Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From '' Hey Joe / Deception's Ice ''
Label: Eadit – none
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: Jul 1967
Tracklist
A Hey Joe
Written-By – Dino Valenti
B Deception's Ice
Written-By – Jay Snyder
Producer – Joe Saia
------------------------
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists.
"Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting his unfaithful wife.
The song was registered for copyright in the United States in 1962 by Billy Roberts.
However, diverse credits and claims have led to confusion about the song's authorship.
The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the Leaves; the band then re-recorded the track and released it in 1966 as a follow-up single which became a hit.
The best-known version is the Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1966 recording.
Authorship
While claimed by singer Tim Rose to be a traditional song, or often erroneously attributed to the pen of American musician Dino Valenti (who also went by the names Chester or Chet Powers, and Jesse Farrow), "Hey Joe" was registered for copyright in the U.S. in 1962 by Billy Roberts. Scottish folk singer Len Partridge has claimed that he helped write the song with Roberts when they both performed in clubs in Edinburgh in 1956. Other sources (including singer Pat Craig) claim that Roberts assigned the rights to the song to his friend Valenti while Valenti was in jail, in order to give him some income upon release.
Roberts was a relatively obscure California-based folk singer, guitarist, and harmonica player who performed on the West Coast coffeehouse circuit. He recorded the country rock album Thoughts of California with the band Grits in San Francisco in 1975, produced by Hillel Resner.
Roberts may have drawn inspiration for "Hey Joe" from three earlier works: his girlfriend Niela Miller's 1955 song "Baby, Please Don’t Go To Town" (which uses a similar chord progression based on the circle of fifths); Carl Smith's 1953 US country hit "Hey Joe!" (written by Boudleaux Bryant), which shared the title and the "questioning" format; and the early 20th century traditional ballad "Little Sadie", which tells of a man on the run after he has shot his wife.
Rights to the song were administered from 1966 into the 2000s by the music publisher Third Story Music (now Third Palm Music); there the author is listed as Billy Roberts.
Selected list of recorded versions
Cher
Wilson Pickett
The Surfaris
Love
The Byrds
The Standells
The Music Machine
The Shadows of Knight
Warlocks
Tim Rose
The Cryan' Shames
Gonn
The SoulBenders
The Stillroven
The Hazards
Johnny Hallyday
Martò
Los Locos
Ant Trip Ceremony
The Golden Cups
The Creation
Marmalade
The Mothers of Invention
Johnny Rivers
Band of Joy
Fever Tree
Lee Moses
Carson
The Les Humphries Singers
Roy Buchanan
Spirit
Suzie Hendrix
Alvin Lee
Buldožer
Soft Cell
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Nash The Slash
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Dead Moon
Francesco Di Giacomo
Seal
The Offspring
Willy DeVille
Type O Negative
Jerry Douglas
Buckwheat Zydeco
Roy Buchanan
Body Count
Eddie Murphy
Captain Sensible
Mathilde Santing
Lick the Tins
Brazilian Band O Rappa
Fifteen
Otis Taylor
The Make-Up
Axel Rudi Pell
Medeski Martin & Wood
Franco Battiato
Robert Plant
Brant Bjork
Gabe Dixon Band
Cassie Steele
Psychedelic Deja Vu
Guitar Shorty
Arklio Galia
Bap Kennedy
Brown Sugar
Josh Charles
In the media
The Jimi Hendrix Experience version appears in the following films:
Forrest Gump
Empire Records
Wayne's World 2
Death Sentence
Reaper
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Crooklyn
#garagerock
From '' Hey Joe / Deception's Ice ''
Label: Eadit – none
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: Jul 1967
Tracklist
A Hey Joe
Written-By – Dino Valenti
B Deception's Ice
Written-By – Jay Snyder
Producer – Joe Saia
------------------------
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists.
"Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting his unfaithful wife.
The song was registered for copyright in the United States in 1962 by Billy Roberts.
However, diverse credits and claims have led to confusion about the song's authorship.
The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the Leaves; the band then re-recorded the track and released it in 1966 as a follow-up single which became a hit.
The best-known version is the Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1966 recording.
Authorship
While claimed by singer Tim Rose to be a traditional song, or often erroneously attributed to the pen of American musician Dino Valenti (who also went by the names Chester or Chet Powers, and Jesse Farrow), "Hey Joe" was registered for copyright in the U.S. in 1962 by Billy Roberts. Scottish folk singer Len Partridge has claimed that he helped write the song with Roberts when they both performed in clubs in Edinburgh in 1956. Other sources (including singer Pat Craig) claim that Roberts assigned the rights to the song to his friend Valenti while Valenti was in jail, in order to give him some income upon release.
Roberts was a relatively obscure California-based folk singer, guitarist, and harmonica player who performed on the West Coast coffeehouse circuit. He recorded the country rock album Thoughts of California with the band Grits in San Francisco in 1975, produced by Hillel Resner.
Roberts may have drawn inspiration for "Hey Joe" from three earlier works: his girlfriend Niela Miller's 1955 song "Baby, Please Don’t Go To Town" (which uses a similar chord progression based on the circle of fifths); Carl Smith's 1953 US country hit "Hey Joe!" (written by Boudleaux Bryant), which shared the title and the "questioning" format; and the early 20th century traditional ballad "Little Sadie", which tells of a man on the run after he has shot his wife.
Rights to the song were administered from 1966 into the 2000s by the music publisher Third Story Music (now Third Palm Music); there the author is listed as Billy Roberts.
Selected list of recorded versions
Cher
Wilson Pickett
The Surfaris
Love
The Byrds
The Standells
The Music Machine
The Shadows of Knight
Warlocks
Tim Rose
The Cryan' Shames
Gonn
The SoulBenders
The Stillroven
The Hazards
Johnny Hallyday
Martò
Los Locos
Ant Trip Ceremony
The Golden Cups
The Creation
Marmalade
The Mothers of Invention
Johnny Rivers
Band of Joy
Fever Tree
Lee Moses
Carson
The Les Humphries Singers
Roy Buchanan
Spirit
Suzie Hendrix
Alvin Lee
Buldožer
Soft Cell
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Nash The Slash
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Dead Moon
Francesco Di Giacomo
Seal
The Offspring
Willy DeVille
Type O Negative
Jerry Douglas
Buckwheat Zydeco
Roy Buchanan
Body Count
Eddie Murphy
Captain Sensible
Mathilde Santing
Lick the Tins
Brazilian Band O Rappa
Fifteen
Otis Taylor
The Make-Up
Axel Rudi Pell
Medeski Martin & Wood
Franco Battiato
Robert Plant
Brant Bjork
Gabe Dixon Band
Cassie Steele
Psychedelic Deja Vu
Guitar Shorty
Arklio Galia
Bap Kennedy
Brown Sugar
Josh Charles
In the media
The Jimi Hendrix Experience version appears in the following films:
Forrest Gump
Empire Records
Wayne's World 2
Death Sentence
Reaper
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Crooklyn
#garagerock
