THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

550-Deep Purple-Hush.

1968-Number 58 single.

Best Bit-At 2.47. It’s the answer to that age old question, how much fun can you have with your organ?

Deep Purple (see also best songs 89) were formed in 1968, in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, by Ian Paice (drums,) who is the bands one constant, Jon Lord (1941-2012) (keyboards,) Ritchie Blackmore (guitars,) (see also best songs 976) Nick Simper (bass,) and Rod Evans (vocals.) They started out as a ‘Psychedelic Rock,’ and ‘Progressive Rock’ band, but shifted towards ‘Hard Rock,’ and Heavy Metal’ by 1970. It was those five original members who recorded ‘Hush’ for their 1968 debut Album ‘Shades of Deep Purple.’ In 1988 they re-recorded the song for the live Album ‘Nobody’s Perfect,’ to celebrate the bands 20 anniversary, the lineup for that version were the original remaining members Paice, Lord, and Glover, plus Ian Gillan (vocals,) who had joined the band in 1969, and Roger Glover (bass,) who had also joined in 1969.In the UK the original version of ‘Hush’ only reached Number 58, but in the States it was a big success, peaking at Number 4 on Billboard. In the UK the 1988 live version fared no better, by only reaching Number 62, and Number 44 in the States.

‘Hush’ has been recorded on many occasions, in many different genres. The first version of the song was by Billy Joe Royal (1942-2015,) in 1967, who had already worked with Joe South (1940-2012,) who was the songs writer, for many years. South had written Royal’s debut hit ‘Down in the Boondocks’ (Billboard Number 9) in 1965. Also in 1967 ‘Hush’ was a hit in Australia, reaching Number 15, for the Australian Rock band ‘Somebody’s Image.’ The most successful version of the song in the UK was recorded by Kula Shaker in 1997, in the same style as Deep Purple, their re-make peaked at Number 2.Joe South was born Joseph Alfred Souter on February 28th, 1940, in Atlanta Georgia, United States, he died on September 5th, 2012, from heart failure. He won the ‘Grammy Award’ for ‘Song of the Year’ in 1970 for ‘Games People Play,’ and was nominated in 1972 for ‘Rose Garden.’ South probably got the idea for ‘Hush’ from an old African/American spiritual song, which included the line ‘Hush I heard Jesus calling my name.’ It has also been pointed out that the ‘Na nana, na na’ part of the song is very similar to the melody in the 1967 Beatles song ‘A Day in the Life’ (see also best songs 10.) In 1990 The Charlatans lifted the organ riff from this version of ‘Hush’ for their 1990 UK Number 9 hit ‘The Only One I Know (see also best songs 844.)

‘I got a certain little girl, she’s on my mind. No doubt about it she looks so fine. She’s the best girl that I ever had, sometimes she’s gonna make me feel so bad.’