• Track: All Along the Watchtower
• Artist: Jimi Hendrix
• Album: Electric Ladyland
• Year: 1968

Lyrics:

There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief

Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plowman dig my earth
None were level on the mind

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke

Nobody up at his word
Hey, hey

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin’ falsely now
The hour’s getting late, hey

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

We here at Dances With Bass Industries are celebrating the birthday of founding Bass Dancer, Rick Kughen. We thought long and hard about what song to feature on this rather bland early March birthday, and ultimately, we decided to go with a single from the number one album from 1968—Electric Ladyland by the incomparable Jimi Hendrix.

Unbeknownst to many, All Along the Watchtower was written and first recorded earlier in 1968 by Bob Dylan (the track appeared on Dylan’s John Wesley Harding album). In addition to this track, Electric Ladyland contained the hit singles, Crosstown Traffic and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). During recording sessions for this seminal album, Hendrix jammed with a number of guest musicians (most of whom are not featured on the final album cuts). However, Traffic’s Dave Mason played 12-string guitar on All Along the Watchtower, and provided backing vocals on Crosstown Traffic. Traffic’s Steve Winwood played organ and drums on the 15-minute non-single version of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).

The album was the number-one overall selling album of 1968, though it never enjoyed a single week as the number one album. This is made even more interesting by the fact that the album wasn’t released until October 16, meaning it churned some serious sales during its 2½-month run at the tail-end of 1968.

All Along the Watchtower is one of the most covered songs of all-time. Just a few of the artists to record the song include U2, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Dave Mason, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Healey, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Richie Havens.

Sadly, Hendrix died of a drug overdose on September 18, 1970, in London.

Video:

Here is a live performance of All Along the Watchtower live at Woodstock, August 18, 1969:

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