The Leaves-Hey Joe

Hey, Joe, where you going
With that gun in your hand
I said, hey, Joe, where you going
With that gun in your hand
I'm going out and find my woman now
She's been running around with
Some other man
I said, I'm going out to find my woman
She's been running around with
Some other man
Hey, Joe, now
What are you gonna do
Hey, Joe, tell me
What are you gonna do
Well, I guess I'll shoot my woman now
That's what I'll do
Said I guess I'll shoot them both
Before I'm through
Hey, Joe, tell me
What are you gonna do
Hey, Joe, I said
What are you gonna do
Well, I guess I'll go down
To my place in Mexico
Said I guess I'll go down
To where a man can be free
And there ain't gonna be no
Hangman's ropes gonna be
Put around me

[@gerrygreene6354]

The Leaves played Hey Joe at the Whiskey about 1965/66. I was there and it was electrifying.

[@alwaysatthefair]

That sounds like an amazing experience

[@atuliti]

Wow! Must have been awesome

[@shawnmalone9711]

Did you see Arthur Lee and Love and the Doors?

[@michavandam]

If I'm reading correctly, it was electrifying that you were there.

[@ericr5431]

It was the first version I ever heard on WLS 890 in Chicago. I had the 45.

[@skykitchen867]

I bought this album in the early 70's in a 50 cent bin at Woolworths. I just played the album the other day and still like it. "Girl from the East" was one of my favorites.

[@elleboucher]

My favorite version!! Raw and mean and sexy as hell.

[@ringo244]

Yes I agree with you 100% & I still have the 45 Rock On

[@haroldfridkis7653]

Mine too. Reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.

[@walterfechter8080]

That bassline adds a LOT of punch to this version -- a fave of mine since the mid-Sixties.

[@DKD81]

Absolutely. They just simply kicked ass on this one. The definitive version.

[@socratesagain7822]

Pure, unadulterated, 60's garage-band classic! Still my favorite version (sorry, Mr. Jimi...). It sends me back, every single time I hear it. Be well.

[@gaddyify]

You got to be kidding?

[@caidoangel8209]

DEEP PURPLE MARK ONE OWNS THE ULTIMATE VERSION of Hey joes of this planet.

[@alancharbonneau4108]

Total agreement. I was 12 years old in 1966 when this song became an hit. I’ve loved it ever since. It got a fair amount of airplay in the Los Angeles area (93 KHJ) and went to #31 on the bIllboard top 100. Hendrix had a ver different take on the song, but I loved the driving energy of The Leaves version.

[@FromThaStarz]

Fever tree as well! This one is amped tho!

[@mattskustomkreations]

Jimi’s version is way better. But it’s cool this version can be heard too.

[@ronnie237]

Loved this version in the 60’s. I heard it today for the first time in many years.

[@walterfechter8395]

Acid-drenched and bluesy. I've always dug the bassline in this one. Memories...

[@TrollsAreGonnaTroll]

Acid drenched! my favorite

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Was acid available in the mid 60's? I vaguely remember a Jerry Garcia interview in which he said it was legal for a short while and the cops didn't even know what to do with someone who was tripping balls in the middle of the street so they took them to the hospital.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

A bit before they arrived but this reminds me of The Stooges. I can imagine Iggy Pop belting Hey Joe out this way!

[@socratesagain7822]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 , Here's the skinny on acid's "origins." Be well. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Hofmann

[@hugbug4408]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Acid was very much around in the mid-60s. Timothy Leary 's Tune in Turn on ,And Drop out was the beatnik/hippy motto starting 1964 , or evan before. By 1967 LSD was illegal. But it's use proliferated. But, evan worse was heroin. That was abused by hippies bigtime too. Vietnam gave it some impetus too!

[@ellenhilts-gossett4108]

Sounds just like the '60s ought to sound!

[@woodiebluez60]

This is the version I heard first. I love 'em both, though. :)

[@handsomepackage7004]

I agree Robert Woods. This is the first one I heard in the spring of ‘66

[@alanallen8611]

All versions of “Hey Joe” are great but this cut is it!

[@jwjeffrey]

The Byrds version suck because of David Crosby who sang it at Monterey Pop.

