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All Along the Watchtower

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original version contain twelve lines, feature a conversation between a joker and a thief. The song has been subject to various interpretations; some reviewers have noted that it echoes lines in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5–9. Dylan has released several different live performances, and versions of the song are included on some of his subsequent greatest hits compilations.

"All Along the Watchtower"
Picture sleeve from the Netherlands release (November 1968)
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album John Wesley Harding
ReleasedDecember 27, 1967 (1967-12-27)
RecordedNovember 6, 1967
StudioColumbia Studio A, Nashville
GenreFolk rock[1]
Length2:30
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston
Official audio
"All Along the Watchtower" on YouTube

Covered by numerous artists, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded with the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their third studio album, Electric Ladyland (1968). The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968, received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001, and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 (40th in the 2021 version). Dylan first played the song live in concert on the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour, his first tour since 1966. His live performances have been influenced by Hendrix's cover, to the extent that they have been called covers of a cover. The singer has performed the song live more than any of his other ones, with over 2,250 recitals.

Bob Dylan original version edit

Background and recording edit

Following a motorcycle accident in July 1966, Dylan spent the next 18 months recuperating at his home in Woodstock and writing songs.[2] According to Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin, all the songs for John Wesley Harding, Dylan's eighth studio album, were written and recorded during a six-week period at the end of 1967.[3][4] With one child born in early 1966 and another in mid-1967, Dylan had settled into family life.[5] Dylan has claimed that he thought of the song during a thunderstorm.[6] He recorded "All Along the Watchtower" on November 6, 1967, at Columbia Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee,[7] the same studio where he had completed Blonde on Blonde the previous year.[8] Accompanying Dylan, who played acoustic guitar and harmonica, were two Nashville veterans from the Blonde on Blonde sessions: Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums. The producer was Bob Johnston, who produced Dylan's two previous albums, Highway 61 Revisited in 1965 and Blonde on Blonde in 1966,[9] and the sound engineer was Charlie Bragg.[10]

The final version of "All Along the Watchtower" resulted from two different takes during the second of three John Wesley Harding sessions. The session opened with five takes of the song, the third and fifth of which were spliced to create the album track.[7] According to Gray, as with most of the album's selections, the song is a dark, sparse work that stands in stark contrast with Dylan's previous recordings of the mid-1960s.[11]

Composition and lyrical interpretation edit

Music edit

Musicologist Wilfrid Mellers, noting the biblical references "All Along the Watchtower", wrote that the song "heroically confronts, in grandly swinging Aeolian melody, deeply oscillating bass and thrusting rhythm, the chaos of fallen man".[13] Mellers considered that the sense of threat expressed in the lyrics was "not exterior to the tune which remains, in its noble arches over its gravely descending bass, unruffled".[14]

Musicology scholar Albin Zak finds a strong blues influence in the song which Dylan developed from his affinity for the blues of Robert Johnson and quotes Dylan's dedication in Writings and Drawings by Bob Dylan: "To the magnificent Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson who sparked it off and to the great wondrous melodies spirit which covereth the oneness of us all." Zak sees "All Along the Watchtower" as showing a combination of the influences of Guthrie's ballad writing and Johnson's blues influences on Dylan. Zak compares Dylan's lyrics in the song directly to Johnson's "Me and the Devil Blues" (1938), stating that: "Dylan probes such fearful fatalism (of Johnson's lyrics) by grafting a narrative of alienation and apprehension onto a musical frame of implacable stability."[15]

The music of the song has been described by Zak, who wrote, "The song's entire harmonic substance consists of three chords repeated in an unchanging cyclic pattern over the course of its three verses and instrumental interludes. The melodic pitch collection, shared by voice and harmonica, consists almost entirely of the pentatonic C#, E, F#, G#, B, though each part is restricted to a four-note subset. And the declamatory vocal melody gravitates throughout to one of two pitches."[16] Zak then summarizes the entire song as: "The song's musical elements, extraordinarily delimited in number and function, combine to create an impression of unrelenting circularity, which accumulates, in turn, to impart a sense not of musical progression, but of a hovering atmosphere."[17]

Lyrics edit

The original lyrics are in twelve lines, which the Financial Times writer Dan Einac commented, make it "akin to a truncated sonnet".[18] The lyrics feature a conversation between a joker and a thief, whilst they ride towards a watchtower.[10] Scholar Timothy Hampton comments that the pair are "overwhelmed by circumstances".[19] Reviewers have pointed out that the lyrics in "All Along the Watchtower" echo lines in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5–9:[20][21]

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise ye princes, and prepare the shield./For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth./And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed./...And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

Other writers such as Keith Negus have indicated that Dylan also drew on verses from the Book of Revelation to write the song.[22] Elliot Wolfson found that Dylan's lyrics also reflected his own response to a melancholy reading of his own approach to Jewish gnosis.[23] The general theme of justice is commented upon by Lisa O'Neill-Sanders, who states that Watchtower presents a "thief in the song... who consoles the victimized and exploited joker. The thief sympathizes but urges the joker to 'not talk falsely'".[24]

Journalist David Stubbs interpreted the song as "obliquely allud[ing] to Bob Dylan's frustrations with his management and with CBS, whom he felt were offering him a royalty rate that was far from commensurate with his status".[25] For Stubbs, the song "features a stand-off between the 'joker' and the 'thief', with the joker complaining of businessmen who drink his wine, feeding off him but refusing to give him his due".[25] Authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon suggest that Dylan is the joker and his manager Albert Grossman is the thief.[10] In The New York Times, Robert Palmer expressed his opinion that as artists like Dylan "were finding that serving as the conscience of a generation exacted a heavy toll. Mr. Dylan, for one, felt the pressures becoming unbearable, and wrote about his predicament in songs like 'All Along the Watchtower'".[26] Hampton also wrote that the song can be viewed as an "allegory of the entertainment business, with artists exploited by managers".[19] Commenting on the songs on John Wesley Harding in an interview published in the folk music magazine Sing Out! in October 1968, Dylan told John Cohen and Happy Traum:

I haven't fulfilled the balladeer's job. A balladeer can sit down and sing three songs for an hour and a half ... it can all unfold to you... (For example, as) with the third verse of "The Wicked Messenger", which opens it up, and then the time schedule takes a jump and soon the song becomes wider ... The same thing is true of the song "All Along the Watchtower", which opens up in a slightly different way, in a stranger way, for we have the cycle of events working in a rather reverse order.[27]

