Credit: Island Records

Remembering U2’s awesome cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’

Tue 18 October 2022 6:00, UK

U2 had been clearly influenced by the very roots of American music on their world-conquering 1987 album The Joshua Tree. The title of the album, of course, refers to the famous Joshua Tree National Park in the Californian desert.

The Irish rock legends continued to explore the basis of American music, including blues, folk and gospel, on their next release, 1988’s Rattle and Hum. The album was a combination of both studio and live recordings captured during The Joshua Tree Tour. They recorded at the famous Sun Studios in Memphis, sang with the Harlem New Voices of Freedom gospel choir and even collaborated with the inimitable B.B. King.

The album also arguably marked the end of the second era of U2. The early alternative punk sound had developed into a more stadium-friendly resonance with both The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. After the release of Rattle and Hum, U2 would reinvent themselves in a period of commercial and critical difficulty throughout the 1990s.

There are several great moments on Rattle and Hum and its accompanying road documentary directed by Phil Joanou. Amongst them are the very opening lines of the album from Bono, “This is the song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles. We’re stealing it back,” before ripping into an excellent cover of the Fab Four’s ‘Helter Skelter’.

Also wonderful to see is Larry Mullen Jr. finally getting to visit Graceland and sit atop Elvis Presley’s motorcycle. But one of the most evident moments of U2’s talent came during their cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. The clip from the documentary shows the band hanging out in a trailer, preparing to go on to play. The Edge and Bono quickly work out the song in a few different keys, with Bono effortlessly switching between them.

The film then skips to the entire band playing the track in the key of C to a vast outdoor crowd. Eventually, Bono leaves the stage while the rest of the band jams the tune out. Armed with a can of spray paint, he tags the wall with “rock and roll stops the traffic.” And it had.

Joining the band once more, Bono then ad-libs a moment of reverence to the history of American roots music by yelling the verse lyrics, “All I got is a red guitar, three chords, and the truth.” Evidently, Bono understood the simplicity of blues music and its power and explored that notion all throughout Rattle and Hum and The Joshua Tree Tour.

Check out the video of U2’s cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ below.