Hey Joe Versions By Jan Marius More about the song "Hey Joe" and over 1500 versions listed Thanks to Christian Arnould for additional information

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Over 1500 versions listed now! More about my Radio Show 'Purple Haze' and my poetry and photography at Tulips.tk

Hey Joe Hey Joe - Latest addition: the version by: Steve Stills Hey Joe - Introduction "Hey Joe", a traditional song performed by many artists. Sometimes credited to Billy Roberts. Sometimes credited to Dino Valenti a.k.a. Jesse Oris Farrow, née Chester Powers, who became the lead singer of Quicksilver Messenger Service. In 1965 "Hey Joe" was recorded by The Leaves. In 1966 they recorded it again with a fuzztone guitar sound. Also the Surfaris, Byrds, Love, Shadows of Night, Warlocks and many other bands recorded the song in 1966. Tim Rose recorded "Hey Joe" in 1966, one month before the Leaves' version entered the charts. Rose played the song at less than half the tempo. He changed the key of the song to E instead of A. Rose also roared out the verses, and added his own variant on their structure. Jimi Hendrix picked up this version of "Hey Joe" and made a European hit out of it in 1967. Since then many other great guitar players have performed this song. A Japanese group called the Golden Cups recorded a version in 1968 that adapted the song to different cultural standards. See also: Sixties Rock Garage , Psychedelic & Other Satisfactions By Michael Hicks (University of Illinois Press) Message from Andrew Christopher Roberts Sr (March 14, 2008) My mom emailed me your site. My name is Andrew Christopher Roberts Sr.. Bill is my father. Surprise! I was born 8/1/1961 as Hillel mentioned they met in Nevada that year, where Bill was divorcing my mother. I never met him until I was 15. We hooked up in sfo. 2249 Fillmore St. Never forget that place. Billy was blown away by how much him was in me though we had never met! I too was an aspiring songwriter, singer, harp player rythym guitar (not quite player at that point), there was a lot more to Billy than many people know.....master martial, artist, samuri, sun-don akido master, marksman, genius, beautiful, tortured soul,lover, extraodinaire man, the incredible woman folk that would line up,just to take a ride on the w.m.r.railroad and get their own heart broke. I'm 46 now, and I lost track of Billy very shortly after the accident in 92'. His mother snatched him up, tucked him away somewhere, and told none where he was or how he was. Until I came across a site about him I didn't know if he was dead or alive, and I've been searching for him ever since. He doesn't know that he is a grandfather of the world's most wonderful ten year old boy, Andrew jr. If you or any one out there knows his whereabouts I would be forever grateful for that knowledge, If billy is still holdin' on like the tough old bear that he is, I would love for he and his grandson to meet before it's to late. You see my days are numberd on this big blue marble, due to numerous health issues and I would love the chance to introduce theese two very incredible poeple, thanks for your time. Andy Roberts P.S. The chick who claims that Bill stole Hey Joe from her is wrong! (orginal espression for wrong edited by Jan Marius Franzen) The song was written as a parody to the old song Frankie and Johnny, and he had my mother on his mind! So we can put that nonsense to rest once and for all! Message from Nancy Roberts (Oct. 4, 2007) My name is Nancy Roberts. I am the mother of Andrew C. Roberts, Jr., who is also the son of Andrew C. Roberts, Sr.(aka Andy), my estranged husband. Andy was born on 8/1/61 to Susan and Billy Roberts. At first Billy denied it was his child. Years later, Andy travelled to San Francisco to find his father, and the resemblance was undeniable. Andy has met Christie Roberts, but she never liked him. She would not tell him where his father was after his accident. Andy and I were married on 5/14/97. Andy has been hoping to find his father for a long time, especially after our son was born on 12/14/97. Both of my parents died before Andrew Jr. was born. Susan, Billy's ex-wife, is an active part of his life. Andrew Jr. would love a chance to meet his grandpa. Please write back with any info you or Hillel might have about how to get in touch with Billy. I have included a photo of Andy, Billy's son, taken in 2000, and a recent photo of Andrew. See the photos Comments from Third Palm Music (April 26, 2006) Dear Jan – We have always paid royalties to Billy Roberts, and only Billy Roberts, as the author of the song. We would have no reason to pay anyone else. Thanks for making the site, it is very informative. Sincerely, Evan Cohen, Third Palm Music, Los Angeles We represent copyright proprietor, Third Palm Music, which is the successor-in-interest to Third Story Music. Third Palm Music is the sole and exclusive worldwide copyright owner of “Hey Joe” written by Billy Roberts. I enjoyed your website and thank you for your work. I thought you might want to have our information, so people seeking to license “Hey Joe” can contact us. Thanks again for your efforts. Kindest regards. Joanne J. Terrell Cohen and Cohen, 740 N. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90038, USA The Tale of Billy Roberts by Hillel Resner, close friend and ex-manager of Billy Roberts (May 7, 2005) A friend of mine (the guitar player Stevie Gurr, who plays with Elvin Bishop and others) told me about your site. It just goes to prove that you really can find anything on the Internet! Anyway, I probably know as much about Billy Roberts and "Hey Joe" as anyone, having been his close friend since 1962 and his manager for a number of years in the 1970s. Read 'The Tale of Billy Roberts' here Comment from Niela (Halleck) Miller, ex-girlfriend of Billy Roberts I would like to set the record straight about Hey Joe...the Untold Story. In the late fifties, Billy Roberts was my boyfriend for awhile. I was a songwriter and had written a song called "Baby Please Don't Go To Town". It is copyrighted. He stole it from me, kept the melody and put different words to it. thereby turning it into Hey Joe. My music publisher at the time advised me against suing Billy because Dino Valente's name appeared on the recording and it would have been a long and expensive process. Please let Billy know that whenever he wants to make amends, I would welcome it. Read The Story of Niela Miller Comment from N. Jama Santers (Dino's "Old Lady" from 1976 to 1983) I just wanted you to know that I was Dino's (Chet Powers) woman for 7 years. He recieved quarterly royalty statements from BMI and included in the numerous song credits and royalties was the song "Hey Joe". He was born on Oct. 7, 1937 and he died on Nov. 16, 1994. Hey Joe - Wikipedia