The unusual structure of the narrative was remarked on by English literature scholar Christopher Ricks, who commented that "All Along the Watchtower" is an example of Dylan's audacity at manipulating chronological time, noting "at the conclusion of the last verse, it is as if the song bizarrely begins at last, and as if the myth began again".[28] Heylin described Dylan's narrative technique in the song as setting the listener up for an epic ballad with the first two verses, but then, after a brief instrumental passage, the singer cuts "to the end of the song, leaving the listener to fill in his or her own (doom-laden) blanks".[3] Hampton remarks on how the "already allegorical characters change into something else" from the first verse to the third verse, and compares this change in perspective to the way that some of Arthur Rimbaud's prose poems in Arthur Rimbaud's Illuminations change their framing.[29]

Andy Gill commented that "In Dylan's version of the song, it's the barrenness of the scenario which grips, the high haunting harmonica and simple forward motion of the riff carrying understated implications of cataclysm; as subsequently recorded by Jimi Hendrix ... that cataclysm is rendered scarily palpable through the dervish whirls of guitar."[30]

Dave Van Ronk, an early supporter and mentor of Dylan,[31] made the following criticism:[32]

That whole artistic mystique is one of the great traps of this business, because down that road lies unintelligibility. Dylan has a lot to answer for there, because after a while he discovered that he could get away with anything... So he could do something like 'All Along the Watchtower', which is simply a mistake from the title on down: a watchtower is not a road or a wall, and you can't go along it.

Songwriter Eric Bogle said he was envious of Dylan's ability to write a song that is open to several interpretations.[33] Michael Gray wrote that, unlike on Blonde on Blonde, "Dylan's surrealism is stripped down to a chilly minimum on John Wesley Harding",[34] and described Dylan's use of language in songs like "All Along the Watchtower" as "impressionism revisited ... reflecting wintertime in the psyche".[34] In his 2021 book on Dylan, Larry Starr added that: "...'Watchtower' is a brief, compelling, and mysterious song. Its ominous character is captured memorably in the studio version, which utilizes for accompaniment just Dylan's guitar and harmonica... The singing is utterly straightforward, as if recounting a simple parable about the nameless joker and thief; Dylan is not about to disclose a hint of any deeper meaning...".[35]

Release and reception edit

John Wesley Harding was released on December 27, 1967, less than two months after the recording sessions.[36] Peter Johnson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the track "brings out Dylan's talent for imagery", but felt the recording seems "fragmented and unfinished".[37] It was regarded as the best track on the album by the reviewer for the Bucks Examiner.[38] This sentiment was shared by Troy Irvine of The Arizona Republic, who felt that John Wesley Harding was better than any of Dylan's earlier albums.[4]

Journalist Paul Williams regarded the song as "an extraordinarily successful interaction" between Dylan, McCoy, and Buttrey, featuring "some of the best cinematography in modern song-writing".[39] In 2013, Jim Beviglia rated it as the 92nd-best of Dylan's songs, writing that Dylan "creates a stifling air of portent and tension with his three succinct verses".[40] Author Nigel Williamson, in 2021, listed the song 31st in Dylan's oeuvre.[6] In a 2020 article for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis ranked it the 28th-greatest of Dylan's songs, commenting that "there's a lot to be said for Dylan's humble original, its brevity and starkness capturing the same end-times intensity in a different way [to the Hendrix version]".[41] The following year, The Guardian included the song on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".[42] Rapper Kanye West identified it as his "favorite song of all time" in a 2022 interview in which he also expressed a desire to work with and write with Dylan.[43]

The track was released as the B-side to "Drifter's Escape" in Italy on March 1, 1968, and as an A-side, backed with "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", in the Netherlands and Germany on November 22, 1968.[44] In January 1969, the song was one of four John Wesley Harding songs included on an extended play release in Australia.[45]

The Jimi Hendrix Experience version edit

"All Along the Watchtower"
 
European single picture sleeve
Single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
from the album Electric Ladyland
B-side
Released
  • September 2, 1968 (1968-09-02) (US)
  • October 18, 1968 (UK)
RecordedJanuary, June–August 1968
Studio
GenreHard rockpsychedelic rock
Length4:01
Label
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Jimi Hendrix
Experience US singles chronology
"Up from the Skies"
(1968)
"All Along the Watchtower"
(1968)
"Crosstown Traffic"
(1968)
Experience UK singles chronology
"Burning of the Midnight Lamp"
(1967)
"All Along the Watchtower"
(1968)
"Crosstown Traffic"
(1968)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their version of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" on January 21, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London.[46] The song is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded with the group for their third studio album Electric Ladyland.[47] Hendrix was musically attracted to Dylan's songs several times in his career, according to engineer Andy Johns. Hendrix had been given a reel-to-reel tape of Dylan's unreleased recordings at that point by publicist Michael Goldstein,[48] who worked for Dylan's manager Grossman.[49] "(Hendrix) came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio", recalled Johns.[46] He initially intended to record "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" but changed this to "All Along the Watchtower". Two years later he would also record "Drifter's Escape" from the John Wesley Harding album.[50]

Stubbs writes that this was the second of Dylan's songs Hendrix had adapted to his own style, the first being "Like a Rolling Stone" played earlier at Monterey.[25] A third song Hendrix adapted from Dylan is identified by Zak as "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window".[51]

Music edit

Dogget described the interpretation of the song: "Hendrix used the sound of the studio to evoke the storms and the sense of dread, creating an echoed aural landscape."[50] For Zak, the Hendrix version of the song is more than a simple transposition of Dylan's harmonica riffs into Hendrix playing riffs on his electric guitar, involving adding a tonal quality of a "self-proclaimed 'Voodoo Child,' raging and defiant in the guise of a lead guitar."[51] The layering Hendrix introduces in his version is further intensified and, "unlike the sonic reserve of Dylan's recording, here the frequency space teems with dynamic activity. From the highs of the cymbals and tambourines to the lows of the bass guitar and kick drum, the ongoing agitation of the frequency space heightens the track's sense of tumult."[51]

Zak summarizes the Hendrix adaptation of the Dylan song in three main points, stating: "There are three basic strategies apparent in this transformation (of Dylan's version): (1) the intensification of essential musical gestures and formal divisions; (2) the introduction of pitch material dissonant with the pentatonic collection of the original; and (3) the tracing of a long-range, goal-directed melodic line over the call-and-response structure of the arrangement. It is in the latter that Hendrix asserts most forcefully his protagonist claim."[52]

Although Zak has written of both the Dylan and the Hendrix versions of the song as influenced by blues players such as Robert Johnson, he has stated that the Hendrix version is much closer in its blues style to the songs and style of Muddy Waters, stating: "If Dylan's crying blues is reminiscent of Robert Johnson, Hendrix's shout calls to mind Muddy Waters and his 'deep tone with a heavy beat'."