[@sunkintree]

@@jwjeffrey he sings it well but the effort as a group is not up to par

[@robertmyers5162]

they played at my high school ,chaminade in canoga park, ca.1967, they rocked!

[@michaelshifflett76]

THEE FIRST heavy metal song-period.

[@ricjan58]

Wouldn't it be cool to hear songs like this every hour on the pop music radio channels of today?

[@jackhana7374]

You mean instead of the utter crap they are playing over and over and over?

[@total.stranger]

Jack, keep in mind that the World War II generation who were running things in 1966 thought that this was crap, too. It was just noise for ignorant teenagers. They hated it.

[@deadinsidebutstillhorny1340]

Yeah it would be cool😍

[@AngelA-tq9rs]

Download Purple Haze Radio app! I have it for Iphone the music they play is exactly like this I promise you

[@rocknroll_jezus9233]

It's why I'm an album guy

[@henchmannumber_1735]

Garage band masterpiece. Nobody did this song better. The bass riffs are classic.

[@cliveherbert8271]

Think the bass comes over better on Love's version

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Yeah I might venture to say I like this better than the Hendrix version.

[@laustcawz2089]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Never cared for the Hendrix version. Song needs to be fast.

[@gertmcfly]

try the Otis Taylor version

[@hugbug4408]

I like the 65/66 psych best. This song kicks ass. Was 8 years old when this came out. My friends 14,15 year old hippy sister had this on 45! Vietnam era!

[@vincentperillo4546]

Saw them live at a sorority house party in Woodland Hill, CA sirca 1967, later saw Love at Whiskey a go go.

[@therockerfoo2339]

Was it on Shoup Ave by any chance? Lol

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Wow, how incredibly cool. I wish I was there but I wasn't born yet. I swear the Boomers had it great, witnessing the high water marks of western civilization and at the same time sowing the seeds of its destruction in the degenerate but beautiful music and spaced out philosophies (think Gong and the Pothead Pixies) of the 60's and 70's. Let me tell you just because someone is musically gifted doesn't mean they have any insight into what makes a wholesome life or sustainable society; the 27 club is full of rock musicians for a reason.

[@619_mitch8]

Proto-punk masterpiece!

[@schorpioen7466]

Better than punk tbh

[@Bloomfield246]

Many artists have covered this great song. The Leaves still do it BEST!

[@sandykopi]

Mark Blitzer This is not a cover, this is the original Hey Joe. Jimi Hendrix covered it a year later.

[@psychedelicpiper999]

Not really the original. The Leaves were the first to record it, but they learned about this song from watching Love perform it live, and Love learned about this song from watching The Byrds perform it.

[@scottbaekeland9750]

@@sandykopi Billie Roberts wrote it before this. Check it out.

[@giovannigobbi4832]

@@scottbaekeland9750 Niela Miller did write most of it

[@alanwilson8407]

Wilson Pickett, bitch.

[@gerrygreene6354]

Saw the Leaves at the Whiskey and this is the song I remember. They were very energetic young band.

[@total.stranger]

@gerry greene: You're lucky! I wish I could have seen them, but I was stuck in a small town in a small state.

[@SKY-jv9ue]

I will never forget this song, I was 16 when it came out, never got the 45 rpm, but I'll always remember it!

[@Garfuck]

16??? That means you should be around... a 1000 years old by now! I was wondering why some people say that they not only prefer this version but actually don't even like the Hendrix version of the song. But I guess they're even older than you and for them the Hendrix version was the music of the younger generation that they couldn't get behind anymore. I am shocked and suprised that: A. People your age and even older know what KZbin is. 2. Know how to create an account. D. Know how to work their pc/notebook or even phone to post a comment here. I will go to bed know, this is all too much for me.

[@rogerborroel4707]

@@Garfuck Seems you don't know your math, go back to school and get your GED.

[@rmcellig]

Never heard this version. Love it! Love it! Love it! Love it!

[@sauquoit13456]

On this day in 1966 {May 15th} "Hey Joe" by the Leaves entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #84; seven weeks later on July 3rd it would peak at #31 {for 1 week}, the following week it fell to position #54 and that was its ninth and final week on the Top 100... It was the groups’ only Top 100 record...

