THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

550-Deep Purple-Hush.

1968-Number 58 single.

Best Bit-At 2.48. It’s the answer to that old age question, how much fun can you have with your organ?

Deep Purple (see also best songs 89) were formed in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, in 1968, by Ian Paice, (drums) who is the groups one constant, Jon Lord, (1941-2012) (keyboards) Ritchie Blackmore, (guitars) (see also best songs 976) Nick Simper, (bass) and Rod Evans (lead vocals.) It was those five original members who recorded ‘Hush’ for their 1968 debut studio Album ‘Shades of Deep Purple.’ They had started out as a ‘Psychedelic Rock,’ and ‘Progressive Rock’ group, but had shifted towards ‘Hard Rock,’ and ‘Heavy Metal’ by 1970. In 1988 Deep Purple re-recorded ‘Hush’ for the live Album ‘Nobody’s Perfect,’ to celebrate the groups 20th anniversary, the line up for that recording were the original remaining members, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, and Jon Lord, plus Ian Gillan, (lead vocals) and Roger Glover, (bass, and keyboards) who had both joined the group in 1969, having replaced Nick Simper, and Rod Evans who had left the same year.

‘Hush’ was the debut single from Deep Purple, and was the only single released from their debut studio Album ‘Shades of Deep Purple,’ from July 1968. The song was was written by Joe South, (1940-2012) with the production being by Derek Laurence (1941-2020.) ‘Hush’ was a cover version for Deep Purple, as the song had been written specifically for the American ‘Country/Soul’ singer Billy Joe Royal (1942-2015) in 1967, with his recording peaking at Number 52 on Billboard in America. Ritchie Blackmore had heard the Billy Joe Royal version, and in more recent years has said, ‘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.’ Deep Purple had great success with ‘Hush,’ taking it to Number 4 on Billboard in 1968, although in their native UK, the song stalled at Number 58.

‘Hush’ has been recorded by many artists, and in many different genres. In 1968 the songs composer Joe South recorded ‘Hush’ for his second studio Album ‘Games People Play.’ The song was a hit in Australia, reaching Number 15 in 1967 for the Australian Rock group ‘Somebody’s Image,’ while the most successful version of the song in the UK, has been the recording by the English ‘Psychedelic Rock’ group ‘Kula Shaker,’ whose version is in the same style as that of Deep Purple, and reached Number 2 in 1997. Other acts to have recorded ‘Hush’ for inclusion on their studio Albums include, ‘Merrilee Rush, (1968) the Love Affair, (1968) and Milli Vanilli (1988.) The Partridge Family performed a version on their television series, with David Cassidy (1950-2017) on vocals.

‘Hush’ was written by Joe South, who was born Joseph Alfred Souter, on February 28th, 1940, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, he died on September 5th, 2012, of heart failure, at the age of 72. In 1970, he won the ‘Grammy Award,’ for ‘Song of the Year,’ for ‘Games People Play,’ a song he recorded himself, reaching Number 12 on Billboard, and Number 6 in the UK, and then in 1972, he was again nominated, this time for his composition ‘Rose Garden,’ which is his most commercially successful song, reaching Number 3 on Billboard, and also Number 3 in the UK, in 1970, when recorded by the American ‘Country Music’ artist Lynn Anderson (1947-2015.) After the death of his brother Tommy, who committed suicide in 1971, Joe South became clinically depressed, and turned to drugs. He has said,’I didn’t see myself doing drugs for the kicks. I did it more or less to keep going, and to tap into inspiration. I equated the chemicals with the inspiration.’ His drug abuse resulted him in parting ways with his record label, and then living for a time on the Hawaiian island of Maui, during the 1970’s. He said of that time,’I really kicked myself around for years. One of the main hang-ups was I just refused to forgive myself. You know, you can go through drug treatment centres, and it’s not a permanent healing until it’s a spiritual healing.’

‘Hush’ is a song about someone being totally infatuated by another, and they will do anything to get them to feel the same. Joe South probably got the idea for ‘Hush’ from an old African/American spiritual song, which includes the line ‘Hush I hear Jesus calling my name.’ It has also been pointed out that the ‘Na na na, 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 British Rock group The Charlatans lifted the organ riff from the Deep Purple version of ‘Hush’ for their 1990 UK Number 9 hit ‘The Only One I Know’ (see also best songs 844.)

‘Na na na na na na. 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.’