8 NOVEMBER 1979

8 NOVEMBER 1979

WARFIELD THEATER - SAN FRANCISCO, CA

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 Havis, vocals)/GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING/DO RIGHT TO ME BABY/SOLID ROCK/SAVING GRACE/WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU/SAVED/IN THE GARDEN/BLESSED IS THE NAME/PRESSING ON

COMMENTARY:

Novermber 8 is a fine performance, but not as sharp as the two nights preceding. This night it appears more a matter of Dylan being not entirely on his game. This is most noticeable on "Solid Rock" and "Saved," both of which thunder along, but struggle at times with Dylan's cadences and how Dylan seems to force the tempo. Dylan also seems to render the band tentative on "What Can I Do For You" and "In The Garden," phrasing shifts which make the transitions awkward at times. These are really just details distinguishing riches among riches, as the enthusiatic audience response testifies.

Together Dylan and the band again deliver very tight performances of the remaining Slow Train material, particularly "When You Gonna Wake Up". "Saving Grace" also stands out on this night. However, the real gems are saved for the encores where they kick into a rollicking "Blessed Is The Name" and a sublime "Pressing On," both buoyed by ecstatic audience response.

ANNOTATIONS:

SERVE SOMEBODY

1,2,4/3,guitar solo,5,keyboards,6,outro

very prominent rhythm guitar in mix on all tapes, suggesting up'd in theater

(2) "drugs at your command"

(5) "maybe be somebody's mistress"

(6) "whiskey/milk/cotton/silk"

CROWD: "Bobby we love you!"

I BELIEVE IN YOU

audience responsive to exaggerated phrasing on stanzas

almost sedate performance, distant sound prevents real sense of warmth

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

1,2,3,6,organ/guitar,5,8,7,organ/guitar,9,outro

Keltner's drum intro very prominent, almost drives band off-tempo at beginning of stanza 2, spirited performance overall

(7) phrasing far forward in measure

WHEN HE RETURNS

applause for "weakness you conceal"

Dylan abandons blues digression at end as applause drowns out

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

Cough near taper during first introductory chorus - minor audience chatter - another cough at "think I'll call it a cow."

Keltner keeps a nice backbeat through last chorus before "snake"

CROWD: "Bob Dylan all the way!"

PRECIOUS ANGEL

Minor audience chatter throughout

1^st chorus: "shine your light . . . on me, shine your light . . ., shine your light on me"

slight miscue with guitar and drums in transition from 2^nd chorus

#EDIT - during applause, clips first notes of next song

SLOW TRAIN COMING

"groovy thing goin" tease in 1^st guitar solo

very good performance with strong rhythm and guitar solos, esp. 2^nd

#EDIT - during applause

COVENANT WOMAN

nice performance, nice reception

2^nd chorus: "and to you I will always so grateful be"

3^rd chorus: "and to you always so grateful I will foreve be" barely manages to fit it in.

Dylan: "Thank you. We're gonna ask Regina to sing a song called "The Man From Galilee." I know you'll want to hear it."

#EDIT - omits "Put Your Hand In The Hand"

PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND (Regina McCreary, vocals)

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

bass heavy, nice guitar fills, tight band

CROWD: "Who are the singers?"

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

song never really ends, just Fred Tackett trailing off, right into guitar tuning and brief echo of riff

SOLID ROCK

builds gradually up to first words, tempo begins to build with "made . . . before . . . ."

again seems to be some difficulty with tempo, here Dylan setting with singing, part of band wants to go into overdrive, but Dylan stretching it out,

2^nd chorus: "well I won't let go and I can't let go say I won't let go and I can't let go"

nice tackett solo, but hard transition back rhythmically

slight feedback on 3^rd chorus, and almost hiccup in outro

#EDIT - during applause

SAVING GRACE

Dylan's guitar solos are pretty nice

Very solid performance

Audience near taper discuss moving down to seats closer to the stage (indicates taper in balcony?)

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

Muffed beginning, and some awkward transitions throughout

Nice harp solos, nice phrasing, but the band is off cadence, nice audience response

SAVED

First stanza just Dylan and guitar, when it kicks in Keltner has a galloping beat, almost like a train

First piano solo starts late, over a stacatto guitar line,

2^nd piano solo busted as Dylan comes in earlier than expected,

IN THE GARDEN

2^nd stanza : "when they heard him speak in the city, did they hear?"

somewhat sedate through second stanza, with awkward transition to third, losing momentum into third stanza where usually really building up. Remains largely sedate, despite the noise, but the audience rises to energy at the outro.

#EDIT - during applause

Dylan: "Thank you. On lead guitar tonight is Fred Tackett. On drums: Jim Keltner. On the keyboards, Spooner Oldham. On the other keyboards: Terry Young. Playing bass guitar is Tim Drummond Singing bottom is Helena Springs. In the middle is Regina Havis. And Mona Lisa Young."

BLESSED IS THE NAME

heavy bass, run through riff once before begin singing

Keltner another nice back beat on refrains, nice performance and tight throughout

#EDIT - during applause

PRESSING ON

(after 2^nd chorus) CROWD: "Goodbye Dylan!"

crowd comments yelled occasionally throughout

"what kind of sign do you need when it comes from within,when what's lost has been found and what's to come has already been."

Dylan doodles through chorus before stepping forward; a bass note sounds once he has joined, audience claps along throughout

"you know I am, pressing on to the higher calling of my lord . . . Good Night."

Strong applause as Dylan walks off stage, and singers bring to a crescendo, and crowd cheers strongly again

SOURCES:

Four known reference tapes circulating:

The first (81179JMMD) is a dual mono audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs by the band and the eighth song, "Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee" by the band and sung by Regina Havis following "Covenant Woman."

The overall recording is a bit hot, bass heavy, with noticeable hiss throughout. This recording is marred by a destructive edit clipping the first notes of "Slow Train Coming."

The second (81179SCMC) is a mono audience recording which also lacks all nine songs performed by the band.

This recording also contains noticeable hiss and a monotonous conversation near the taper throughout. This is a shame as the underlting recording is quite clear, prominent, with good separation of instruments. This tape is further marred by a destructive edit which clips the first notes of "Slow Train Coming" and "Saving Grace".

The third (81179SCMD) is a mono audience recording whiich also lacks all nine songs performed by the band.

This recording was transferred to disc with very high recording levels, resulting in a booming, muddy recording. This recording is further marred by destructive edits at the beginning of "Slow Train Coming" and at the end of "Blessed Is The Name." It seems likely all three recordings derive from the same master, with subsequent destructive edits as it was propagated by cassette.

The fourth (81179JMMC) is a mono audience recording whiich also lacks all nine songs performed by the band.

This recording appears identical to 81179SCMC, except it lacks the destructive edit prior to "Saving Grace."

ANNOTATION KEY:

BLACK TEXT = Confirmed Performance/Comments/Observations

RED TEXT = Flaw or Missing/Unconfirmed Portion of Recording

BLUE TEXT = Dylan's Comments or Statements Transcribed

GREEN TEXT = Notable Performance in my opinion

The purpose of these annotations is to assist listeners in identifying recordings. All annotations reflect any cross-referencing between source recordings, thus edits and omissions which occur on one source tape, but not another, are not reported. The "Sources" section is modeled after Simon's notes in the Unofficial Bob Dylan Free Tape Library.