The Squire Presents

A bit of an odd one here, or just different; I’ll let you decide. I knew that ‘Hey Joe’ was not an original song by Jimi Hendrix but it could be argued that it is the most well know of all of the versions that have been recorded. I must admit that I I wasn’t really aware of any others until I started listening to American Garage bands of the mid 60’s. The excellent ‘Nuggets’ box set from 1998 introduced me to the version by The Leaves, which was considerably faster than the version released by Hendrix. Later on when I started to buy up the expanded editions of The Byrds back catalogue at the turn of the century, they had included a version of the song on their ‘5th Dimension’ album, but this was of a similar speed to The Leaves version. It would seem that any band worth their salt in the Southern California music scene was playing it. 

The authorship of the song has been contested down the years. Some recordings list it as traditional, some by Dino Valenti (which was a pseudonym of Quicksilver Messenger Services’ Chet Powers) or Billy Roberts. 

Roberts copyrighted the song in 1962 and is said to have been performing it for a few years before this. Roberts may well have taken inspiration from other songs for his own, being as he was part of the folk tradition and in that authorship can be a lot more fluid. Just look at some of the works of Bob Dylan. Roberts could well have taken inspiration for his song from the following. ‘Little Sadie’, a traditional folk ballad which does go by a number of other names (such as Bad Lee Brown and Late One Night). It tells the story of a man who is arrested after a shooting a woman, the identity of whom changes depending on the version. The earliest version of this song I could find was released in 1930 by Clarence Ashley. ‘Hey Joe’ by Carl Smith which not only shares the title but the idea of questioning between the characters in the song. Lastly, there is ’Baby Please Don’t Go to Town’ which was written by Roberts’ girlfriend, by Niela Horn.  This last one shares a similar chord progression and melody. 

While the authorship of the song was contested even back in the 60’s, the song itself became a garage rock classic. It it even made its way to the UK when it was recorded by Kenny Barnard, even though he changed the lyrics so he could claim a writers credit for himself. 

It was upon hearing this version by Bernard that inspired me to think about a compilation of the versions recorded before Hendrix did. The Hendrix version is so famous that the slow version became the norm after it was released and the garage rock version played at a much higher tempo has therefore been all but forgotten. I wondered if there were enough versions of it to compile a LP’s worth of material and to my surprise, there was. I have included the demo recording that Roberts made in the early 60s as the opening track followed by The Rogues. This is not strictly ‘Hey Joe’, but seems to be more of an answer record, something we don’t see very often these days. It uses a very similar chord sequence and structure but it is a bit odd to have an answer record to a song that has yet to have a release. 

The version by The Leaves is considered to be the first cover of ‘Hey Joe’ but even this is in dispute as very lo-fi recording by a band called The Swamp Rats seems to have come out first. Strangely, The Leaves version is the only recording of the song to break the top 40 in the US Billboard single chart. The version by the Jimi Hendrix Experience did not even make the charts. 

The remainder of the songs are not in any particular order. They only had to have been recorded before Hendrix released his version. The band, The `Warlocks included here are not the same ones that would change their name to the Grateful Dead. 

Side A

1. Hey Joe – Billy Roberts
2. Wanted: Dead Or Alive – The Rogues
3. Hey Joe – Swamp Rats
4. Hey Joe – The Leaves
5. Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go) – The Standells
6. Hey Joe – Love
7. Hey Joe – Tim Rose
8. Hey Joe – The Music Machine

Side B

1. Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go) – The Byrds
2. Hey Joe – Safaris
3. Hey Joe – Gonn
4. Hey Woman – Kenny Bernard
5. Hey Jo – The Warlocks
6. Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go) – The Cryan’ Shames
7. Hey Joe – The Shadows of Knight

Bonus 7” EP

As this is my compilation, I thought I would include a bonus 7” EP of the songs that could be said to have inspired the original song. I have included an extra song with ‘Penitentiary Blues’ by Buddy Baker. This shares similar lyrics to ‘Little Sadie’ and could be the earliest version of this songs to be recorded. 

