• Writer: Bob Dylan
• Producer: Chas Chandler
• Recorded: January 21st, 1968, at The Record Plant in New York City
• Released: September 1968
• Players:
  Jimi Hendrix — vocals, guitar
  Dave Mason or Jimi Hendrix — bass
  Mitch Mitchell — drums
• Album: Electric Ladyland (Reprise, 1968)
• Also On:
  Smash Hits (Reprise, 1969)
  Jimi Hendrix At The Isle Of Wight (Reprise, 1971)
  The Essential Jimi Hendrix, Vols. 1+2 (Reprise, 78-79; one CD, 1989)
  and other compilations and live albums
• “All Along The Watchtower” was the only Top 40 single for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, peaking at Number 20 in the U.S. In the U.K., it reached Number Five.
• Bob Dylan manager Albert Grossman and publicist Michael Goldstein regularly provided Jimi Hendrix and some other artists with tapes of new Dylan songs before they had been recorded for Dylan’s own albums.
• Bassist Noel Redding walked out of the studio in frustration over the ongoing problem of casual, unproductive sessions. Traffic guitarist Dave Mason, who had jammed with Hendrix previously and had been invited to add acoustic guitar to the song, took Redding’s place for that song, though Redding speculated that Hendrix replayed the bass part himself later.
• It took 24 takes to complete the song, not counting rehearsals.
• Dylan began injecting parts of Hendrix’s arrangement into his own performances in the 1980s.
• The original cover of Electric Ladyland, featuring a bevy of nude women, was withdrawn at Hendrix’s request and replaced with a picture of Hendrix on the front cover and a photo of the band on the back.
• It was Hendrix’s only Number One album.

FAST FORWARD:

• Mason later covered the song and copied much of Hendrix’s version.
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up in 1969, last performing together at a June 29th concert in Denver.
• Redding formed his band Fat Mattress, but drummer Mitch Mitchell continued playing with Hendrix a while longer, including an appearance at Woodstock in August 1969.
• Hendrix overdosed and died on September 18th, 1970, while in England. He was 27.
• Hendrix was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
• Experience Hendrix, a label dedicated solely to his work, now releases Hendrix’s albums. The label, which is run by his stepsister Janie, was set up after their father Al won the rights to his son’s music in a court battle.
• Redding died at age 57 on May 11th, 2003, at his home in Cork, Ireland.
• Hendrix was named the greatest guitarist of all time by a poll in Rolling Stone magazine.

Janie Hendrix and Jimi’s brother Leon have battled in court over the disposition of their father Al’s estate.