All Along the Watchtower
Encyclopedia
"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American
singer-songwriter
Bob Dylan
. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations
, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding
. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more than any of his other songs. Different versions appear on four of Dylan's live albums.
Covered by numerous artists in various genres, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix
recorded for Electric Ladyland
with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
, enabled Dylan to escape the excesses of touring and make a dramatic turnaround in his lifestyle. With one child born in early 1966 and another in mid-1967, he settled into family life and even took a growing interest in the Bible, as reflected in the album's Biblical allusions, particularly in songs such as "All Along the Watchtower", "Dear Landlord", "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
" and "The Wicked Messenger
".
, Tennessee
, the same studio where he completed Blonde on Blonde
in the spring of the previous year. 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.
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. 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.
, Chapter 21, verses 5-9:
Commenting on the songs on his album John Wesley Harding
, in an interview published in the folk music magazine Sing Out!
in October 1968, Dylan told John Cohen and Happy Traum
:
The unusual structure of the narrative was remarked on by English Literature professor Christopher Ricks
, who commented that "All Along the Watchtower" is an example of Dylan's audacity at manipulating chronological time: "at the conclusion of the last verse, it is as if the song bizarrely begins at last, and as if the myth began again."
Critics have described Dylan's version as a masterpiece of understatement. Andy Gill said "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."
Dave Van Ronk
, an early supporter and mentor of Dylan, made the following criticism of the song:
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
outside Los Angeles
, both with Dylan backed by The Band
.
Dylan first performed the song live on January 3, 1974, in Chicago
on the opening night of his 'comeback tour'
. From this first live performance, Dylan has consistently performed the song closer to Hendrix's version than to his own original recording. Michael Gray
writes that this is the most often performed of all of Dylan's songs. By Gray's count, Dylan had performed the song in concert 1,393 times by the end of 2003.
In recent years, Dylan in live performances has taken to singing the first verse again at the end of the song. As Gray notes in The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia:
The original recording of "All Along the Watchtower" appears on most of Dylan's "greatest hits" albums, as well as his two box set compilations, Biograph
in 1985 and Dylan
in 2007. In addition, Dylan has released four different live recordings of the song on the following albums: Before the Flood
; Bob Dylan at Budokan
; Dylan & The Dead
; and MTV Unplugged
.
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”, recalled Johns. According to Hendrix’s regular engineer Eddie Kramer
, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason
who had appeared at the session and played guitar. Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding
became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself. Kramer and Chas Chandler
mixed the first version of "All Along The Watchtower" on January 26, 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
. 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.’” The finished version was released on the album Electric Ladyland
in September 1968. The single reached number five in the British charts, and number 20 on the Billboard
chart, Hendrix's only top 20 / top 40 entry there. The song also had the #5 spot on Guitar World
s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
Dylan has 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."
In the booklet accompanying his 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."
This version of the song appears at number 48 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in 2000, British magazine Total Guitar
named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time.
also covered "All Along the Watchtower". As noted above, Mason also played on Jimi Hendrix's widely known version, playing the 12 string acoustic guitar on the track.
rock band U2
first played a cover of "All Along the Watchtower" during their Boy Tour
in 1981. Years later, during the Joshua Tree Tour
in 1987, the cover was played for a second time, in San Francisco, California
, with an additional verse added by Bono
. This performance was later included as a scene in U2's 1988 rockumentary film, Rattle and Hum
, and also appeared on the album of the same name. The performance was impromptu, with the band learning the chords and lyrics within minutes of taking the stage, and as a result, there were problems in editing the soundtrack. The song made its way into almost 50 live shows during the band's 1989 Lovetown Tour
.
has played the song since the band's inception in the early 1990s. Their rendition maintains Dylan's three chord structure and key signature but differs in style. Dave Matthews
typically begins the song slowly with just bass, vocals and acoustic guitar. The band members come in after the line "the hour is getting late", picking up the tempo and intensity. The band's members then take extended solos, culminating with the line, "No reason to get excited." "Watchtower", as it is referred to by the band's fans, is a concert staple, often performed as either a closer or encore. In all, they have covered the song live more than 600 times, including solo performances by Matthews, and it has appeared on six of their officially released live albums, though the band has never released a studio version.
singer and composer Dionysis Savvopoulos
's album Ballos (released in 1970) included a version of this song. The lyrics are adapted into Greek
. The Greek name of the song is "Paliatsos kai listis", which is a Greek
translation for the phrase "the joker and the thief".
performed a live version with Chrissie Hynde
of The Pretenders
, which appeared on his album Road Rock Vol. 1: Friends & Relatives
. He has also performed the song with Dave Matthews Band
, and with Booker T. and the M.G.'s at the Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden. The recording of the Dylan tribute was issued in 1993. In 2004, he performed a version with Bruce Springsteen
.
performed the song 124 times, first on June 20, 1987. This adds to a lengthy repertoire of Bob Dylan covers by the Dead.
recorded this song as a demo with Robin Trower
in the mid 1990s. He completed the track during sessions in August 2006 for his Dylan tribute album Dylanesque
released March 2007.
