“Hey Joe” was covered as the b-side of Thee Sixpence’s third single, “In The Building”, from 1966. Thee Sixpence would soon evolve into Strawberry Alarm Clock. This record was released on the All American label, and re-released on a compilation album in 1998.
Both of Thee Sixpence’s previous 45s had covers of songs from Love’s first album as their b-side (“Can’t Explain” and “My Flash On You” respectively). So, although “Hey Joe” was released by many bands like the Leaves and the Byrds in its pre-Hendrix punk form, it’s reasonable to consider this the third Arthur Lee cover in a row for Thee Sixpence.
Thee Sixpence’s “Hey Joe” is, at the end of the day, rather ineffectual — the energy is there, but it’s consigned to the singer’s and (especially) the drummer’s performances; it’s the rhythm guitar that proves to be a bit too bland. This tends to bring the whole thing down a couple notches.
This is a minor quibble though — there are some really neat ideas on this version of “Hey Joe”. For one thing, there are several moments where the band suddenly crams an extra beat into a measure, turning the brutal 1/2 beat into a jarring 3/4 for a split second, something merely hinted at on most other versions. Thee Sixpence, by contrast, proudly highlight it.
“Hey Joe” is, here, not as fierce as the Leaves’ version, not as blunt as Love’s, not as melodic as the Byrds’, and not as moodily groundbreaking as the song’s own a-side. But it’s good 1966 b-side material and, if nothing else, a good example of Gene Gunnels’ ample percussion ability.
“Hey Joe” appears on…
“In The Building” b/w “Hey Joe” (1966)
Step By Step (1998)