This Just In From Seattle Music History!!! Dylan has described his reaction to hearing Hendrix's version: "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day."[25] In the booklet accompanying his Biograph album, Dylan said: "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way... Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."
Hendrix's recording of the song appears at number 47 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[26] and in 2000, British magazine Total Guitar named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time.[27]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience[edit]
| "All Along the Watchtower" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
European single cover
| ||||
| Single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience | ||||
| from the album Electric Ladyland | ||||
| B-side | US "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" UK "Long Hot Summer Night" EU+JP "Can You See Me" | |||
| Released | September 21, 1968 (US) October 18, 1968 (UK) October 1968 (EU+JP) | |||
| Recorded | January 1968 Olympic Studios, London; June–August 1968 Record Plant Studios, NYC | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock | |||
| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | Reprise, Track, Polydor | |||
| Writer(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
| Producer(s) | Jimi Hendrix | |||
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their cover version of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" on January 21, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London.[18]According to engineer Andy Johns, Jimi Hendrix had been given a tape of Dylan’s recording by publicist Michael Goldstein, who worked for Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman. "(Hendrix) came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio”, recalled Johns.[19] According to Hendrix’s regular engineer Eddie Kramer, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who had appeared at the session and played guitar. Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself.[19] Hendrix's friend, and Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist,Brian Jones played the various percussion instruments on the track. Jones originally recorded a piano part that was later mixed out in place of the percussion instruments. Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of "All Along The Watchtower" on January 26, but Hendrix was quickly dissatisfied with the result and went on re-recording and overdubbing guitar parts during June, July, and August at the Record Plant studio in New York.[20]Engineer Tony Bongiovi has described Hendrix becoming increasingly dissatisfied as the song progressed, overdubbing more and more guitar parts, moving the master tape from a four-track to a twelve-track to a sixteen-track machine. Bongiovi recalled, "Recording these new ideas meant he would have to erase something. In the weeks prior to the mixing, we had already recorded a number of overdubs, wiping track after track. [Hendrix] kept saying, ‘I think I hear it a little bit differently.’”[21] The finished version was released on the album Electric Ladyland in September 1968. The single reached number five in the British charts,[22] and number 20 on the Billboard chart, Hendrix's only top 20 entry there.[23] The song also had the #5 spot on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.[24]
Dylan has described his reaction to hearing Hendrix's version: "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day."[25] In the booklet accompanying his Biograph album, Dylan said: "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way... Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."
Hendrix's recording of the song appears at number 47 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[26] and in 2000, British magazine Total Guitar named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time.[27]
Other notable recordings[edit]
 | This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (January 2014) |
Dave Matthews Band[edit]
Dave Matthews Band has played the song since the band's inception in the early 1990s.[28] Their rendition maintains Dylan's three chord structure and key signature but differs in style. Dave Matthews typically begins the song slowly with just bass, vocals and acoustic guitar. The band members come in after the line "the hour is getting late", picking up the tempo and intensity. The band's members then take extended solos, culminating with the line, "No reason to get excited." "Watchtower", as it is referred to by the band's fans, is a concert staple, often performed as either a closer or encore. In all, they have covered the song live more than 600 times, including solo performances by Matthews,[28] and it has appeared on six of their officially released live albums, though the band has never released a studio version.
In addition, the band has had numerous musicians guest with them while playing Watchtower including Carlos Santana,Neil Young, Warren Haynes from Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band, Trey Anastasio from Phish, Zac Brown, Bela Fleck, Robert Randolph, Marcus Mumford and Gary Clark Jr.
Dave Mason[edit]
Dave Mason also covered "All Along the Watchtower".[29] As noted above, Mason also played on Jimi Hendrix's widely known version, playing the 12 string acoustic guitar on the track.
