26 NOVEMBER 1979

26 NOVEMBER 1979

GRADY GAMMAGE MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM - TEMPE, AZ

SETLIST:

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/PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND (Regina McCreary, 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

COMMENTARY:

This concert likely constitutes the low-point of the entire tour, if not of all Dylan tours. The circulating recordings of this concert all lack the monologue and introductory gospel songs by the backing singers. However, from the crowd noise leading into "Serve Somebody" and Dylan's clear anger following "I Believe In You," the crowds' treatment of the backing singers must have been quite nasty. The crowd comments decipherable through Dylan's harangue suggest that this concert was marred by a few individual hecklers rather than a broad negative response of the audience. As my be heard, the hecklers yell their comments nad are quickly shouted down by a number of other members of the audience.

Dylan's response is interesting. He begins by simply telling the crowd they're being rude. He then launches into a story meant to illustrate the pervasiveness of what he calls the "anti-Christ," particularly as represented by a famous guru Dylan says claims to be god, but also, by implication, the band "Kiss" and their like. Dylan persists in this story despite very aggressive heckling which finally prompts him to raise the lights in the hall, calling out, "Turn the lights on! Give them some light! Let them in the light!"

Dylan leaves the lights on for the remainder of the concert, another fourteen songs. In response to numerous shouts to turn the lights down, following "When He Returns," Dylan says, "Why? Too bright for you?" This poisoned atmosphere doesn't improve. Dylan performes the next few songs at a quicker pace, with flatter phrasing, in marked contrast to the confessional tone he takes at nearly every other concert of this tour. The combination of Dylan's tone and pacing, the lights, and the clear unease of the audience with both Dylan's anger and the lights, appear to rattle the band as well. They struggle through "Change My Way Of Thinking," "Saved" and a thoroughly dispirited "In The Garden," sounding downright relieved to be done by the final notes of the latter.

On the other hand, both "Covenant Woman" and "Solid Rock" stand out this evening. Both capture Dylan's apaprent mood of the evening, Dylan delivers the former, a difficult song on the best of nights, with a lovely wearied rephrasing. Dylan and the band crank out an angry, defiant, "Solid Rock" with a wonderful guitar solo by Fred Tackett and great vocal licks from the backing singers.

Dylan's first address to the audience, concerning the gurus and "Kiss," focuses on false deceivers and the bright line between those who are saved and those who are lost, essentially a cautionary tale that you either have faith or you do not. Dylan's second address takes a more plaintive tone, directly acknowledging his own role as a spokesperson for the faith. When fans call out old songs, Dylan acknowledges these calls, but treats them as accusations rather than requests. Dylan defends his earlier songs as not having intentionally misled anyone. In response to someone shouting "Everybody Must Get Stoned!" Dylan recounts the story of Jesus confronting a group about to stone an adulterer. Dylan then relates his view that current events mirror biblical prophecy and portend Armageddon within the next few years. Dylan then reminds the audience that they need to prepare for this final battle and, referring to Jesus' use of parables, suggesting that the truth is before them, but some simply cannot grasp it.

I find Dylan's defensiveness about his earlier songs and his persistence in trying to preach the gospel to his audience remarkable. While many may bristle at being told they are "lost" because they do not believe in Dylan's god, Dylan's intentions, and the urgent care he shows for his audience, are moving. Not unlike Pascal's "Wager", Dylan seems animated by his own fame to utilize it for the service of what he is clearly convinced is the good of his audience. This is not a man condemning the world and holding himself above it. This is someone who has clearly condemned himself for his own past, now laboring to help his followers avoid a similar fall. Dylan's reference to parables towards the end strikes me as evidence that Dylan is beginning to grasp the obstacles which lie before him in spreading his message.

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

CROWD: "Come on!" "Alright Dylan!" "Yeah Dylan!"

SERVE SOMEBODY

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

(1) Dylan's voice quite strained, breaks during first chorus and sounds hoarse overall

(2) "drugs in your pocket"

(2) "but you'll have to s - serve somebody"

(4) "maybe be somebody's landlord"

(5) "maybe be somebody's mistress, maybe be somebody's heir"

CROWD: "Rock-n-roll!"