Side A

1. Baby, Don’t Go To Town – Neila Miller
2. Hey, Joe – Carl Smith

Side B

1. Penitentiary Blues – Buddy Baker
2. Little Sadie – Clarence Ashley

To find out more on this, I would recommend ‘Hey Joe: The Unauthorised Biography of a Rock Classic’ by Marc Shapiro. 

The front cover based upon the US picture sleeve of the Jimi Hendrix’s Experiences Hey Joe Single. I included the K-Tel logo because I felt that this was the sort of compilation they may well have released if they had had the inclination. I do remember they liked a themed compilation even though I am sure they would not have released one solely based around one song. 

t has been a while since I did a Beatles post, and even longer since I mentioned about the possibility of putting together a compilation of the songs that The Beatles covered on their albums. I actually covered this sort of thing in a podcast back in 2017 when looking at the original versions of the songs*. This play list creates a virtual album of all of the cover version the band released on their studio album, with the exception of Maggie Mae**. 

I took the view that this album would have been one of the numerous compilations that EMI put together in the late 70s after the bands contract ran out. I was surprised when looking into putting this together that EMI didn’t do this themselves back in the day. I pretty much followed the chronology of when these songs came out back in the day, except swapping some around so the length each sides is similar to the other corresponding side. That is down to the fact that this release if it had happened would have been put onto cassette tape. I also made the tracks on mine be the mono versions as these were the mix the band were happiest with. Annoyingly, I could only use stereo versions on Spotify which is the format EMI would have no doubt used if they had put this out themselves.

The cover is taken from an Italian release called The Beatles in Italy. 

Side A

1. A Taste Of Honey
2. Baby It’s You
3. Roll Over Beethoven
4. Anna (Go To Him)
5. Chains
6. Twist & Shout

Side B

1. Please Mister Postman
2. Till There Was You
3. Boys
4. Devil In Her Heart
5. You Really Got A Hold On Me
6. Money (That’s What I Want)

Side C

1. Slow Down
2. Honey Don’t
3. Long Tall Sally
4. Mr. Moonlight
5. Matchbox
6. Rock & Roll Music

Side D

1. Bad Boy
2. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
3. Words Of Love
4. Act Naturally
5. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
6. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!

* http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/podcast/episode-54-songs-the-beatles-covered/.

** I did use this as part of an album of the covers the band made during the Get Back/Let it Be sessions which iI had a look at back in November 2021. 

I find it hard to fathom that this month is the 30th Anniversary since the release of Belly’s first LP, ‘Star’. I remember watching the video to their song ‘Feed The Tree’ on some late late music show and then going down to my local Virgin Megastore (which was in Cardiff at the time) and picking myself up a copy. I absolutely loved this album and was excited when, a couple of years later, they released the follow up which was called “King’. That was it though. Two albums, a few single B-Sides and the odd song that had appeared on soundtrack albums. I was gutted that they did not make another album (at the time) and even though I followed the solo career of Tanya Donnelly, it just wasn’t the same. There was a ‘Best Of’ album (which was really more of a compilation of single mix, B-Sides and rarities) in 2002 and then in 2018, there was a new album. I was also able to see the band live, which was something I missed out on the first time around.

However, it was in their initial spell that I was most interested so I wondered if there was enough material from the B-Sides and rarities to make a third album. Well, there was and on the whole it is pretty good. I did consider including a couple of cover version, as I particularly liked their version of ‘Hot Burrito #1” and ‘Think About Your Troubles’. These would have made the record a bit on the long side.  

As it is, the album includes a raft of B-Sides, including ‘Broken’ which was initially only available on a vinyl single and one previously unreleased song, (Lilith) which would see the light of day on the ‘Sweet Ride’ compilation in 2002.

As for the title, I picked ‘Broken’ as it symbolises that the band had split up and also because Belly have only ever had one word album titles. 

Side A

1. Spaceman – Seal My Fate
2. Dancing Gold – Slow Dust EP
3. Lilith (Previously Unreleased) – Sweet Ride (The Best of Belly)
4. Broken – Seal My Fate (7” Version)
5. John Dark – Now They’ll Sleep

Side B

1. Baby’s Arm – Now They’ll Sleep
2. Sexy S – Feed The Tree
3. Dream On Me – Feed The Tree
4. Diamond Rib Cage – Seal My Fate
5. Sweet Ride – Gepetto
6. Thief – Now They’ll Sleep

The cover is adapted from the 7″ sleeve of the ‘Feed The Tree’ single.