Recording edit

According to Hendrix's regular engineer Eddie Kramer, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day of recording in January in London, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who featured at the session and played an additional 12-string guitar.[49] Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. He would later note that he disliked the song and preferred Dylan's version.[49] Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself.[46] Hendrix's friend and Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones contributed the dry rattles featured in the intro, played on a vibraslap.[46][49] This sparse version without any overdubs would eventually appear on the South Saturn Delta compilation released in 1997.[50]

Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of "All Along the Watchtower" on January 26 in 1968,[53] 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 City.[49] 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.'"[49] Apparently, Hendrix was trying to record what Zak has referred to in the song as a 'deep tone with a heavy beat' which was not highlighted in Dylan's version.[54] By the end of the sessions, Kramer and Hendrix had 16 tracks to use for mixing the song that soon became the intended single of the album.[49]

Credits edit

Release, charts, and certifications edit

In the US, Reprise Records issued the song as a single on September 2, 1968, with the B-side featuring "Burning of the Midnight Lamp",[55] over a month prior to the album release on Electric Ladyland. Dylan gave it a glowing review in the Melody Maker magazine, which pleased Hendrix greatly.[56] It reached number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, Hendrix's highest ranking American single and only Top 40 hit to date.[55][48] Track Records released the single on October 18 and it reached number five in the British charts,[57] becoming the first UK stereo-only single to do so.[58] Hendrix soon became reluctant about performing the song live, and after three months it disappeared from the setlist.[49] One notable performance was at the Isle of Wight festival that appeared on the Blue Wild Angel live album in 2002.[48][50]

Certifications and sales for "All Along the Watchtower"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[59] Gold 45,000
Germany (BVMI)[60] Gold 250,000
Italy (FIMI)[61]
sales since 2009
Platinum 70,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[62]
digital
Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Impact of the Hendrix recording on Dylan's performances edit

In 1995, Dylan 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."[63] In the booklet accompanying his 1985 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."[64] In 1974, Dylan, with the Band, embarked on his first concert tour since his 1966 world tour. From the first show of the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour on January 3, 1974, in Chicago, the shows featured what Heylin described as a "Hendrixized" version of "All Along the Watchtower".[65][11] From the first live performance, Dylan has consistently performed the song closer to Hendrix's version than to his own original recording.[11]

The 1974 album Before the Flood, compiled from concert performances on the tour, included the song.[66] Stubbs contended that through the "more heavy-duty arrangement of it on [the album]", Dylan "practically conceded that Hendrix made the song his own".[25] Academics Janet Gezari and Charles Hartman wrote: "In effect, [Dylan] covered a cover of his own song".[67] They opined that as Dylan's vocal range has narrowed and his delivery of lyrics became more brusque, listening to the song in concert, audience members "must either take it as a painfully constricted, even dismissive reference to the song the album gave us in 1967, or hear in it a compendium of all the history, Dylan's own and others', musical and other, between then and now, or as much of that history as we can know".[67]

The live recording from Before the Flood appeared as the B side of "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" in 1974. The recordings came from separate concerts earlier that year at the Forum adjacent to Los Angeles, both with Dylan backed by the Band.[68][69] In The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, Gray noted that this is the most often performed of all of Dylan's songs.[11] According to Dylan's own website, by November 2018 he had performed the song 2,268 times.[70]

In recent years, Dylan has taken to singing the first verse again at the end of the song in live performances.[71] As Gray notes in his Bob Dylan Encyclopedia:

"Dylan chooses to end in a way that at once reduces the song's apocalyptic impact and cranks up its emphasis on the artist's own centrality. Repeating the first stanza as the last means Dylan now ends with the words 'None of them along the line/Know what any of it is worth' (and this is sung with a prolonged, dark linger on that word 'worth')."[11]

Scholar of English Sukanya Saha cites the original conclusion, "two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl" as an example of Dylan's talent for providing satisfying endings for songs. Saha goes on to say, "The end rhymes in his songs make his lines appealing as they reverberate in consciousness."[72]

Legacy edit

The original recording of "All Along the Watchtower" appears on several of Dylan's subsequently released "greatest hits" albums, as well as his two box set compilations, Biograph, released in 1985, and Dylan, released in 2007. In addition, Dylan has released live recordings of the song on the following albums: Before the Flood (recorded February 1974); Bob Dylan at Budokan (recorded March 1978); Dylan & The Dead (recorded July 1987); and MTV Unplugged (recorded November 1994).[11][73] The track has been covered by dozens of artists, including Bobby Womack on Facts of Life (1973), XTC on White Music (1978), and U2 on Rattle and Hum (1988).[74] A dance music remix by Funkstar De Luxe was released in 2001.[75]

Hendrix's recording of the song appears at number 40 on the 2021 Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (up from 48 in the 2004 version),[76] and in 2000, British magazine Total Guitar named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time.[77] Hendrix's guitar solo was included at number five on Guitar World's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.[78] His version of "All Along The Watchtower" was listed by Billboard in 2015 as one of the "Most Overplayed Songs in Movies".[79] In 2020, Far Out ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Hendrix songs,[80] and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked it number one on their list of his 10 greatest songs.[58] It has been used in dozens of films, including Forrest Gump, Rush, Watchmen, and A Bronx Tale.[79]

Official releases on Bob Dylan albums edit

Versions of "All Along the Watchtower" have been included on the following official releases:[81]

Official releases on Jimi Hendrix albums edit

Versions of "All Along the Watchtower" have been included on the following official releases:

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Gale - Product Login".
  2. ^ Sounes 2001, pp. 215–2188
  3. ^ a b Heylin 1995, pp. 364–369
  4. ^ a b Irvine, Troy (January 14, 1968). "Record swing: Dylan's back". The Arizona Republic. p. 4-N.
  5. ^ Sounes 2001, pp. 198–201
  6. ^ a b Williamson 2021, p. 300
  7. ^ a b Bjorner, Olof (October 18, 2020). "2nd John Wesley Harding session, 6 November 1967". Still on the Road. from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  8. ^ Bjorner, Olof (February 28, 2017). "The 13th and last Blonde On Blonde session, 10 March 1966". Still on the Road. from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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  10. ^ a b c Margotin & Guesdon 2015, p. 288
  11. ^ a b c d e f Gray 2008, p. 7
  12. ^ Kramer 2013, p. 145
  13. ^ Mellers 1985, p. 154.
  14. ^ Mellers 1985, p. 155.
  15. ^ Zak, III 2004, p. 624
  16. ^ Zak, III 2004, p. 620
  17. ^ Zak, III 2004, pp. 620–621
  18. ^ Einav, Dan (May 26, 2018). "The life of a song: All Along the Watchtower". Financial Times. p. 14.
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  20. ^ Heylin 2003, p. 285
  21. ^ Gill 1999, pp. 130–131
  22. ^ The World of Bob Dylan. Edited by Sean Latham. Page 52. Cambridge University Press; 2021.
  23. ^ Wolfson 2021.
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  26. ^ Palmer, Robert (February 24, 1985). "What pop lyrics say to us today". The New York Times.
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  30. ^ Gill 1999, p. 131
  31. ^ Gray 2008, pp. 690–692
  32. ^ Van Ronk 2013, pp. 207–208
  33. ^ Leigh 2020, pp. 237–238
  34. ^ a b Gray 2004, p. 159
  35. ^ Larry Starr. Listening to Bob Dylan. University of Illinois Press. page 107-8. 2021.
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Bibliography edit

