21 NOVEMBER 1979

21 NOVEMBER 1979

SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM - SANTA MONICA, CA

SETLIST:

MONOLOGUE (Regina Havis)/IF I'VE GOT MY TICKET, LORD/IT'S GONNA RAIN/LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH/HOLD MY HAND, OH LORD/OH FREEDOM/SERVE SOMEBODY/I BELIEVE IN YOU/WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?/WHEN HE RETURNS/MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS/PRECIOUS ANGEL/SLOW TRAIN COMING/COVENANT WOMAN/GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE (Mona Lisa Young, vocals)/GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING/DO RIGHT TO ME BABY/SOLID ROCK/SAVING GRACE/ SAVED/WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU/ IN THE GARDEN/BLESSED IS THE NAME/PRESSING ON

COMMENTARY:

Another thoroughly professional show, which somehow lacks the magic of some of the preceding shows, including the previous night. One ingredient in this mix may be the odd and loud shouts coming from the audience throughout. These do not appear to be heckling, just simply odd statements such as "Hamsters of Doom" and "Judas!" There are a number of very minor miscues in timing which may also tend to make the band, and perhaps Dylan himself, more tentative. Another cause may be the technical difficulties they were having with one set of keyboards, as Dylan mentions during band introductions. This may be the source of the annoying drone on the louder songs, noted below. Whatever the reason, this performance simply doesn't rate with the upper half of the shows from this elg of the tour. The fact it has been peddled for a numebr of years in commercial bootleg form as "Preaching To The Converted" suggests to me how haphazard exposure can be for these performances which circulate by serendipity rather than merit.

ANNOTATIONS:

MONOLOGUE

IF I'VE GOT MY TICKET, LORD

IT'S GONNA RAIN

DO LORD, REMEMBER ME

LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH

OH FREEDOM

THIS TRAIN

SERVE SOMEBODY

1,2,4,guitar solo,5,keys,6, outro

(2) Dylan raises and elongates phrases throughout this stanza and chorus

(2) "drugs in your pocket"

(4) "you might ba-eeee livin' in a dome"

(5) "maybe be somebody's heir"

I BELIEVE IN YOU

another strong vocal performance with slower arrangement than usual
"from all the plans they dooo . . . pursue."

EDIT# - clips during applause

(Tuning)

Dylan: "I don't know what kind of god you believe in, but I believe in a god that can raise the dead. He does it all the time, every day. Now there's certain men, you know, many of them who live right in this town who seek to lead you astray. You be careful now. The real god, the real god, the only and only god, he don't make promises that he don't keep. That's how you can tell he's the real god."

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

1,2,3,6,organ/guitar solos,4,8,7,organ/guitar,9,outro chorus

(3) "Innocent men in jail, your insane asylums are filled; unrighteous doctors dealing drugs that wiiiillllll neeever cure yoouurrr ills."

(6) "gurus to guide your ev-er-y move" (quickly)

very nice second organ solo

CROWD: "Where's Dylan!" "With God On Our Side!"

WHEN HE RETURNS

very slow version - much more in keeping with accompaniment

big cheer on "wilderneeeeeeesssss"

"he is un-con-cerned//when heeee-rrrrreeeee-tuurrnnns"

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

bear/cow/bull/bear(pig)/sssssss

"think I'll call it a bear" (pig)

PRECIOUS ANGEL

some kind of crackle audible during first stanza -- mike, or taper?

first chorus Dylan: "shine your light . . . on me"

second chorus, w/ backing, Dylan:"shine your light, shine your light on me// shine you light . . . // shine your light, shine your light on me"

third chorus Dylan: "Shine your light, shine your light on me"

CROWD: "Louder!"

Dylan: "Well, you know the god of this world is blind to many people. We see them all the time, we hear about them on the radio, the tv, and the newspapers. Satan is called the god of this world. He owns the media, everything about the media, he owns it. (Applause) (Inaudible) disturbing to your mind. While America's on its way down becoming a third-rate power. We can't help that. There's nothing we can do about that. But we can know what is going to happen and what is going to happen is this world is going to be destroyed. CROWD: "We love you!" That's been coming a long time and its going to happen. But Christ will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem for a thousand years. I want you to know that, because you've got a choice. "

SLOW TRAIN COMING

(2) "you could die down here, be another accident statistic"

syncopated backing singers on end: "coming/coming/coming"

EDIT# - clips applause and first few notes of next song

COVENANT WOMAN

CROWD: "Quiet! Quiet!"

(1) "I know I can trust you to stay the way you are."

(2) "And I know-ah-he will do it // he must have loved-ah-me oh so much."

(3) "who sees all the invisible things that are hidden from the world."

Third chorus: "But I've just, I got to tell you that I intend // I've just, I've got to thank you once again"

Chorus consistent all three times: "and to you, always, so grateful I will forever be"

Cuts spooner short on final measures to end the song

EDIT# - fades out during applause - end of Disc One -- fades in

Dylan: "Thank you. You know that God uses ordinary people. He uses ordinary people all the time. All those guys from the Old Testament, Joshua, Moses, Abraham, Gideon; they're all ordinary people. They weren't any super heroes at all. In fact, Moses did not want to go back to Egypt, and get the people out, he did not want to do that, because he knew he was an ordinary (inaudible) person. Anyway, God told him to go back and tell the Pharoah to let those people go. Pharoah didn't want to let those people go. Moses said to God, "But Pharoah don't want to let those people go." God said, "Well don't you worry about it Moses, and I'll put the words right in your muth, in your mouth." You see Moses had a problem, just like I do. (laughter and applause) Moses had a problem too. He stuttered, let's say he stuttered, or he missed, he had something, something like that, I don't know exactly what it is. But, but uh, anyway he went back to where he came from and he told Pharoah what God had told him, and, and Pharoah said, "No way, Moses, I can't let those people go, they're building my pyramids." CROWD: "(inaudible) In Santa Monica Civic, why not?" Anyway, Moses said to Pharoah, "Well, God said that your rivers are going to dry up if you don't let those people go." Well, Pharoah didn't pay any attention to that and his rivers dried up. Then, ah, Moses said, "God warned you frogs are going to crawl across your streets." Pharoah still didn't, it didn't make any difference to Pharoah at that time. Frogs crawled everywhere. There was no place they could look they didn't see frogs. Hail started falling as big as basketballs. People are dropping like flies. Many, many plagues came down. But finally God said to Moses, "Moses, you go tell Pharoah that every first-born son is going to die, if they don't let those people go." (A baby cries in the crowd) Moses said, "all right I'll go and tell him." But Moses probably figuring out, well, if all the first-born sons are going to die, what are all the Hebrew children, are they going to die too? God said, "No, Moses you just put the blood sign on every door." So when the angel of the lord passed over, he saw the sign of blood on every door, and he didn't touch those houses. Now you need the blood on you. Because, of what is going to be happening in the world, coming up, you need the blood on you. Anyway, I tell this story, to tell you, that God does use ordinary people. And Mona Lisa's gonna sing a song for you now called, "God Uses Ordinary People."

EDIT# - clips next song

GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE (Performed by Mona Lisa Young)

CROWD: "Rolling Stone!" and a number of inaudible shouts

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Very strong performance, but a very abrupt end, with Tackett missing the final beat.

Annoying background feedback drones throughout at the end of each phrase -- from the bass?

CROWD: "Smile!"

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4

(2) "mislead/be misled, bleed/be bled//use/be used, abuse/don't need to be abused"

(3) "recommend/be recommended, defend/don't need to be defended// bury/be buried, marry nobody/ if they already married"

(4) "believe in nobody/be lied to, ?/be ? ed to//miss/be missed, faith/not even a scientist"

crowd begins clapping along towards end, big applause

Dylan: "Allright, now we're hanging on to a solid rock made before the foundation of the world. I don't know what you're hanging on to, but that's what I'm hanging on to."

CROWD: "Judas!"

SOLID ROCK

annoying feedback droning throughout -- bass tone

Dylan reverses order of stanzas, beginning with "It's the ways of the flesh"

Guitar feedback after second chorus

Dylan waits a second measure after guitar solo to kick in, leaving bass and drums starting alone

SAVING GRACE

Purring vocals on another slow arrangement

CROWD: "Play an old song!" "Hamsters of Doom!" "Hamsters of Doom?" (inaudible -- cheers)

Dylan: "Drop to you? Allright."

SAVED

Dylan noodles on guitar and starts alone

(1) "By his might I've been delivered, by his spirit I've been healed."

(2) "By his truth I can be upright, by his love I am secure//By his power I've been lifted, by his love I do endure"

piano solo runs into Dylan's third stanza

(3) "No one to rescue me, nobody dared, by his (?) I have been (?), by his mercy I've been spared."

EDIT# - during applause

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

off beat beginning

(1) "opened up a door that couldn't be shut and you opened it up so wide/ filled up a hunger that had always been denied"

(2) "He gets wise in his own eyes and he's made to believe in a lie"

(2) "Well, you've done it all and there's nothing left to do."

Huge cheer when he pulls out harp

Very strong applause at end

EDIT# - during applause

Dylan: "All right, we've got time for one more. You know the story about, ah, when they came to get Jesus in the garden? Peter rose very quickly and cut off the man's ear to keep him from being taken. Jesus says "Hold it Peter." He said, "Put your sword away" and Jesus healed the man's ear. You see, Peter, he didn't understand. When, when there wasn't, when he didn't know what to say he would say it, or he would do it. Anyway, Jesus said to him, "This cup that's coming to me, I've got to drink it."

IN THE GARDEN

Tentative start, and gentler overall arrangement, slower and less pronounced bass.

(2) "When he healed them in the city, did they hear? When he spoke to them in the city, did they hear?"

(4) "Did they . . . speak out against him, did . . . they . . . dare?" (twice)

can hear applause as Dylan leaves stage, but no "goodnight" -- very strong applause following song and people begin stomping

Dylan: "And on keyboards tonight, we had one set of keyboards go out and let's see if we can get them fixed, on the keyboards Spooner Oldham. On the other set of keyboards, Terry Young. And on lead guitar tonight, Fred Tackett. On the (?) set of drums, Jim Keltner. And playing on the bass guitar tonight, Tim Drummond. Singing on the bottom tonight is Helena Springs. Singing in the middle, on the middle part, Regina McCreary. And singing on top, Mona Lisa Young. We're gonna give all the praise, all the glory to God tonight, we know we don't want any (inaudible/cheering) and we don't deserve any."

BLESSED IS THE NAME

Dylan starts with a very flat phrasing of the riff

strong performance, great singing by backing trio

#EDIT - smooth edit during applause

PRESSING ON

awkward piano playing between first two "pressing on"'s

Chorus x 4, first stanza, chorus x 4, second stanza, chorus x 4

Backing singers join on second chorus.

Band starts in tentatively on second stanza

SOURCES:

One known reference tapes circulating:

The first (211179PTC) is a is a stereo audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs performed by the band, and the eighth song, "God Uses Ordinary People" by the band and sung Mona Lisa Young following "Covenant Woman." This recording circulates as the commercial bootleg, "Preaching To The Converted."

This recording has noticeable hiss throughout, and some disruptive audience chatter during "When He Returns;" minor tape fluctuation during first moments of "Covenant Woman" and "Blessed Is The Name;" and an annoying beackground feedback throughout "Change My Way Of Thinking" and "Solid Rock." There are non-destrutive edits following "I Believe In You", "Slow Train", "Covenant Woman," "Saved,""What Can I Do For You?" and "Blessed Is The Name."