Bob Dylan Revives Old Classics
Starting his Outlaw Tour at Blossom Music Center in Ohio, Bob Dylan performed "All Along the Watchtower" after a long break since 2018.
Dylan’s rendition of the song was inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s famous cover from 1967. The set included many songs he hasn’t played in years, such as "Silvio," "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall," and more.
The track "All Along the Watchtower" has been played by Dylan over 2,285 times. Its first live performance was on January 3, 1974, during his reunion tour with the Band, which is part of a 27-disc box set to be released soon.
In an interview with Greg Kot in 1993, Dylan shared his thoughts on Hendrix’s cover. He said, “It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn’t think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do so to this day.”
Fans always get excited when Dylan brings back old favorites.
From 1992 to 1996, "All Along the Watchtower" was consistently the third song in his sets. In the 2000s, it became part of the encore but dropped off the setlist after a 2018 show in New York. Now, it’s making a comeback alongside other classic tracks.
Dylan’s current U.S. tour continues with a stop in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and concludes on September 17 in Buffalo, New York. Afterward, he heads to Europe in October, finishing in London on November 14.
There’s some buzz around the upcoming Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. With the tour and the movie premiere, some wonder if we might see Dylan and Timothée Chalamet together on the red carpet. But that’s a long shot.
