Immortalised by Hendrix, ‘Hey Joe’ had its roots in 18th century murder ballads, ‘60s folk and rock clubs before the world got to hear it. Jason Schneider unravels its twisted genesis in ‘That Gun In Your Hand’, and talks to us here about the miracles that allowed it to happen and the sad fate of Billy Roberts, the man who claimed he wrote it. Along with …

… “all pop records are built on the back of other pop records”

… the allure of violent songs: “we get our kicks from real-life murder”

… the bit-part players in the story – David Crosby, Dino Valenti, Tim Rose, Cass Elliot, the Byrds, the Leaves, the Creation and Bob Dylan

… the final twist: how Chas Chandler was looking to make Hey Joe a hit when Linda Keith pointed him at Hendrix

… “a song with no chorus and a circle of fifths”: why it was a rock staple alongside Gloria and Louie Louie

… the cruel fate of Billy Roberts who never recorded Hey Joy as couldn’t bear to give away 50 per cent of the royalties

… the girl murders the man? “It’s a song still in evolution”

… how Andy Summers was the first person to hear Hendrix play in the UK

… 1,881 guitarists mass-performed Hey Joe in 2007 but could you even release a version of it now?

You can order ‘That Gun In Your Hand: The Strange Saga of Hey Joe and Popular Music’s History of Violence’ from Anvil Press here: https://www.anvilpress.com/books/that-gun-in-your-hand-the-strange-saga-of-hey-joe-and-popular-musics-history-of-violence

And from the US distributor Asterism here: https://asterismbooks.com/product/that-gun-in-your-hand-the-strange-saga-of-hey-joe-and-popular-musics-history-of-violence-jason-schneider

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