If you've ever bemoaned the lost art of songwriting, The Joe South Tribute Record will do nothing to shake your melancholy. Joe South wrote some songs you may have heard before, perhaps on an oldies station -- "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" and Deep Purple's "Hush", for example. That said, even long distance truckers who prop their eyelids open with scratchy rural AM oldies stations are unlikely to recognize South, although he garnered several Grammys for his song "Games People Play" in 1968. Despite the moderate success he enjoyed with his own material, he's more widely known as the songwriter/session player behind a diverse group or artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis and Lena Horne.

The Joe South Tribute Record will be hard-pressed to match the quality of the Joe South canon, if only because South left a huge mark on the music world. It really is a tribute to the man's exceptional talents that the twelve interpretations of South classics featured here have such a distinct, coherent feel. The songs are clearly the expression of a singular vision, and the strengths that mark them as the work of one talented songwriter overwhelm the various interpretational styles of the artists who perform them. This is -- and pay attention here, indie-rock songwriters -- the sign of a true songwriting craftsman; it's a trade that, unfortunately, seems more debased with every passing year. An array of impressive artists, including Kevin O'Donnell's drums on several tunes and Otis Clay's stirring rendition of "Walk a Mile In My Shoes", do South proud, and mark this particular volume as one of the rare tribute CDs that's well worth owning.