Tag Archives: All Along The Watchtower

Jan 21: The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded All Along The Watchtower in 1968


thejimihendrixexperience-allalongthewatchtower

Jan 21: The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded All Along The Watchtower in 1968

“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.”
– Bob Dylan (1995)

“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.”
– Bob Dylan (booklet Biograph)

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. 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”
– Andy Johns

For me it is the only cover version of a Bob Dylan song that is arguably as good or better than Dylan’s own version.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower (audio):

Continue reading Jan 21: The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded All Along The Watchtower in 1968

Bob Dylan: Perth, Australia Riverside Theatre August 13, 2014 (videos)

bob dylan perth 2014

Finally we’re rolling with new videos from Dylan’s tour in Australia…

Perth, Australia
Riverside Theatre
August 13, 2014

  • Bob Dylan – piano, harp
  • Tony Garnier – bass
  • George Recile – drums
  • Stu Kimball – rhythm guitar
  • Charlie Sexton on lead guitar
  • Donnie Herron – banjo, viola, violin, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel

Continue reading Bob Dylan: Perth, Australia Riverside Theatre August 13, 2014 (videos)

Bob Dylan: Cork, Ireland, June 16, 2014 (videos, setlist, etc..) updated

bob dylan cork 2014

Here are the first couple of videos available from youtube, and more will probably appear in the near future.

I will update this post with more stuff as soon as I find new videos/audios.

  • update 1 – video of “High Water” included – 17.06 22:21

Cork, Ireland
Docklands
Live at the Marquee (Festival)
June 16, 2014

Continue reading Bob Dylan: Cork, Ireland, June 16, 2014 (videos, setlist, etc..) updated

Videos of the day: Govt Mule covers All Along The Watchtower

watchtower2

All along the watchtower must be one of the most covered songs Bob Dylan has ever written, and there are some good ones, and yes, also the greatest cover of them all. Jimi Hendrix made it his own and Dylan even altered his way of playing the song after hearing Jimi’s version, or so the story goes…

The three takes we are going to present today are very different, very jazz-tinged and very good!

The first is from Mountain Jam 2009 with Karl Denson on Saxophone, he does a tremendous job! Warren Haynes’s guitar is equally impressing in this 13 minute masterpiece.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2009):

“For nearly three decades, legendary saxophonist Karl Denson has been getting crowds around the world out on the dance floor. Approaching iconic status, Denson has moved bodies and minds dating back to his earliest years with Lenny Kravitz’s band through his ongoing tenure as a founding member of seminal boogaloo revivalists The Greyboy Allstars and his current roll as a member of San Diego dub rockers Slightly Stoopid. Nowhere, however, is this more apparent than with his own band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Touring relentlessly for the past 15 years and leaving a massive audience in his wake.”
– Karl Denson’s Facebook page

Our second choice is recorded Dec 16th 2006 at the Warren Haynes 18th Annual Christmas Jam. We get a groovy take with Gov’t Mule, Dave Matthews and Branford Marsalis. Warren’s playing is even better than in the first video.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2006):

Our last version is an audience recording, but very lively and close to the band. Members of The Sanctuary Blues  joined Govt Mule’s 1st 10-year anniversary Concert at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, SC 02.06.2014. The sax solo is switched for fantastic trumpet and trombone solos.

Gov’t Mule – All Along The Watchtower (2014):

What a soulful voice Warren Haynes has!

– Hallgeir

Today: Bob Dylan released “John Wesley Harding” in 1967, 46 years ago

bob-dylan-john-wesley-harding-1967

 I heard the sound that Gordon Lightfoot was getting, with Charlie McCoy and Kenny Buttrey. I’d used Charlie and Kenny both before, and I figured if he could get that sound, I could…. but we couldn’t get it. (Laughs) It was an attempt to get it, but it didn’t come off. We got a different sound… I don’t know what you’d call that… It’s a muffled sound.
~Bob Dylan (to Jann Wenner November 29, 1969)

Continue reading Today: Bob Dylan released “John Wesley Harding” in 1967, 46 years ago