Songbook #15: All Along the Watchtower
There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
Bob Dylan, made famous by Jimi Hendrix, covered by dozens, if not hundreds.
All Along the Watchtower
All Along the Watchtower is interesting in that Bob Dylan's original version from the John Wesley Harding album has informed almost none of the subsequent versions of the song. The original is a sparse acoustic recording and is notable more for its lyrics than for its music. As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, the Jimi Hendrix Experience famously electrified it and that became the definitive version; virtually every cover version (and there are many) takes its inspiration from Hendrix. Dylan himself adopted Hendrix's phrasing for live performances. Thanks to the obsessive people who track Dylan setlists, we know that Dylan himself has played All Along the Watchtower more than any other song, and virtually every one of those performances followed Hendrix instead of his own original version. It is arguably Dylan's single most famous song, although there is obviously a lot of competition for that title. My iPod has four versions of the song, including the original Dylan, Hendrix and an Indigo Girls live version. The fourth is my personal favorite version of the song and is performed live by U2.
My fifth (and final) year of college was the first time I really listened to U2 extensively. I borrowed a bunch of their albums from my fraternity brother and one time radio co-host Dr. Bovi, including the Rattle & Hum album that features their recording of the song. U2's live version was performed in San Francisco in 1987, and follows Hendrix pretty closely. Most interestingly, it adds another verse that I personally feel is as good of a summation of politically oriented rock & roll as any that I've ever heard. This extra verse is the one that is lodged in my brain and that elevates this song to the songbook.
All I got is a red guitar
Three chords
And the truth
All I got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you
In part because of my obsession with this song, the summer after I graduated from college I did a radio show called "The Crossroads & the Watchtower." I alternated Crossroads shows (all blues) weekly with Watchtower showers (all freeform) and always ended the latter with one of the numerous versions of All Along the Watchtower. I never had to repeat versions, and I wasn't even trying all that hard.
After graduation I had to return Dr. Bovi's copy of Rattle & Hum. This led to me taking the extraordinary step of buying a new copy of the album for my own. I played it almost constantly for the four months I lived at home after graduation; I'm sure my mother would be happy to never hear it again. It ended up being the gateway drug into U2. I've seen them twice and own eight of their albums. Some twelve years after getting into them my interest has mostly waned, and the only album I listen to with any regularity is Rattle & Hum, which if the internet can be trusted is of course the U2 album that most of their fans have the least use for.
On a side note, Bullet the Blue Sky from Rattle & Hum also has one of the most damning lines of commentary to make it on to a live album:
Well the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister.
I seriously think Rattle & Hum is one of the great live albums of all time.
Tracklist
#1 - Welcome to the Jungle
#2 - Runnin' Blue
#3 - Cryin'
#4 - Mr. Jones
#5 - Blinded by the Light
#6 - Piano Man
#7 - Romeo & Juliet
#8 - Ecstasy
#9 - Seasons of Love
#10 - Red Sweater!
#11 - Insomniac
#12 - It Had to Be You
#13 - Cabaret
#14 - Psycho Killer
#15 - All Along the Watchtower
Said the joker to the thief
Bob Dylan, made famous by Jimi Hendrix, covered by dozens, if not hundreds.
All Along the Watchtower
All Along the Watchtower is interesting in that Bob Dylan's original version from the John Wesley Harding album has informed almost none of the subsequent versions of the song. The original is a sparse acoustic recording and is notable more for its lyrics than for its music. As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, the Jimi Hendrix Experience famously electrified it and that became the definitive version; virtually every cover version (and there are many) takes its inspiration from Hendrix. Dylan himself adopted Hendrix's phrasing for live performances. Thanks to the obsessive people who track Dylan setlists, we know that Dylan himself has played All Along the Watchtower more than any other song, and virtually every one of those performances followed Hendrix instead of his own original version. It is arguably Dylan's single most famous song, although there is obviously a lot of competition for that title. My iPod has four versions of the song, including the original Dylan, Hendrix and an Indigo Girls live version. The fourth is my personal favorite version of the song and is performed live by U2.
My fifth (and final) year of college was the first time I really listened to U2 extensively. I borrowed a bunch of their albums from my fraternity brother and one time radio co-host Dr. Bovi, including the Rattle & Hum album that features their recording of the song. U2's live version was performed in San Francisco in 1987, and follows Hendrix pretty closely. Most interestingly, it adds another verse that I personally feel is as good of a summation of politically oriented rock & roll as any that I've ever heard. This extra verse is the one that is lodged in my brain and that elevates this song to the songbook.
All I got is a red guitar
Three chords
And the truth
All I got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you
In part because of my obsession with this song, the summer after I graduated from college I did a radio show called "The Crossroads & the Watchtower." I alternated Crossroads shows (all blues) weekly with Watchtower showers (all freeform) and always ended the latter with one of the numerous versions of All Along the Watchtower. I never had to repeat versions, and I wasn't even trying all that hard.
After graduation I had to return Dr. Bovi's copy of Rattle & Hum. This led to me taking the extraordinary step of buying a new copy of the album for my own. I played it almost constantly for the four months I lived at home after graduation; I'm sure my mother would be happy to never hear it again. It ended up being the gateway drug into U2. I've seen them twice and own eight of their albums. Some twelve years after getting into them my interest has mostly waned, and the only album I listen to with any regularity is Rattle & Hum, which if the internet can be trusted is of course the U2 album that most of their fans have the least use for.
On a side note, Bullet the Blue Sky from Rattle & Hum also has one of the most damning lines of commentary to make it on to a live album:
Well the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister.
I seriously think Rattle & Hum is one of the great live albums of all time.
Tracklist
#1 - Welcome to the Jungle
#2 - Runnin' Blue
#3 - Cryin'
#4 - Mr. Jones
#5 - Blinded by the Light
#6 - Piano Man
#7 - Romeo & Juliet
#8 - Ecstasy
#9 - Seasons of Love
#10 - Red Sweater!
#11 - Insomniac
#12 - It Had to Be You
#13 - Cabaret
#14 - Psycho Killer
#15 - All Along the Watchtower