Joe South dies at 72: singer-songwriter 'Games People Play'

Joe South, a versatile singer-songwriter who penned "Games People Play," "Down in the Boondocks" and other pop-rock hits in the 1960s and '70s, has died. He was 72.

South died Wednesday at his home in Buford, Ga., northeast of Atlanta, said Butch Lowery, president of the Lowery Group. The company published South's music. Marion Merck of the Hall County coroner's office said South died of natural causes stemming from a heart attack.

Beginning in the late 1960s, South rode a wave of success with his combination of melodic songs and compelling lyrics. Billy Joe Royal scored a hit with his cover of "Down in the Boondocks" in 1965, and Deep Purple had one with "Hush." Then South won Grammy Awards for song of the year and best contemporary song of 1969 for his own recording of "Games People Play." He had hits with "Don't It Make You Want to Go Home" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." He collected a Grammy nomination for country singer Lynn Anderson's recording of "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden."

"The Grammy Awards are a very nice gesture by the record industry, but they can really mess up your head," South told Times rock critic Robert Hilburn in 1970, months after he accepted the honors for "Games People Play."

"The Grammy is a little like a crown. After you win it, you feel like you have to defend it. In a sense, I froze. I found it hard to go back in to the recording studio because I was afraid the next song wouldn't be perfect."

He struggled emotionally after his brother, Tommy Souter, committed suicide in 1971. Drug abusederailed South's career, and he disappeared from the stage and recording studio while living in Maui in the early 1970s. His first marriage ended in divorce, and he made comeback attempts to little notice.

He eventually went through drug rehabilitation programs and married his second wife, Jan, in 1987.

Born Joseph Souter in Atlanta on Feb. 28, 1940, he began playing guitar when he was about 11. He was later signed to a recording and publishing contract by country music disc jockey Bill Lowery.

In 1958, South recorded his debut single, a novelty song called "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor." His hit song-writing abilities were next on display in 1962 when the Tams reached No. 1 with their R&B recording of "Untie Me."

South worked as a session musician for a time, playing guitar on Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools,"Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde," Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" and albums by Eddy Arnold, Marty Robbins and other country, R&B and rock bands.

South was an inductee in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

'HONEY BOO BOO' FAMILY We Make Waaay More than $4k an Episode!!!

On Wednesday, June Shannon, the mother of six year old Alana Thompson, better known as “Honey Boo Boo,” said she and her family make more than $4,000 an for their TLC reality TV show named after the pageant princess.

According to TMZ, after a report that stated Thompson and her family made somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000 per each episode of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” Shannon spoke to the online tabloid saying it was much more than that, but she would not divulge the dollar amount, only saying “We’re very well compensated.”

Nonetheless, she also said that the show provides more than a good income for the family, noting, “We’re making memories to last a lifetime.”

Shannon also told the website that although she and her family have been highly criticized and called terrible things due to their lifestyle, she welcomes the "haters" as they add ratings to the show.

“It’s weird that haters know more about our show than our amazing fans,” she said.

credit : "http://www.examiner.com"

Princess Diana'sซ15-Year Death Anniversary

 
It may be hard to believe, but today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed died from injuries sustained from a car accident in Paris, France on August 31, 1997. Driver Henri Paul was also killed, and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones sustained major injuries. At the time, their Mercedes were being pursued by paparazzi. None of the occupants were wearing seatbelts.

An 18-month French investigation found Paul responsible for the crash. Paul was intoxicated at the time, and lost control of the car. Mohamed Al-Fayed, Dodi's father, claimed his son and Diana's deaths were part of a conspiracy theory orchestrated by the royal family. An Al-Fayed spokesperson said the couple were engaged at the time of the accident. Subsequent investigations dismissed these theories.

Diana was only 36 at the time of her death, and left behind two sons, Princes William and Harry. The entire world mourned the passing of Princess Diana, with an estimated 2.5 billion people watching her funeral. In the 15 years since her death, laws limiting the paparazzi have strengthened, and the Royals have moved on with their lives.

Still, we can only wonder how life of "The People's Princess" and her family would've turned out had she lived. Click on the gallery above to see how her death affected the royal family and other figures, including Elton John and George Clooney.

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CNN Camerawoman Hit With Nuts At RNC Convention In Tampa

In Tampa on Tuesday a person attending the RNC convention at the St. Pete Times Forum was thrown out of the event for throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman. The person throwing the nuts was heard yelling,”this is how we feed the animals.”
“CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon,” the statement read. “CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”

Listen everybody, here at wqyk we know that not everybody has the same opinion but we are all people, no one should be treated this way. We ask the listenrs of WQYK to be respectful to everybody.

Just Disgusting! Black CNN Camerawoman Had Peanuts Thrown At Her During RNC (DETAILS) Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/republican-national-convention-attendee-allegedly-threw-nuts-black-cnn-camerawoman-details#ixzz24xg4bWZC

The GOP's ugly side revealed itself during the Republican National Convention last night, as an attendee in Tampa, Florida allegedly threw nuts at a black camerawoman working for CNN, taunting, “This is how we feed animals” before she was removed from the convention.

As reported by Talking Points Memo: 

The CNN official declined to confirm specific details of the incident but generally confirmed an account posted on Twitter by former MSNBC and Current anchor David Shuster: “GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying ‘This is how we feed animals.’”

It is not clear whether the alleged culprit was a delegate or attending the convention in some other capacity.

In a written statement, CNN addressed the matter but divulged few details: “CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”

According to Politico however, RNC spokesperson Kyle Downey said: 

"Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

It’s a sad fact that this has become the unsurprising behavior of the Republican Party in 2012.