Journal articles

  • Gezari, Janet; Hartman, Charles (2010). "Dylan's Covers". Southwest Review. 95 (1/2): 152–166. JSTOR 43473044.
  • Saha, Sukanya (2019). "Bob Dylan's Literary Merit: A Critique". IUP Journal of English Studies. 14 (4): 7–19.
  • Zak, III, Albin J. (2004). "Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix: Juxtaposition and Transformation". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 57 (3): 599–644. doi:10.1525/jams.2004.57.3.599.

Books

External links edit

  • Lyrics at Bob Dylan's official website
  • "All Along the Watchtower" – Jimi Hendrix Experience (official audio) on Vevo

along, watchtower, scottish, comedy, series, series, song, american, singer, songwriter, dylan, from, eighth, studio, album, john, wesley, harding, 1967, song, written, dylan, produced, johnston, song, lyrics, which, original, version, contain, twelve, lines, . For the Scottish TV comedy series see All Along the Watchtower TV series All Along the Watchtower is a song by American singer songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album John Wesley Harding 1967 The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston The song s lyrics which in its original version contain twelve lines feature a conversation between a joker and a thief The song has been subject to various interpretations some reviewers have noted that it echoes lines in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 21 verses 5 9 Dylan has released several different live performances and versions of the song are included on some of his subsequent greatest hits compilations All Along the Watchtower Picture sleeve from the Netherlands release November 1968 Song by Bob Dylanfrom the album John Wesley HardingReleasedDecember 27 1967 1967 12 27 RecordedNovember 6 1967StudioColumbia Studio A NashvilleGenreFolk rock 1 Length2 30LabelColumbiaSongwriter s Bob DylanProducer s Bob JohnstonOfficial audio All Along the Watchtower on YouTubeCovered by numerous artists All Along the Watchtower is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded with the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their third studio album Electric Ladyland 1968 The Hendrix version released six months after Dylan s original recording became a Top 20 single in 1968 received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 40th in the 2021 version Dylan first played the song live in concert on the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour his first tour since 1966 His live performances have been influenced by Hendrix s cover to the extent that they have been called covers of a cover The singer has performed the song live more than any of his other ones with over 2 250 recitals Contents 1 Bob Dylan original version 1 1 Background and recording 1 2 Composition and lyrical interpretation 1 2 1 Music 1 2 2 Lyrics 1 3 Release and reception 2 The Jimi Hendrix Experience version 2 1 Music 2 2 Recording 2 3 Credits 2 4 Release charts and certifications 2 5 Impact of the Hendrix recording on Dylan s performances 3 Legacy 4 Official releases on Bob Dylan albums 5 Official releases on Jimi Hendrix albums 6 References 6 1 Citations 7 Bibliography 8 External linksBob Dylan original version editBackground and recording edit Following a motorcycle accident in July 1966 Dylan spent the next 18 months recuperating at his home in Woodstock and writing songs 2 According to Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin all the songs for John Wesley Harding Dylan s eighth studio album were written and recorded during a six week period at the end of 1967 3 4 With one child born in early 1966 and another in mid 1967 Dylan had settled into family life 5 Dylan has claimed that he thought of the song during a thunderstorm 6 He recorded All Along the Watchtower on November 6 1967 at Columbia Studio A in Nashville Tennessee 7 the same studio where he had completed Blonde on Blonde the previous year 8 Accompanying Dylan who played acoustic guitar and harmonica were two Nashville veterans from the Blonde on Blonde sessions Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums The producer was Bob Johnston who produced Dylan s two previous albums Highway 61 Revisited in 1965 and Blonde on Blonde in 1966 9 and the sound engineer was Charlie Bragg 10 The final version of All Along the Watchtower resulted from two different takes during the second of three John Wesley Harding sessions The session opened with five takes of the song the third and fifth of which were spliced to create the album track 7 According to Gray as with most of the album s selections the song is a dark sparse work that stands in stark contrast with Dylan s previous recordings of the mid 1960s 11 Composition and lyrical interpretation edit nbsp All Along the Watchtower source source track Short sample of Dylan s vocals from All Along the Watchtower Author Michael J Kramer wrote Danger paranoia ominous brooding even death are present in the uneasy movement between minor and major chords and in Dylan s shrill vocals 12 Problems playing this file See media help Music edit Musicologist Wilfrid Mellers noting the biblical references All Along the Watchtower wrote that the song heroically confronts in grandly swinging Aeolian melody deeply oscillating bass and thrusting rhythm the chaos of fallen man 13 Mellers considered that the sense of threat expressed in the lyrics was not exterior to the tune which remains in its noble arches over its gravely descending bass unruffled 14 Musicology scholar Albin Zak finds a strong blues influence in the song which Dylan developed from his affinity for the blues of Robert Johnson and quotes Dylan s dedication in Writings and Drawings by Bob Dylan To the magnificent Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson who sparked it off and to the great wondrous melodies spirit which covereth the oneness of us all Zak sees All Along the Watchtower as showing a combination of the influences of Guthrie s ballad writing and Johnson s blues influences on Dylan Zak compares Dylan s lyrics in the song directly to Johnson s Me and the Devil Blues 1938 stating that Dylan probes such fearful fatalism of Johnson s lyrics by grafting a narrative of alienation and apprehension onto a musical frame of implacable stability 15 The music of the song has been described by Zak who wrote The song s entire harmonic substance consists of three chords repeated in an unchanging cyclic pattern over the course of its three verses and instrumental interludes The melodic pitch collection shared by voice and harmonica consists almost entirely of the pentatonic C E F G B though each part is restricted to a four note subset And the declamatory vocal melody gravitates throughout to one of two pitches 16 Zak then summarizes the entire song as The song s musical elements extraordinarily delimited in number and function combine to create an impression of unrelenting circularity which accumulates in turn to impart a sense not of musical progression but of a hovering atmosphere 17 Lyrics edit The original lyrics are in twelve lines which the Financial Times writer Dan Einac commented make it akin to a truncated sonnet 18 The lyrics feature a conversation between a joker and a thief whilst they ride