Hendrix and Dylan
They became famous playing very different music, but there are remarkable similarities between Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Both grew up in backwater locales — Bob in Hibbing, Minnesota and Jimi in Seattle, Washington. Each was immersed in 1950s rock 'n' roll — Jimi loved Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan was a big fan of Buddy Holly.
I used to play rock and roll a long time ago, before I even started playing old-fashioned folk.
— Bob Dylan, 1965 (Bob Dylan: In His Own Words by Christian Williams, © 1993 Omnibus Press).
After leaving their respective small towns, both young musicians eventually found their way to New York's thriving Greenwich Village club scene, which each was able to use as a springboard to international acclaim.
The first time I saw him, he was playing with John Hammond (Jr.). He was incredible then. I'd already been to England and beyond, and although he didn't sing, I kinda had a feeling he figured into things…
— Bob Dylan, from the liner notes to the Biograph CD box set, © 1985 CBS Inc.
Though Dylan and Hendrix eventually followed different musical paths, both artists spoke unique musical languages and were ahead of their time. Dylan made his name as a post–beat generation poet/folk rebel, whereas Hendrix combined Chitlin' Circuit showmanship with psychedelic blues and extreme volume to form a new type of music altogether.
Though they were not close friends, Jimi was a huge fan of Bob Dylan and covered at least four of his tunes, both live and in the studio. These tracks include "Like a Rolling Stone," "All Along the Watchtower," "Drifter's Escape" and "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" In addition, Dylan's free-form lyrical style had a profound influence on Jimi's original material. Hendrix songs such as "Angel," "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Little Wing" all show a distinct Dylan-esque approach. Jimi had an effect on Bob's music as well, as evidenced by the live version of "All Along the Watchtower" from Dylan's 1974 live album Before the Flood. When comparing this later version with the original from 1967's John Wesley Harding LP, it is immediately apparent that Bob and his band had been listening to and implementing the structure of Jimi's interpretation of the song.
I love Dylan. I only met him once, about three years ago, back at the Kettle of Fish [a folk-rock era hangout] on MacDougal Street. That was before I went to England. I think both of us were pretty drunk at the time, so he probably doesn't remember it.
— Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stone magazine interview, November 15, 1969.
He did a lot of my other songs too from that period… "Drifter's Escape," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Crawl Out Your Window"…
— Bob Dylan, from the liner notes to the Biograph CD box set, © 1985 CBS Inc.
Sometimes I do a Dylan song and it seems to fit me so right that I figure maybe I wrote it. Dylan didn't always do it for me as a singer, not in the early days, but then I started listening to the lyrics. That sold me.
— Jimi Hendrix, from Beat Instrumental magazine, 1969.