25 NOVEMBER 1979
GRADY GAMMAGE MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM - TEMPE, AZ
SETLIST:
MONOLOGUE
(Regina McCreary)/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/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:
We’re not in California anymore. If the Warfield crowds were occasionally
rude, individuals within the audience both nights in Tempe are far more
menacing. This evening it begins with
persistent heckling during Regina McCreary’s introductory monologue. As always, she perseveres, and once again,
her stunning voice silences the hecklers by the end. Indeed, the final message of the monologue, “Jesus’ got you
ticket” is met by enthusiastic applause by a loud contingent of the
audience. It may be that the Tempe
crowds are simply more stratified, with a large contingent of evangelical
Christians and another large contingent of skeptical university students.
The singers deliver another professional,
passionate introductory set. It follows
the same trajectory of so many other concerts during this tour. The monologue is greeted with initial
discomfort, but the audience becomes swept up by Regina’s voice near the
end. They are carried along by her
bluesy, “If I Got My Ticket, Lord” and Helena’s roaring “It’s Gonna Rain.” The momentum of these songs is lost with
“Look Up And Live By Faith” and the heckling calls for Dylan resume. The crowd then faces extended solos by first
Helena, then Regina, and finally Mona Lisa Young, beginning the old spiritual,
“Oh Freedom.” The song then kicks into
high gear, coming to a rousing end. The
singers then begin to clap a beat, inviting the audience to join them, and
embark on “This Train,” led by Helena Springs, a highly successful closer to
their set.
Dylan’s own set starts out somewhat
sedately. Dylan hits his groove with
“When He Returns” and the overall energy of the evening seems to rise with
it. Following “Precious Angel” Dylan
attempts to address the audience, apparently responding to hecklers. His monologue is again oddly affecting. Beginning with the stories about people
walking out of his concerts, Dylan encourages this audience to remain and hear
the message which those who left his earlier concerts didn’t approve of. Quoting Scripture, Dylan raises the example
of the Shah of Iran and the then-current hostage crisis in Iran. He describes the Shah as a murderer and
plunderer who walks free while Americans are held in the desert and raises the
possibility the Shah might return to face his countrymen in exchange for the
hostages, a deal then widely discussed in the press. Dylan draws an awkward parallel with Jesus, suggesting that Jesus
faced human persecution -- “He went back and took all the hostages back” -- speaking metaphorically of Jesus
sacrificing himself to free humanity from sin.
Dylan concludes by stating that we can’t expect the Shah to go back to
Iran, “because he’s only human.” This
monologue is significantly misquoted in Clinton Heylin’s “Saved! The Gospel
Speeches,” and has been characterized, at times, as though Dylan offers Jesus
as a superhero who could fly off to Iran and retrieve the hostages. The audience response suggests they too
were baffled by Dylan’s example. Dylan
seems to sense that his message has become garbled and quickly shifts to a
thundering rendition of “Slow Train Coming” and a lovely, wearied performance
of “Covenant Woman.”
ANNOTATIONS:
MONOLOGUE – (Regina McCreary)
·
“Good evening. I have
a story to share with you.” CROWD:
“No!” “Rock-n-roll!”
·
“She said, “Dear Lord, you know all about me.””
·
“While she was (packing her bags) Jesus showed her a
sign. He said “Go on down to the train
station.””
IF I'VE GOT MY TICKET, LORD
IT'S GONNA RAIN
DO LORD, REMEMBER ME
CROWD:
“Get ‘em off! Dylan! Dylan!”
LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH
CROWD:
“We want Bob Dylan! Where’s Bob Dylan!”
OH FREEDOM
THIS TRAIN
SERVE SOMEBODY
CROWD: "Yeah, Bob!"
I BELIEVE IN YOU
(Tuning)
WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?
WHEN HE RETURNS
MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS
EDIT:#
Clips last notes of song and all but last chorus of next song
PRECIOUS ANGEL
CROWD: "Subterranean Blues (indecipherable)!" “Rock-n-roll!” (other shouts indecipherable)
Dylan:
“Turn the light on out there.
You know when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming
up the road, he said, “Behold! The Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” Did you know that? That’s
right. That’s what he said.
Now don’t be affected by, by the, uh, in San
Francisco, we opened there I’d say about a month ago, about three or four
people walked out because they, they didn’t like the message, you know. But . . . we’re still here now. Don’t you walk out before you hear the
message, you know?
APPLAUSE
Anyway, he said, “The Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world.” I wonder
how many of you people understand that.
I’m curious to know, how many of you understand that?
APPLAUSE
You know what it’s like? It’s like the Shah of Iran. He’s been out of the hospital now. Who knows what he’s doing there out of the
hospital. He’s been walking around,
looking out the window. Meantime 50
people, 50 or 60 American hostages are being held somewhere out in the desert. This man plundered the country, murdered a
lot of people and escaped. Now they
want him to come back. Now here’s what
Jesus would have done. Jesus would have
gone back. See, that’s what Jesus
did. He went back and took all the
hostages back. Now, of course, we’re
not expecting expect the Shah of Iran to do anything like that. Of course, he’s just human. That’s right, he is (indecipherable).
Anyway, we’re gonna start off this song
here. It’s called “Slow Train
Coming.” It’s been coming a long time
-- yeah it is.
SLOW TRAIN COMING
COVENANT WOMAN
EDIT#:
End Of Disc One
Dylan:
"(inaudible) Regina 's gonna come out and sing a song now called, "Put
Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee."
PUT YOUR HAND IN THE HAND OF
THE MAN (Performed by Regina
McCreary)
CROWD:
“Rock and Roll!” (by several audience members simultaneously) “Let’s go Zimmerman!”
GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING
DO RIGHT TO ME BABY
Dylan:
"Alright. Now don’t be dismayed by
what you read in the newspapers about what’s happening to the world. Because, now, the world as we know it now is
being destroyed. I’m sorry to say it,
but it’s . . . it’s the truth. In the
matter of a short time -- I don’t know,
maybe in three years, maybe five years, could be ten years, I don’t know –
there’s gonna be a war. It’s gonna be
called the war of Armageddon. It’s
gonna happen in the Middle East.
Russia’s gonna come down and attack first and you watch for that
sign. Anyway, we’re not worried about
that. We know there’s gonna be a new
kingdom set up in Jerusalem . . . for a
thousand years. And that’s where Jesus
will set up his kingdom, as sure as you’re standing there, it’s gonna
happen. So this is called, “Hanging On
To A Solid Rock Made Before The Foundation Of The World.”
EDIT#: End of Disc Two (can hear taper
fumbling to open new cassette)
SOLID
ROCK
SAVING
GRACE
SAVED
WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU
IN THE GARDEN
BLESSED IS THE NAME
PRESSING ON
SOURCES:
One known reference tape circulating:
The first (251179DMMD) is a dual mono audience recording which includes the seven opening songs performed by the band, and contains the eighth song, "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by the band and sung by Regina McCreary Havis following "Covenant Woman." Unfortunately, this recording ends right before “Solid Rock” and lacks the second half of the concert and encores.
This recording has a persistent buffeting sound, as though the microphone were continuously jostled throughout the concert, or possible an artifact from this being transferred to LP. It is particularly noticeable in the quieter songs. Nevertheless, the sound quality is quite good, clear, though a bit droning on the lower end. There is a destructive edit clipping the final chorus of “When You Gonna Wake Up,” another clipping the final notes of “Man Gave Names” and all but the last chorus of “Precious Angel.”