That a musician of true calling has to think metaphorically to stay relevant to his craft is maybe a fact few have realised.
This is because one of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on the correct answer to a particular question or problem. I’m talking about music and musicians here. Of course in the “real” world, formal education helps us to function in society.
My point is it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are usually ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first.
Take the example of the song 'All Along the Watchtower', written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding, and it has been included on most of Dylan’s subsequent greatest hits compilations. Since the late 1970s, he has performed it in concert more than any of his other songs. However, different versions appear on four of Dylan’s live albums. The most consistent version of the song he plays these days is the version done by one Jimi Hendrix.
Although it has been covered by numerous artists in various genres, the song is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded for 'Electric Ladyland' with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan’s original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968 and was ranked 47th in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Here is the story.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their version of Dylan’s song on January 21, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London.
According to engineer Andy Johns, Hendrix had been given a tape of Dylan’s recording by publicist Michael Goldstein, who worked for Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman.
Jones is quoted: “(Hendrix) came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio.”
According to Hendrix’s regular engineer Eddie Kramer, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who had appeared at the session and played guitar. Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself.
Hendrix’s friend and Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones played the various percussion instruments on the track.
Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of 'All Along the Watchtower' on January 26, but Hendrix was quickly dissatisfied with the result and went on re-recording and overdubbing guitar parts in June, July, and August at the Record Plant studio in New York.
Engineer Tony Bongiovi described Hendrix as becoming increasingly dissatisfied as the song progressed, overdubbing more and more guitar parts, moving the master tape from a four-track to a 12-track to a 16-track machine. Bongiovi recalled, “Recording these new ideas meant he would have to erase something. In the weeks prior to the mixing, we had already recorded a number of overdubs, wiping track after track. (Hendrix) kept saying, “I think I hear it a little bit differently.’”
The finished version was released on the album Electric Ladyland in September 1968. The single reached number five in the British charts, and number 20 on the Billboard chart, Hendrix’s only top 20 entry there. The song also had the number five spot on Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
Now Dylan, being the writer of the song and a major influence on Jimi, had the right to reject the Hendrix version. But did he? No. He saw the different interpretation as an addition to the overall creative process that has continued to keep the song in the airwaves even as I write.