The second and final sampler looking at all of the LPs Blood Records released in 2022, and this one does not have any exclusive releases so I was able to produce a Spotify playlist for you. 

Side A

1. Goodbye Bluefish – Low Island
2. Closer – The Kooks
3. Dig! – Sports Team
4. You (Just Looked Right Through Me) – Stanleys
5. Make It Easy – Phoebe Green
6. Nothing To Lose – The Howlers
7. Ghosts (How Can I Move On) – Muse

Side B

1. Alygatyr – Kasabian
2. Wild Horses II – First Aid Kit
3. Innocence & Sadness – Dermont Kennedy
4. Phantom – Rona Sawayama
5. Call Me By Your Name – Leah Weller
6. The Hard Way – Pale Waves

Side C

1. Strawberry Lemonade – Editors
2. Ready For Something – The Amazons
3. The Good Times – Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbot
4. Bubble Wrap – Easy Life
5. About You – The 1975

Side D

1. St. George Wharf Tower – Jamie T
2. Gary Ashby – Dry Cleaning
3. Step Mum – Lauren HIbberd
4. Hideous – Oliver Sim (feat. Jimmy Summerville)
5. Memories – Yungblud & Willow
6. Heart Filled Up – Paolo Nutini
7. You’re Here That’s The Thing – beabadoobee

Happy New Year everyone. If I thought that Blood Records went into overdrive in 2021, then 2022 was something else. Last year, the label put out 57 records which is just five les than their entire output before then. It also means that this years sampler is going to be split over two separate releases with the first being a triple album and the second being a double. As with previous years, I have included one song from each of these albums. 

Due to the amount of releases this year and the likelihood of next year being about the same, if not more, this will be the last set of Blood Records samplers I will be producing. I am beginning to run out of space in the record room. 

The sleeve is one of the Blood Records logos taken from their Facebook page. 

Side A

1. Free To Be Lost – Calva Louise
2. Roman Holiday – Fontaines D.C.
3. They Sing At Night – Sundowners
4. Under The Radar – Foals
5. You Thought I Was Dead – Holy Youth Movement
6. More Pressure – Kat Tempest (feat. Kevin Abstract)

Side B

1. The Grass – Michael Head & The Res Elastic Band
2. Every Window Is A Mirror – Joywave
3. Mecca – Nick Mulvey
4. Moscow Rules – Liam Gallagher
5. Throw Myself Away – Girl
6. Short Ballad – The Coral

Side C

1. If We Get Caught – Bloc Party
2. All the Time – Fatherson
3. I Can’t Drive – Crawlers
4. Hand Of God – Gang Of Youths
5. New Ways – Bear’s Den

Side D

1. Cold Sweats – The Royston Club
2. Payday – Yard Act
3. Glow – Fickle Friends
4. Sick – Sea Girls
5. Get Better – alt-J

Side E

1. Gold Rush Kid – George Ezra
2. Always Ascending – Franz Ferdinand
3. Don’t Let It Get You Down – Miles Kane
4. Sunset – The Feens
5. Surfacing – Larry Pink The Human

Side F

1. Bad Summer – Spector
2. Come Over (Again) – Crawlers
3. If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You – The Wombats
4. Visions – Blossoms
5. Memento Mori (Live) – Architects

This playlist could not be reproduced as Spotify did not have all of the songs on its platform.

A year ago, I posted a collection of what could only be described as, not the best Christmas records that have ever been made. One of the songs on that collection was ‘All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle’ by British actress, Dora Bryan. I knew that there were a number of Beatles related novelty records and I wondered if there was enough to make an LP full of ones with a Christmas theme. To my surprise, there is. 

Even though The Beatles released their first single in 1962, it was in the following year that their popularity skyrocketed with the term Beatlemania being coined in October of 1963 to describe the hysteria the band caused where ever they went. It was in this year that the first Christmas Beatle themed record was released with the aforementioned Dora Bryan. What I find quite surprising, is this is the only one from that year I could find. 1964 would be different matter all together with every other song from this collection coming from that year, with the majority coming from North America. 

