18 NOVEMBER 1979

18 NOVEMBER 1979

SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM - SANTA MONICA, 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/ SAVED/WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU/ IN THE GARDEN/BLESSED IS THE NAME/PRESSING ON

COMMENTARY:

Dylan and the band maintain their fine form throughout this concert. Any rough edges in "Covenant Woman," and "What Can I Do For You" have been worked out, revealing the beauaty and rhythmic complexity of these songs. As is often the case during this tour, Dylan delivers particularly strong vocal performances immediately following his sermonettes. Here, Dylan rips through "Saved" with a passion then follows with a gorgeouds performance of "What Can I Do For You" on harp and vocals. The only noticeable miscue this evening comes during the second chorus of "Solid Rock" where Dylan surprises the band by jumping in on a new cadence, but they recover their stride nicely.

ANNOTATIONS:

MONOLOGUE

IF I'VE GOT MY TICKET, LORD

IT'S GONNA RAIN

LOOK UP AND LIVE BY FAITH

HOLD MY HAND, OH LORD

OH FREEDOM

SERVE SOMEBODY

1,2,4,guitar solo,5,keys,6,outro
(2) "drugs in your pocket"
backing singers almost begin refrain on first "serve somebody" of second chorus, then full refrain on second
(4) "you mayyyybe own guns, you mayyybe own tanks"
(5) "may be somebody's mistress, maybe be somebody's heir"

I BELIEVE IN YOU

Dylan begins singing in first downbeat of drum and tentative pause as band waits for Dylan's guitar to pace.
Crowds cheers at "even that couldn't make me go baaaaaaacccccccckkkk!"

EDIT# - during applause

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

1,2,3,6,organ/guitar solos,4,8,7,organ/guitar,9,outro chorus
nice vocal performance -- "satisfy your wandering de-si-res"

WHEN HE RETURNS

interesting inversion on "all those who have eee-ars"
"powah/ow-wa"
big cheer on "wilderneeeeeesssssssssssss"
no cheer on "conccceeeeeeeeaaaaaaaallll"
no blues progression at end, just single notes of chord
rapturous applause

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

"bear/cow/bull/elephant(pig)/sssss"
"think I'll call it an elephant" (pig)
repeats "through the grass" twice on last stanza
crowd clapping along by end

PRECIOUS ANGEL

first chorus: "shine your light . . . on me"
second chorus, Dylan only "shine your light" w/ backing completing chorus
third chorus: "Shine your light, shine your light on me"

Dylan: "Thank you. I suppose you've been reading the newspapers and watching the tv? And you see how much trouble this world is in. Madmen running loose everywhere. Anyway we, we're not worried about that though -- it doesn't bother us -- because we know this world is going to be destroyed. Christ will set up his kingdom for a thousand years in Jerusalem where the lion will lie down with the lamb -- we know this is true. No doubt about it. So, it's a slow train coming. It's been coming for a long time. Ah,but it's picking up speed."

SLOW TRAIN COMING

peculiar second guitar solo -- more rhythmic and riffy than usual
very strong performance otherwise
syncopated "coming/coming/coming"

COVENANT WOMAN

(1^st chorus) "And I just got to tell you I intend / and I just got to thank you"
second and third chorus identical
(3) "who sees all the invisible things that are hidden from the world."
Chorus consistent all three times: "and to you so grateful I will forever be"

EDIT# - clips all intro and performance of solo backing singer's performance

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Can hear Tim Drummond count in
Nice guitar solos both times

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4
(2) "?/?, play/played with//(betray?)/be recommended/defend/don't need to be defended"
(3) "delay/be delayed,betray/be betrayed//use/be used, amuse/be amused"
(4) "believe/can't be believed, believe/ain't supposed to be believed //miss/be missed, faith/not even a scientist"

EDIT# - during applause

SOLID ROCK

(2) "for me he has been chastised"
(2) "everybody's counting on a false peace to come"
Dylan kicks in to "made before the foundation of the world" two measures early on last chorus, tripping up band briefly.

Dylan: "Alright."

SAVING GRACE

Dylan strums away at the beginning, waiting for crowd to settle down
(2) - ends "thought that I would be sleeping" on up note
strong applause after Dylan's second guitar solo and at end

Dylan: "Alright, you know Satan, he . . . We wrestle now against flesh and blood, and it's all happening at a spiritual level.

CROWD: "Like A Rolling Stone!"

Satan is called the god of this world and, as you look around, you have much proof to see that he really is the god of this world. But, for those of you who don't know . . . I'd be curious to know: how many of you do know or how many of you don't know that Satan himself has been defeated at the cross. Does everybody know that?

CHEERS

Huh, at least, ah, at least we're not alone."

SAVED

Dylan leads in with only Terry Young's piano and cymbals, guitar builds to chorus, then they let loose.
(1) "grace/word/light/spirit"
(2) "By his truth I can be upright, by his spirit I do endure"
(3) "Nobody to rescue me, nobody dared, by his love I have been uplifted, by his mercy I've been spared."

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

very smooth performance, nice harp solos, all cadences worked out
(1) "You have done everything for me"
(2) "Well, you've done it all and there's no more anyone, anybody, can do."
(3) "Well, I don't deserve it, but I sure have made it through."
Very strong applause at end

IN THE GARDEN

Band starts kicking in on fourth stanza -- can't hear Dylan say goodnight, but crowd cheering begins at outro.

#EDIT - during applause

EXTENDED APPLAUSE

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

Alright, you know this wasn't a concert in a normal kind of sense. This was, really, to give all the praise and glory to god -- we mean to do that. Because we believe we don't deserve any praise. "

BLESSED IS THE NAME

Guitar solo over the top (not one of Fred Tackett's sharpest nights)
Pretty tight performance

#EDIT - during applause

PRESSING ON

Chorus x 3, first stanza, chorus x 4, second stanza, chorus x 4
Backing singers join on second chorus, slight feedback during third repeat of opening chorus and "Many try to stop me"
Tackett's guitar starts in on fourth repeat of chorus; Dylan speeds "shake the dust off of your feet" and band doesn't dig in as much as have elsewhere

SOURCES:

Two known reference tapes circulating:

The first (181179JMMC) is a dual mono audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs by the band and the eighth song by the band following "Covenant Woman."

This recording is marred by a large number of destructive edits which clip the beginning of "Serve Somebody," "Precious Angel," "Covenant Woman," "Change My Way of Thinking," "Solid Rock," and "Blessed Is The Name." This copy was recorded at low levels, resulting in noticeable hiss throughout and distortion on higher tones. The sound worsens with "Solid Rock" then noticeably improves with "Pressing On." In light of the large number of edits, there is good reason to question whether this recording reflects a single night's performance or a pastiche of performances presented as a single night.

The second (181179MRLD) is a stereo audience recording which also lacks all eight songs performed by the band. This recording circulates as the fan-based project entitled, "Madmen Running Loose."

This is a very good recording. Other than lacking the performances by the backing singers, this recording lacks the destructive edits which mar 181179JMMC.