All Along the Watchtower

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All Along the Watchtower
Bob Dylan
publication November 22, 1967
length 2:31
Genre (s) Folk , folk rock
Author (s) Bob Dylan
Label Columbia Records
album John Wesley Harding

All Along the Watchtower is a piece of music by Bob Dylan . It appeared on his album John Wesley Harding , which was released on December 27, 1967. In its original version, the title was instrumented with acoustic guitar , bass , harmonica and drums .

Jimi Hendrix cover

All Along the Watchtower
Jimi Hendrix
publication September 21, 1968 (USA)
length 4:01
Genre (s) Rock , psychedelic rock
Author (s) Bob Dylan
Label Reprise Records
album Electric Ladyland

In a musically significantly changed form, All Along the Watchtower became known the following year through Jimi Hendrix , who added his psychedelic guitar playing to the title and introduced a new rhythm . In addition to Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding , Dave Mason ( 12 string guitar ) and Brian Jones ( vibraslap ) were probably also involved in the recording.

Bob Dylan himself later recognized the Hendrix version as "authoritative" and based his own live performances of the piece on it. The Frankfurt music journalist and radio presenter Volker Rebell called the Hendrix version “the essence of rock music par excellence”.

More cover versions

The piece was also covered by numerous other singers and groups, such as Michael Hedges , Eric Clapton , Steve Vai , Neil Young , Bryan Ferry , U2 , Dave Mason , Paul Weller , Indigo Girls , Pearl Jam , XTC , Matt Roehr , Bobby Womack , Keziah Jones , Dave Matthews Band , Grateful Dead , Calvin Russell , Sons of Anarchy , Frank Marino , Lisa Gerrard , Axel Rudi Pell , Werner Lämmerhirt , Jan Akkerman , Uli Jon Roth and Chris de Burgh as well as from Bear McCreary for the TV series Battlestar Galactica . The German rapper NMZS , who died in 2013, used parts of the melody from the Hendrix version for his three-part rap "1984".

Uses as film music

  • The song can be heard in the film Forrest Gump (1994) in the version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience .
  • He is also included in the Hendrix version in the film The Generation of 1969 by Ernest Thompson (1988).
  • In the feature film Bandits (1997) the song is interpreted by the fictional band of the same name. The lead vocals are from Jasmin Tabatabai .
  • The song can also be heard in the film American Beauty (1999).
  • At the end of the third season of the television series Battlestar Galactica , the song plays a central role. It serves as a wake-up signal for the so-called "last five" of the Cylons. Furthermore, the notes of the song represent navigation coordinates for the flight to earth. In the series finale, the interpretation by Bear McCreary and the version by Jimi Hendrix are used.
  • Alan Moore took up the last two lines of text in his comic epic Watchmen and brought them to life with an almost literal interpretation. The song also appears in the movie of the same name for the comic Watchmen - The Guardians from 2009.
  • In the Sky series The Young Pope , the distinctive rhythm of the song is used in the intro .
  • Tom Ellis covers the song in the second season of the television series Lucifer .
  • A cover version of Afterhere overlays the title sequence of the British television series Vanity Fair from 2018.

Web links