‘Hey Joe’: The song that stopped Neil Young in his tracks
Music has the power to re-wire the brain of whoever is listening and alter their entire mindset regarding the art of songwriting. There are few greater feelings than discovering an album for the first time that immediately connects viscerally. One person responsible for making millions feel this way is Neil Young, who has been sitting at the top of the music industry for half a century on his own terms.
First and foremost, Young is a fan. As a teenager, he took to the stage for the first time at school when he sang ‘It Won’t Be Long’ and ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ by The Beatles. While it was only in the cafeteria at Calvin High School in Winnipeg rather than the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival, it instilled a love of performing within Young’s soul that has only enhanced with age. Since that moment, he’s dedicated his life to his craft.
Despite enjoying more success than most artists could ever dream of securing, his first few years in the music business were a rollercoaster ride. He struggled with securing gigs upon moving to Toronto, which was a highly competitive scene. While he did land a record deal with his band The Mynah Birds, they were swiftly dropped before it was released after singer Rick James was found to be AWOL from the US Army.
However, rather than take these crushing defeats to heart, Young was undeterred and moved to Los Angeles to realise his dream. Upon reaching utopia, Young quickly formed Buffalo Springfield, which proved to be a pivotal part of his journey and made him the artist he is today. Los Angeles was full of like-minded individuals, including Jack Nitzsche, who was an arranger for Buffalo Springfield and Young’s earliest material.
Nitzsche worked closely with Phil Spector, which meant he had access to a wealth of music that had yet to be released to the general public, which Young was exposed to as a result. During an interview with MOJO in 1995, Young said of their relationship: “We just liked each other and always had a great time together. I love listening to all his ideas. Plus, I liked ‘hanging out’ with him because he always got all the new records sent to him every week, and he’d sit and listen to them, forming his opinions… He worked as an independent arranger back then. He was a very ‘sought-after’ guy.”
Following the end of Buffalo Springfield, Young started living with Nitzche’s family, which helped him immensely during a difficult time professionally. This period of Young’s life was fulfilling as they began working on his solo career. Significantly, it also saw Nitzsche introduce him to the Jimi Hendrix Experience for the first time.
“When I quit the Springfield, I was living at Jack’s house with him, his wife Gracia and his son, ‘Little’ Jack. 45s would be coming in every week, and I remember the day we got the first Jimi Hendrix Experience single – this was way before the first album had been released – and all of us were just awe-struck at how ‘raw’ the guy sounded. That first album of mine was basically just Jack and me.”
Although Young didn’t mention the specific song by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, it would have been their debut single, ‘Hey Joe’, which remains one of the greatest debut singles of all time. It didn’t take a genius to work out that Hendrix was capable of going on to etch his name into rock history, and Young was immediately obsessed.
Young also said of Hendrix in an interview with the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2005: “Hendrix was the best at being able to do his expression with his guitar. I’d say, out of the 1960s, as far as someone taking the guitar to another place, Hendrix was number one. No other guitar player even came near Hendrix in how he handled playing rock ‘n’ roll in a trio, guitar, bass and drums.”
For a short period, before Hendrix released any music, Young was one of the few people in Los Angeles who knew the secret of his brilliance. Sure enough, within a matter of months, the Jimi Hendrix Experience were the name on every music fan’s lips, and he was the biggest star to emerge since The Beatles.