towards a watchtower 10 Scholar Timothy Hampton comments that the pair are overwhelmed by circumstances 19 Reviewers have pointed out that the lyrics in All Along the Watchtower echo lines in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 21 verses 5 9 20 21 Prepare the table watch in the watchtower eat drink arise ye princes and prepare the shield For thus hath the Lord said unto me Go set a watchman let him declare what he seeth And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels and he hearkened diligently with much heed And behold here cometh a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen And he answered and said Babylon is fallen is fallen and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground Other writers such as Keith Negus have indicated that Dylan also drew on verses from the Book of Revelation to write the song 22 Elliot Wolfson found that Dylan s lyrics also reflected his own response to a melancholy reading of his own approach to Jewish gnosis 23 The general theme of justice is commented upon by Lisa O Neill Sanders who states that Watchtower presents a thief in the song who consoles the victimized and exploited joker The thief sympathizes but urges the joker to not talk falsely 24 Journalist David Stubbs interpreted the song as obliquely allud ing to Bob Dylan s frustrations with his management and with CBS whom he felt were offering him a royalty rate that was far from commensurate with his status 25 For Stubbs the song features a stand off between the joker and the thief with the joker complaining of businessmen who drink his wine feeding off him but refusing to give him his due 25 Authors Philippe Margotin and Jean Michel Guesdon suggest that Dylan is the joker and his manager Albert Grossman is the thief 10 In The New York Times Robert Palmer expressed his opinion that as artists like Dylan were finding that serving as the conscience of a generation exacted a heavy toll Mr Dylan for one felt the pressures becoming unbearable and wrote about his predicament in songs like All Along the Watchtower 26 Hampton also wrote that the song can be viewed as an allegory of the entertainment business with artists exploited by managers 19 Commenting on the songs on John Wesley Harding in an interview published in the folk music magazine Sing Out in October 1968 Dylan told John Cohen and Happy Traum I haven t fulfilled the balladeer s job A balladeer can sit down and sing three songs for an hour and a half it can all unfold to you For example as with the third verse of The Wicked Messenger which opens it up and then the time schedule takes a jump and soon the song becomes wider The same thing is true of the song All Along the Watchtower which opens up in a slightly different way in a stranger way for we have the cycle of events working in a rather reverse order 27 The unusual structure of the narrative was remarked on by English literature scholar Christopher Ricks who commented that All Along the Watchtower is an example of Dylan s audacity at manipulating chronological time noting at the conclusion of the last verse it is as if the song bizarrely begins at last and as if the myth began again 28 Heylin described Dylan s narrative technique in the song as setting the listener up for an epic ballad with the first two verses but then after a brief instrumental passage the singer cuts to the end of the song leaving the listener to fill in his or her own doom laden blanks 3 Hampton remarks on how the already allegorical characters change into something else from the first verse to the third verse and compares this change in perspective to the way that some of Arthur Rimbaud s prose poems in Arthur Rimbaud s Illuminations change their framing 29 Andy Gill commented that In Dylan s version of the song it s the barrenness of the scenario which grips the high haunting harmonica and simple forward motion of the riff carrying understated implications of cataclysm as subsequently recorded by Jimi Hendrix that cataclysm is rendered scarily palpable through the dervish whirls of guitar 30 Dave Van Ronk an early supporter and mentor of Dylan 31 made the following criticism 32 That whole artistic mystique is one of the great traps of this business because down that road lies unintelligibility Dylan has a lot to answer for there because after a while he discovered that he could get away with anything So he could do something like All Along the Watchtower which is simply a mistake from the title on down a watchtower is not a road or a wall and you can t go along it Songwriter Eric Bogle said he was envious of Dylan s ability to write a song that is open to several interpretations 33 Michael Gray wrote that unlike on Blonde on Blonde Dylan s surrealism is stripped down to a chilly minimum on John Wesley Harding 34 and described Dylan s use of language in songs like All Along the Watchtower as impressionism revisited reflecting wintertime in the psyche 34 In his 2021 book on Dylan Larry Starr added that Watchtower is a brief compelling and mysterious song Its ominous character is captured memorably in the studio version which utilizes for accompaniment just Dylan s guitar and harmonica The singing is utterly straightforward as if recounting a simple parable about the nameless joker and thief Dylan is not about to disclose a hint of any deeper meaning 35 Release and reception edit John Wesley Harding was released on December 27 1967 less than two months after the recording sessions 36 Peter Johnson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the track brings out Dylan s talent for imagery but felt the recording seems fragmented and unfinished 37 It was regarded as the best track on the album by the reviewer for the Bucks Examiner 38 This sentiment was shared by Troy Irvine of The Arizona Republic who felt that John Wesley Harding was better than any of Dylan s earlier albums 4 Journalist Paul Williams regarded the song as an extraordinarily successful interaction between Dylan McCoy and Buttrey featuring some of the best cinematography in modern song writing 39 In 2013 Jim Beviglia rated it as the 92nd best of Dylan s songs writing that Dylan creates a stifling air of portent and tension with his three succinct verses 40 Author Nigel Williamson in 2021 listed the song 31st in Dylan s oeuvre 6 In a 2020 article for The Guardian Alexis Petridis ranked it the 28th greatest of Dylan s songs commenting that there s a lot to be said for Dylan s humble original its brevity and starkness capturing the same end times intensity in a different way to the Hendrix version 41 The following year The Guardian included the song on a list of 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know 42 Rapper Kanye West identified it as his favorite song of all time in a 2022 interview in which he also expressed a desire to work with and write with Dylan 43 The track was released as the B side to Drifter s Escape in Italy on March 1 1968 and as an A side backed with I ll Be Your Baby Tonight in the Netherlands and Germany on November 22 1968 44 In January 1969 the song was one of four John Wesley Harding songs included on an extended play release in Australia 45 The Jimi Hendrix Experience version edit All Along the Watchtower nbsp European single