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Hey Keisha! Battle of the Bands

Hola kitties! How be you this fine day? TW wanted to write this Music Monday post in her own voice but I put my paw down. What's the name of this blog, Woman? Who calls the shots? She quickly backed down and cowered. Can you believe she thinks she knows more about music than DJ CK? I am the DJ. I am what I play.


This week the Monday Music/Music Moves Me blog hop doesn't have a prompt. It's a free-for-all so I'm choosing to feature a battle of the bands where I play a song performed by different artists and you can pick which version you like best. This song was written by Billy Roberts and has been recorded by hunnerts of bands but I'm picking the ones we have in our iTunes record collection. Because the versions are so different from one another, it shouldn't be repetitious to listen to all of them.



The earliest version was performed in the mid-60s by garage band The Leaves and later featured on Lenny's Kaye's Nuggets compilation cd box set.



Possibly the most well-known cover is by Jimi Hendrix, recorded in 1966. He made the song his own. This clip was recorded at the Monterey Pop Festival.



A version that gets overlooked is this one from Johnny Rivers' Realization cd originally released in 1968. This is a more peaceful version as he took out all the references to "guns." It's beautiful in it's own psychedelic, introspective way.



The last version I'm sharing is the most different. Warning: the beginning of the song may not be suitable for kittens and human kittens. TW was obsessed with the whole Patty Hearst/Tanya kidnap incident in 1974. When she read in the Village Voice that someone named Patti Smith had recorded a song about it, she filed it under "Records I Need." Patti recorded it with Lenny Kaye and Tom Verlaine (Television) on guitar and Richard Sohl on piano. It was released as a single on Mer Records in November 1974. Since YouTube didn't exist back then, it was a bunch of years before she actually heard the song and another bunch of years before a friend scored a copy for her. Today the single sells for around $350 if you can find it. Hmm, now The Cat knows how to make some dough-re-me quickly.

Because of the sheer number of bands who have recorded this and the many diverse music styles it's been recorded in, there shouldn't be many of my readers who haven't heard at least one.

Don't you think I should rewrite this? "Hey Keisha / where you going with your claws and teeth bared? / I'm going to find The Woman / She's been messin' 'round with some other cat and you know that ain't cool."

We know which version is TW's fave and which is Pop's fave. Which is your fave?


Thanks to Curious as a Cathy and XMas Dolly for hosting Monday's Music Moves Me blog hop. Visit them to hear more music  to begin the week.

Would you like to comment?

  1. My human has always liked the Leaves version, but Patti Smith's is really awesome too, for completely different reasons.

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  2. Good tunes CK! We'll have to go with Hendrix since the Dad is a guitarist he likes that one!

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  3. I'm going with Hendrix too.

    Have a fabulous day and week. ♥

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  4. The Jimi Hendrix version is my favourite.
    I hadn't heard the others before but I also like the Patti Smith version which I would put second.
    Johnny Rivers went on far too long and was too monotonous for me. I didn't like the tinny background sound either. It sounded like someone adjusting those old fashioned hearing aids. The psychedelic part and the last few seconds were very reminiscent of Sgt. Pepper.
    I didn't like The Leaves version at all.

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  5. I like Jimi Hendrix's Joe best, CK, but that was before I heard the song of Johnny RR, just now...WOW! Pawkisses for a wonderful joe..eh..yful day 🐾😽💞

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  6. DJ CK! On CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, they had a report on the recording studio that Jimi Hendrix constructed just before his death, and they interviewed Patti Smith AND there is a cat story too! I put it on my FB feed, if you want to see it.

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  7. ck...bee coz we sneekz round de web on de food servizz gurlz werk pea sea N de sound haz been terned off; we canna heer de songz bye de other artistz, but Hendrix' vershun iz playin in R mindz eye :) will hata give em a listen two later ~ :) ♥♥

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  8. We love Patti Smith's version ! Purrs

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  9. Jimi is the classic. Patti Smith was incredible. I have a tie.

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  10. Thanks, CK. We are enjoying a little music here at the office now thanks to you. We will have to say that Jimi Hendrix is our favorite guitarist of all time. Great post. Have a great day.
    World of Animals

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  11. I had never heard The Leaves version until today, and I wonder that other artists were able to pick out a classic song from that - I (being honest) was underwhelmed. So....Jimi Hendrix and Patti Smith (the part once she actually started to sing the song and not ramble on about what she imagined was happening to Patti Hearst). The Johnny Rivers version....I'm really not sure what he was trying to accomplish. You put together one great BOTB here! Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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  12. We must have lived a sheltered music life....Mom doesn't recognize that song, but Dad says he does.

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  13. Um...you're probably not surprised to learn I'm not familiar with the song! LOL I like the Patti Smith version. I find the Patty Hearst story intriguing too even though it was before my time.

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  14. Jimi's version is definitely, and will always be, my favorite. But the Johnny Rivers version was my second favorite. I do love me some 60s Psychedelic music! Another version was by one of my favorite bands, Type O Negative, called "Hey Pete." And it, too, is vastly different from any other version. Happy Music Monday!

    Kim

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  15. Definitely Hendrix, but Johnny Rivers is pretty good too. I like the words to yours best though. :) XO

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  16. Um, the Human is not a big music fan (I know, it's a character flaw) so the only one I could get her to listen to was the Patti Smith one which on the whole was not awful, she says. But like The Woman she was pretty obsessed with the Patty Hearst story (well, it hard not to be, living where we do and all). This was a little trip down memory lane, though maybe not for the reason you intended! XOXOXO

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  17. oKAY Personally, I don't hear the one I know, so I asked my hubby cuz he's the musician in the family & he says Jimi Hendrix made it famous for lack of a better word. Personally, to tell you the truth none of these does anything for me, so I looked it up on you tube & there's a group called "The Leaves" try them on you tube & see if you like them. They're a bit old fashion, but what can I say!.. hehehehe~ YOU ROCK GIRLFRIEND!

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  18. Cathy...Oops, I mean Keisha, I can't really swear that I know any of these covers of 'Hey Joe". I kinda like Hendrix cover which sounds the most familiar to my ear, so I probably did hear it sometime over the years and not being a Hendrix fan of such, I know God forbid, right? I didn't put much importance on it. After listening to all of these unique versions which by the way you're so very right about the styles being different, I think I prefer in this wee hour of the morn, Johnny Rivers cover. Great idea for 'your choice song picks' week on the dance floor. I know on occasions you like doing the battle of the bands. You may wish to join the BoTB bi-weekly (1st & 15th) BoTB hop. :) I have a showdown slated for this Friday. Maybe you'll stop by to cast your vote in that round. Have a boogietastic week, dearie!

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  19. These are all great covers, but we're gonna go with Patti Smith. With Hendrix a very close second!

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  20. I like your version the best, CK. I'm not a huge fan of this song. Of course I've heard the Jimi Hendrix one but i like the Patti Smith one too.

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  21. Wow, do you think you could play a guitar like that with your teeth, CK? Very impressive.

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  22. Kitties taking over right :)
    I'll pick Hendrix
    Thanks for rocking.

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