"ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER" JIMI HENDRIX (1968)

For the month of November, I’ll be selecting songs in conjunction with the music Twitter challenge: #WelcomeToTheOccupation.

As legendary as Bob Dylan is, I understand that he’s not for everyone. Some people just can’t listen past Dylan’s nasal-infused vocal delivery. Jimi Hendrix wasn’t exactly the most vocally gifted musician either. But whatever he lacked as a singer he more than made up for as a guitar player. The thing about his rendition of the Dylan classic “All Along the Watchtower” is he lit every strand of folk and Americana roots from the song on fire, burned those elements to the ground and then made the fire rise even higher with an electric reboot.

Throughout my middle and high school years, I lived next door to a Jimi Hendrix fanatic. My brother introduced me to Jimi’s impressive catalog, which was incredibly prolific given his short life span. The thing that immediately drew me in to his music was a guitar playing style that almost sounded otherworldly. It wasn’t rock. It wasn’t blues. But it was this crazy blend of the two that seemed to be so effortless to Jimi but impossible for others to emulate. You can’t simply play the same notes that Jimi played and expect it sound the same. It was the way in which he navigated back and forth between those two genres so easily that makes “All Along the Watchtower” one of the greatest cover songs of all time.

“Business men, they drink my wine. Plowmen dig my earth.”

"ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER" JIMI HENDRIX (1968)

Cover songs can be many things. They can be lazy album filler. They can be ho-hum recordings that do nothing to advance a band’s catalog. But, once in a while, they can be truly epic. For my next five entries, I’m highlighting five of my favorite cover songs of all time. Each of these tracks, in my opinion, have reinvented and, in many ways, exceeded the original recordings.

As legendary as Bob Dylan is, I understand that he’s not for everyone. Some people just can’t listen past Dylan’s nasal-infused vocal delivery. Jimi Hendrix wasn’t exactly the most vocally gifted musician either. But whatever he lacked as a singer he more than made up for as a guitar player. The thing about his rendition of the Dylan classic “All Along the Watchtower” is he lit every strand of folk and Americana roots from the song on fire, burned those elements to the ground and then made the fire rise even higher with an electric reboot.

Throughout my middle and high school years, I lived next door to a Jimi Hendrix fanatic. My brother introduced me to Jimi’s impressive catalog, which was incredibly prolific given his short life span. The thing that immediately drew me in to his music was a guitar playing style that almost sounded otherworldly. It wasn’t rock. It wasn’t blues. But it was this crazy blend of the two that seemed to be so effortless to Jimi but impossible to others. You can’t simply play the same notes that Jimi played and expect it sound the same. It was the way in which he navigated back and forth between those two genres so easily that makes “All Along the Watchtower” one of the greatest cover songs of all time.

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

"HEY JOE - LIVE AT MONTEREY" JIMI HENDRIX (1967)

In my series “Long Live Live”, I’m highlighting some of the most revered live recordings of all time. You’ll see my musical biases, but there’s no doubt that each of these tracks played a pivotal role in shaping music history. I started Mental Jukebox last year because I needed another music listening outlet when there were no more live shows to go to. These songs remind me that nothing will ever replace the blend of atmosphere and performance captured in the live experience.

At the time of Jimi’s legendary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, “Hey Joe” was a brand new song. In many ways, it’s a microcosm of everything that’s incredible about Hendrix. It’s his effortless blend of blues, hard rock and ingenious ability to reinvent other people’s songs with incredible power. “Hey Joe”, more than any other Hendrix classic, is exactly the kind of song that I miss hearing live.

“Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?”

"LITTLE WING" JIMI HENDRIX (1967)

It’s easy to appreciate the more sonic expressions of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar playing—from “All Along the Watchtower” to “Voodoo Child”. But in some ways, “Little Wing” was more impressive in its understated way. On it Hendrix demonstrated an amazing rhythm & blues-infused guitar style. It was an intricate and delicate display of the Stratocaster. But it was also an exercise in restraint. Proof that the guitar can have a prominent place in even a ballad.

“Butterflies and zebras. And Moonbeams and fairy tales. That's all she ever thinks about.”

"ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER" JIMI HENDRIX (1968)

Throughout my middle and high school years, I lived next door to a Jimi Hendrix fanatic. My brother was fascinated with the sounds that guitars made, and Hendrix was one of the masters that inspired and influenced him and many other players. This Dylan cover has always been one of my favorite songs from a music catalog that was impressively deep given Hendrix’s brief life span. In “All Along the Watchtower”, he found a way to make rock, blues and jazz blend so effortlessly together.

“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.”