9 DECEMBER 1979

8 DECEMBER 1979

COMMUNITY CENTER - TUCSON, 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/WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR HEART? (Helena Springs, 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:

This is a very good concert. Dylan and the band are fully in synch and rip through wonderful renditions of “Serve Somebody,” “Slow Train” and “Solid Rock.” Dylan’s performance on “I Believe In You,” “Saving Grace” and “What Can I Do For You” are also noteworthy.

The rest of the performances are very good as well, but somehow missing the added spark these songs receive many other evenings. Part of this may reflect the crowd’s respectful, seemingly polite applause during the first half of the concert. Following ”Precious Angel,” an audience member shouts out “Rock-n-roll!” and Dylan muses, “Rock-n-roll. I knew how to rock-n-roll when you was in diapers. You know about the end of times though?” Dylan foregoes any extended monologue on the topic, choosing instead to launch into a fiery “Slow Train,” letting the music speak his mind. From here on the concert lifts noticeably, reaching its height, as is so often the case, among the as yet unreleased quadrivium of “Solid Rock/Saving Grace/Saved/What Can I Do For You.”

ANNOTATIONS:

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

1,2,4,guitar solo,5/3,keys,6,outro
can here Tim Drummond count in, “three, four”
chorus after (1): “you have to serve sommmmmmmmmmmebody,
(2) "might have drugs at your command"
(4) “might be living in a dome”
chorus after (4) “it maay beee theeee devil, or it maaayy beeee the lord”
chorus after (5) "you’ll have to serrrrrve sommmmme . . . body"
Dylan skips second “serve somebody” in chorus following (6)

I BELIEVE IN YOU

(1) “don’t be like they’d like . . . me . . . to.”
First chorus – Dylan drops to low notes on “laughter/apart/after/in my heart.”
Stately rendition

EDIT# - during applause, non-destructive (slight buffet on final note of prior song)

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

1,2,3,6,organ/guitar solos,5,8,7,organ/guitar,9,outro chorus
much more muted first stanzas
(6) "Spiritual advisors and gurus to make you hold your breath; they’ll give you instant inner peace and every step you take got to down to death."
Dylan skips second “when you gonna wake up” after stanza 5
No one sings chorus after stanza 8 until refrain.
No one sings chorus after stanza 7 until refrain.
Second guitar solo almost peters out.

WHEN HE RETURNS

Again stately rendition
“like a theeee – eeef in the night”
"how long can I listen to all the lies of prejudice?"
"before you aaaaassssssssskkkkk"
“conceeeeeeeee -- eeee – eeel”
Dylan picks out notes of final chord

Crowd: “Rock-n-roll” otherwise very polite applause and near silence during songs

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

bear/cow/pig/BULL/sssssss
(1) “he saw an animal , uhh, liked to howl, great big furry paws and he liked to howl.”
(2) “chewing up so much grass until he was . . . filled” rapid delivery, almost stacatto
Dylan goofs second chorus “with additional “in the beginning” while backing sings “long time ago.”
(3) “He saw and animal , er, muddy trail”

PRECIOUS ANGEL

first chorus Dylan: "shine your light . . . on me"
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//(skips), shine your light on me//Shine your light, shine your light on me"

CROWD: "Rock-n-roll!"

Dylan: "Rock-n-roll... (indecipherable) I knew how to rock-n-roll when you was in diapers.

(wolf whistle from crowd amid cheering)

"You know about the end of times though? I’m just curious. I know you know about rock-n-roll, but do you know about the end of times? The last (day(?))?”

SLOW TRAIN COMING

1,2,3guitar,6,5,4
Dylan really stretching pace on first stanza -- very loose and confident
Dylan twists third chorus nicely, upturned
Tackett has nicely phrased first solo,
"There is a slow train coming up around the bend" (after "grain elevators" stanza)
“in the HOME OF THE BRAVE!”
"I don't care about ecology; I don't care about astrology."
Very nice third guitar solo
syncopated backing singers on end: "coming/coming/coming" with Dylan adding his first

COVENANT WOMAN

Dylan strums different chord at outset, shifts during strumming
First chorus: “I intend”
Woman in crowd shouts out “Bobby” right after “empty cup”
Second chorus: "And I just got to tell you, I intend// and I just, got to thank you, once again"

(3) "who sees the invisible things that are hidden from . . . the world."
Third chorus: "And I've just, got to tell you, I intend// and I just, got to thank you, once again"

EDIT# - during applause

Dylan: "There’s a girl – a member of the band who, who-ah, wrote a song called, “What Are You Doing With Your Heart,” and-uh, I’m sure you’d love to hear it, and she’d love to sing it to you. This is Helena."