, lead singer Eddie Vedder
was asked to record "All Along the Watchtower" with The Million Dollar Bashers for the soundtrack of the Dylan biopic I'm Not There
. Named for Dylan's song "Million Dollar Bash", the group was formed by guitarist Lee Ranaldo
of Sonic Youth
. Its other members included Steve Shelley on drums; Television
's Tom Verlaine
, Wilco
's Nels Cline, and Smokey Hormel on guitars; John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood
on keyboards; and Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier
.
In 2008, the song was played three times during Pearl Jam's US East Coast Summer Tour, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival
. In 2009
, the band was joined by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones
to perform the song at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London
, England
.
arranged a version of "All Along the Watchtower" for use in the final scene of the Battlestar Galactica season three finale "Crossroads, Part II
". The song was also played in various adaptations in the fourth season, including the series finale. A version with all the lyrics was included on the season 3 soundtrack. The lyrics had been written into the screenplay by Ronald D. Moore
. Versions of the song are used again throughout the fourth season, including a piano version. The song became a thematic motif as well as a plot element of the show, with lyrics frequently referenced in dialog during many episodes, and with the final scene of the series' last episode
playing out to the Jimi Hendrix version of the song.
, Rush
, Land of the Lost
(without Hendrix's vocals), Private Parts
, Forrest Gump
, In The Name Of The Father
, A Bronx Tale
, Vegas Vacation
, Tupac: Resurrection
, the 2001 remake of Brian's Song
and Watchmen
(among others) and also in television shows such as The Simpsons
, in episodes "Mother Simpson
" and "My Mother the Carjacker
". The song was also mentioned by Fox Mulder
in The X-Files
season one episode "Beyond the Sea".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding
John Wesley Harding (album)
John Wesley Harding is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's eighth studio album, released by Columbia Records in December 1967.Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music and traditional roots, after three albums of electric rock music...
. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more than any of his other songs. Different versions appear on four of Dylan's live albums.
Covered by numerous artists in various genres, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
recorded for Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland is the third and final album of new material by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968 on Reprise Records, catalogue 2RS 6307. It is the only Hendrix studio album professionally produced under his supervision. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks in...
with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Background
Dylan wrote "All Along the Watchtower" along with the other songs on John Wesley Harding over the year or so following his motorcycle accident in the summer of 1966. His recuperation from the accident, which occurred near his home in Woodstock, New YorkWoodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
, enabled Dylan to escape the excesses of touring and make a dramatic turnaround in his lifestyle. With one child born in early 1966 and another in mid-1967, he settled into family life and even took a growing interest in the Bible, as reflected in the album's Biblical allusions, particularly in songs such as "All Along the Watchtower", "Dear Landlord", "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
"I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" is a song by Bob Dylan that was originally released on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. It was recorded at the first John Wesley Harding session on October 17, 1967. It has been covered by many artists, including Joan Baez, Vic Chesnutt, John Doe, Thea Gilmore,...
" and "The Wicked Messenger
The Wicked Messenger
The Wicked Messenger is a song written and originally performed by Bob Dylan for his album John Wesley Harding. The song was recorded in Columbia's Studio A, Nashville, on November 19, 1967.- Structure and instrumentation :...
".
Recording
Dylan recorded the song on November 5, 1967, at Columbia Studio A in NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, the same studio where he completed Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde is American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's seventh studio album, released in May or June 1966 on Columbia Records and produced by Bob Johnston. Recording sessions commenced in New York in October 1965, with a plethora of backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing...
in the spring of the previous year. Accompanying Dylan, who played acoustic guitar and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, were two Nashville veterans from the Blonde on Blonde sessions, Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy
Charles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and Kenneth Buttrey on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. The producer was Bob Johnston
Bob Johnston
Donald William Robert 'Bob' Johnston is a noted American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson and many Nashville recording artists, as well as Simon and Garfunkel.-Early days:Johnston was born into a professional musical family...
