![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogWe’ve covered a lot of ground in this series, and one thing we’ve learned so far is that, more often than not, cover songs fail to trump the originals. Some do, and some at least rival the original versions, but out of 22 songs, the standings are:
Originals: 15
Covers: 6
Ties: 1
But that doesn’t mean covers are a pointless exercise. It does depend on what the point is to begin with – a tribute to the great songwriters who proceeded you, or a guaranteed #1 to sell records (Michael Bolton, I am looking at you). So we’ll close out this series with what some regard as the ultimate cover song, and one that was cut simply as recognition of the genius of its creator.
THE SONG: “All Along The Watchtower”
THE ORIGINAL: Bob Dylan
COMMENTS: Well, it’s Dylan, and for my money it’s one of the best songs he’s ever written – probably because of the sense of doom that hangs over the whole thing. However …
THE COVER: Jimi Hendrix Experience
COMMENTS: The story is that Hendrix got a copy of Dylan’s version a month after Dyman recorded it, and was so knocked out by it that he immediately started working on his own version. Typical of Hendrix, he always felt each take needed a little something more, and the song transformed from quiet acoustic ballad to the electric-guitar wet dream it is today. If anything, it sounds even more doom-laden than Dylan’s version, and sweet Jesus, it whips a panther’s ass.
WINNER: Hendrix. It’s not only one of the best things he ever recorded, it’s so good that even Dylan himself was impressed – so much so that to this day, when he plays it live, he does it Jimi’s way rather than the John Wesley Harding version. There is no higher praise.
Okay. That’s it for this series, at least for now. There’s plenty of material to keep it going for at least another two years, but not all of it is available on YouTube yet, and anyway, it gets hard to think up new angles every week. So we’ll end it here. I may revive it later, once I collect some more material. Or maybebedsitter23 can take it over for awhile. He’d do a better job than me anyway.
The hour’s getting late,
This is dF
Originals: 15
Covers: 6
Ties: 1
But that doesn’t mean covers are a pointless exercise. It does depend on what the point is to begin with – a tribute to the great songwriters who proceeded you, or a guaranteed #1 to sell records (Michael Bolton, I am looking at you). So we’ll close out this series with what some regard as the ultimate cover song, and one that was cut simply as recognition of the genius of its creator.
THE SONG: “All Along The Watchtower”
THE ORIGINAL: Bob Dylan
COMMENTS: Well, it’s Dylan, and for my money it’s one of the best songs he’s ever written – probably because of the sense of doom that hangs over the whole thing. However …
THE COVER: Jimi Hendrix Experience
COMMENTS: The story is that Hendrix got a copy of Dylan’s version a month after Dyman recorded it, and was so knocked out by it that he immediately started working on his own version. Typical of Hendrix, he always felt each take needed a little something more, and the song transformed from quiet acoustic ballad to the electric-guitar wet dream it is today. If anything, it sounds even more doom-laden than Dylan’s version, and sweet Jesus, it whips a panther’s ass.
WINNER: Hendrix. It’s not only one of the best things he ever recorded, it’s so good that even Dylan himself was impressed – so much so that to this day, when he plays it live, he does it Jimi’s way rather than the John Wesley Harding version. There is no higher praise.
Okay. That’s it for this series, at least for now. There’s plenty of material to keep it going for at least another two years, but not all of it is available on YouTube yet, and anyway, it gets hard to think up new angles every week. So we’ll end it here. I may revive it later, once I collect some more material. Or maybe
bedsitter23 can take it over for awhile. He’d do a better job than me anyway.The hour’s getting late,
This is dF
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2008-08-17 10:30 am (UTC)Hendrix's cover is my favourite Dylan song. I confess, I'm not really a Dylan fan... but Watchtower also probably my favourite Hendrix song, and I most definitely am a fan of Hendrix.
Some kind of way out,
-- JF
no subject
on 2008-08-17 03:10 pm (UTC)