The moment Bob Dylan met Jimi Hendrix for the only time: “Just the guitar player”
Reflecting on the 1960s, it’s easy to identify the key figures who shaped the cultural revolution, partly because their legacies are often intertwined. Many of the era’s rock heroes shared social circles: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones attended the same parties, The Who admired The Kinks’ performances, and The Marquee Club became a hub for artistic collaboration and celebration. Yet, amidst this interconnected scene, two legends—Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix—only crossed paths once, despite their profound mutual influence.
The sole meeting between Dylan and Hendrix—a fleeting exchange between two mercurial musical geniuses—was tinged with apparent ambivalence, something enhanced by both alcohol and Dylan’s characteristic nonchalance toward other stars of the era only added to the detachment. For many, however, Hendrix had already offered a far more compelling introduction through his music.
When Hendrix arrived in London in 1966 and was invited to a jam session at Regent Street Polytechnic, despite the reservations of some of those up on stage, the guitarist was beckoned into the heart of the swinging scene and often asked to perform off the cuff. One performance, in particular, would win the respect of guitar god Eric Clapton and afterwards, more of Britain’s music elite would fall in line to pay their respects to Hendrix.
As well as Clapton and the rest of Cream, who were performing that night at Regent Street Polytechnic, Paul McCartney would soon become a huge fan of the guitarist and even secured him his now-iconic spot at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Despite struggling to crack America on any commercial front, Hendrix clearly picked up a lot of admirers. One of those quiet admirers was the freewheelin’ troubadour Bob Dylan.
While there may not have been an exuberant amount of enthusiasm for the naturally reserved Dylan in the papers, there was a heavy dose of respect between the songwriter and Hendrix. The folk hero has been quoted as a fan of genre-challenging guitarist, calling his version of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ the definitive rendition of the song. In fact, after receiving his ‘Person of the Year’ award in 2015 for MusiCares, he said: “We can’t forget Jimi Hendrix,” with a beaming smile on his face.
It may seem like a silly notion, but Dylan struggled to find commercial success with his songs initially and relied on Hendrix and the act Peter, Paul, and Mary to get his tracks on the radio. Dylan added: “He took some small songs of mine that nobody paid any attention to and brought them up into the outer limits of the stratosphere, turned them all into classics.” Considering Dylan has often been scathing about artists covering his songs, this is no small feat, with Dylan going one step further: “I have to thank Jimi. I wish he was here.”
Equally, Hendrix had a lot to thank Dylan for. It was Hendrix’s version of the song on his double album Electric Ladyland that finally put the guitarist on the map outside of the swinging sets that resided in New York and London. But that didn’t stop the guitarist, like the rest of the music world, initially finding Dylan a little tough to negotiate. “Before I came to England, I was digging a lot of the things Bob Dylan was doing,” he said.
Hendrix continued: “When I first heard him I thought, ‘You must admire that guy for having that much nerve to sing so out of key,’” he told biographer Chris Welch. But as with most first-time Dylan listeners, he admitted, “Then I listened to the words.” While the two shared a deep admiration for one another, they only happened to meet once, and it was somewhat tainted by what seemed like a skimful of booze.
Dylan remembers the only meeting he shared with the artist when he was “just the guitar player,” in a band and, despite being more than a little drunk, recalls it fondly. Unfortunately for Dylan, it would be his lasting memory of the guitarist before he exploded onto the scene and created a mammoth hit with his song. However, in 1969, it was a sentiment that Hendrix reciprocated, saying, “I only met him once, about three years ago… before I went to England. I think both of us were pretty drunk at the time, so he probably doesn’t remember it.”
Hendrix covered not only ‘All Along The Watchtower’ but ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ during his iconic live sets. Although the pair only met once, something about their friendship, however distant it may have been, speaks highly of their respect for one another.
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