Watch Bob Dylan play ‘All Along The Watchtower’ for first time in six years
nme.comBob Dylan treated fans to a live performance of his classic song ‘All Along The Watchtower’ marking his first time playing it in six years.Yesterday (September 12), the legendary rock icon opened his show at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio with the 1967 track, treating the audience with his first live performance of the song since November 2018.The song – which appears on Dylan’s eighth studio album, ‘John Wesley Harding’ – has been covered by various artists throughout the years but is mainly associated with the guitar icon Jimi Hendrix and his electrifying rendition which was recorded with the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their third studio album, 1968’s ‘Electric Ladyland’.
Released only six months after Dylan’s original, Hendrix’s cover became a Top 20 hit the same year it was released and received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001.Dylan first played ‘All Along The Watchtower’ at the launch of his reunion tour with The Band on January 3, 1974.
Since then, it has become his most played track, racking up a total of 2,285 times performed live. His performance of the song has been referred to as a cover of a cover due to his influence of Hendrix’s version.Back in August, Dylan played ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ for the first time in almost a decade at an Outlaw Music Festival touring stop in Boise, Idaho.When the ‘Outlaw Music Festival Tour’ kicked off, Dylan started it off with a typically unpredictable setlist of ‘50s blues and country covers and deep cuts.His opening set included versions of Willie Dixon’s ‘My Babe’, Chuck Berry’s ‘Little Queenie’ and Hank Williams’ ‘Cold, Cold Heart’, as well as four separate songs from his own 2012 album ‘Tempest’, including ‘Long And Wasted Years’ and ‘Scarlet.
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