, who produced Dylan's two previous albums, Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
in 1965 and Blonde on Blonde in 1966.
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. 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.
Analysis
Several reviewers have pointed out that the lyrics in "All Along the Watchtower" echo lines in the Book of IsaiahBook of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
, Chapter 21, verses 5-9:
Commenting on the songs on his album John Wesley Harding
John Wesley Harding (album)
John Wesley Harding is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's eighth studio album, released by Columbia Records in December 1967.Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music and traditional roots, after three albums of electric rock music...
, in an interview published in the folk music magazine Sing Out!
Sing Out!
Sing Out! is a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that has been published since May 1950.-Background:Sing Out! is the primary publication of the tax exempt, not-for-profit, educational corporation of the same name...
in October 1968, Dylan told John Cohen and Happy Traum
Happy Traum
Happy Traum is an American folk musician who started playing music in the Fifties. Happy is most famously known as one half of Happy and Artie Traum, a duo he began with his brother...
:
The unusual structure of the narrative was remarked on by English Literature professor Christopher Ricks
Christopher Ricks
Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks, FBA is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University and Co-Director of the Editorial Institute at Boston University, and was Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford from 2004...
, who commented that "All Along the Watchtower" is an example of Dylan's audacity at manipulating chronological time: "at the conclusion of the last verse, it is as if the song bizarrely begins at last, and as if the myth began again."
Critics have described Dylan's version as a masterpiece of understatement. Andy Gill said "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."
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, an early supporter and mentor of Dylan, made the following criticism of the song:
Performances and subsequent releases
John Wesley Harding came out at the end of 1967, on December 27, less than two months after the recording sessions. The song was the second single from the album, released on November 22, 1968, but did not chart. A live recording of "All Along the Watchtower" from the album Before the FloodBefore the Flood
Side threeSide four-Personnel:* Bob Dylan – vocal, guitars, harmonica, piano* Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, backing vocal* Richard Manuel – vocal, piano, electric piano, organ, drums* Garth Hudson – Lowrey organ, clavinet, piano, synthesizer, saxophone...
appeared as the B side of "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
"Most Likely You Go Your Way " is the first track of the second disc of the 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, the seventh album from singer-songwriter Bob Dylan...
" in 1974. The recordings came from separate concerts earlier that year at the Forum
The Forum (Inglewood, California)
The Forum is an indoor arena, in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. From 2000 to 2010, it was owned by the Faithful Central Bible Church, which occasionally used it for church services, while also leasing the building for sporting events, concerts and other events.Along with Madison...
outside Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, both with Dylan backed by The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
.
Dylan first performed the song live on January 3, 1974, in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on the opening night of his 'comeback tour'
Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour
The Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour was a two-month concert tour in early 1974 that featured Bob Dylan, in his first real tour in eight years, performing with The Band, who as The Hawks had once been his little-known backing band...
. From this first live performance, Dylan has consistently performed the song closer to Hendrix's version than to his own original recording. Michael Gray
Michael Gray (author)
Michael Gray is a British author who has written extensively about popular music.Gray grew up on Merseyside, attended Birkenhead School, and read History and English Literature at the University of York. Gray subsequently lived and worked in North Devon, Birmingham, West Malvern, London and North...
writes that this is the most often performed of all of Dylan's songs. By Gray's count, Dylan had performed the song in concert 1,393 times by the end of 2003.
In recent years, Dylan in live performances has taken to singing the first verse again at the end of the song. As Gray notes in The 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')."Dylan possibly was following the lead of the Grateful Dead in concluding the song by repeating the first verse; the Dead covered the song in this fashion, both with and without Dylan.
The original recording of "All Along the Watchtower" appears on most of Dylan's "greatest hits" albums, as well as his two box set compilations, Biograph
Biograph (album)
Biograph is a 53-track compilation spanning the career of Bob Dylan, from his 1962 debut album to the 1981 LP Shot of Love. Released in 1985 by Columbia Records, on both a 5-LP and a 3-CD Box set, it was one of the earliest and most successful examples of the CD Box set...
in 1985 and Dylan
Dylan (2007 album)
Dylan is a greatest hits collection by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The collection was released on October 2, 2007 by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings with worldwide distribution through Sony BMG...
in 2007. In addition, Dylan has released four different live recordings of the song on the following albums: Before the Flood
Before the Flood
Side threeSide four-Personnel:* Bob Dylan – vocal, guitars, harmonica, piano* Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, backing vocal* Richard Manuel – vocal, piano, electric piano, organ, drums* Garth Hudson – Lowrey organ, clavinet, piano, synthesizer, saxophone...
