Joe South - So The Seeds Are Growing (1971)

On 1971’s So the Seeds Are Growing, where South -- who had bigger hits as a songwriter than a performer -- decided to devote roughly half of his record to covers, ranging from the recent Brotherhood of Man hit “United We Stand” to Ray Charles’ “Drown in My Own Tears,” from David Gates’ softly sweet “The Other Side of Life” to the blues standard “Motherless Children.” It was a curious choice that tends to underscore So the Seeds Are Growing’s connection to its 1971 release date as much as the proliferation of wah-wah fuzz guitars, thick gauzy strings, and tight funk rhythms -- rhythms that swing harder and heavier than South’s earlier records. Its period charms are considerable and are one of the primary appeals of So the Seeds Are Growing -- particularly on the over the top “Revolution of Love,” which piles on blues slide guitar, gospel choruses, soul horns, electric sitars, and hippie credos into a four-minute time capsule -- although it does possess a couple of overlooked South compositions in its cinematic title track and the defiant R&B swing of “No Fence Around Me,” all of which are enough to make this an album worth seeking out.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo