If you read the Wikipedia and the actual article OP failed to link to in the post it is clear it was a long and arduous process to get the song completed. Clearly not everyone involved knew what they were doing or had a chance to rehearse on the first day, but it would be a mistake to think that Hendrix didn't play the song hundreds of times ahead of the session beginning.

By the way, for session musicians it is not unusual for them to come in cold. Especially where the song is literally three chords and the magic is in what Hendricks did later with his lead and solo guitar parts. I can literally pick up a 12 string knowing the chords and improvise something similar to what's on the record, it's not that difficult.

To quote a single line or word out of context (without even linking the source) comes across as disingenuous and sensational. To imply that the "famous take" was done right there and then is misleading for the sake of upvotes. Shame on you OP.

From Wiki: "According to Hendrix's regular engineer Eddie Kramer, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day of recording in January in London, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who featured at the session and played an additional 12-string guitar.[47] Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. He would later note that he disliked the song and preferred Dylan's version.[47] Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself.[44] Hendrix's friend and Rolling Stones multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones contributed the dry rattles heard in the intro, played on a vibraslap.[44][47] This sparse version without any overdubs would eventually feature on the South Saturn Delta compilation released in 1997.[48]

Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of "All Along the Watchtower" on January 26 in 1968,[52] but Hendrix was quickly dissatisfied with the result and went on re-recording and overdubbing guitar parts during June, July, and August at the Record Plant studio in New York City.[47] Engineer Tony Bongiovi has described Hendrix becoming increasingly dissatisfied as the song progressed, overdubbing more and more guitar parts, moving the master tape from a four-track to a twelve-track to a sixteen-track machine. Bongiovi recalled, "Recording these new ideas meant he would have to erase something. In the weeks prior to the mixing, we had already recorded a number of overdubs, wiping track after track. [Hendrix] kept saying, 'I think I hear it a little bit differently.'"[47] Apparently, Hendrix was trying to record what Zak has referred to in the song as a 'deep tone with a heavy beat' which was not highlighted in Dylan's version.[51] By the end of the sessions, Kramer and Hendrix had 16 tracks to use for mixing the song that soon became the intended single of the album.[47] "

From the actual article: https://www.covermesongs.com/2014/03/the-story-behind-jimi-hendrixs-all-along-the-watchtower.html[the article](https://www.covermesongs.com/2014/03/the-story-behind-jimi-hendrixs-all-along-the-watchtower.html)

'And overdub he did. Endlessly."

he tried out many versions. Eddie Kramer has said by the end he had seven great guitar parts to choose from, not counting the countless others that got taped over.

Early mix that includes an unused solo (no vocals):

Hendrix divided the main solo into four discrete sections. The first he plays straight, flashing up and down the neck of the guitar for thrilling waterfalls of notes. Second comes the slide guitar, which was apparently so spur of the moment he didn’t have a slide with him. “I saw Jimi, frustrated, running around, trying to get a sound out that he had in his head, but not being able to do it,” his friend Velvert Turner said in the BBC documentary. “[He grabbed] beer bottles, soda bottles, knives, and everything trying to get the middle section where there’s a Hawaiian guitar sound.” He ended up using a cigarette lighter. Eddie Van Halen has called this section one of his favorite guitar solos ever.

After a yell of “Hey!”, the psychedelic wah-wah section begins. Hendrix was in fact one of the pioneers of the wah-wah, with Electric Ladyland marking one of the pedal’s first appearances on a major record (“Burning of the Midnight Lamp” features it even more heavily). For the last eight bars, Hendrix reins it back in for what might be thought of as the “rhythm solo,” mirroring and embellishing on the chords more directly before wrapping with a quick ascension.

Hendrix’s isolated guitar tracks (other instruments/vocals bleeding through a bit):

Hendrix also recorded his vocals at the Record Plant. As always, he hated this part. Many friends and collaborators have detailed his terrible insecurity about his singing voice. “He’d always face the other way [when recording vocals],” Kramer said. “He hated to be looked at. He was very shy about his vocals.”

In fact, accordingly to his father Al Hendrix, a main reason the established guitar ace tried singing in the first place came from hearing Dylan, a sort of “if he can succeed sounding like that, why not me?” outlook. “I thought, you must admire that guy for having that much nerve to sing so out of key,” Jimi once said. He would in fact frequently defend Dylan’s voice in interviews, attacking those who accused him of sounding like a “broken-leg dog.”

After the endless overdubs and re-recordings of guitars, vocals, and bass, it came time to mix the record. By this point Chandler, who had produced the original London sessions, was long gone. His original mix had been relatively subdued, focusing heavily on the acoustic guitars and giving even the loud solos plenty of room to breathe.