; Bob Dylan at Budokan
Bob Dylan at Budokan
Bob Dylan at Budokan is a live album by Bob Dylan, released in 1979 by Columbia Records. It was recorded during his 1978 world tour and is composed mostly of the artist's "greatest hits"...
; Dylan & The Dead
Dylan & The Dead
Dylan & the Dead is a collaborative live album by Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, released in 1989 by Columbia Records. It consists of seven songs written and sung by Dylan, with the Dead providing accompaniment. The album was produced by Jerry Garcia and John Cutler.Dylan & the Dead was...
; and MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged (Bob Dylan album)
MTV Unplugged is a live album by Bob Dylan, released in 1995 by Columbia Records . It documents Dylan's appearance on the then-highly popular MTV Unplugged television series, recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York on November 17, 1994 and November 18, 1994...
.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their cover version of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" on January 21, 1968, at Olympic StudiosOlympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
in London. According to engineer Andy Johns
Andy Johns
Andy Johns is an engineer and producer who worked on well-known rock albums such as Led Zeppelin's IV and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. His sound is exemplified by Free's album Highway, which he engineered and produced....
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
had been given a tape of Dylan’s recording by publicist Michael Goldstein, who worked for Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman
Albert Grossman
Albert Bernard Grossman was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was most famous as the manager of Bob Dylan between 1962 and 1970.-Biography:...
. "(Hendrix) came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio”, recalled Johns. According to Hendrix’s regular engineer Eddie Kramer
Eddie Kramer
Edwin H. Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness, and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...
, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
who had appeared at the session and played guitar. Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding
Noel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself. Kramer and Chas Chandler
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
mixed the first version of "All Along The Watchtower" on January 26, 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
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Engineer Tony Bongiovi
Tony Bongiovi
Tony Bongiovi is a record producer and recording engineer with expertise in Electrical & Acoustical Engineering. He helped to remodel an old building in Manhattan—once a power plant for Edison, and later a television studio—into the Power Station recording studio in 1977.Bongiovi was born in the...
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.’” The finished version was released on the album Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland is the third and final album of new material by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968 on Reprise Records, catalogue 2RS 6307. It is the only Hendrix studio album professionally produced under his supervision. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks in...
in September 1968. The single reached number five in the British charts, and number 20 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart, Hendrix's only top 20 / top 40 entry there. The song also had the #5 spot on Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
Dylan has 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."
In the booklet accompanying his Biograph
Biograph (album)
Biograph is a 53-track compilation spanning the career of Bob Dylan, from his 1962 debut album to the 1981 LP Shot of Love. Released in 1985 by Columbia Records, on both a 5-LP and a 3-CD Box set, it was one of the earliest and most successful examples of the CD Box set...
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."
This version of the song appears at number 48 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in 2000, British magazine Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Total Guitar is a monthly magazine based in the United Kingdom. The magazine is the best selling guitar magazine in Europe.The magazine is owned by Future Publishing, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to mountain bikes and knitting magazines.Total Guitar regularly...
named it top of the list of the greatest cover versions of all time.
Dave Mason
Dave MasonDave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
also covered "All Along the Watchtower". As noted above, Mason also played on Jimi Hendrix's widely known version, playing the 12 string acoustic guitar on the track.
U2
IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
rock band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
first played a cover of "All Along the Watchtower" during their Boy Tour
Boy (album)
Boy is the debut album from Irish rock band U2, released October 20, 1980. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album received generally positive reviews. Common themes among the album's songs are the thoughts and frustrations of adolescence. The album included the band's first United Kingdom hit...
in 1981. Years later, during the Joshua Tree Tour
Joshua Tree Tour
The Joshua Tree Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place during 1987, in support of their album The Joshua Tree. The tour was depicted by the video and live album Live from Paris.-Itinerary:...
in 1987, the cover was played for a second time, in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, with an additional verse added by Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
. This performance was later included as a scene in U2's 1988 rockumentary film, Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum
Rattle and Hum is the sixth studio album by rock band U2 and companion rockumentary directed by Phil Joanou, both released in 1988. The film and the album feature live recordings, covers, and new songs...
