Talk:All Along the Watchtower/Archive 1

Only Top-40 Single by Hendrix?
I really think that this is not true, as I remember that at least "Hey Joe" landed in the UK charts at the 4th place and "Purple Haze" made the 3rd place. --Pechosko 11:19, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * He was a one-hit wonder in the US.

He was more popular than you think. While the Purple Haze article says it only hit # 65 in the US, the Chicago WLS (AM) top 40 survey shows it hit # 7 in that area on November 10, 1967. --Blainster 04:56, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Reversal of roles/Irony
I use Wikipedia a lot, but I'm a little afraid to contribute, afraid that I might diminish the overall article. However, an important issue in this song's lyrics should be brought up (it would fit in right before the article switches to the exegesis of the third verse) about the thief and joker's conversation. Notably, that the joker is complaining to a thief about being robbed, and that the thief responds, "there are many here among us/who feel that life is but a joke," showing that the thief is the one with a sense of humor about life. If anyone else wants to make this update, please do, I'm just a little afraid of screwing up.
 * The original research policy frowns on individual interpretations of lyrics, though I quite like that one. Deltabeignet 07:47, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Richie Havens
Richie Havens has told a lot of goofy, sometimes plainly impossible, stories about Dylan songs, and the only fair conclusion is that his memories about dates and song titles isn't the best. See, for example, http://groups.google.com/groups?q=havens+watchtower&hl=en&
 * There are a lot of conflicting stories and hearsay on the internet. Has Bob Dylan ever responded to Haven? How is it listed on the album? If we know for a fact Bob Dylan wrote the song the wording should be less nebulous in the article. I recommend changing "recorded by Bob Dylan" to "recorded and written by Bob Dylan" Uselesswarrior (talk)

I heard Richie say that Dylan wrote this song down for him after he heard dylan play it in a cafe in the Village. Richie said Hendrix later heard Richie play the song and asked Richie to write it down for him.

Added a music sample
I've added a music sample, in accordance with the proposed guideline Music_samples. Its not policy yet, and may be changed, but its a good attempt to define a method for including copyrighted music samples that will legally pass as "Fair Use". I've always loved this song (I think its one of the greatest rock songs ever), so I'm using it as an example of a good fair use implementation of a sample.

If anyone would like to create samples of some of the other influential covers, or the original, please do. However, it would be worth trying to keep to the basic intent of the new proposed guidelines, basically, only one sample from each work (IE, if a new sample from Jimi's cover is created, the old must be deleted), the sample must not be longer than 10% of the song's length, or 30 seconds, whichever is shorter, and it must be recorded at Ogg Vorbis quality=0, which is an average bitrate of about 64kb. These aren't arbitrary rules, they are based on the legal definition of fair use. Phidauex 18:47, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Filled infobox request
I've filled the infobox request. Feel free to add any information I didn't have to the template. Phidauex 18:58, 18 June 2006 (UTC)


 * There ought to be an infobox for the Jimi Hendrix single, which is probably the best-known and certainly the most successful version. I tried to add it in, but I deleted it as it made the page look bad. Cheemo 06:55, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Too obscure?
It seems to me that possibly the comic book reference, and especially the ghost recon ones, are too obscure for inclusion in the article.

At the of the chapter in the Watchman graphic novel, Alan Moore quotes the last two lines of lyrics directly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Megapeen (talk • contribs) 01:32, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

In trivia
This song was played in various simpson episodes, i forgot which ones though.

Covers section
The covers section need to have some criteria. Lots of bands cover this song. I propose: --Mattarata 23:25, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * 1: Must be official album release (live albums acceptable)
 * 2: Band must have existing wikipedia article (making the band notable, taking argument of inclusion out of this article)
 * 3: Must be high charting song or album (though I would debate this with anyone if someone cares.)

I never heard Guns N Roses performing this song, can anyone confirm that?

Mattarata - I totally agree about 1 and 2 above - if every band that played it at a concert was included, we would be swamped. However I don't agree with 3 - chart position is not necessarily an indicator to quality or even cult status.

Frossie 03:44, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Battlestar Galactica Appearance
Just figured I'd throw out that this song was featured heavily in tonight's season finale of Battlestar Galactica, so you can expect an influx of edits by people less lazy than myself. -- llamapalooza87 03:06, 26 March 2007 (UTC) Bah you beat me to it :D Hentai Jeff 04:40, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I added that the vocals were performed by Bt4, the source is Bear's on website. 66.177.204.252 02:51, 27 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks, but that should really be in the article for the episode. We do not need an extensive musicological exposition here for what is still a fairly insignificant recording of the song. &mdash;ptk✰fgs 03:10, 27 March 2007 (UTC)


 * That's a pretty damned weak excuse to take it out of the article entirely. A detailed section on one interpretation/use of the song compared is not an excuse to remove it, it's an excuse to expand on other sections. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DigiFluid (talk • contribs) 16:31, 3 May 2007 (UTC).


