South is better known as a hit-writer for others (from Deep Purple’s “Hush”to Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden”) and a revered session player (Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Dylan), but such achievements pale beside the psychedelic Nashville soul of these, his own solo albums from ’68 and ’69. It’s Johnny Cash meets Stax meets Pet Sounds, the kind of LPs that Elvis should have made post-’68 Comeback (not that unfeasible considering Presley would cover the latter LP’s “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” in Vegas). Stunning songs arranged and produced with flabbergasting invention, these are simply classic albums.
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