"hey joe"

i hope all your sunday afternoons are as lovely and bright as the one we're having in nyc right now. i've been very busy this week (hence, a scarcity of blog posts), but i need some time to relax. for some reason, though, i was thinking about the song "hey joe." though the best known version of it was performed by the jimi hendrix experience, theirs was just one of many covers of the original, which written at least six years earlier.

attributed to billy roberts, an "obscure" california-based singer/songwriter, who allegedly performed "hey joe" as early as 1961 (the hendrix version appeared in 1967). the first released version of "hey joe" was performed by the leaves, an american garage rock band, and released in 1966. i vastly prefer the leaves' version to the hendrix one, being far rawer, distorted, and edgy. it has a chugging aggressiveness and an obvious, endearing lack of skill (but not of talent), and frontman john beck sounds like he's singing through a paper bag. i think it's great.

the leaves - "hey joe"

the jimi hendrix experience - "hey joe"