, and also appeared on the album of the same name. The performance was impromptu, with the band learning the chords and lyrics within minutes of taking the stage, and as a result, there were problems in editing the soundtrack. The song made its way into almost 50 live shows during the band's 1989 Lovetown Tour
Lovetown Tour
The Lovetown Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place in late 1989 and early 1990.-Itinerary:It was limited in scope, but did try to reach places that their 1987 Joshua Tree Tour had missed, all the while avoiding the United States entirely.The tour's opening night was on...
.
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews BandDave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
has played the song since the band's inception in the early 1990s. Their rendition maintains Dylan's three chord structure and key signature but differs in style. Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews
David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...
typically begins the song slowly with just bass, vocals and acoustic guitar. The band members come in after the line "the hour is getting late", picking up the tempo and intensity. The band's members then take extended solos, culminating with the line, "No reason to get excited." "Watchtower", as it is referred to by the band's fans, is a concert staple, often performed as either a closer or encore. In all, they have covered the song live more than 600 times, including solo performances by Matthews, and it has appeared on six of their officially released live albums, though the band has never released a studio version.
Dionysis Savvopoulos
GreekGreeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
singer and composer Dionysis Savvopoulos
Dionysis Savvopoulos
Dionysis Savvopoulos is a Greek music composer, lyricist and singer.He was born in Thessaloniki. In 1963 he moved to Athens, terminating his law studies in favour of his career in music...
's album Ballos (released in 1970) included a version of this song. The lyrics are adapted into Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. The Greek name of the song is "Paliatsos kai listis", which is a Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
translation for the phrase "the joker and the thief".
Neil Young
Neil YoungNeil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
performed a live version with Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
of The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, which appeared on his album Road Rock Vol. 1: Friends & Relatives
Road Rock Vol. 1
Road Rock Vol. 1: Friends & Relatives is a live album released in 2000 by Neil Young. The "friends and relatives" include Ben Keith, Chrissie Hynde, Duck Dunn, Young's wife, Pegi, and his sister, Astrid...
. He has also performed the song with Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
, and with Booker T. and the M.G.'s at the Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden. The recording of the Dylan tribute was issued in 1993. In 2004, he performed a version with Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful DeadGrateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
performed the song 124 times, first on June 20, 1987. This adds to a lengthy repertoire of Bob Dylan covers by the Dead.
Bryan Ferry
Bryan FerryBryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
recorded this song as a demo with Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
in the mid 1990s. He completed the track during sessions in August 2006 for his Dylan tribute album Dylanesque
Dylanesque (album)
Dylanesque is a 2007 album by Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music´s frontman. It is an album of covers of Bob Dylan songs. As of July 11, 2007, it has sold 11,985 copies in the US and has reached the top 10 on both UK and Swedish album charts.- Track listing :...
released March 2007.
Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam
After performing the song live four times from 2004–2006 with Pearl JamPearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, lead singer Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
was asked to record "All Along the Watchtower" with The Million Dollar Bashers for the soundtrack of the Dylan biopic I'm Not There
I'm Not There (soundtrack)
The soundtrack album for the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There was released as a double CD on October 30, 2007. It features only one recording by Dylan himself—his previously unreleased recording of the title song "I'm Not There" recorded during The Basement Tapes' sessions in 1967—plus...
. Named for Dylan's song "Million Dollar Bash", the group was formed by guitarist Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. Its other members included Steve Shelley on drums; Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
's Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
, Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
's Nels Cline, and Smokey Hormel on guitars; John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood is an American jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards and piano, Billy Martin on drums and percussion, and Chris Wood on double bass and bass guitar....
on keyboards; and Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier
Tony Garnier (musician)
Tony Garnier is an American bassist , best known as an accompanist to Bob Dylan, with whom he has played since 1989...
.
In 2008, the song was played three times during Pearl Jam's US East Coast Summer Tour, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival
2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival
-The event:*Black Kids appeared on the initial lineup, but were later removed.*The Allman Brothers Band cancelled two months prior to the festival due to health issues. Their replacement, Widespread Panic, was announced as Sunday's festival closer....
. In 2009
Backspacer Tour
The Backspacer Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its ninth album, Backspacer.-History:Pearl Jam promoted Backspacer with tours in Europe, North America and Oceania in 2009 and further legs in North America and Europe in 2010.In August 2009, Pearl Jam headlined...
, the band was joined by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
to perform the song at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Bear McCreary/Battlestar Galactica
Television composer Bear McCrearyBear McCreary
Bear McCreary is an American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.-Biography:...
arranged a version of "All Along the Watchtower" for use in the final scene of the Battlestar Galactica season three finale "Crossroads, Part II
Crossroads (Battlestar Galactica)
"Crossroads" are the nineteenth and twentieth episodes of the third season and season finale from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica...