I BELIEVE IN YOU

a single woman's voice, howling, after "how I know I'll make it through"

"from all the plans they dooo . . . pursue."

(Tuning)

Dylan: "Hmm. What a rude bunch tonight, huh? You all know how to be real rude. You know about the spirit of the anti-Christ? Does anybody here know about that? Well, it's clear the anti-Christ is loose right now, let me give you an example. You know, I got a place out, ah, somebody stopped by my house and gave me this, uh, tape cassette. Some of these kind of people, you know, there's many false deceivers running around these days. There's only one gospel. The Bible says anybody who preaches anything other than that one gospel, let him be accursed. ("Rock-n-roll!") Anyway, you know, this fellow stopped by my house one time and wanted to, so called, "turn me on" to a . . . well I'm not gonna mention his name, he's a certain guru. I don't want to mention his name right now, but ah, he, he has a place out there, near LA ("Malibu!") And ah, he stopped by and he gave me this taped cassette to show me -- "ROCK-N-ROLL!" --

You wanna rock-n-roll you can go down and rock-n-roll. You can go see Kiss and you can rock-n-roll all your way down to the pit. Anyway -- APPLAUSE -- let me give you an example here. I'm gonna give you a real good example, I took a look, I dropped this tape cassette off with a friend of mine. (HECKLING AND OTHERS TRYING TO SHOUT THE HECKLER DOWN)

Turn the lights on in here. I want to see these people. Turn some lights on. Give them some light. Let them in the light. APPLAUSE

So anyway, this certain guru, you wanna hear about this guru? So anyhow, "ROCK-N-ROLL!" "SHUT UP!"

alright, so this guru, he made a film of himself. He had one of these big conventions. He does have a convention I think every so often like once a month, he'll go to a big city. "PRAISE THE LORD WITH PUKE!" "SHUT THAT GUY UP!" APPLAUSE

Now, so, I took a look at this tape and sure enough he was having himself a big convention. He had, must have had five thousand to ten thousand people there. Eight thousand people. And what he was doing on the stage was, he was sitting on there with a lot of flowers and things. And he sure did look pretty though. He'd sit up there, you know like kind of like on a throne and you'd listen to him talk on the tape. And on the tape, he said, you know, what's life all about is life is to have fun. APPLAUSE He said, "I'm gonna show you now how you all can have fun."

And he had a big fire extinguisher there and he put colored water in this fire extinguisher, and he would spray it out on the people. And they all laughed and just had a good time. They took their clothes off. They were overjoyed to be sprayed by this man. BOOOO! And a little while after that, he started talking about his philosophy. And he said that he was god -- he did say that. He said that god's inside of him and he is god. And, you know, that those people could just think of themselves as God. I want to tell you this because there's many of these people walking around. They might not come right out and say they're god, but they're just waiting for the opportunity too. And there is only one God. And let me hear you say who that god is? -- CONFUSED SHOUTS

Their god, he makes promises that he doesn't keep. There's only two kinds of people like the preacher says -- only two kinds of people. Color don't separate them, neither does their clothes -- ROCK-N-ROLL! --

You still want to rock-n-roll? I'll tell you what the two kinds of people are. Don't matter how much money you got, there's only two kinds of people: There are saved people and there's lost people. APPLAUSE Yeah. Now remember that I told you that. You may never see me again. I may not be through here again, you may not see me, sometime down the line you'll remember you heard it here. That Jesus is lord. APPLAUSE And every knee shall bow to him.

CROWD: "Lights!"

EDIT# - Destructive drop-out during first measures of following song

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

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

Dylan comes in on fourth stanza (6) a beat too late

CROWD: "Lights!"

WHEN HE RETURNS

More straightforward rendition, without the high shearing notes on "tears" and "wilderness"

CROWD: "Lights! Lights down!" and other shouts

Dylan: "Why -- too bright for you?"

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

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

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

CROWD: indecipherable shouts and same heckler's voice yelling

PRECIOUS ANGEL

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

second chorus, w/ backing, Dylan:"(skips first rendition)//shine your light, shine your light on me// shine your light, shine your light on me"

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

CROWD: "Highway 61!" (other shouts indecipherable)

SLOW TRAIN COMING

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

CROWD: "Rock-n-roll!"

