Dave's Song of the Day
All Along the Watchtower – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song is one of the most famous examples of a cover version being considered better than the original. In this case, even the original artist recognized the improvement and later performed the song in the style of the cover version instead of his original recording.
In late 1967, Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the songs for his eighth studio album. Titled
John Wesley Harding, it would be his first album since his July 1966 motorcycle accident. The album was released in December 1967 and was very well received. Among the songs was one called
All Along the Watchtower, a song driven mostly by acoustic guitar and harmonica. The lyrics were intentionally obscure, and they borrowed images from Chapter 21, verses 5-9 of the biblical book of Isaiah. While the album did well,
All Along the Watchtower was not released as a single.
Less than a month after
John Wesley Harding was released, Jimi Hendrix was in London working on the third Jimi Hendrix Experience album,
Electric Ladyland. A friend had given Hendrix a tape of Dylan’s
All Along the Watchtower, and Hendrix decided to record it. His version was a showcase for his electric guitar work, of course, and the tempo and phrasing of the song were changed. The Jimi Hendrix version of
All Along the Watchtower was released as a single in September 1968, and was a hit, rising to #20 on the
Billboard Hot 100. It is now considered a classic.
With the Hendrix version a hit, Dylan’s record company finally released his original version of the song as a single in November 1968. It failed to chart. Years later, Dylan said of the Hendrix cover, “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.”
The song has been covered on record over 150 times, but the Jimi Hendrix cover is almost universally considered the definitive version of the song, even by Bob Dylan.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1968
Bob Dylan, 1967
Tomorrow: I tore my mind on a jagged sky