9 DECEMBER 1979

9 DECEMBER 1979

COMMUNITY CENTER - TUCSON, AZ

SETLIST:

MONOLOGUE/IF I GOT MY TICKET, LORD/IT'S GONNA RAIN/DO LORD, REMEMBER ME/LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH/OH FREEDOM/THIS TRAIN/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/BLESSED IS THE NAME/PRESSING ON

COMMENTARY:

A rowdy crowd greets Regina McCreary as she begins her monologue. As is often the case, the irreverent comments are gradually silenced by other audience members and Regina's own obvious sincerity.

I find these monologues -- and their segue into "If I Got My Ticket, Lord" -- a fascinating dramatic focal point of the concerts. By now, the considerable negative press which greeted Dylan's new found faith, precedes him on tour. The crowd is somewhat self-selecting, made up of fans who are interested in hearing this "new" Dylan and his message, perhaps others who only know the Dylan of Slow Train Coming. In this setting, Regina's monologue is initially greeted by a palpable uneasiness from the audience. Some make flip comments, others are downright mocking of the earnestness with which the story is told. By the time the story relates how the old woman is taken from the train, this uneasiness has descended into restlessness and impatient comments can be heard on most tapes. Regina sings the first prayer and the sheer beauty of her voice hints at the treasures to come. By the third prayer, the crowd is cheering her on, and the piano intro to "If I Got My Ticket, Lord" is often drowned by applause. Regina then lets ride the gorgeous, earthy first lines of "If I Got My Ticket, Lord," and the three singers, together, sweep the audience before them.

Overall, the intro monologue and gospel sets make these concerts more intimate. Regina McCreary shows considerable personal courage in standing alone, a stranger before uneasy thousands who have paid their tickets to see what has become of the Icon of the Disaffected Cool. She addresses them in the language of evangelical Christianity, but wins them over with her music conveyed by her gorgeous voice all alone up there on stage. The crowd's reception this evening is warm and the rest of the concert reflects this warmth from Dylan as well in both his performance and his comments between songs.

There is a charming exchange as Dylan feigns outrage when a fan yells out "Everybody must get stoned!" Dylan says, "Who was that, who said that? Give me that person's name who said that." When another fan then shouts (correctly) "Dylan!" Dylan chuckles.

ANNOTATIONS:

"Good evening. I'm going to tell you a story."

CROWD: "OHHH! Tell Me!"

MONOLOGUE (Regina McCreary)

"Like all good mothers, she loved him very, very much" CROWD: "Yeeeaaahhh."
"touch your hand and touch your face"
"she got a real good seat on the train"

IF I'VE GOT MY TICKET, LORD

IT'S GONNA RAIN

Regina: "Thank you Jesus!"

DO LORD, REMEMBER ME

Helena: "Glory! Glory to God!"

LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH

brief jumps and dips in recording level

OH FREEDOM

THIS TRAIN

Helena : "Let me hear you -- put your hands together."

SERVE SOMEBODY

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

(2) "drugs in your pocket"

(4) drops down nearly full octave on "serve somebody" at end of chorus following this stanza

(5) "maybe wee(?) somebody's heir"

I BELIEVE IN YOU

microphone buffeted near end -- almost complete drop-out

POSSIBLE EDIT DURING APPLAUSE HERE -- DIFFICULT TO TELL

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

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

Dylan begins during recitation of rhythmic structure

(6) "Spiritiual advisors and gurus to make you hold your breath; instant inner peace and every step you take leads down to death."

(5) "Spiritu . . (indecipherable - but realizes he's on the wrong stanza) , pornography in the schools."

No one sings chorus after stanza 8 until refrain.

Dylan only sings part of chorus after stanza 7, then organ solo comes in offbeat

WHEN HE RETURNS

Dylan quite hoarse on first notes

"how long can I listen to all the lies of prejudice?"

"before you aaaaassssssssskkkkk"

Dylan picks out notes of chord, rather than blues progression, then upward barre chord progression

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

bear/cow/PIG/BULL/sssssss

PRECIOUS ANGEL

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

Dylan tremolo "on me" on second rendition of first chorus

Aggressive phrasing on third and fourth stanzas -- enjoying it

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

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

modulates on final "little to blind to see" like he's shifting gears -- interesting phrasing throughout

CROWD: "Everybody must get stoned!"