[@peterpuleo2904]

I thought it reached higher than 31. I remember hearing it many times. It deserves higher status--a real breath taker.

[@tezzrterry7485]

Then Jimi did it!

[@hugbug4408]

Gosh! 5/15/1966 I was in 3rd grade at 9 years old. My griends sister had this weirdo song "Hey Joe" on 45. She's the early hippy then ,and I thought some of these psych tunes were weird, because I eas primarily listening to philly's famous 56 Wfil and top 40s; motown, beachboys, beattles, rolling stones, lou christy, hermans hermits, mamas and papas, association,donovan, john sebastian and lovin spoonfull, motch rider, young rascals, monkeys, nei diamond, batman theme song, yardbirds, byrds, paul revere and the raiders, sonny and cher, buckinghams, turtles, james brown, nancy sinatra, frank sinatra, question mark and the mysterians, righteous brothers, walker brothers, gary lewis and the plaboys, bobby fuller four, were all on top 40 type songs and some psych too was played, jay jay jackson also, otis redding etc!

[@handsomepackage7004]

I liked 60’s music. It was nice and wild.

[@michavandam]

But you don't like it anymore?

[@peterpuleo2904]

This version elevates your blood pressure !

[@eddygsmusicworld1708]

I am on Monopril which lowers the BP

[@peterpuleo2904]

Hard to catch your breath when you listen to this version.

[@robertfitzhugh4784]

Best version of Hey jJoe ever. Used to box and hammer the speed bag to this rousing number.

[@lawrenceedmiston3509]

Punk about a decade before punk.

[@rogersun6184]

Garage punk, oh yes

[@sandsoftime1954]

NO ! Just Garage Rock, there was NO Punk Rock in the Sixties.

[@TheORIGINALBrentTheGent]

Sands of time:"Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen (October,1963) - "Brent the Gent" (The Long-Forgotten Musicologist)

[@CydnotCharrise1]

@@sandsoftime1954 Exactly. Call a teenager a punk in the sixties and you would get beat down for it. It was like calling them a "p***y. Beat you down until you cried uncle.

[@sandsoftime1954]

@@TheORIGINALBrentTheGent "One eyed, one horned, flying, purple, people eater" by Sheb Wooley (1958) So What ? It still isn't Punk ,now is it.

[@surferpam1]

Passion, power, guts... The Leaves "let it all hang out". Best version.

[@Mr22thou]

Many years ago, I read that "Hey Joe" was a song that many artists covered at the time, especially L.A. bands. The Byrds, Love & several others who never even recorded it. It's entirely possible that Hendrix & the Leaves recorded it without any knowledge of the others version, until later. The lead guitar was added to the Leaves version by a studio musician. The unadorned version was on the LP & is nothing compared to this single version, which is one of my favorite records from the 60's. Lots of energy. Jimi's version is so original, I wouldn't bother comparing the two. Both are great!

[@total.stranger]

@Mr22thou: The version uploaded here is a stereo mix and it's the same mix that was included on both the original mono and stereo LP releases from July 1966. There's nothing different about it. The original 45 release with 'Funny Little World' on the B side has this same mix.

[@chivalryalive]

Jimi's 'blues-version' brought out more emotion of the song.

[@Mr22thou]

total stranger - I remember buying a reissue of this album in the 80's and and being disappointed that the version of Hey Joe on the LP didn't have the dramatic guitar that is in the single version. In fact, I was disappointed by all the songs on that record. That's what I remember, but I have to admit, I don't really trust my memory anymore. You sound like you know what you're talking about, so I concede. Thanks for the info.

[@robgo5869]

One musical idea Hendrix borrowed from this version is Jim Pons bass line he uses prominently in his slowed down version.

[@martinberns7542]

this version charted one year before hendrix released his, there's no way he didnt hear it. his version is closer to the original tho

[@CydnotCharrise1]

I knew Hendrix personally and don' think anyone was a better rock guitarist but this is my favorite version of the song. As a kid growing up in SoCal I could envision some dude named Joe killing his cheating woman and then taking off for Mexico. This version is perfect for the lyrics. I'm 70 and it still kicks ass.