COVENANT WOMAN

Dylan completely alters the phrasing on the first stanza, very nice

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

First chorus: "I just got to tell you, I intend, to stay closer than any friend, and I just, I got to thank you, once again"

(2) "I've been broken, like a shatt -ah- mempty cup"

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

Second chorus: "And I just, I got to tell you // and I just, I got to thank you once again"

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

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

Dylan: "Thank you. Regina McCreary's gonna come out and sing a song right now. "Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee."

PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND OF THE MAN (Performed by Regina McCreary)

EDIT# - Clips raucous crowd noises

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Curious performance, almost without a groove. Young's organ riff repeats awkwardly after "So much oppression" stanza, as though expect Dylan to run into next stanza right away (which Dylan does on every other stanza).

Another strange stumble during Terry Young's solo, flatest performance of this song yet.

CROWD: "The lights! Turn the lights off! Turn the lights down!"

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4

(2) "believe/be messed with(?), leave/be misled//confuse/be confused, amuse/be amused"

(3) "believe/be recommended, defend/don't need to be defended//lay with(?)/ be laid with(?), play with nobody/be played with"

(4) "be leaving nobody/be left(?), betray/be betrayed//miss/be missed, faithin nobody/certainly not a scientist"

Dylan: "How many people here are aware that we’re living in the end of times right now? How many people are aware of that? Anybody wanna know that? Anybody interested in knowing that we're living in the end times? How many people do know that? Just, yell out or do something. How many people don't know that. Well, we are, we're living in the end times. "The times thay are-a changin!"

That's right. I told you that. I told you "The Times They Are A changin" twenty years ago. Applause And I don't believe I've ever lied to you. I don't think I said anything that's been a lie. I never told you to vote for nobody. Never told you to follow nobody. "Everybody must get stoned!"

Well, I'll tell you a story about that now. When Jesus saw this woman -- they all wanted to stone her. Because, you know, she was an adultress. So they come by and they wanted to stone her. And they said to Jesus, they said, "Master" they said -- they wanted to trick him, you know, so they said, "What say you? What do you say there, should we stone this woman? because she has been an adulterer?" And he says, "Well, let him who is without sin cast the first stone." They all just dropped their stones and they walked away. And then he said to the woman, he said "Woman," he said, "You're free now. You go and sin no more." And the woman left.

Well, let me tell you, that the devil owns this world. He's called the god of this world. Now we're living in America. I like America just as much as everybody else does. I love America, I gotta say that. But America will be judged. You know, God comes against a country in three ways. First way he comes against them, he come against them in their economy. Did you know that? He messes with their economy the first time. You can check it all the way back to Babylon, and Persia and Egypt. Many of you here are college students aren't you? Many of you are college students. You ask your teachers about this now. You see, I …uh .. I know they're gonna verify what I said. Every time god comes against a nation, first of all he comes against their economy. If that doesn't work, he comes against their ecology. It ain't nothing new that's happening. He did it with Egypt. He did it with Persia. He did it with Babylon. He did it with the whole Middle East. It's desert now. It used to be flourishing gardens. Alright. If that don't work, if that don't work, he just brings up another nation against them. So one of those three things has got to work.

Now. Jesus Christ is that solid rock. He's supposed to come two times. He came once already. See, that's the thing, he's been here already. Now, he's coming back again. You gotta be prepared for this. Because, no matter what you read in the newspapers, that's all deceit. The real truth is that he's coming back already. And you just watch your newspapers. You're gonna see, maybe two years, maybe three years, five years from now, you just watch and see. Russia will come down and attack in the Middle East. China's got an army of two hundred million people. They're gonna come down in the Middle East. There's gonna be a war called the "Battle of Armageddon" which is like some war you never even dreamed about. And Christ will set up his kingdom. He will set up his kingdom and he'll rule it from Jerusalem. I know, as far out as that might seem, this is what the Bible says.

"EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!"

I'll tell you about getting stoned. What do you want to know about getting stoned?

Confused shouts

Alright, what you're gonna need is something strong to hang on to. You got drugs to hang on to now. You might have a job to hang on to now. You might have your college education to hang on to now. But you're gonna need something very solid to hang on to when these days come.

