Hey Joe: Evolution of a folk song

The Wikipedia entry on this famous song is here. It names three other songs as inspirations:

1. Niela Miller: 'Baby, Please Don't Go to Town' (1955):



Lyrics (found here):

Baby, what you’re gonna do in town?
Baby, what you’re gonna do in town?
I’m gonna sit at a bar with my feet tucked in,
Drinkin’ all the beer and whiskey and gin,
And I’m lookin’ at the young men always hangin’ ’round,
Lookin’ at the young men always hangin’ ’round.

Baby, what you’re gonna do in town?
Baby, what you’re gonna do in town?
I’m gonna talk to those young men very soon,
All to-night till to-morrow noon,
And tell ’em how my man, he puts me down,
Tell ’em how my man, he really puts me down.

Baby, please, don’t go to town.
Baby, please, don’t go to town.
’Cause when you’re flirtin’ and full of gin,
One of those boys is gonna do you in,
And your man, he won’t be around,
Your own man, he won’t be around.

2. Boudleaux Bryant's 'Hey Joe', recorded by Carl Smith in 1953:



Lyrics (from here):

Hey Joe, where'd you find that pearly-girly?
Where'd you get that jolly-dolly?
How'd you rate that dish I wish was mine?

Hey Joe, she's got skin that's creamy-dreamy
Eyes that look so lovey-dovey
Lips as red as cherry-berry wine

Now listen Joe, I ain't no heel
But old buddy let me tell you how I feel
She's a honey, she's a sugar-pie
I'm warning you I'm gonna try to steal her from you

Hey Joe, though we've been the best of friends
This is where our friendship ends
I gotta have that dolly for my own

Hey Joe, come on let's be buddy-duddy
Show me you're my palsy-walsy
Introduce that pretty little chick to me

Hey Joe, quit that waiting, hesitating
Let me at her, what's the matter
You're as slow as any Joe can be

Now come on Joe, let's make a deal
Let me dance with her to see if she is real
She's the cutest girl I've ever seen
I'll tell you face to face I mean to steal her from you

Hey Joe, now we'll be friends till the end
This looks like the end, my friend
I gotta have that dolly for my own

3. A song generally known as 'Little Sadie' but appearing under various titles, the earliest being a lyric from the Ozarks,  'Bad Lee Brown' (1922) partially written down in 1948:

Last night I was a-makin' my rounds,
Met my old woman an' I blowed her down,
I went on home to go to bed,
Put my old cannon right under my head.

Jury says murder in the first degree,
I says oh Lord, have mercy on me!
Old Judge White picks up his pen,
Says you'll never kill no woman ag'in.

and another version recorded in 1930 by Clarence Ashley as 'Little Sadie'



Lyrics (from Lyric Find):

Went out one night for to make a little round
I met little Sadie and I shot her down
Went back home and I got in my bed
Forty four pistol under my head

Wake up next morning 'bout a half past nine
The hacks and the buggies all standing in line
Gents and the gamblers standing all round
Taking little Sadie to her burying ground

Then I begin to think what a deed I'd done
I grabbed my hat and away I run
Made a good run but a little too slow
They overtook me in Jericho

I was standing on the corner, reading the bill
When up stepped the sheriff from Thomasville
He said, young man, ain't your name Brown?
Remember the night you shot Sadie down?

I said, yes, sir, my name is Lee
I murdered little Sadie in the first degree
And first degree and the second degree
If you got any papers, won't you read 'em to me?

They took me downtown and dressed me in black
Put me on the train and started me back
They crammed me back in that Thomasville jail
And I had no money for to go my bail

That judge and the jury, they took their stand
The judge had the papers in his right hand
Forty one days and forty one nights
Forty one years to wear the ball and the stripes

'Little Sadie' is a narrative and focuses on the murderer's escape, capture and trial; Bryant's 'Hey Joe' is cast as a one-sided conversation but is about the lust for someone else's girl, without the element of tragic consequences (though we don't hear the boyfriend's response to the proposition!)

Of the three, Niela Miller's seems closest to what came next, because it includes themes of infidelity and death, encapsulating them in a moment of foreboding. Her rendition conveys that histrionic note of an almost unavoidable tragedy about to occur, although as she herself says in a comment thread on Youtube (ranging from 2017 to late 2019), comparing her song to Billy Roberts':

"... my song ended with hope. His ended with murder."

Billy Roberts - see also https://heyjoeversions.wordpress.com/more-about-billy-roberts/

'Hey Joe' was written in Greenwich Village, New York and copyrighted in 1962 by her one-time boyfriend, Billy Roberts. All the elements are here: infidelity, jealousy, murder by pistol, conversation (this time two-way, with a bypasser). The narrative is crisply contained in two snapshots: the moment of intention, and then after the event. Roberts was then busking on the streets and in the coffee houses of New York.

He then moved to San Francisco and in 1965 discovered that his song had been pirated, adapted and commercially released by a Southern Californian 'garage' band called The Leaves. The odd riff is echoed in Hendrix later.