[@rainbowbridge4766]

Wow! What was he like? Could you please tell us a story about him?

[@davisworth5114]

@@rainbowbridge4766 He had a traumatic childhood.

[@MisterMikeTexas]

Bo and Jim on Lone Star 92.5 KZPS DFW, Texas brought me here just now July 30, 2020 at 7:25am. Great garage band version of this song! Thanks, Bo and Jim!

[@rustyking8783]

This was their 3rd recorded vesion of this great song they wrote. Great early rock.

[@timgeary1084]

There energy matched my youth. I was wild.

[@iadorelife]

i remember seeing them at The Old Trout in Windsor Berkshire, and they kicked some right arse i can tell you! Great Mates

[@rodmcdonough6111]

The best version of Hey Joe. Every garage band in 1966 tried it, but never sounded like this. I believe they had a Rickenbacker 12 string in there.

[@eoj2495]

Summertime 1966, this was on our AM stations (WQAM / WFUN ) in Miami. Man what a blast!

[@hugbug4408]

Summer 66 remember it well at 9 years old then. Heard Hey Joe from my friends hippy sister at 14,q5 then. She was up on all the psych tunes. The seeds Pushin To Hard and Count 5s Psychotic Reaction! And many more she had on 45s then; for your love by yard birds!

[@Margaret1448]

They played Canoga Park High School in '66 :D Go Hunters!

[@lfader]

No s***? 😎 Cool so early 70s Black Oak Arkansas played the boys gym 4th period!! It cost you $1 and you got outta class!! 👍 Go Hunters💪😘 .... Topanga plaza 💖

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I wonder whether Zappa ever saw these guys.

[@jackhana7374]

Margaret Farrell wish they had played Huntington Park HS in 1965!

[@Margaret1448]

@@lfader I remember when they installed the "Rain" fountain at the Topanga Plaza, with the glycerine rain... :D Sure wish we could go to ANY mall, right now! :( (The Leaves were a quarter...!)

[@lfader]

@@Margaret1448 Yes!!! The Ice Rink also Topanga plaza was just a happening spot Of course GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS !!! 🤸🤸🤸. IN 10TH GRADE I got a job at Tangs Imports down by May Co. My high school is across the street Canoga Park high I was set!!! Saving to buy a car ( date girls!) It was livin' large .... Music exploding I bought tickets at Wallachs Music City upstairs for $5.50 to see Mick Taylor and the Rolling Stones at The Forum!?!? 😨😎 Topanga plaza was the Nexus it was the center of the universe MAGIC!!! 💥💖😎

[@ricardoreynoso685]

GABBA GABBA...Amazing Song that BLOWS my mind and try to Find the round and round of all planets

[@kenhoughton2594]

One of the greatest recordings ever.

[@Adam-lj7et]

Fantastic. Search forever to find the original by the Leaves

[@davidwilliams7935]

I still have my original 45; we never would have bought the album.

[@sandsoftime1954]

+David Williams We were doing just fine if we could get the .69 or .79 cents together for the 45 back then.

[@thomasrobinson182]

Pre-Punk Punk. Live from the garage.

[@ElliotRose]

Sounds like the first punk rock song

[@68pipes]

Gen Xer here. In a search for who sang backup vocals for Jimi's version, ended up here. I do get why people love this, but Hendrix's version has so much soul to it. Anyway. To each their own.

[@robertmendez2548]

Best rendition of this song period 1966...

[@DocDondy]

Cool take, indeed! The intro and guitar riffing is exactly the Byrds' "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Bettr" but that doesn't take away from this full-throttle version. The Byrds themselves in turn recorded an similar uptempo-version in early 1967 for radio b'cast. The world was smal then, eh? :-)

[@RonaldLindeboom]

The Byrds were my favorite band back in 1965 and 66 but their version of "Hey Joe" was nowhere near the sheer angst and intensity of this definitive version by The Leaves.

[@mick5137]

Needles and Pins?

[@rolandroushias3473]

Great cover! I can also hear Needles and Pins riff in there somewhere

[@AG-xc9yh]

Stop saying garage rock THIS IS WHAT TRUE PUNK ROCK SOUNDS LIKE!