The Beatles had not had the best of starts in North America. British artists before them had had some chart success in the U.S., but not that much. Capitol, EMI’s label in the U.S. initially refused the release Beatle records so Vee-Jay, one of the first African-American owned labels were offered a chance to release the bands records. The records did not sell particularly well to begin with but this was about to change. 

The Beatles themselves came to North American when they made a short visit in early 1964, but word of their music and style had been reported in the US press from late 1963. Their single, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was a radio hit before being released three weeks early than initially planned (by a now on board Capitol) and Vee-Jay started to see the benefit of their deal because the songs they had the licenses for started selling in huge quantities. With an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and a US tour, it was no surprise that 1964 was also the year where a good many people though that releasing a Beatles themed Christmas record was a sure fire way of achieving massive sales and profits. As it turns out, none of these made much of a dent in the charts with the record being public more keen on the real thing. 

What of the song themselves. For some reason, and this is true of non Christmas related Beatles songs,  Ringo is defiantly the most popular Beatle. He is the only member of the band mentioned by name in any of the titles. It also seems to be a case of finding anything to rhyme with Ringo. For example, there was bingo, by jingo, thingo etc. According to Gerry Ferrier, Ringo also became the name of one of Santa’s reindeer due to not having antlers, but Beatle hair. John might not have been such a popular choice as news that he was married (and with a son) had already became known after initially being kept secret. I’m not sure why the other two aren’t mentioned much. Considering these songs were written in isolation, there is quite a number who share the same title. There are also plenty of references to holding Beatle hands as well.

After 1964, it seems that the time of wanting a Beatle for Christmas had passed. There weren’t any Beatles Christmas related novelty songs from 1965 onwards, unless you know any better. Was it that the bands audience were growing up? Was it down to the image of the band changing, in no small part to the music they were making becoming more mature? Whatever the reason, this is a fascinating snapshot of a time when Beatlemania ruled the world. 

Side A

1. All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle – Dora Bryan
2. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – Patty Surbey
3. Santa Bring Me Ringo – Christina Hunter
4. Ringo Deer – Garry Ferrier
5. Ringo Bells – Three Blonde Mice
6. Santa Bring Me Ringo – Tich

Side B

1. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – Becky Lee Beck
2. Bring Me A Beatle For Christmas – Cindy Rella
3. Bring Me The Beatles For Christmas – Jackie & Jill
4. I Want A Beatle For Christmas – The Fans
5. Christmas With The Beatles – Judy & The Duets

The cover image was taken from a Pinterist post by Nanna, and is based on the Beatles cartoon that ran on US TV between 1965 to 1967. I also included the VJ Records logo because if this had been released back in the 1960’s, I am sure they would have been the company who would want to cash in after losing their cash cow not long after gaining it. 

A massive thanks to Darryl Bullock for his help in putting this compilation together. Check out his rather fine website dedicated to the wonderful world of bad records. https://worldsworstrecords.blogspot.com/

When it comes to the Bee Gee’s 60s catalogue, it has been well served with re-releases in both mono and stereo versions along with alternative mixes and unreleased tracks. A number of these had a Christmas theme so I have put them together as an EP that the band could have released in 1968 instead of the single ‘I Started A Joke’.

The opening song is All My Christmases (Came At Once) which the Gibb brothers had given to The Majority to be used in the film ‘The Mini Mob’, or ‘The Mini Affair’ depending on which market you are looking at. The next two songs were both recorded for a Christmas themed television show called ‘How On Earth’, that was filmed at Liverpool Cathedral. We finish up with a demo of a 1968 song called ‘Come Some Christmas Eve Our Halloween’, which might not have the most festive of lyrics by Robin Gibb, but he would come back to this song for his festive album ’My Favourite Christmas Carols’ in 2006. 

Side A

1. All My Christmas (Came At Once)
2. Medley – Hark The Herald Angels Sing/Silent Night

Side B

1. Thank You For Christmas
2. Come Some Christmas Eve Or Halloween

I could not find a Christmas picture of the group from the late 60s, so I adapted the cover of an unofficial album that shows them performing in a studio. Not very festive, but it does look good.