Dylan: "Who was that, who said that? Give me that person's name who said that."

CROWD: "Dylan!" (Dylan chuckles)

SLOW TRAIN COMING

Dylan really stretching pace on first stanza -- very loose and confident

"wearing fancy jewels and . . . nose . . . rings"

Tackett has interesting first solo, introverted

"wears the cloak of de --- cen --- cy"

"There is a slow train coming up around the bend" (after "grain elevators" stanza)

"I don't care about ecology; I don't care about astrology."

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

COVENANT WOMAN

Audience member yells "yeah" through entire first phrase

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

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

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

EDIT# - during applause

Dylan: "Thank you. Uh. Regina's gonna come here and sing a song for you called, "Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee." I fell on a cactus this afternoon and I have to go take out some stickers. She's gonna come out and sing a song called -- "

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

CROWD: indecipherable

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Very strong vocal performance -- really enjoying the lyrics and phrasing

Keltner nice drum rolls on end of each stanza

Strong instrumental performance overall, Terry Young's solo choppy and everything very tight.

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4

(2) "drive/be driven, ride/be ridden//use/be used, confuse/be amused

(3) "(?)/(?), bother/be lied to // bury/be buried, marry/when they already married"

(4) "(bury?)/ (be buried?), (pay for?)/ (repaid?)//miss/be missed, faith in nobody/no scientist"

interesting guitar work at the end by both Dylan and Tackett

SOLID ROCK

"Everybody's expecting a false peace to come"

Dylan waits a two full measures after guitar solo to kick in, with nice singing by Helena in interim and bass, guitar interplay.

Strong applause

SAVING GRACE

Loose phrasing and confident

SAVED

Dylan strums away during applause and begins song on own

(1) "By his light I've been delivered."

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

(3) "No one to rescue me, nobody would dare, you can do what you wanna do, oh, I don't care."

Dylan beginning to ad-lib a good deal during choruses

Stumble to end, then set into blues prowl of chorus ending, more prominent in winter

Dylan: "Thank you. Saved by the blood of the lamb. I hope you're all saved by the blood of the lamb too."

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

Dylan begins on second note of first guitar phrase.

(1) "opened up a door that no man could 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 anyone can do."

"You have shown me life to live; how can I live for you?."

(3) "Well, I don't deserve it, but I sure done made it through." (Helena singing throughout)

not his best harp solo at the end

Dylan: "Thank you, we have time for one more."

IN THE GARDEN

"When he spoke to them in the city, did they hear" then "When they heard him speak in the city, did they hear?"

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

EDIT# - During applause - audio noticeably more cramped after

Dylan: "On keyboards tonight, give him a warm hand, Spooner Oldham. On the other set of keyboards, Terry Young. Alright, on lead guitar tonight, Fred Tackett. On the drums, Jim Keltner. Playing bass guitar tonight is Mr. Tim Drummond. Singing on the bottom tonight is Helena Springs. Singing in the middle is Regina McCreary. And singing on the top is Mona Lisa Young."

BLESSED IS THE NAME

strumming guitar and Dylan essentially solo through first line

PRESSING ON

chorus x 4, 1, chorus x 5, 2, chorus x 3

SOURCES:

Two known reference tapes circulating:

The first (091279PBMD) is a mono audience recording which contains the seven opening songs performed by the band, and the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman."

This recording is marred by considerable hiss and peripheral distortion at higher volume levels. Therre are also brief drop-outs (destructive edits?) during the Monologue and "I Believe In You." Finally, the audio sounds markedly different for the encores following an edit after "In The Garden" raising the question whether the encores are from the same evening.

The second (091279PLMC) is a dual mono audience recording which contains the seven opening songs performed by the band, and the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman."

This recording is marred by considerable hiss throughout, signifiicantly worse than 091279PBMD. Regina McCreary's introductory Monologue is severly clipped, beginning halfway through. This recording also cuts "Solid Rock" in half between two tape sides.