[@marvymarier8988]

Punk is for punks !

[@sadcracker]

one of the top 10 hey joes

[@mkhnly]

You don't dig the Leaves you're outa your tree!

[@michaelmcgraw1536]

Never heard this before. Heard it listening to A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs podcast.

[@scottpfen]

when I first heard this on the Nuggets LP, my old console stereo did not do it justice

[@rageagainstroy]

First song our little garage band learned to play back in jr.high. I was on bass. Fun times.

[@majordendrocopos]

For the first fifteen seconds I thought it was going to be a cover of “Needles and Pins”.

[@PIPEHEAD]

I also hear " The Girl Can't Help It " .

[@pixbylorne1436]

They Played this in the gym of my high school, Canoga park High!!!!

[@mustlovepretzels]

The Leaves were originally known as The Rockwells. And recorded this before Hendrix. I like both versions though. Cheers!

[@Dutchgraves]

best version .................EVER!

[@harmonichebe]

total agreement. this was a hit in los angeles

[@gaspersignorelli3724]

Wow a great version.

[@elliotjones3098]

awesome version !

[@peetwine4018]

This is the original great recording, lots of great covers since. My fave is Deep Purple's

[@RonaldLindeboom]

Actually, its author, Billy Roberts, recorded the original back in 1961. But for sheer power and angst, no one ever did it better than The Leaves.

[@ivangencheff]

Wow. Cool !!!!!

[@dolphe.chiarino6142]

Love also covered this song in 1966 but Hendrix brought it to a new level & really made the song a well known hit....RIP Jimi.

[@psychedelicpiper999]

The Leaves actually learned about this song from watching Love perform it live, and asked one of their members for the lyrics. And Love learned about Hey Joe from watching The Byrds perform it live. But The Leaves were the first to record it, yes.

[@JoeCorneli]

Pretty obvious influence of The Monks here.

[@RoyMartin-ws3cs]

Greenville Texas bout 66 Sig party whoa hello Beaty damn party Mad Dog forever🍻💪👍🎵🏈

[@DavidWhitley]

brilliant band what the 60's was all about

[@Dutchgraves]

LISTEN TO THE FUCKING BASS!

[@milhouse777]

Unpopular opinion, this version is better than Hendrix's version.

[@turtle5445]

The best version

[@kakolykia]

nice upload

[@handinside]

Heavy Metal from the Mid 60s

[@ellenhilts-gossett4108]

+Séamus Ó Dálaigh Don't believe could officially be "punk from the 60's [oxymoron]." But I love it. Jimi Hendrix had some good stuff, but this was just as good or btter than his version, imo.

[@ellenhilts-gossett4108]

Séamus Ó Dálaigh Jaysus, Seamus. . .Don't you recognize Paddy's when you see it? And mam made it special for me. Who knows who inspired Hendrix. . .were you there? I believe the songs came out in the same year, so could be a coincidence. You tell me and you'll earn my respect -- don't opine, give me facts!

[@tonelemoan]

+Kenneth Besselman there was a lot of in nature if not in name! I'm building a playlist of what I consider proto metal and it goes back quite far, quite deep...

[@ankihansen2489]

+Séamus Ó Dálaigh I Agree, this is more punk than metal.

[@dupreeblues4744]

+Kenneth Besselman No man, that was Blue Cheer

[@garybrice7689]

Yep!

[@oldermuscleguy]

This version is simply the best 👌 Hey Joe . LOVE Deep Purple

[@javiermendoza2942]

I saw em somewhere. Around that same time. It was teenage fair or Arcadia park love in, who knows. I been everywhere man.

[@normanwitt4692]

By far the best version of Hey Joe. The Leaves knocked it out of the park

[@obscurehighlights]

one of the true precursors to metal right here

[@619_mitch8]

More of a precursor to punk

[@FuzzyNova]

I always loved The name the leaves. And this is the definition of the type of music I am into For those wanting to hear some real Gems and learn more 60s fuzz Raw Kickin garage Sound then you should check out the volumes that are called Back from the grave vol1 - Vol10. Then of course there are the Nuggets Volumes And Last but not least the pebbles volumes.