U2[edit]
Irish rock band U2 first played a cover of "All Along the Watchtower" during their Boy Tour in 1981.[30] Years later, during the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987,[31] the cover was played for a second time, in San Francisco, California, with an additional verse added by Bono. This performance was later included as a scene in U2's 1988 rockumentary film, Rattle and Hum, and also appeared on the album of the same name. The performance was impromptu, with the band learning the chords and lyrics within minutes of taking the stage, and as a result, there were problems in editing the soundtrack. The song made its way into 47 live shows during the band's 1989 Lovetown Tour.[32]
Neil Young[edit]
Neil Young performed a live version with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, which appeared on his album Road Rock Vol. 1: Friends & Relatives. He has also performed the song with Dave Matthews Band and with Booker T. and the M.G.'s at the Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden. The recording of the Dylan tribute was issued in 1993 on The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration album. In 2004, he performed a version with Bruce Springsteen.
Grateful Dead[edit]
The Grateful Dead performed the song 124 times,[33] first on June 20, 1987.
Bryan Ferry[edit]
Bryan Ferry recorded this song as a demo with Robin Trower in the mid-1990s. He completed the track during sessions in August 2006 for his Dylan tribute album Dylanesque released March 2007.
Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam[edit]
After performing the song live four times from 2004–2006 with Pearl Jam, lead singer Eddie Vedder was asked to record "All Along the Watchtower" with The Million Dollar Bashers for the soundtrack of the Dylan biopic I'm Not There. Named for Dylan's song "Million Dollar Bash", the group was formed by guitarist Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. Its other members included Steve Shelley on drums; Television's Tom Verlaine, Wilco's Nels Cline, and Smokey Hormel on guitars; John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood on keyboards; and Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier.
In 2008, the song was played three times during Pearl Jam's US East Coast Summer Tour, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival. In 2009, the band was joined by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones to perform the song at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London, England.[34]
Bear McCreary/Battlestar Galactica[edit]
Television composer Bear McCreary arranged a distinctive version of "All Along the Watchtower" for use in the final scene of the Battlestar Galactica season three finale "Crossroads, Part II", featuring his younger brother Brendan on vocals. A version with all the lyrics was included on the season 3 soundtrack. The lyrics had been written into the screenplay byRonald D. Moore.[35] The song became a thematic motif as well as a critical plot element of the show, with lyrics frequently referenced in dialog and several versions of the melody playing out throughout the show's final season. The series' last episode played out to the Jimi Hendrix version of the song.
Steve Hackett Band[edit]
Steve Hackett played a powerful live version of the song during a show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire[36] with John Wetton on lead vocals (2010). Then he created a studio version of the song (also with John Wetton on vocals) for the new remastered edition of the Tokyo Tapes live album (2013). All Along the Watchtower's studio version involved: Steve Hacketton guitars and percussion, John Wetton on vocals, Roger King on keyboards, Lee Pomeroy on Bass and Garry O'Toole on drums. The initial live version include the same band except Nick Beggs on bass instead of Lee Pomeroy and Amanda Lehmann in a 2nd guitar part.
Others[edit]
The song has been covered by many other artists,[37] including:
- Brewer and Shipley[38]
- Chris de Burgh[39]
- Eric Clapton [40]
- The Dream Syndicate[41]
- Richie Havens[42]
- Jeff Healey[43]
- Michael Hedges[44]
- Indigo Girls [45]
- Van Morrison[46]
- Supertramp[47]
- The Persuasions[48]
- June Tabor[49]
- T.S.O.L.[50]
- Klopjag[51]
- Turtle Island String Quartet[52]
- Paul Weller[53]
- Bobby Womack[54]
- XTC[55
- Envy on the Coast[56]
- Francis Cabrel, in a French translation titled "D'en haut de la tour du guet", on his album "Viser le ciel", 2012[57]
Cultural references[edit]
The song as originally recorded by Dylan was used in the 1999 film American Beauty and in the Crossroads season three finale of the TV series Battlestar Galactica. Hendrix's version was featured in the movies Withnail and I, Rush, Land of the Lost (without Hendrix's vocals), Private Parts, Forrest Gump, A Bronx Tale, Blue Chips, Vegas Vacation, Tupac: Resurrection, the 2001 remake of Brian's Song and Watchmen (among others) and also in television shows such as The Simpsons, in episodes "Mother Simpson" and "My Mother the Carjacker".
