Thereafter South would concentrate mainly on songwriting. South had his first top 50 hit in July 1958 with a cover version of the b-side of The Big Bopper's hit single Chantilly Lace, a novelty song called "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor". (Charlie Wayne Felts is the cousin of Rockabilly Hall of Fame Inductee and Grand Ole Opry Member, Narvel Felts.) He soon returned to Nashville with The Manrando Group and then on to Charlie Wayne Felts Promotions. South's earliest recordings have been re-released by NRC on CD. He began his recording career in Atlanta with the National Recording Corporation, where he served as staff guitarist along with other NRC artists Ray Stevens and Jerry Reed. South had met and was encouraged by Bill Lowery, an Atlanta music publisher and radio personality. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970 for " Games People Play" and was again nominated for the award in 1972 for " Rose Garden". The song’s lyrics were also cited in 2022 in the popular film, Nope, when a photographer is trying to take a photo of some invading aliens.Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter Febru– September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Since then, Wooley has recorded the song several times, including “The Purple People Eater #2” in 1967 for MGM, which is credited to his alter ego Ben Colder, and again in 1979 as “Purple People Eater” for King Records.īut perhaps most importantly these days, as NFL fans know, the Minnesota Vikings football team’s defense in the 1970s was called the Purple People Eaters, because the Vikings’ uniforms are purple. The same year the song came out, iconic entertainer Judy Garland recorded it for her album Garland at the Grove. Since then, Wooley has recrded the song serveral times, including “The Purple People Eater #2” in 1967 for MGM, which is credited to his alter ego Ben Colder, and again in 1979 as “Purple People Eater” for King Records. The same year the song came out, iconic entertainer Judy Garland recorded it for her album, Garland at the Grove. Sound EffectsĪlong with chipmunk-like vocal effects from the monster, the song includes a toy-sounding saxophone that was originally played at a slower speed and then sped up with the frequency increased. But when a demo of the song got into the hands of the company’s young employees, who would listen to it in droves during lunch, MGM changed their mind. Originally, Wooley’s song was rejected by MGM Records. So much so that radio disc jockeys, at the time, had fans send in hand-drawn images of the monster to see what they thought. But whether the monster is purple or not remains ambiguous. After hearing the joke with the right frame of mind, Wooley wrote the song in an hour. In 1958, Time magazine reported that the song originated as a joke told by a childhood friend of Wooley’s. Playin’ rock and roll music through the horn in his head The Song’s Origin He was blowing it out, a-really knockin’ em dead Well he went on his way, and then what do ya know In the end, the monster gets a job, thanks to the one horn he has. And to clarify the query above, the monster eats people who are purple (wherever they live, perhaps in another far-out galaxy or at Area 51). So, more than eating people, the monster wants to play in a rock and roll band. “I wanna get a job in a rock and roll band” Purple People Eater, what’s your line?Īnd he said, “Eatin’ purple people and it sure is fine”īut that’s not the reason that I came to land But in the end, he doesn’t, because the singer is “too tough.” But what DOES the monster want? The key stanza comes in the middle of the song and also seemingly answers our original question up top. The singer is scared that the monster is going to eat him. It looks like a purple people eater to me I commenced to shakin’ and I said “Ooh-eee” It had the one long horn, and one big eye Well I saw the thing comin’ out of the sky It’s about an alien with one eye and one horn coming down to Earth. The StoryĪt its core, “The Purple People Eater” is like a comic book set to music. That same year, Alvin and the Chipmunks released their first song, and the track “Short Shorts,” as in who wears them, hit the charts, bringing in even more novelty songs onto the hallowed Billboard list. Billboard pop charts as, well as those in Canada and Australia. Written by Sheb Wooley, who was also an actor in the hit sports movie Hoosiers, playing an assistant coach, the song was released in 1958 and it quickly hit No. These were songs that used the sounds and tropes of rock and roll but were less aggressive and more humorous. Like other songs, including “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?” and songs by the Chipmunks, “The Purple People Eater” was part of a craze in the 1950s for novelty rock songs.
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