[@walterfechter8080]

Kick on the strobes and go nuts to this one! Dig the bassline - to the Nth! "Too Many People" (live) by The Leaves is a rave-up too.

[@TRICK-OR-TREAT236]

< < < THIS VERSION LEAVES A BITTER TASTE IN MY MOUTH > > >

[@jbruceguitar]

Best version IMHO.

[@iamdamosuzuki_]

I think this version, Hendrix's version, and Patti Smith's version are pretty much equal personally.

[@yesterdayproductions1019]

Completely different from Hendrix's cover. BOTH are great but if push comes to shove, I like this one a little better. It is rockin' & nasty. The vocal, guitars, & in particular the BASS, is fantastic! lol

[@VMan29397]

Cant believe the bassist made the logo for the ny jets

[@CharlesCCRidesChandler]

Nice update!!!...:)O(:...

[@veena6399]

I think all the versions of this song have their own appeal. However I like the stripped down acoustic version of it the best. I don't know if and when Billy Roberts ever recorded it but the one on here is my fav.

[@sandsoftime1954]

I always thought that the Leaves and the Litter were the Best of the Best American rock groups of the sixties.

[@Dutchgraves]

GODDAMN IT!

[@CivilizedMenKilledMe]

Jimi heard this and thought, "I do best."

[@k-ozdragon]

The version Jimi likely heard was from The Creation. It's almost a carbon copy of their cover of this track.

[@gabrielmoreno9455]

60s garage rock at its best

[@paulmcgrath552]

Just like my band did it in 1968 in my parent basement.

[@dolphe.chiarino6142]

BTW, for some of you that are unaware of the chemistry between Hendrix & Redding....when the band was put together, Redding thought he was auditioning for lead guitar but when he was told he was playing bass, he was not a happy camper. As a result, over time, Redding would not show up for recordings & Jimi didn’t give a shit coz he would lay down the bass tracks himself which is what you’re hearing on some of the later recordings. Noel wanted his band “Fat Mattress” to make it big. Jimi even let his band open for him in some of their Fillmore East shows but the bands writing material sucked. Most of the time they were booed off the stage but Jimi was very patient with Noel until he hooked up with Billy Cox....

[@stephenhyatt1029]

AS MUCH RESPECT AS I HAVE FOR JIMI HENDRIX AND DEEP PURPLE AND ANYONE ELSE WHO COVERED THIS SONG,NO ONE DID IT BETTER THAN THE LEAVES.

[@surferpam1]

You got THAT right, Stephen.

[@BigBishop1]

i learned the bass parts and got to be a rocker

[@unothisshit2010]

the intro sounds like the byrds - I"ll Feel A Whole Lot Better

[@blueguitar8479]

The Byrds did it with David Crosby singing

[@bobalton9149]

Think it's the other way around....

[@alaididnalid7660]

I just read a guy of the Byrds was in the video of this version with the tambourine. If true, your comment makes a lot of sense.

[@tothgyorgyi2932]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@robertunderwood6011]

Another great LA band of the 1960s

[@joeswampdawghenry]

Yeeee hsewww!!!!

[@user-kn4ge3gn8j]

Intro sounds like The Byrds' 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better' to me.

[@nopenheimer]

Singer really reminds me of Jack White, wonder if this was an inspiration of his.

[@gauravtejpal8901]

What did the tree say to the wind? 'Leaf me alone'

[@johnrossini3594]

first version of this song

[@johncoltrane7899]

I love Hendrix, but never really dug Hey Joe. This however is brilliant and the first time I've heard it. Far superior. Have no fear Jimi, your position is undiminished!

[@lucho731]

La segunda guitarra en algunos pasajes de la cancion es identica a "Needles and Pins" de The Searchers

[@jackhana7374]

Even better than the Hendrix version and that's saying a lot....

[@SuperAnimelover100]

Jack Hana The DEVIL you say !

[@vilennon24]

possibly heresy, but this is my favourite version, followed by Hendrix, then Zappa

[@garybrice7689]

I'm a big fan of Jimi, but I have to agree.

[@commontater8630]

Zappa, whaaaaat! You mean Flower Punk, not Hey Joe.