The earliest known commercial recording of "Hey Joe" is the 1965 single by the LA garage band, "The Leaves". It was written by Billy Roberts, who copyrighted the song in 1962. However, in 1965, folk singer Dino Valenti claimed authorship and received royalties on the original recordings. Roberts would eventually win in court, but all the original 1966 versions have Valenti's name credited.
One more interesting part of the story: Billy Roberts dated folk artist Niela Miller's who wrote and recorded a song in 1955 called "Baby, Please Don’t Go To Town". It has nearly the same chord progression and melody as "Hey Joe".
Baby, Please Don't Go To Town - Niela Miller (1955)
Tim Rose (1966)
The Hendrix version is derived from a 1966 recording by Tim Rose, a New York folkie who changed the lyrics and slowed down the tempo. Rose credited himself as the author and would spend his life contending that "Hey Joe" is a traditional folk song. No documentary evidence has been provided to support Rose's claim. Jimi's version went to #6 on the UK charts in 1966 and is credited to Roberts.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1966)
Other notable versions ...
The Standells (1966)
The Byrds (1966)
No comments:
Post a Comment