10 Greatest Cover Songs In Rock Music History
1. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
As we've gone through every single one of these cover songs, we were never able to really nail down what makes a cover song work so well. Outside of just paying tribute to your influences, you also have to make sure that you have something unique to bring to the table instead of just doing karaoke. And if you want an example of how to truly make a song your own, Jimi Hendrix is in a class by himself with All Along the Watchtower.
It's not like Jimi was a stranger to covering other people's work, famously doing a version of Hey Joe on his first album and actually covering the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers only a few days after it had come out. Jimi was always a fan of Bob Dylan's work though, and his take on All Along the Watchtower is one for the ages. Using the same kind of psychedelic wash he was known for, Hendrix's fluid style of playing is paired perfectly with Dylan's lyrics about wanting to escape your ordinary life.
It also works as a brilliant depiction of the times changing in the '60s, with kids looking for something a lot more heavy than the pop music that they had gotten used to over the past decade. Even though Dylan has been known to be coy in interviews, he has always said that he prefers Jimi's take on his song more than his own. And why not? While other bands were a reflection of the '60s Revolution, this song condenses it all down into a few minutes of guitar brilliance.