 * I am of the opinion that this article should be added to Category:Battlestar Galactica. What are everyone's thoughts on this? KConWiki (talk) 17:50, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Copyvio
I removed the whole "Let's start by looking at the lyrics" section. In addition to being original research, it looks like it was copied from here. --Bongwarrior 04:20, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:JohnWesleyHarding.jpg
Image:JohnWesleyHarding.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 06:38, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Hendrix version in BSG?
Later in the article its claimed that the version in BSG was written for the show by Bear McCreary. I don't think the Hendrix version was used.


 * Good catch. I've removed it, unless it was featured in the original Battlestar Galactica series. EVula // talk // &#9775;  // 18:52, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Sample Box Formatting
I'm no HTML expert. Is there anything we can do so that sample boxes don't cause the edit links to misalign other than create a separate section? Leodmacleod 20:36 9-22-07 (CT) (02:36 23 Sept 2007 (UTC))

just a suggestion
Would anyone else agree to removing the following passage from the "Background" section due to it's questionable accuracy of interpretation and lacking citation:

"It has been said that Dylan was complaining about record company executives cheating him out of royalties and making themselves rich with the lines 'Businessmen they drink my wine/Plowmen dig my earth.'"

Eblingdp 06:44, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

U2
If you listen good to U2's all along the watchtower, you hear at the end The Edge playing a few notes of the american atheme, likewise hendrix did on woodstock. Perhaps it's useful to add? Sorry for my bad grammar, im dutch:) 84.82.143.129 (talk) 09:49, 18 December 2007 (UTC) from the dutch wiki, extenuation.

reversal of lyrics for dramatic effect
I don't know where else to put this, but: I read in a magazine years ago that the story begins with the riders and is told in reverse. Perhaps someone has the article and can confirm this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.179.30.13 (talk) 01:12, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Noel Redding Storms Out?
I remember reading that Noel Redding stormed out specifically because instead of using any of Redding's takes, the final version was played by Hendrix (left-handed) on Redding's right-handed bass (not restrung, as Hendrix did with his own guitars). I think I read this in the Ultimate Experience liner notes?

Also, was this the same storming-out that left Redding absent at the recording of Voodoo Chile? (That's mentioned in the Voodoo Chile article) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nstru (talk • contribs) 04:39, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Lyrics section needs cites
With all due respect, the references to the Book of Isaiah and the the interpretation of the song's lyrics, as these stand un-cited today, are opinion or OR and can rightfully be deleted at any time. Please provide good cites for the Book of Isaiah connection and the interpretation of the lyrics as given here. -- 201.53.7.16 (talk) 02:21, 12 October 2008 (UTC)


 * 2 x citations for the Book of Isaiah ref added. Mick gold (talk) 18:35, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Dylan Lyrics vs Hendrix lyric
One notable difference is in the line "outside in a distance" (original text as recorded on John Wesley Harding) which Hendrix expands to "outside in a cold distance". The word "cold" seems to fit ideally, did Dylan himself adopt it in later performances? Are there more such differences? --93.193.72.140 (talk) 15:07, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Watchmen
Article reads: "Alan Moore wrote the lyrics into his graphic novel Watchmen, where they reflect the development of the comic's plot. Consequently, Jimi Hendrix's cover is used at that point in the film adaptation. However, it was used in the Antarctica arrival scene rather than the Vietnam war scene after test screening responses."

This makes no sense, since in the comic the song is used in the Antarctica scene and has nothing to do with Vietnam. Also, citation needed. 201.80.209.232 (talk) 02:28, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Now reads: "Consequently, Jimi Hendrix's cover is used at that point in the film adaptation, although in the book it is stated that the lyrics are being used from the Bob Dylan version."

Aren't the lyrics the same in both versions? Of course Bob Dylan would be quoted as the author no matter which version. Seems a bit odd to mention it. --R. Wolff (talk) 08:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Problem with Hendrix studio production dates
Article states "The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their cover version of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" on January 21, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London" while the box on the right side of the screen states that it was recorded at "Record Plant Studios, New York, July 1967, December 1967, January 1968, April–August 1968." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.71.250.123 (talk) 02:50, 16 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I've fixed the dates. Hendrix recording info comes from well-regarded book Setting the Record Straight by Hendrix's engineer Eddie Kramer. Since Dylan recorded the song in November 1967, there is no way that Hendrix could have started work on the song in July, 1967, before Dylan wrote it! Mick gold (talk) 08:14, 14 October 2009 (UTC)