Johnny Hallyday :: Hey Joe (1967 en Francais)

johnnyhallyday-palaisdessports1967.jpgIf you dug the French Freakbeat series posted earlier on the Drunkard, then Johnny Hallyday’s 1967 French cover of “Hey Joe” may be the coolest thing you’ll download this month.

A real renaissance man, ole Hallyday, like fellow Frenchman Jacques Dutronc, fashioned himself both as an actor and as a songwriter/performer. No clue what his post sixties output was like, but this track is swingin’.

Big nod to Spoilt Victorian Child for their assistance in helping me track this (1967) version down — it wasn’t easy. If you, like me, are a pop Francophile, you won’t want to miss this one.

Dig This.

Download:
MP3:
Johnny Hallyday :: Hey Joe
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9 thoughts on “Johnny Hallyday :: Hey Joe (1967 en Francais)

  1. This site has been pumping out the better French music over the last 50 years– I didn’t think it was possible that anything French, in the context of popular music, was good.

    Also, thanks for picture of Brigget Bardot. I often forget how extremely hot she was…

  2. well… I dug your french stuff, thanks,
    but about this one, hey joe by johnny hallyday… I know this song for a (too) long time and its the lamest version I’ve heard in my opinion, compared to the english stuff…
    hallyday was a good showman in the 60’s and the 70’s, but that’s about it
    he never wrote a song, and nowadays hes one of the dumbest people on earth
    choose Dutronc or Gainsbourg instead and fuck that clown

    you got a cool site here, keep on keepin on

    alxmhz

  3. the “fun” thing to know about this cover is the completely stupid and antiseptic translation of the lyrics. Except from nickname Joe, it has nothing to do with the original story. Some dumb lines about a guy talking to another about his freetime, his lak of money, his “car of the year” and finally his girl . His best effort was to put the name “Vietnam” in this crap soup, and he succeeded!! Our “national Elvis” was always in the mainstream and I guess the original lyrics were too much for our prude ears! Apart from that , nice cover , and I can understand how some foreign ears could appreciate it…

  4. Yes! The beauty of barely speaking passable French is I can just appreciate the accent, and ignore the lyrics.

    I imagine a lot of bad, english, music would be better that way.

  5. Hi
    sure hallyday was a kind of “cheesy” adaptation of american/british rock/soul singers
    but he did several things that sound ok and even sometimes pretty good, this cover to my opinion is rather good, not good as the jimi hendrix one or the music machine, but still effecient

    the best tune i’ve heard from him, and i’m sure even people wich don’t like him could enjoy this one (if they’re into 60s sound) is the original (written by mick & tony + johnny himself) “psychedelic”, with a great fuzz sound, and a lead guitar played by jimmy page himself!
    it’s really a nice one, and i was quite surprised the first time i have listenned it

    eddy mitchell, another very popular singer in france did also very good stuff in the 60s, some of them recorded at muscle shoals, and other @ london with people like jimmy page (again yeah) involved in the sessions
    (listen to the original tune “si tu n’étais pas mon frère” for exemple, or the nice cover of “memphis tenessee”)

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