Lyrics ( from here):

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
I said hey Joe where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
I'm going out to find my woman now, she's been runnin' around with some other man
I said I'm going out and find my woman now she's been runnin' around with some other man

Well hey Joe now what are you gonna do?
Well hey Joe tell me what are you gonna do?
Well I guess I'll shoot my woman now, that's what I'll do
Well I guess I'll shoot them both before I'm through

Well hey Joe tell me where are you gonna go?
Well hey Joe I said where are you gonna go?
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 put around me

The rendition - thrashy - is at odds with the melancholy essence of the lyric.

Then we come to Hendrix - the version everyone remembers, first recorded as a single in October 1966 with his band 'The Jimi Hendrix Experience'; melancholy, dramatic, with backing vocalisation and the superconfident, powerful electric guitar of the master musician:


Lyrics (from Musicmatch)

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Alright.
I'm goin down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
And that ain't too cool.
(Ah-backing vocal on each line)
Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down
You shot her down now.
Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down
You shot her down to the ground. Yeah!
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin' 'round
Messin' 'round town.
Uh, yes I did, I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!
Alright
(Ah! Hey Joe)
Shoot her one more time again, baby!…

AFTERMATH

In this later (can't find exactly when) version by Roberts himself, the introductory chords are as used by Hendrix, and the song ends with more instrumental, wordlessly savouring the tragedy.



Lyrics (selected from here):

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where ya goin' with that gun in your hand

I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Huh, and that ain't too cool

Hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down
You shot her down down
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your lady down
You shot her down near the ground

Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin' 'round, messin' 'round town
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town
And I gave her the gun, I shot her

In 1968, Frank Zappa's The Mother Of Invention parodied the song, the Leaves' hasty tempo, the Beatles' 1967 'Sergeant Pepper' album cover and the by then well-established 'flower power' culture of San Francisco, in their own album 'We're Only In It For The Money', as 'Flower Punk':


Lyrics (from here):

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that flower in your hand?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that flower in your hand?

Well, I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a psychedelic band
I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a psychedelic band

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that button on your shirt?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that button on your shirt?

I'm goin' to the love-in to sit & play my bongos in the dirt
Yes, I'm goin' to the love-in to sit & play my bongos in the dirt

Hey Punk, where you goin' with that hair on your head?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that hair on your head?

I'm goin' to the dance to get some action, then I'm goin' home to bed
I'm goin' to the dance to get some action, then I'm goin' home to bed

Hey Punk, where you goin' with those beads around your neck?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with those beads around your neck?

I'm goin' to the shrink so he can help me be a nervous wreck .

... dissolving into aimless mumbling hippie-chatter at the end.
_________________________________________________________________________

Finally, back to Niela Miller: here are some of the things she says on that YouTube thread.

We have to remember that Roberts didn't simply purloin her song but adapted elements in it, and musicians have always been inspired and borrowed from others (and even their own previous works), so as I once saw (on TV) Mick Jagger explain to a child, once you've made a song other people can do what they like with it... but at least we can credit Miller with her part in the evolution of this wonderful piece:

Niela Miller3 years ago

Thanks for recognizing my song as the original impetus for Hey Joe (stolen from me by Billy Roberts, an old boyfriend)

The Tone Poets3 years ago

Awesome until now unknown story. Where can we hear more of your work?

Niela Miller3 years ago

www.numerogroup.com SONGS OF LEAVING. (LP for collectors, or mp3 if you want to download). Album of my songs written around that time Also, if you are interested in my composed piano music and arrangements, or some of my choral pieces, you can hear them on my website:www.peoplesystemspotential.com

.........

Niela Miller5 months ago (edited)

Hi all-- thanks for all your interesting comments about my song, Baby, Please Don't Go to Town. Just for clarification, Billy Roberts wrote the original Hey Joe and sold it to Dino Valenti. The Leaves made the first recording but Hendrix made it famous. Billy lived with me for a few months during which time he learned many of my songs (if you are interested, you can download my album at numerogroup.com or Google SONGS OF LEAVING by Niela Miller). He stole the chord progression, the question-answer format, the echo of my melody, and the idea of a relationship mess. But my song ended with hope. His ended with murder.

................

Niela Miller 5 months ago (edited)

I am blown away by all the supportive comments I have gotten about my song. Here's what Billy appropriated: the chord progression, the similarity of the tune in the first line, the question-answer format, the repetition of the first line and the idea about a tension between a man and a woman but, in mine, the man cares and doesn't want his woman to get hurt! Now I am meeting with a guy right in my town who has written a film script based on Hey Joe and is giving me credit for its inspiration. (Who knows when or whether it will be produced but it is an interesting addition to this Whole Story Line!) For those of you who haven't heard my album of songs written around that same time (late 50's early 60's) it is called SONGS OF LEAVING and has a lot of interesting songs on it in addition to this one. (www.numerogroup.com)