"Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix

"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting his wife. However, diverse credits and claims have led to confusion as to the song's true authorship and genesis. 
The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late 1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band, The Leaves, who also had the first hit version of the song with a re-recording in 1966. Currently the best-known version is The Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1966 recording their debut single. The song title is sometimes given as "Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go?" or similar variations.

LYRICS AND CHORDS

Chords

C#4/E    044000

Em7        055000

E             022100

C             032010

G             320003

D             000232

A             002220

Intro |E Em7 C#4/E | E

C G D A E E

Verse 1 Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun of yours?

C G D A E E

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

C G

I’m goin’ down to shoot my lady,

D A E

E

You know I caught her messin’ ‘round with a – nother man.

C G

Yeah, I’m goin’ down to shoot my lady

D A E

You know I caught her messin’ ‘round with another man

E

Huh! And that ain’t cool.

C G D A E

Verse 2 A hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,

E

You shot her down now,

C G D A E

A hey Joe, I heard you shot your old lady down,

E

You shot her down in the ground, Yeah”

C G

Yes, I did, I shot her,

D A E

E

You know I caught her messin’ ‘round, messin’ ‘round town,

C G

Uh, yes I did, I shot her.

D A E

You Know I caught my old Lady messin’ ‘round town,

E

And have her the gun,

And I shot her.

C G D A E

Guitar solo Alright, shoot her one more time again baby!

C G D A E

Yeah! Dig it.

C G D A E E

Oh alright.

C G

Verse 3 Hey Joe

D A E E

Where you gonna run to now, where you gonna go?

C G

Hey Joe, I said

D A E E

Where you gonna run to now, where you gonna go?

C G

I’m goin’ way down south,

D A E E

Way down to Mexico way.

C G

I’m goin’ way down south,

D A E

Way down where I can be free,

E

Ain’t no one gonna find me.

C G

Outro Ain’t no hang-man gonna,

D A E

He ain’t gonna put a rope around me,

E

You better believe it right now,

I gotta go now,

C G

Hey Joe,

D A E

You better run on down

E

Goodbye everybody. Ow!

Fade out

SOLO

key:

BU= Bend up to the pitch of note signalled

BD= Bend down to pitch of note signalled

P= Pull off.

H= Hammer on.

#/(#)= e.g. 9/(14) This means sound the first note in this case 9 (the grace note) then

immediately slide to the next note indicated do not pluck this note it should ring out anyway if

your fast enough.

X= Pick rake (mute string with fretting hand).

FHT= Fretting hand tap (this is just like a hammer on but you don’t sound any note before it.

~= Trill

ENJOY!

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Jimi Hendrix Short Biography

This is how the story goes in this blog. Every new post will be a research of the ins and outs of the song's and the artist's from the posted lists. 

Starting from an English songs and ...no I would never be so rule oriented and predictable. Actually, what I'm going to do is to let the music and my inspiration guide me through this journey.  In order to keep my promise on predictability I will start with the mighty, never ending, one of a kind, Jimi Hendrix and “Hey Joe”.

James Marshall Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix on the 27th of November, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. When he was 9 years old, his parents got divorced, and his mother passed away when he was 16. So he went to live with his grandmother who was a Cherokee.  Jimi learned to play guitar at the age of 12, while growing up in Seattle, Washington, drawing influence from blues legends like B.B. King and Robert Johnson. At first he would play in local bands for Cokes and burgers.  In 1959, Hendrix dropped out of high school and worked odd jobs while continuing to follow his musical aspirations. Hendrix enlisted in the United States Army in 1961 and trained to become a paratrooper. Even as a soldier, he found time for music, creating a band named The King Casuals. Hendrix served in the army until 1962 when he was discharged due to an injury.  After leaving the military, Hendrix pursued his music, working as a session musician and playing backup for such performers as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and the Isley Brothers. He also formed a group of his own called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, which played gigs around New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.  Though left handed, he used right handed model guitars and played them upside down.  In mid-1966, Hendrix met Chas Chandler, a former member of the Animals, a successful rock group, who became his manager. Chandler convinced Hendrix to go to London where he joined forces with musicians Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell to create The Jimi Hendrix Experience. While there, Hendrix built up quite a following among England's rock royalty. Members of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Eric Clapton were all great admirers of Hendrix's work. One critic for the British music magazine Melody Maker said that he "had great stage presence" and looked at times as if he was playing "with no hands at all."  

In 1967 he released his first album called ‘Are You Experienced’ with his ‘Jimi Hendrix Experience’ band which reached the number one spot on the UK charts. They also toured Europe. This helped Jimi develop his stage presence. In 1967 he played in London’s Saville Theatre. The show was attended by the whos-who of the music scene including Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Spencer Davis, Brian Epstein and many more.    Released in 1967, the band's first single, "Hey Joe" was an instant smash in Britain, and was soon followed by other hits such as "Purple Haze" and "The Wind Cried Mary." On tour to support his first album, Are You Experienced? (1967), Hendrix delighted audiences with his outrageous guitar-playing skills and his innovative, experimental sound. He won over American music fans with his stunning performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, which ended with Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire.  Quickly becoming a rock music superstar, Hendrix scored again with his second album, Axis: Bold as Love (1968). His final album as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland (1968), was released and featured the hit "All Along the Watchtower," which was written by Bob Dylan. The band continued to tour until it split up in 1969. That same year, Hendrix performed at another legendary musical event: the Woodstock Festival. His rock rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" amazed the crowds and demonstrated his considerable talents as a musician. 

He was also an accomplished songwriter and musical experimenter. Hendrix even had his own recording studio in which he could work with different performers and try out new songs and sounds.  Hendrix tried his luck with another group, forming Band of Gypsys in late 1969 with his army buddy Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles. The band never really took off, and Hendrix began working on a new album tentatively named First Rays of the New Rising Sun, with Cox and Mitch Mitchell from the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Unfortunately Hendrix did not live to complete the project. In the morning of the 18th of September, 1970, Jimi Hendrix was found dead. His death is surrounded by a variety of versions. The most well known is that he went to bed drunk and took sleeping pills. Then he died by choking on his own vomit. He is buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Washington.  

Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously. There were many claims placed on his estate, including one by his later to be legally recognized young son. After a lengthy legal dispute, the rights to Hendrix's estate, including all of his recordings, was turned over to Al Hendrix, the guitarist's father, in July of 1995. It was after this that many of the better posthumous albums were released, minus the 1970s overdubs use on some earlier releases. Hendrix's family would also launched Dagger Records, an authorized bootleg label to supply hardcore fans with material that would be of limited commercial appeal, including several live concerts and a collection of studio jams and demos called Morning Symphony Ideas.  

If there ever was a shooting star, it was Jimi Hendrix. In the four short years that he was a superstar, he did more with the electric guitar than any other guitarist before or after him ever would. Even to this day, Jimi Hendrix is still rightfully known as the greatest player to ever lay his hands on a guitar, and I don't think that will ever change.  I'm intentionally omitting some parts of his carrier and life as well as mentioning his whole work not because I believe that they are not important but because this is supposed to be a brief BIO that was extended just a bit to cover all in all the most important stuff.

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