picture sleeveSingle by the Jimi Hendrix Experiencefrom the album Electric LadylandB side Burning of the Midnight Lamp US Long Hot Summer Night UK ReleasedSeptember 2 1968 1968 09 02 US October 18 1968 UK RecordedJanuary June August 1968StudioOlympic London Record Plant New York CityGenreHard rock psychedelic rockLength4 01LabelReprise US Track UK Songwriter s Bob DylanProducer s Jimi HendrixExperience US singles chronology Up from the Skies 1968 All Along the Watchtower 1968 Crosstown Traffic 1968 Experience UK singles chronology Burning of the Midnight Lamp 1967 All Along the Watchtower 1968 Crosstown Traffic 1968 The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their version of Dylan s All Along the Watchtower on January 21 1968 at Olympic Studios in London 46 The song is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded with the group for their third studio album Electric Ladyland 47 Hendrix was musically attracted to Dylan s songs several times in his career according to engineer Andy Johns Hendrix had been given a reel to reel tape of Dylan s unreleased recordings at that point by publicist Michael Goldstein 48 who worked for Dylan s manager Grossman 49 Hendrix came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio recalled Johns 46 He initially intended to record I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine but changed this to All Along the Watchtower Two years later he would also record Drifter s Escape from the John Wesley Harding album 50 Stubbs writes that this was the second of Dylan s songs Hendrix had adapted to his own style the first being Like a Rolling Stone played earlier at Monterey 25 A third song Hendrix adapted from Dylan is identified by Zak as Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window 51 Music edit Dogget described the interpretation of the song Hendrix used the sound of the studio to evoke the storms and the sense of dread creating an echoed aural landscape 50 For Zak the Hendrix version of the song is more than a simple transposition of Dylan s harmonica riffs into Hendrix playing riffs on his electric guitar involving adding a tonal quality of a self proclaimed Voodoo Child raging and defiant in the guise of a lead guitar 51 The layering Hendrix introduces in his version is further intensified and unlike the sonic reserve of Dylan s recording here the frequency space teems with dynamic activity From the highs of the cymbals and tambourines to the lows of the bass guitar and kick drum the ongoing agitation of the frequency space heightens the track s sense of tumult 51 Zak summarizes the Hendrix adaptation of the Dylan song in three main points stating There are three basic strategies apparent in this transformation of Dylan s version 1 the intensification of essential musical gestures and formal divisions 2 the introduction of pitch material dissonant with the pentatonic collection of the original and 3 the tracing of a long range goal directed melodic line over the call and response structure of the arrangement It is in the latter that Hendrix asserts most forcefully his protagonist claim 52 Although Zak has written of both the Dylan and the Hendrix versions of the song as influenced by blues players such as Robert Johnson he has stated that the Hendrix version is much closer in its blues style to the songs and style of Muddy Waters stating If Dylan s crying blues is reminiscent of Robert Johnson Hendrix s shout calls to mind Muddy Waters and his deep tone with a heavy beat Recording edit According to Hendrix s regular engineer Eddie Kramer the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day of recording in January in London shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who featured at the session and played an additional 12 string guitar 49 Halfway through the session bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left He would later note that he disliked the song and preferred Dylan s version 49 Mason then took over on bass According to Kramer the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself 46 Hendrix s friend and Rolling Stones multi instrumentalist Brian Jones contributed the dry rattles featured in the intro played on a vibraslap 46 49 This sparse version without any overdubs would eventually appear on the South Saturn Delta compilation released in 1997 50 Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of All Along the Watchtower on January 26 in 1968 53 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 City 49 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 49 Apparently Hendrix was trying to record what Zak has referred to in the song as a deep tone with a heavy beat which was not highlighted in Dylan s version 54 By the end of the sessions Kramer and Hendrix had 16 tracks to use for mixing the song that soon became the intended single of the album 49 Credits edit Jimi Hendrix lead vocals lead guitar slide guitar bass guitar producer mixing Mitch Mitchell drums Dave Mason twelve string acoustic guitar Brian Jones assorted percussion Eddie Kramer Gary Kellgren engineers mixingRelease charts and certifications edit In the US Reprise Records issued the song as a single on September 2 1968 with the B side featuring Burning of the Midnight Lamp 55 over a month prior to the album release on Electric Ladyland Dylan gave it a glowing review in the Melody Maker magazine which pleased Hendrix greatly 56 It reached number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart Hendrix s highest ranking American single and only Top 40 hit to date 55 48 Track Records released the single on October 18 and it reached number five in the British charts 57 becoming the first UK stereo only single to do so 58 Hendrix soon became reluctant about performing the song live and after three months it disappeared from the setlist 49 One notable performance was at the Isle of Wight festival that appeared on the Blue Wild Angel live album in 2002 48 50 Certifications and sales for All Along the Watchtower Region Certification Certified units salesDenmark IFPI Danmark 59 Gold 45 000 Germany BVMI 60 Gold 250 000 Italy FIMI 61 sales since 2009 Platinum 70 000 United Kingdom BPI 62 digital Platinum 600 000 Sales streaming figures based on certification alone Impact of the Hendrix recording on Dylan s performances edit In 1995 Dylan 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 63 In the booklet accompanying his 1985 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 64 In 1974 Dylan with the Band embarked on his first concert tour since his 1966 world tour From the first show of the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour on January 3 1974 in Chicago the shows featured what Heylin described as a Hendrixized version of All Along the Watchtower 65 11 From the first live performance Dylan has consistently performed the song closer to Hendrix s version than to his own original recording 11 The 1974 album Before the Flood compiled from concert performances on the tour included the song 66 Stubbs contended that through the more heavy duty arrangement of it on the album Dylan practically conceded that Hendrix made the song his own 25 Academics Janet Gezari and Charles Hartman wrote In effect Dylan covered a cover of his own