More Top Stories: Bret Michaels, Jack White

Bret Michaels Announces 'Rock of Love Boat'
Bret Michaels will return to the Rock of Love franchise, but with a twist: the Poison singer will board a cruise ship and dole out relationship advice to couples as the ship's resident "love guru." [CMT]

Queens of the Stone Age to Reissue Debut LP
QOTSA will follow up the recent re-release of Rated R with a reissue their self-titled 1998 debut album. The disc, due November 26th, will feature three songs that were originally cut from the album's track list: "Spiders and Vinegaroons," "The Bronze" and "These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For." [Press Release]

New Pornographers' Gig Canceled Over Band's Name
The New Pornographers' October 15th concert at Calvin College, a Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been canceled. "The irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many. The band's name, to some, is mistakenly associated with pornography. Consequently, Calvin, to some, was mistakenly associated with pornography. Neither the college nor the band endorses pornography," the college wrote in a statement announcing the cancellation. [Spinner]

Jack White Presents 'Triple-Decker' Vinyl for Dead Weather Single
Dead Weather's upcoming "Blue Blood Blues" single will come in the form of what Jack White calls a "triple-decker" record, which features a 7" vinyl disc encased inside of the main 12" record. White's Third Man Records will release a limited run starting September 17th. [Third Man Records]

Plus: Coldplay's new album pushed to 2011, George Michael sentenced to prison and more.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
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  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
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  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

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