That Gun In Your Hand explores 20th century popular music’s inherent misogyny and racism, along with how “Hey Joe” transcended its form, becoming in many ways the first popular song to unrepentantly encompass humanity’s dark, violent realities.
This week, JASON SCHNEIDER- the Strange Saga of rock’s most enduring song, ‘Hey Joe’.
Music journalist, editor, publicist and musician, Jason Schneider has written extensively about Canadian Music legends such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, in his book ‘Whispering Pines’ (2009); Art Bergmann, in ‘The Longest Suicide: The Authorized Biography of Art Bergmann’ (2022).
In his most recent book, ‘That Gun In Your Hand: the Strange Saga of ‘Hey Joe’ and Popular Music’s History of Violence’ (2025), Jason Schneider explores, in minute detail, the creation of one of the most enduring and re-recorded songs in rock history, “Hey Joe”.
“This is the story of a song, a song that binds nearly every strand of 20th century American popular music. “Hey Joe” was written at the dawn of the 1960s by a man named Billy Roberts, an obscure singer and guitarist from South Carolina who moved to New York City, drawn by the burgeoning folk music scene in Greenwich Village. It was a time when new, original material was scarce, leading other singers to quickly adapt songs of quality in the spirit of folk music’s oral traditions. Thus began the long journey of “Hey Joe” from New York coffeehouses to the bars on L.A.’s Sunset Strip to the ears of a young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix who launched his career with his radical, electrified interpretation.”
In exacting detail, with newly uncovered stories, Jason Schneider maps the intricate elements of a song that has provoked dramatic response from the multitude of musicians who have recorded the song, to audiences who still find the track irresistible. In its unusual construction, and mythical history, “Hey Joe”, remains a powerful reminder of what makes rock music such an exciting, complex and influential art form. Its history is, in many ways, a history of the foundations of modern pop and rock music.
https://jasonschneidermedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560292990370
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2uIq5kxXDHDEk6D7OzZa6C?si=BCR-hEwAR1KEcqPHq7yJyw
This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/
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