song 67 They opined that as Dylan s vocal range has narrowed and his delivery of lyrics became more brusque listening to the song in concert audience members must either take it as a painfully constricted even dismissive reference to the song the album gave us in 1967 or hear in it a compendium of all the history Dylan s own and others musical and other between then and now or as much of that history as we can know 67 The live recording from Before the Flood appeared as the B side of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I ll Go Mine in 1974 The recordings came from separate concerts earlier that year at the Forum adjacent to Los Angeles both with Dylan backed by the Band 68 69 In The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia Gray noted that this is the most often performed of all of Dylan s songs 11 According to Dylan s own website by November 2018 he had performed the song 2 268 times 70 In recent years Dylan has taken to singing the first verse again at the end of the song in live performances 71 As Gray notes in his Bob Dylan Encyclopedia Dylan chooses to end in a way that at once reduces the song s apocalyptic impact and cranks up its emphasis on the artist s own centrality Repeating the first stanza as the last means Dylan now ends with the words None of them along the line Know what any of it is worth and this is sung with a prolonged dark linger on that word worth 11 Scholar of English Sukanya Saha cites the original conclusion two riders were approaching the wind began to howl as an example of Dylan s talent for providing satisfying endings for songs Saha goes on to say The end rhymes in his songs make his lines appealing as they reverberate in consciousness 72 Legacy editThe original recording of All Along the Watchtower appears on several of Dylan s subsequently released greatest hits albums as well as his two box set compilations Biograph released in 1985 and Dylan released in 2007 In addition Dylan has released live recordings of the song on the following albums Before the Flood recorded February 1974 Bob Dylan at Budokan recorded March 1978 Dylan amp The Dead recorded July 1987 and MTV Unplugged recorded November 1994 11 73 The track has been covered by dozens of artists including Bobby Womack on Facts of Life 1973 XTC on White Music 1978 and U2 on Rattle and Hum 1988 74 A dance music remix by Funkstar De Luxe was released in 2001 75 Hendrix s recording of the song appears at number 40 on the 2021 Rolling Stone s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time up from 48 in the 2004 version 76 and in 2000 British magazine Total Guitar named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time 77 Hendrix s guitar solo was included at number five on Guitar World s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos 78 His version of All Along The Watchtower was listed by Billboard in 2015 as one of the Most Overplayed Songs in Movies 79 In 2020 Far Out ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Hendrix songs 80 and in 2021 American Songwriter ranked it number one on their list of his 10 greatest songs 58 It has been used in dozens of films including Forrest Gump Rush Watchmen and A Bronx Tale 79 Official releases on Bob Dylan albums editVersions of All Along the Watchtower have been included on the following official releases 81 John Wesley Harding 1967 Bob Dylan s Greatest Hits Volume II 1971 Before the Flood 1974 Bob Dylan at Budokan 1979 Biograph 1985 Dylan amp The Dead 1988 The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration 1993 performed by Neil Young 82 MTV Unplugged 1995 The Essential Bob Dylan 2000 The Best of Bob Dylan 2005 Dylan 2007 The Best of The Original Mono Recordings 2010 The Original Mono Recordings 2010 The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration Deluxe Edition 2014 performed by Neil Young 82 Bob Dylan The Rolling Thunder Revue The 1975 Live Recordings 2019 Official releases on Jimi Hendrix albums editVersions of All Along the Watchtower have been included on the following official releases Electric Ladyland Jimi Hendrix Experience 1968 74 Smash Hits Jimi Hendrix Experience 1969 74 Isle of Wight Jimi Hendrix 1971 74 Stone Free Jimi Hendrix 1981 83 Kiss the Sky Jimi Hendrix 1984 74 Live amp Unreleased The Radio Show Jimi Hendrix 1989 74 South Saturn Delta Jimi Hendrix 1997 83 Blue Wild Angel Live at the Isle of Wight Jimi Hendrix 2002 74 The Singles Collection Jimi Hendrix 2002 84 Fire The Jimi Hendrix Collection Jimi Hendrix 2010 85 Freedom Atlanta Pop Festival Jimi Hendrix 2015 86 References editCitations edit Gale Product Login Sounes 2001 pp 215 2188 a b Heylin 1995 pp 364 369 a b Irvine Troy January 14 1968 Record swing Dylan s back The Arizona Republic p 4 N Sounes 2001 pp 198 201 a b Williamson 2021 p 300 a b Bjorner Olof October 18 2020 2nd John Wesley Harding session 6 November 1967 Still on the Road Archived from the original on June 23 2017 Retrieved December 2 2020 Bjorner Olof February 28 2017 The 13th and last Blonde On Blonde session 10 March 1966 Still on the Road Archived from the original on October 26 2019 Retrieved December 2 2020 Gray 2008 pp 361 362 a b c Margotin amp Guesdon 2015 p 288 a b c d e f Gray 2008 p 7 Kramer 2013 p 145 Mellers 1985 p 154 Mellers 1985 p 155 Zak III 2004 p 624 Zak III 2004 p 620 Zak III 2004 pp 620 621 Einav Dan May 26 2018 The life of a song All Along the Watchtower Financial Times p 14 a b Hampton 2020 p 115 Heylin 2003 p 285 Gill 1999 pp 130 131 The World of Bob Dylan Edited by Sean Latham Page 52 Cambridge University Press 2021 Wolfson 2021 O Neill Sanders 2021 a b c d Stubbs 2003 pp 76 77 Palmer Robert February 24 1985 What pop lyrics say to us today The New York Times Cott 2006 p 122 Ricks 2003 p 359 Hampton 2020 pp 115 116 Gill 1999 p 131 Gray 2008 pp 690 692 Van Ronk 2013 pp 207 208 Leigh 2020 pp 237 238 a b Gray 2004 p 159 Larry Starr Listening to Bob Dylan University of Illinois Press page 107 8 2021 Gray 2008 p 354 Johnson Pete January 18 1968 Album reveals yet another Dylan to replace last one Los Angeles Times pp Part IV 1 14 Latest long players Bucks Examiner March 1 1968 p 7 Williams 2004 p 245 Beviglia 2013 p 18 Petridis Alexis April 9 2020 Bob Dylan s 50 greatest songs ranked The Guardian Archived from the original on April 9 2020 Retrieved May 29 2022 Beyond Mr Tambourine Man 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know The Guardian May 22 2021 Archived from the original on May 22 2021 Retrieved May 29 2022 There s No One That s Not Welcome Kanye West on YZY Paris and His Three Phases in Fashion Vogue October 3 2022 Retrieved October 3 2022 Fraser Alan Audio Mono 7 Singles amp EPs 1966 68 Searching for a Gem Archived from the original on April 19 2021 Retrieved June 6 2022 Fraser Alan Audio Mono 7 Singles amp EPs 1969 Searching for a Gem Archived from the original on June 20 2021 Retrieved June 6 2022 a b c d McDermott Kramer amp Cox 2009 p 87 Bush John All Along the Watchtower AllMusic Archived from the original on May 28 2022 Retrieved January 14 2011 a b c Cross Charles R 2005 Room full of mirrors a biography of Jimi Hendrix London Sceptre pp 238 278 317 ISBN 0 340 82683 5 OCLC 62224345 a b c d e f g h Padgett Ray 2017 Cover me the stories behind the