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR HEART? (Performed by Helena Springs)

EDIT# - during applause – end Disc One

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Can hear Tim Drummond – “three, four!”
Dylan skips second repetition of “stripes on your shoulders”
Keltner nice drum rolls on end of each stanza
Another strong instrumental performance overall, everything very tight, but.

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4
(2) "drive/be driven, bite/be bitten//use/be used, confuse/be confused
(3) "(ally with?)/(decide to?), lie to/be lied to // abuse/be (paid?), betray nobody that don’t need to be betrayed"
(4) "(stay?)/ (stay with?), play with nobody/be played with//miss/be missed, faith in nobody/certainly no scientist"

SOLID ROCK

Drummond counts in “three, four!”
Pause in beginning second stanza
(2) Dylan emphasizes “hated” “rejected”, “created”
(3) “using every device that’s under the sun”
Dylan waits two full measures before outro

SAVING GRACE

Dylan begins with tremolo phrasing, muted melody
(2) “by this time I’d-a thought that I would be sleepin”
Dylan goes low on first guitar solo, fast with second solo

SAVED

Dylan strums strong chords, with echoing organ then begins song on his 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 word I can be thankful, by his power I am secure"
(3) "No one to rescue me, nobody would dare, they say do what you want to, but by his mercy I’ve been spared."
Set into blues prowl of chorus ending, more prominent in winter

Dylan: "Thank you. Saved by the blood of the lamb.”

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

Dylan phrases each stanza far up front.
(1) "opened up a door that no man can shut and you opened it up so wide/ filled up a hunger that had always been denied"
(1) staccato “chosen me to be among the few”
(2) “you know he gets wise in his own eyes”
(2) "Well, you've done it all and there's no more left up to do."
Almost completely rhythmic first half of first harp solo - then unwinds
(3) "Well, I don't deserve it, but I sure done made it through." (Helena singing throughout)

IN THE GARDEN

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

EDIT# - During applause

Dylan: "On the keyboards tonight, give him a warm hand, from Nashville, Tennessee, Spooner Oldham. Give him a hand there, on the other side, on the other set of keyboards, Terry Young. Playing lead guitar tonight, Fred Tackett. On drums there -- Doctor Jim Keltner. On the bass guitar tonight -- Tim Drummond. Singing on the bottom tonight, the young lady you heard earlier, Miss Helena Springs. Singing in the middle is Regina McCrary. And singing on top tonight, (indecipherable) is Mona Lisa Young."

“I’m glad you all could come. We believe in a god who can raise the dead. No other kind of god will do.”

BLESSED IS THE NAME

Dylan starts song earlier than band is ready for
(2) “Well now let me tell you about Noah.”
Backing singers sing chorus through organ solo, then drop out midway, rejoining to end the song.

Crowd: strong continuous applause – as Dylan plays intro piano, a woman yells “Get going asshole!” near the taper, and a man, nearer the taper, retorts, “Fuck off.”

PRESSING ON

chorus x 3, 1, chorus x 3, 2, chorus x 4
Dylan joins front stage after second chorus
Regina: “pressing on a little higher for Jesus”
Dylan adlibs a bit in final chorus before he leaves, “all the time” & “yes I am”
Regina: “Thank the Lord – yes!” at end
Recording fades out during applause.

SOURCES:

One known reference tapes circulating:

The first (081279PBMD) is a mono audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs performed by the band, but contains the eighth song, "What Are You Doing With Your Heart" by the band and sung by Helena Springs following "Covenant Woman."

This recording is fairly clear, particularly Dylan’s vocals, though the instruments sound somewhat distant in places. During quieter songs and prolonged applause one can hear the whooshing sound of digital denoising. There are several brief drop-outs during applause between songs, but no destructive edits to speak of.

Last Updated: 26 September 2002