In many ways, Hendrix’s version of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” exemplifies Jimi’s mastery of performance and rock and roll and his place within history.
At the time, Hendrix was known to most musicians for his London club shows, but not too well known to the general public. In the summer of 1967 the Monterey Pop Festival changed all of that. While Hendrix’s entire set was amazing, doing a Dylan song was considered pretty ballsy. Yet, Hendrix pulls it off, even though he skips an entire section of the song (and says so midway through) it doesn’t matter. The performance is so out there, so edgy and of the moment, it transcends everything. But, there was something else going on as well.
At the time, Dylan’s star was a bit tarnished. He had gone electric which had been a great controversy to many die hard folkies, and had suffered a certain amount of grief and loss of popularity for it. Dylan had also been out of the picture for awhile after his motorcycle accident in 1966. (He actually didn’t perform on stage again until January 21, 1968 at a tribute to Woodie Guthrie at Carnegie Hall.) So, this was Hendrix’s way of keeping Dylan relevant and keeping his music in front of an audience. Hendrix was a fan.
When asked what he thought of Hendrix recording his tunes, Dylan said:
“It’s not a wonder to me that Jimi recorded my songs, but rather that he recorded so few of them, because they were all his”.
