"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries. The song became one of Dylan's most popular and most covered post-1960s compositions, spawning covers from

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

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Randy Crawford Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American retired jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, sh ...

, and more. Described by Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin as "an exercise in splendid simplicity", the song features two short verses, the lyrics of which comment directly on the scene in the film for which it was written: the death of a frontier lawman ( Slim Pickens) who refers to his wife ( Katy Jurado) as "Mama". It was ranked number 190 in 2004 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and number 192 in 2010, but excluded from the revised list in 2021.

Personnel

: vocals, guitar *

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...

: guitar * Jim Keltner: drums *Terry Paul: bass *Carl Fortina: harmonium * Carol Hunter: backing vocals * Donna Weiss: backing vocals * Brenda Patterson: backing vocals

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Other Bob Dylan versions

According to his website, Dylan has performed the song in concert 460 times between its live debut in 1974 and its last outing in 2003. Some of these versions have appeared on Dylan's live and ''Bootleg Series'' albums including: * '' Before the Flood'' * '' Bob Dylan at Budokan'' * '' Dylan & the Dead'' * '' The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration'' * ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' * '' Thirty-Nine Years of Great Concert Performances'' * '' The Rolling Thunder Revue''

Eric Clapton and Arthur Louis versions

In January 1975

played on Arthur Louis's recording of " Knockin' on Heaven's Door" which was arranged in a cross-over

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

style. After the recording sessions with Louis, Clapton recorded his own version of the song which was released as a single in August 1975 two weeks after Louis's version. This version was released on '' Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton''. Clapton's version made it to No. 38 on the UK charts, but the single was less successful in the U.S. where it failed to chart on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100 (although it reached on No. 109 on '' Cashbox's'' Looking Ahead chart). Clapton's 1996 boxed set '' Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies'' features a performance of the song recorded in London in April 1977. There were also performances of the song included on the ''

Journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

'' (1990) and the '' One More Car, One More Rider'' (2003) world tours. Several Clapton compilation albums also feature the song.

Guns N' Roses versions

In 1987, American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

started performing the song. A live version of the song was released on the

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

of " Welcome to the Jungle" the same year. They recorded and released a studio version in 1990 for the soundtrack of the film '' Days of Thunder'' that reached No. 18 on the US ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 56 on Canada's '' RPM'' 100 Hit Tracks chart. This studio recording was slightly modified for the band's 1991 album '' Use Your Illusion II'', discarding the responses in the second verse. Released as the second single from the album, it reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and the New Zealand Singles Chart. Elsewhere, the single topped the charts of Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands; it was the best-selling song of 1992 in the latter country. In Ireland, where the song also reached No. 1, it became Guns N' Roses' third (and to date last) number-one single as well as their ninth consecutive top-five hit. Their performance of the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 was used as the B-side for the single release and was also included on their '' Live Era '87–'93'' album, released in 1999. Another version was released on the video '' Use Your Illusion World Tour - 1992 in Tokyo II''. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for this version of the song was directed by Andy Morahan.

Personnel

Guns N' Roses * Axl Rose – lead vocals * Slash – lead guitar *

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– rhythm guitar *

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...

– bass * Matt Sorum – drums * Dizzy Reed – piano Guest musicians * The Waters – backing vocals

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Dunblane tribute

In 1996 and with the consent of Dylan, Scottish musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in memory of the schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane school massacre. This has been, according to some sources, one of the few times Dylan has officially authorized anybody to add or change the lyrics to one of his songs. This version of the song, featuring children from the village singing the chorus with the guitarist and producer of Dylan's album '' Infidels'' (1983),

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

, was released on December 9, 1996, in the United Kingdom and reached No. 1 on the UK and Scottish Singles Charts, as well as No. 6 in Iceland and Ireland. The proceeds went to charities for children. The song was featured on the compilation album '' Hits 97'', where all royalties from the song were given to three charities.

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Sampled version

Gabrielle's single " Rise" (2000) sampled from this song. Dylan liked "Rise" so much that he allowed Gabrielle to use the sample for free, while receiving a co-writer credit for providing the song's chord progression and vocal sample.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knockin' On Heaven's Door 1973 songs 1973 singles 1970s ballads 1992 singles 1996 singles Avril Lavigne songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Bob Dylan songs Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Eric Clapton songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Film theme songs Geffen Records singles Grateful Dead songs Guns N' Roses songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Scotland RCA Records singles Rock ballads Roger Waters songs Songs about death Songs written by Bob Dylan UK singles chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Warren Zevon songs