greatest cover songs of all time New York Sterling pp 58 67 ISBN 978 1 4549 2250 6 OCLC 978537907 a b c d Doggett Peter 2004 Jimi Hendrix the complete guide to his music London Omnibus Press ISBN 978 1 84449 424 8 OCLC 59100421 a b c Zak III 2004 p 630 Zak III 2004 p 631 McDermott Kramer amp Cox 2009 p 88 Zak III 2004 p 632 a b Shapiro amp Glebbeek 1990 p 531 Lawrence Sharon 2006 Jimi Hendrix the man the magic the truth London Pan Books p 114 ISBN 978 0 330 43353 2 OCLC 62265272 Shapiro amp Glebbeek 1990 p 534 a b Uitti Jacob November 27 2021 Top 10 Jimi Hendrix Songs American Songwriter Archived from the original on April 6 2022 Retrieved March 24 2022 Danish single certifications Jimi Hendrix All Along The Watch Tower IFPI Danmark Retrieved September 27 2022 Gold Platin Datenbank Jimi Hendrix All Along The Watch Tower in German Bundesverband Musikindustrie Retrieved July 6 2023 Italian single certifications Jimi Hendrix All Along The Watch Tower in Italian Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana Retrieved January 3 2022 Select 2021 in the Anno drop down menu Select All Along The Watch Tower in the Filtra field Select Singoli under Sezione British single certifications Jimi Hendrix All Along The Watch Tower British Phonographic Industry Retrieved September 10 2021 Dolen John September 29 1995 A Midnight Chat with Bob Dylan Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel pp 1E 8E Margotin amp Guesdon 2015 p 289 Heylin 2011 p 360 Heylin 2011 p 363 a b Gezari amp Hartman 2010 p 165 Leigh 2020 p 466 Bjorner Olof October 18 2020 1974 Tour of America with The Band Still on the Road Archived from the original on June 23 2017 Retrieved December 2 2020 Bob Dylan Songs Bob Dylan s official website Archived from the original on June 26 2018 Retrieved May 28 2022 Margotin amp Guesdon 2015 pp 288 289 Saha 2019 pp 9 10 Bob Dylan Albums Bob Dylan s official website May 21 2012 Archived from the original on May 25 2012 Retrieved May 21 2012 a b c d e f g Trager 2004 p 8 Marshall Evan March 6 2008 Dylan Rarities Record Collector Archived from the original on October 29 2021 Retrieved June 6 2022 40 All Along the Watchtower Rolling Stone September 15 2021 Archived from the original on September 18 2021 Retrieved September 18 2021 The Best Cover Versions Ever Total Guitar Future Publishing August 2000 100 Greatest Guitar Solos 5 All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix Guitar World October 14 2008 Archived from the original on November 18 2010 Retrieved August 13 2011 a b The 22 Most Overplayed Songs in Movies Billboard February 10 2015 Archived from the original on December 8 2020 Retrieved November 28 2020 Whatley Jack November 27 2020 Jimi Hendrix s 20 greatest songs of all time Far Out Magazine Archived from the original on March 24 2022 Retrieved March 24 2022 All Along the Watchtower Bob Dylan s official website Archived from the original on May 28 2022 Retrieved May 28 2022 a b The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration Deluxe Edition 2014 Bob Dylan s official website Archived from the original on May 27 2022 Retrieved May 28 2022 a b The stories behind all 84 posthumous Jimi Hendrix albums Ultimate Classic Rock October 19 2020 Archived from the original on November 24 2020 Retrieved May 29 2022 The Singles Collection Jimi Hendrix AllMusic Archived from the original on May 29 2022 Retrieved May 29 2022 Fire The Jimi Hendrix Collection Jimi Hendrix AllMusic Archived from the original on May 29 2022 Retrieved May 29 2022 Kreps Daniel August 3 2015 New Jimi Hendrix Documentary Focuses on Historic Atlanta Pop Concert Rolling Stone Archived from the original on November 16 2017 Retrieved May 29 2022 Bibliography editJournal articles Gezari Janet Hartman Charles 2010 Dylan s Covers Southwest Review 95 1 2 152 166 JSTOR 43473044 Saha Sukanya 2019 Bob Dylan s Literary Merit A Critique IUP Journal of English Studies 14 4 7 19 Zak III Albin J 2004 Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix Juxtaposition and Transformation Journal of the American Musicological Society 57 3 599 644 doi 10 1525 jams 2004 57 3 599 Books Beviglia Jim 2013 Counting Down Bob Dylan His 100 Finest Songs Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0 8108 8824 1 Cott Jonathan ed 2006 Dylan on Dylan The Essential Interviews Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 978 0 340 92312 2 Gill Andy 1999 Classic Bob Dylan My Back Pages Carlton ISBN 978 1 85868 599 1 Gray Michael 2004 Song and Dance Man III The Art of Bob Dylan London Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8264 6382 1 Gray Michael 2008 The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8264 6933 5 Hampton Timothy 2020 Bob Dylan How the Songs Work Kindle ed Princeton Princeton University Press ISBN 978 1 942130 36 9 Heylin Clinton 1995 Revolution in the Air the Songs of Bob Dylan Vol 1 1957 73 Constable amp Robinson ISBN 978 1 84901 296 6 Heylin Clinton 2003 Bob Dylan Behind the Shades Revisited Perennial Currents ISBN 978 0 06 052569 9 Heylin Clinton 2011 Behind the Shades The 20th Anniversary Edition London Faber amp Faber ISBN 978 0 571 27240 2 Kramer Michael J 2013 The Republic of Rock Music and Citizenship in the Sixties New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 538486 4 Leigh Spencer 2020 Bob Dylan Outlaw Blues Carmarthen McNidder amp Grace ISBN 978 0 85716 205 2 Margotin Philippe Guesdon Jean Michel 2015 Bob Dylan All the Songs The Story Behind Every Track Black Dog amp Leventhal Publishers ISBN 978 1 57912 985 9 McDermott John Kramer Eddie Cox Billy 2009 Ultimate Hendrix Backbeat Books ISBN 978 0 87930 938 1 Mellers Wilfrid 1985 A Darker Shade of Pale A Backdrop to Bob Dylan Oxford University Press ISBN 0 571 13345 2 O Neill Sanders Lisa 2021 Justice in Latham Sean ed The World of Bob Dylan Cambridge University Press pp 282 283 ISBN 978 1 10849 951 4 Ricks Christopher 2003 Dylan s Visions of Sin Penguin Viking ISBN 978 0 670 80133 6 Shapiro Harry Glebbeek Cesar 1990 Jimi Hendrix Electric Gypsy St Martin s Press ISBN 978 0 312 05861 6 Sounes Howard 2001 Down the Highway The Life of Bob Dylan Grove Press ISBN 978 0 8021 1686 4 Stubbs David 2003 Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child The Stories Behind Every Song Thunder s Mouth Press ISBN 978 1 56025 537 6 Trager Oliver 2004 Keys to the rain the definitive Bob Dylan encyclopedia Billboard Books ISBN 978 0 8230 7974 2 Van Ronk Dave 2013 2005 The Mayor of MacDougal Street a memoir Philadelphia Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 306 82216 2 Williams Paul 2004 Bob Dylan Performing Artist The Early Years 1960 1973 Omnibus Press ISBN 978 1 84449 095 0 Williamson Nigel 2021 Bob Dylan Dead Straight Guides 5th ed Red Planet ISBN 978 1 912733 41 5 Wolfson Elliot 2021 Judaism Saturnine Melancholy and Dylan s Jewish Gnosis in Latham Sean ed The World of Bob Dylan Cambridge University Press pp 222 223 ISBN 978 1 10849 951 4External links editLyrics at Bob Dylan s official website All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix Experience official audio on Vevo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title All Along the Watchtower amp oldid 1205422397, wikipedia, 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