Billy Roberts sung and played "Hey Joe" at Club 9, San Francisco, August 20, 1986 Billy Roberts sung and played "Hey Joe" with John Cippolina, Nick Gravenites, Greg Elmore and Dave Killmer at Club 9, San Francisco, August 20, 1986. John and Greg were members of the Quicksilver Messenger Service! He was introduced as a great songwriter. 'I think his biggest hit was a song recorded by a lot of people ...: "Hey Joe"'! About the change in lyrics of "Hey Joe" by Michael Dent I recently read the notes to Love's self-titled debut album and it mentions the Leaves getting a copy of the lyrics off of Johnny Echols of Love. Byran Maclean (of Love) was close friend of The Byrds and that was where he got the lyrics from. But since Echols suspected they were going to release it as a song before Love he changed the lyrics in the copy he gave them, and this modified copy is what the Leaves and others like Jimi Hendrix used. Hence the Leaves and Jimi sing "hey joe where you goin' with that gun in your hand" as opposed to "hey joe where you goin' with that money in your hand" which is what Love used and is in the copy of Billy Roberts lyric sheet on your site (why would you be going with a gun to buy a gun??). Love were going to release it as their single but because the Leaves got there first so they didn't. Who recorded first? Michael Hicks states in his book: Sixties Rock Garage, Psychedelic & Other Satisfactions': The first group to record "Hey Joe" was apparently the Surfaris, who were best known for their surf songs. including "Surfer Joe" (1962). They recorded "Hey Joe" in September 1965, but, perhaps out of loyalty to Crosby and the Byrds, did not include it on their November 1965 folk rock album, It Ain't Me Babe.' However I have no hard evidence of this. Fact is that the version of the Leaves was released first. Hey Joe - The Original Lyrics Hey Joe - Comment from Nash The Slash I just went to your site about Hey Joe and I was blown away. Great info and great links to other interesting 60's connections like 'I Can Only Give You Everything'. The site is well organized and informative and your link to nashtheslash.com works perfectly. Hey Joe - 1951 guitarists 1951 guitars played Jimi Hendrix's blues-rock hit 'Hey Joe' and other songs at the Old Town Square in Wroclaw, Poland, on the 1st of may 2008. This event sets a new Guinness' World Record for the largest number of guitars simultaneously playing the same song. Leszek Cichonski Links RTV Katwijk Rainbow Fanclan Legacy Robert Plant: Lyrics Beyond The Beat Generation (Radio) Singles

Last Update: January 16, 2010