9 NOVEMBER 1979

9 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/SLOW TRAIN COMING/PRECIOUS ANGEL/COVENANT WOMAN/GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE (Mona Lisa Young, 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:

This is another very decent show, though a bit of a drop off from the exemplary performances on 6 and 7 November. Fred Tackett's playing comes through particularly strong in this mix, however the rhythm end gets short shrift, with the drums somewhat drown out and the bass reverberating at times. This evening is notable for the inversion of "Slow Train Coming" and "Precious Angel," which are usually reversed. The band delivers a very strong"Slow Train" and hectic, enjoyable "Solid Rock" and "Blessed Is The Name" which might stand out further with a better recording.

ANNOTATIONS:

CROWD: "Come on Zimmy!"

SERVE SOMEBODY

1,2,4/3,guitar solo,5,organ,6

slight feedback just before first words, and again in chorus following stanza (6)

(2) "drugs at your command"

(5) "you may be a preacher full of spiritual pride . . . . you may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir."

Audience member near taper coughs twice during applause

I BELIEVE IN YOU

audience member near taper says "he's talking about himself" as Dylan reaches first "I Believe In You."

Sound is a bit thin and high-end

Fred Tackett's solo is almost note-for-note from the album recording

CROWD: "(inaudible) the Hurricane!"

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

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

big drum intro,

(5) "adulterers in the churches and pornography right in the schools"

CROWD: "Let's hear one for Hurricane!"

WHEN HE RETURNS

Distant cackling can be heard from the audience, or someone attempting a turkey gobble?

Very strong performance and strong vocal

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

Typically competent performance, but almost feels perfunctory

SLOW TRAIN COMING

Bass driven intro, rather than typical guitar lead,

Fred Tackett's first solo is quite nice, as is his 2^nd, and the "groovy thing goin" tease in 3^rd solo

PRECIOUS ANGEL

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

relatively straightforward performance

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

COVENANT WOMAN

hard drum in first chorus

1^st chorus: "always so grateful I will be"

"intimate little girl, who sees invisible things of Him from the beginning of the world."

Dylan: "I'm gonna ask Mona Lisa to sing a song, "God Uses Ordinary People." I know it's something you'll want to hear."

#EDIT - omits "God Uses Ordinary People"

GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE (Mona Lisa Young, vocals)

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

obtrusive audience chatter during third stanza

heavy drum into guitar solo following 5^th stanza and outro

CROWD: "Rolling Stone!" (several audience members synchronized)

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

(2) "play/lay with/recommend/defend"

(3) "use/amuse/confuse/misuse"

(4) "?/lift/miss/scientist"

somewhat abrupt drawing to an end

Dylan: "Thank you. Now seeing as we are living in the last of the end of times. I know everybody agrees with that. Alright, shout if you agree with me.

(CHEERS)

So this is called, "Hanging On To A Solid Rock" because in the end of times we're going to need something very strong to hang on to. Hanging on to a solid rock made before the foundation of THIS world."

SOLID ROCK

extra riff between first "solid rock" and "made"

very fast version, pretty good

"and everybody's counting on a false peace to come."

too fast for rhythm after second chorus, transition into first guitar solo has to hiccup

one of backing singers misses cue on last "made" of last chorus, a full measure ahead.

#EDIT - during applause

SAVING GRACE

"if you find it in your HEART, can I be forgiven"

strong relaxed singing, and solos

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

inverts "filled up a hunger/opend a door" as usual

strong harp solos and audience appreciates

"given me life to live/shown me how to live"

"I don't deserve it but I sure did come through."

Last harp solo almost extends, but Dylan pulls it in to meet band ending

SAVED

Dylan begins a cappella, then band kicks in on chorus

Some confusion on transition from first piano solo to Dylan singing and again on the second solo

Energetic rendition and good crowd response

CROWD: various shouts for older songs, encouragement

Dylan: "It's hot up here. Is it hot out there?"

IN THE GARDEN

"when they heard him speak in the city did they hear"

Dylan hits an off-note on guitar on first, "did they speak out against him"

Bass heavy, with a bit drawn out ending

#EDIT - during applause

Dylan: "(inaudible) playing keyboards is Terry Young. On these keyboards is Spooner Oldham. Playing lead guitar tonight, Fred Tackett. On drums, Jim Keltner. On bass guitar, that's Tim Drummond. Helena Springs. Regina Havis. Mona Lisa Young. I think that's everybody."

BLESSED IS THE NAME

Bass heavy, fine guitar by Fred Tackett, very nice first solo, but drums somewhat lost in mix

Builds to quite a peak, then steps right back.

#EDIT - during applause

PRESSING ON

Backing comes in on third "pressing on" of first stanza, earlier than usual

"many try to shake me up, shake me up in my mind."

SOURCES:

Two known reference tape circulating:

The first (91179SCMC) is a dual mono audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs by the band and the eighth song, "God Uses Ordinary People" by the band and sung by Mona Lisa Young following "Covenant Woman."

Overall the sound is a bit thin at the high end and noticeably bass-heavy on the last few songs, but reasonably good for an audience recording of this vintage. This recording is marred by destructive edits clipping the first notes of "Covenant Woman" and "Saving Grace."

The second (91179JMMD) is a dual mono audience recording which also lacks the eight non-Dylan tracks. This recording circulates as a fan-based project entitled, "I Hope You're Ready."

This is a decent audience recording. It is marred by a destructive edit clipping the beginning notes of "Covenant Woman" similar to that found on 91179SCMC, but otherwise appears more compelte than the former recording.

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.