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Previous Hey Joe topic.
Liner notes about "Hey Joe" by David Fricke, from the booklet of the 1996 Special Collectors Edition of the album "Fifth Dimension" by The Byrds:
"The publishing history of this classic was a story in itself. Composer Billy Roberts sold the copywright to Dino Valenti, who published the song under his pseudonym Chester Powers.
Crosby elected to sing lead on the track. McGuinn: "The reason Crosby did lead vocal on 'Hey Joe' was because it was his song. He didn't write it but he was responsible for finding it. He'd vanted to do it for years but we would never let him. Then both Love and the Leaves had a minor hit with it and David got so angry that we had to let him do it.""
On this basis:
- William Roberts should be the true writer (also credited in this Byrds version)
- Surfaris are not mentioned
