. Royal later regretted not liking the song. 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

's 1968 "Hush" cover - "Hush" would rise no higher on the Hot 100 than #52, with a Canadian pop chart peak of #45. 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). 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.

Deep Purple version

The song was subsequently recorded by British hard rock band

for their 1968 debut album ''

Shades of Deep Purple ''Shades of Deep Purple'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released in July 1968 on Tetragrammaton in the United States and in September 1968 on Parlophone in the United Kingdom. The band, initially called Roundab ...

'', group member Ritchie Blackmore having heard the Billy Joe Royal original while living in Hamburg: (Ritchie Blackmore quote:) "It was a great song hichwould be a good song orour act, if we could come up with a different arrangement...We ecordedthe whole song in two takes." The track became the group's first hit single peaking at number 4 on the Hot 100 on 21–28 September 1968, number 16 in Italy in late 1968, and number 2 in Canada while going largely unnoticed in the United Kingdom. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' 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". In 1968, Deep Purple performed live on

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

's ''

Playboy After Dark ''Playboy After Dark'' is an American television show hosted by Hugh Hefner. It aired in syndication through Screen Gems from 1969 to 1970 and was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. Overview ''Playboy After Dark'' followed much the sa ...

'' TV series. The band opened the episode playing the instrumental " And the Address". 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 and the 2000 CD-reissue of the ''Shades of Deep Purple'' album. In celebration of the band's 20th anniversary, Deep Purple re-recorded the song in 1988 for their album ''

Nobody's Perfect ''NoBody's Perfect'' is a 2008 feature documentary produced and directed by Niko von Glasow. The film won the German Film Award for Best Documentary Film at the Deutscher Filmpreis in 2009, and has gone on to receive worldwide acclaim, resulting ...

''. 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 the band's original vocalist

Rod Evans Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a British former singer. In the late 1960s, he began his professional career in The Maze, formerly MI5, after which he was a member of the original Deep Purple line-up, who produced three studio albums ...

and bassist Nick Simper that Deep Purple have performed with their replacements Ian Gillan and Roger Glover later on. Others are " Mandrake Root", also from ''Shades of Deep Purple'', " Kentucky Woman", from the album ''

The Book of Taliesyn ''The Book of Taliesyn'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, recorded only three months after ''Shades of Deep Purple'' and released by Tetragrammaton Records in October 1968, just before their first US tour. The n ...

'' from 1968 and "Bird Has Flown", from the album ''

'' from 1969. The instrumental "Wring That Neck" from ''The Book of Taliesyn'' was also a regular part of the band's setlist into the early 1970s.

Other versions

*The song's composer Joe South recorded "Hush" in 1968 for his second album ''Games People Play''. * British singer

Kris Ife Kris John Ife (16 June 1946 – 8 November 2013) was an English singer and songwriter, who enjoyed modest success in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. He recorded a version of "Hush", later covered by Deep Purple. Career Born in Aylesbury, Bucki ...

released a version in December 1967 (MGM Records single) * Tommy Körberg recorded "Hush" for his 1968 album ''Nature Boy'', credited to Tom. *

Merrilee Rush Merrilee Rush ( Gunst; January 26, 1944) is an American singer, best known for her recording of the song "Angel of the Morning", a top-10 hit which earned her a Grammy nomination for female vocalist of the year in 1968. Early life and career ...

recorded "Hush" for her 1968 album ''Angel of the Morning''. * Love Affair recorded "Hush" for their 1968 album ''

The Everlasting Love Affair ''The Everlasting Love Affair'' is the debut studio album by the English pop band Love Affair. Released in December 1968, it includes the group's first three hit singles, among them " Everlasting Love", which had reached number one on the UK Sin ...

''. *A 1973 single release of "Hush" by

Jeannie C. Riley Jeannie C. Riley (born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson; October 19, 1945) is an American country music and gospel music, gospel singing, singer. She is best known for her 1968 country music, country and pop music, pop hit "Harper Valley PTA", which mi ...

, from her album ''Just Jeannie'', reached #51 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' C&W chart. *Swiss band Gotthard included a cover on their self-titled 1992 debut album. They also performed the song live with Deep Purple's Jon Lord as guest special at the Zermatt Unplugged Festival in 2008. *Jenny Rock, a Canadian artist, recorded a French adaptation version in 1970 entitled Mal (produced by Michel Pagliaro). *

recorded a version which peaked at No.2 in the UK Charts in 1997 and was used on the soundtrack for ''

I Know What You Did Last Summer ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely based on ...

'' and the marketing for '' Kingsman: The Secret Service''. *

recorded a version that was a minor hit in Australia in 1967. * The Partridge Family performed a version on their TV series, with David Cassidy on vocals. * Milli Vanilli recorded a version on their debut album ''

All or Nothing All or Nothing may refer to: Film and television * ''All or Nothing'' (film), a 2002 film by Mike Leigh * ''All or Nothing'' (game show), a 2004–2005 Russian game show based on ''Deal or No Deal'' * ''All or Nothing'' (sports docuseries), ...

'' in 1988. * Complex recorded a version for their debut self-titled studio album in 1970. *

Funky Junction Funky Junction were an Irish rock band formed in 1972 specifically to record a single album of songs made famous by British band Deep Purple, which was released as ''Funky Junction Play a Tribute to Deep Purple'' in January 1973. Among the band's ...

recorded a version of "Hush" on their only album ''Funky Junction Play a Tribute to Deep Purple'' in 1973. The band featured

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

Eric Bell Eric Robin Bell (born 3 September 1947 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish rock and blues musician, best known as a founding member and the original guitarist of the rock group Thin Lizzy from 1969 to 1973. After his time in Thin ...

, and Brian Downey from Thin Lizzy.Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004 * Captain Jack covered "Hush" on the Eurodance album ''Party Warriors'', released in Europe in 2003.

Personnel

1968 Deep Purple version * Ritchie Blackmore – guitar *

– lead vocals * Nick Simper – bass guitar, backing vocals * Ian Paice – drums * Jon Lord –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, backing vocals 1988 Deep Purple version * Ritchie Blackmore – guitar * Ian Gillan – vocals, harmonica * Roger Glover – bass * Ian Paice – drums * Jon Lord – organ, keyboards

References

{{authority control Billy Joe Royal songs Deep Purple songs Kula Shaker songs Songs written by Joe South 1967 singles 1968 debut singles 1980 singles 1988 singles Columbia Records singles Parlophone singles Mercury Records singles Polydor Records singles 1967 songs