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Today’s Rock Hero related post is dedicated to “na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, naaaaaaaaaaaaah Hush”.  This is real meat ‘n potatoes rollin’ rock.

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‘Hush’ was written by Joe White, the multi-talented guitarist, prominent session player (Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Simon & Garfunkel…) and composer (’Games People Play’  , ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’, ‘Rose Garden’). It was originally performed by ‘Down In The Boondocks’ singer Billy Joe Royal—he had a first stab at the track back in 1967. There he is, above, in the same year, dancing in front of what looks like a Powerpoint ™ bar chart.

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Billy Joe Royal’s pop-meets-Woodstock version peaked (and stalled) at no. 52 in the Billboard charts that year but it was to be Deep Purple’s reworking of the track the following year that really added meat to the bones of ‘Hush’. Complete with howling wolf intro, Hammond organ, driving rhythm section and Sir Richie Of Blackmore on guitar, the track became a psychedelic rock classic and gave the band their first hit across the pond.  It would be fair to say they made the track their own and sorta eclipsed poor old Billy Joe for good.

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Here they are in 1968 showing Hugh Hefner how to play guitar, which isn’t at all weird.  The whole thing is so Saturday-Night-Live-sketch that I’m still not entirely convinced it isn’t a cutting room floor scene from Spinal Tap.  I simply can’t find the words to convey quite how amazing this is on so many levels.  Gold spandex peddle-pushers, Yeti boots, bunny girls, Hugh Hefner, the Playboy mansion, stick-on Lego hair, ghost stories, so many flammable man-made fibres it’s a wonder the set doesn’t spontaneously combust, joke-rock English accents, that wobbly body/head snapping dancing that people only knew how to do in the 60s, go-go dancers.  It’s all here folks.  This is one party I’m sorry I missed!  It’s the most fun you can have in 5 minutes and 17 seconds on youtube….well, without entering in your password.

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Pop soul outfit and one-time second biggest seller to The Beatles, The Love Affair, added some (much underused) cowbell on this slightly sped-up but worthy effort the same year.

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The ‘Hush’ story picks up again in 1999 with post-Brit Pop psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker’s offering. The band’s heavily India-era Beatles ‘inspired’ debut album K may well have become a joke record of the 90s to the chin-strokey crowd now but I’m pretty certain no. 1 album selling Crispin Mills isn’t losing any sleep over it and nor should we!  I bought K…it was the 90s…I was a teenager…I’m ok with it.  We all did a lot of crazy things in the 90s. I for one was wearing far too much purple velvet and ying-yang symbol necklaces. We’re all over it. Anyway, here’s their valiant 1999 effort.  

With more than a respectfully embarrassing nod to the Deep Purple version they don’t so much as wear the track as it wears them, but as Rod would say, it wears them well, and, earns them a place on our Rock Heroes collection…even if Crispin is wearing a choker and the keyboard player REALLY wants us to know he’s wearing post-ironic platform boots and flares.  Yeah, alright guys, we get it, you rock.  Thank God you found your parents’ old record collection.

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Klassic!