". The song was also played in various adaptations in the fourth season, including the series finale. A version with all the lyrics was included on the season 3 soundtrack. The lyrics had been written into the screenplay by Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
. Versions of the song are used again throughout the fourth season, including a piano version. The song became a thematic motif as well as a plot element of the show, with lyrics frequently referenced in dialog during many episodes, and with the final scene of the series' last episode
Daybreak (Battlestar Galactica)
"Daybreak" is the two-part series finale of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, and are the 74th and 75th episodes overall. The episodes aired on the U.S. Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada respectively on March 13 and March 20, 2009. The second part is...
playing out to the Jimi Hendrix version of the song.
Cultural references
Hendrix's version was featured in the movies Withnail and IWithnail and I
Withnail and I is a British black comedy made in 1986 by HandMade Films. It was written and directed by Bruce Robinson and is based on his life in London in the late 1960s. The main plot follows two unemployed young actors, Withnail and “I” who live in a squalid flat in Camden in 1969 while...
, Rush
Rush (1991 film)
Rush is a 1991 American crime drama feature film, based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft. A narcotics detective and his inexperienced partner go after an elusive drug dealer...
, Land of the Lost
Land of the Lost (film)
Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...
(without Hendrix's vocals), Private Parts
Private Parts (1997 film)
Private Parts is a 1997 American biographical comedy film produced by Ivan Reitman and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko, the film is an adaptation of the 1993 best-selling book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, who stars as himself. It...
, Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
, In The Name Of The Father
In the Name of the Father
In the Name of the Father is a 1993 biographical film directed by Jim Sheridan. It is based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people falsely convicted of the IRA's Guildford pub bombings which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian...
, A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
, Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation is a 1997 comedy film. It is the fourth film in the original Vacation film series centering around the fictitious Griswold family, following Vacation, European Vacation, and Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase reprises his starring role as Clark W. Griswold, the patriarch of the family...
, Tupac: Resurrection
Tupac: Resurrection
Tupac: Resurrection is a 2003 documentary about the life and death of rapper Tupac Shakur. The film, directed by Lauren Lazin and released by Paramount Pictures, is narrated by Tupac Shakur himself. The film was in theaters from November 16, 2003 to December 21, 2003...
, the 2001 remake of Brian's Song
Brian's Song
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo , a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, told through his friendship with Chicago Bears running back teammate and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale...
and Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
(among others) and also in television shows such as The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, in episodes "Mother Simpson
Mother Simpson
"Mother Simpson" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons seventh season and first aired on November 19, 1995. After faking his own death to get a day off of work, Homer reunites with his mother Mona, who he thought had died 27 years ago. It was directed by David Silverman and was the first episode to...
" and "My Mother the Carjacker
My Mother the Carjacker
"My Mother the Carjacker" is the second episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season and first aired on November 9, 2003. Homer receives a cryptic message in the newspaper informing him to come to a certain place at midnight, and soon discovers that the person who wrote the message is his mother, Mona...
". The song was also mentioned by Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
in The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
season one episode "Beyond the Sea".
- Chapter X in the DC limited comic book series WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
by Moore and Gibbons is titled "Two Riders Were Approaching" with a brief excerpt of the lyrics at the end of the chapter, attributed to Bob Dylan. In the film adaptationWatchmen (film)Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
, Hendrix's cover plays during the same scene. - In the 2000 film HamletHamlet (2000 film)Hamlet is a 2000 American film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, set in contemporary New York City, and based on the Shakespeare play of the same name...
, the grave digger can be heard softly singing a few lines of the song shortly before Ophelia's funeral. - In the 4-part Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
limited series VenomVenom (comics)Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
: CarnageCarnage (comics)Carnage is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 , and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley. The character is frequently depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man...
Unleashed (1995), each of the title chapters is named after a line from the first verse of the song. - "All Along the Watchtower" is one of seven Dylan songs whose lyrics were reset for sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and piano (or orchestra) by John CoriglianoJohn CoriglianoJohn Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
for his song cycleSong cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan.
Further reading
- Marqusee, M (2003). Chimes of Freedom: The Politics of Bob Dylan's ArtChimes of Freedom: The Politics of Bob Dylan's ArtChimes of Freedom: The Politics of Bob Dylan's Art is a major work on the music and politics of Bob Dylan, written by Mike Marqusee ....
, New Press