Hey Joe (Carl Smith song)

"Hey Joe" is a 1953 popular song written by Boudleaux Bryant. It was recorded by Carl Smith for Columbia Records on 19 May 1953 and spent eight weeks at #1 on the US country music chart.[1] This marked Bryant's first number-one record. He later wrote songs with his wife Felice for The Everly Brothers.[2]

For the song recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and many others, see Hey Joe.
For other uses, see Hey Joe (disambiguation).
"Hey Joe"
Single by Carl Smith
ReleasedMay 19, 1953 (1953-05-19)
GenreCountry
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Boudleaux Bryant
Carl Smith singles chronology
"Do I Like It?"
(1953)		 "Hey Joe"
(1953)		 "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
(1953)

Later in 1953, Kitty Wells recorded an answer record also titled "Hey Joe" which hit number eight on the Jukebox Country & Western chart.[3]

Cover versions
  • A cover version, sung by Frankie Laine and produced by Mitch Miller, reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in October 1953.[2] It was Laine's second UK chart topper, but unlike his long-lasting "I Believe", it only stayed in the chart for eight weeks, after reaching number one in its second week on the chart.[2] That week Laine had three singles in the chart, which at that time consisted only of twelve songs.[2] The following week, Laine's third number one hit in the UK, "Answer Me", entered the chart, giving Laine one third of all records on the listing.[2]
  • Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley recorded a new version of the song with the modified title: "Hey Joe, Hey Moe", with lyrics specially rewritten for the project by Boudleaux Bryant, as the title song to a duet album issued in 1981. The song, released as the lead single to the album, was a top-10 country hit that year.
  • On the Statler Brothers' unusual comic album released in 1974 under their alias Lester "Roadhog" Moran & The Cadillac Cowboys, called Alive At The Johnny Mack Brown High School, the first song after the band's theme song is "Hey Joe".[4]

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 318.
  2. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 8. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 376.
  4. Lester Roadhog Moran Vinyl Album Song Listing from Discogs.com


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.