Let me tell you one more thing. When Jesus spoke his parables, he spoke them to people, he said, he said parables to all these people. Everybody could hear the parables. Everybody heard the same parables. Some people understood them and some people didn't. But he said the same one, he said the same thing to everybody. You understand, he didn't try to hide them, he just said it. Those that believed it, believed it and understood it, and those that didn't, didn't. That's right.

We're gonna play a song now called "Hanging On to a Solid Rock, Made Before the Foundation of the World." Now remember now, you talk to your teacher about what I said. I'm sure you're paying a lot of good money for your education now, so you better get one.

SOLID ROCK

Dylan allows extra measure before beginning first stanza

Guitar solo very, very aggressive

Dylan waits a second measure after guitar solo to kick in, then starts midmeasure -- with nice singing by Regina in interim.

Real thunder

CROWD: Subdued applause seems to grow

SAVING GRACE

Slightly quicker arrangement than usual, with flatter phrasing

(2) "by this time, I'd a thought that I'd-a be sleeping"

Dylan restrained on "my sole protection"

SAVED

Dylan picks at single chord on guitar and starts alone -- again a quicker, flatter rendering

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

(2) "By his truth I can be upright, by his love I do endure//By his love I have been lifted, by his love I do endure"

Dylan has to hurry "the fire that burns in it" to keep the beat

Second chorus a bit chaotic, with backing singers, drums and piano all stumbling in places

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

Third chorus also somewhat chaotic as Keltner backbeats and syncopates around the pounding two-beat usually underpinning things.

Regina calls out "thank you Lord!" after last notes.

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

Dylan begins singing in midst of first guitar phrase.

Another quicker, flatter performance, as though hurrying through the rest of the concert

(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) "Well, you've done it all and there's no more that's left to do."

Nice, rhythmic first harp solo

Very strong applause at end

Dylan: "Alright, we have time for one more. So long as -- I wonder what it will be, I think it will be this one. Alright. Remember now. Don't be deceived by what's gets inside. You know, even Jesus was deceived by one of his own men. Just like Jesse James, you know, he was deceived by someone he let, let, who he invited into his house.

Anyway, we're gonna play this one and be on down the road now. Remember what I said, if you ever hear it some other time, that there is a way. There's a truth and a life and a way. (Applause) You may not get it now. It may not be the next week or so. It may not be the next year or so. But remember the next time it happens."

IN THE GARDEN

Dylan starts immediately into the song, with hanging vibrato organ after first stanza

Very gentle accompaniment through second stanza and into interlude between second and third stanzas

Begins fourth stanza just as band begins another interlude

Dylan's voice quite raw in latter stanzas, band never digs into this performance at all,

Sustained applause, but not overwhelming, fades out

EDIT# - End of recording

SOURCES:

Three known reference tapes circulating:

The first (261179MLM) is a dual mono audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs performed by the band, but contains the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman."

This recording has noticeable hiss throughout, and a distant compressed sound. Overall, it constitutes a muddy listen. A destructive edit clips the beginning of "When You Gonna Wake Up." There is a great deal of crowd noise throughout, with some obtrusive chatter near the taper during Dylan's sermonettes, often simply laughter at certain comments, but occasionally muffled queries.

The second (261179JMM) is a dual mono recording which lacks the seven opening songs performed by the band, and also lacks the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman."

This recording is louder, longer, and lacks all but one of the edits found on 261179MLM. The one edit both recordings contain occurs at the beginning of of "When You Gonna Wake Up," suggesting 261179MLM is simply a later generation, edited copy of the master whichw as used to create 261179JMM. The lack of "Put Your Hand" on the "JMM" recording, suggests this is not a fullr ecording of the master itself. One hopes a complete recording, including the introductory gospel sets still exists somewhere.

The third (261179SCM) is a dual mono recording which lacks the seven opening songs performed by the band, and also lacks the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman."

This recording, which commonly circulates via the Unofficial Dylan Free Tape Library, has been briefly summarized at: http://freelib.org/dylan/79-11-26.html. This recording also contains a destructive edit, not noted on the Free Tape Library listing, clipping a few notes at the beginning of "When You Gonna Wake Up?" The presence of this flaw on all three circulating versions of this concert suggest they are all descendants of the same master.