The Never Ending Tour extended: All Along the Watchtower – oh what memories!

I don’t know what it means either: an index to the current series appearing on this website

——————

The Never Ending Tour Extended: This series primarily uses recordings selected by Mike Johnson in his inestimable masterpiece The Never Ending Tour, and looks at how those performances of individual songs change as time goes by. The selection of songs from the series, and the commentary below, are by Tony Attwood. A list of all the songs covered in the series is given at the end.

Today I am hoping to answer a question that occurred to me just recently – did Bob actually change “All Along the Watchtower” that much in the 2,269 times that he performed it on the tour?

The earliest version I have in the files comes from 1978 – which is before our series on the Never Ending Tour started (which is 1987) but playing it now I really enjoyed the difference from the show-ender that I remember

Just listen to the solo of what I presume is the electric violin

However ten years later in The 60s revisitedthe song has moved on a long way, and here again I find refreshment in the way the song is spaced out somewhat, and the way the bass manages to add a little counter-melody of its own. It is repeated over and over until the final instrumental section prior to the rather strange slow down and (which I find) a slightly odd conclusion.

But more to the point, Mike’s commentary hit the nail, when he noted, “packed into four minutes, it makes its statement and gets out with none of the wild improvisations we’re going to find further down the track. This is the unadorned core of the song, and as such is typical of these 1988 performances.”

By 1992 we have added an introduction which tells us exactly what is going to come but seems to keep some of the audience waiting (at least judging by the roar when the song proper starts).

What I really like here is the way Bob sings in such a laid back way, and yes we feel the hour is indeed getting very late.

But also do listen around 2 minutes 15 seconds and onward to the short instrumental section – while when he comes back Bob is singing in an almost resigned manner. It is as if he is telling us about the end of the word in a way that accepts the end is nigh while all around everything is breaking up.

And I must admit I had forgotten how varied the instrumental breaks could be – and when around four minutes he played the harmonica in a very restrained manner, then being imitated by the guitar…. wow really I had forgotten all that.

I wonder if Bob was ever told that he was employing an ending format (ending a piece in a minor key by resolving it to the major chord) known as piece de picardie which was widely used in 17th century baroque music, but then fell out of fashion as it had become something of a commonplace effect. I’m not sure I’ve heard him do it anywhere else. This is 1992.

Heading for the promised land

And yes as I work my way through all the editions of the song on the Tour I am amazed by just how Bob and the band did manage to keep finding variations. In the 1995 version below there is still that plodding bass moving up and down, but there is no sense Bob has had enough of the song – this is a new angle, and the low-key musical break after 2 minutes 30 seconds, again adds yet another element to the song.

The Prague Revelation – down in the flood

In 2007 the opening is thumped out but suddenly we are taken back down by Bob as it becomes clear that the rhythm behind the singing is different. And I am actually rather pleased I decided to venture into this song – for my memory has played naughty tricks on me, leading me to believe that the song was performed in a similar way across the years. Of course it wasn’t. How stupid can an old timer get?

So just listen to how Bob has changed the way he calls out the lines of the verses and how the band responds – by the three minute mark we really are into a radically different interpretation yet again.

The light is never dying

And so on to the end – 2018. It really does change again – you only have to listen to the opening and you know – and that is before the backing vocal comes in. It is forever the same song, but these variations really are quite extraordinary. And what’s more the variations continued all the way through.

Indeed I would say even if you have not felt the need to listen to the earlier musical examples (and how dare you if that is the case), please do listen to this. It will hopefully send you back to some of the previous versions.

The fact is this is a dead simple song with just two alternating chords, and yet he managed to get so many variations out of it over the years. The violin part here is brilliant beyond belief.

Shuffle to the beat

Oh what memories these recordings bring back!

The Never Ending Tour Extended

Leave a Reply