# Dylan Covers: Stones vs. Hendrix **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397 "2019-03-20T00:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/1 "2019-03-20T00:26:50Z")
Which is the better Bob Dylan song cover, the Stones’ “Like a Rolling Stone” or Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower”? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/2 "2019-03-20T00:47:31Z")
Apples and oranges. The Stones did a “cover.” Hendrix did an entirely different song that happened to share a melody and lyrics. However, negative points for Jagger’s harmonica. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/3 "2019-03-20T01:08:19Z")
I’m with **kunilou**. Hendrix did the definitive, iconic and contemporary version of Watchtower (though the original really is not bad), so good that Dylan quickly adapted the arrangement and plays it until today (and he almost always plays Watchtower on every concert). The Stones probably did Rolling Stone 30 years later after having been asked umpteen times to do the song about “them”. It was a gimmick. Good recording, no doubt, but not comparable. There are tons of Dylan covers more important than theirs. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/4 "2019-03-20T01:13:40Z")
Hendrix’s Watchtower is pretty unbeatable. Today, Dylan plays that song in the Hendrix style. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/5 "2019-03-20T01:19:33Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Hendrix’s Watchtower is pretty unbeatable. Today, Dylan plays that song in the Hendrix style. He’s done it since the 1974 tour with the Band. ETA: Dylan and Hendrix were two musicians with a lot of mutual respect for each other. They both adored the other, though I think they’ve never met. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/6 "2019-03-20T01:27:03Z")
I agree there’s no comparison. The Stones sang Dylan’s song, Hendrix transformed it and brought it to another level. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/7 "2019-03-20T01:37:06Z")
All Hendrix, not even close. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/8 "2019-03-20T01:42:26Z")
Christ, I had no idea the Stones covered “Like a Rolling Stone.” When did this happen? What album? ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/9 "2019-03-20T01:46:20Z")
Shouldn’t Mick have sang “like ME!”? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/10 "2019-03-20T02:00:26Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Shouldn’t Mick have sang “like ME!”? You’ve reminded me of one of the funniest “letters to the editor” in the old **National Lampoon,** back in the ‘70s when it was funny: “Sometimes, late at night, I sing along to David Bowie’s ‘Young Americans,’ and when he gets to the line ‘Do you remember President Nixon,’ I go ‘Do you remember…_me?’”_ — Richard Nixon San Clemente, CA ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/11 "2019-03-20T02:03:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Christ, I had no idea the Stones covered “Like a Rolling Stone.” When did this happen? What album? 1995 on [Stripped](https://www.allmusic.com/album/stripped-mw0000173022), an album of mostly old re-recorded “unplugged” songs. The “Like A Rolling Stone” cover" was a[live recording from Amsterdam’s Paradiso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRYokc3VBC4). ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/12 "2019-03-20T02:03:39Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Christ, I had no idea the Stones covered “Like a Rolling Stone.” When did this happen? What album? LIVE [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gsFsuM5kO-s/maxresdefault.jpg "The Rolling Stones - Like a Rolling Stone - Live 1998") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsFsuM5kO-s) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/13 "2019-03-20T02:10:08Z")
I’d pick Hendrix over The Stones, but my all-time favorite _Watchtower_ cover is by [Michael Hedges](https://youtu.be/XqGHE5GqZ44). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dylan-covers-stones-vs-hendrix/831397/14 "2019-03-20T02:20:16Z")
Thanks, boys.