19 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:

This is an odd concert. Assuming that the recordings which circulate accurately portray the concert performed on 19 November 1979 (there is ample reason to question whether this is so), Dylan and the band give an oddly loose performance. While all songs are performed with energy and, in some instances, great intensity, none seem to maintain that power throughout. “Slow Train Coming” and “What Can I Do For You” might be exceptions, however, even these performances seem to lack a certain tautness. This disjointedness carries over to Dylan’s monologues which seem to wander at times, sometimes seeking to spread the word, other times seeking to provoke a response from the audience. Dylan makes a number of lyric miscues, though he carries them off with aplomb. At times the keyboards appear to stumble as well, droning during “Saved” and delivering an odd solo during “Covenant Woman.” The audience adds to this by clapping along without any discernable rythym during “Man Gave Names,” and everyone waits on Dylan’s ti ing during “Solid Rock,” which seems so near a tour de force performance otherwise. An odd concert.

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,5/3,keys,6,outro
(2) "drugs in your pocket"
(4) "you maybe even own guns, you may even own tanks"
(5/3) "maybe, uh, even be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame."

?EDIT? – sudden modulation just as Dylan speaks

DYLAN: “Alright!”

I BELIEVE IN YOU

Dylan begins “tears and laughter” verse quite late in measure and speeds up to get back on beat
“oh, when the dawn is breaking, oh, and when the night is disappearing”
“I believe in you, if white turn to black.”

(Bass and drums doodle on monitors)

CROWD: “Lay Lady Lay!”

DYLAN: “I don’t know what kind of god you believe in, but I believe in the god that can raise the dead. If you only look around, you know; kinda think there’re so many people are so conditioned to bad news they don’t know good news when they hear it. So . . . We want you to know one thing: God don’t make promises that he don’t keep. “Let he who thinketh he stand take heed, lest he fall.”

WHEN YOU GONNA WAKE UP?

1,2,3,6,organ/guitar solos,5,8,7,organ/guitar,9,outro chorus
(3) “dealing drugs that will never cure your ills” swooping vocal
tackett first solo begins much lower register than usual
(5) dylan mangles “adulterers in churches”
(7) “do you think he’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires?”
nice second organ solo, and skips the typical lick on outro organ solo

CROWD: “Rock-n-roll!” “Alright Bobby!”

WHEN HE RETURNS

no trailing drop on “tears"
“how long can I listen to the li-lies of prejudice”
"wilderneee --- eees"

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

"bear/cow/bull/walrus(pig)/sssss"
"great big furry paws" repeated in bear stanza
drum fills seems to trip up Dylan in chorus following “cow” stanza
crowd clapping shambolic throughout

?EDIT? – brief skip during applause

PRECIOUS ANGEL

first chorus: "shine your light . . . on me"
Dylan speeds up end of first chorus
(2) “Now my so-called friends. . . “
second chorus, Dylan only "shine your light" w/ backing completing chorus
third chorus: "Shine your light, shine your light on me"

Dylan: "Satan is called the god of this world. There anybody here that know that? (cheering) That’s right, he is called the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air.”

CROWD: “He sucks!"

“That’s right, he does. (laughter) But anyhow, we know he’s been defeated at the cross. I’m curious to know, how many of you all know that? (cheering) Alright, there’s been a slow train coming for a long time, but now it’s picking up speed.”

SLOW TRAIN COMING

(2) “but she sure wa-aa-as realistic// be another accident statistic”
(5) “all non-believeres and man-stealers” hurries into refrain
very strong performance and nice third guitar solo
syncopated "coming/coming/coming" now routine

?EDIT? - again a sudden modulation in noise during applause

COVENANT WOMAN

(1^st chorus) "And I just got to tell you I intend / and I just got to thank you"
(2) “and I know that-a he will do it// loved-a me oh so much”
first and second chorus identical -- Dylan draws out “Forever be” each time
organ solo before (3) oddly disjoint
(3) "who sees all the invisible things that are hidden from the world."
(3^rd chorus) “And I just, I got to tell you, I intend // I just, I got to thank you"

?EDIT# - another odd modulation during applause

Dylan: “Thank you, thank you, everybody. I’m gonna ask Regina . . . I’m gonna ask Regina to come out ehre and sing a song I know you’ll want to hear. It’s called: “Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee,” so give her a warm welcome.”

EDIT# - clips performance of “Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee”

Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee – (Regina Havis, vocals)

GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING

Nice guitar solos both times
Excellent organ solo – chopping through

?EDIT? – brief drop-out in applause

DO RIGHT TO ME BABY

1,2,3,keyboards solo,4
Dylan comes in two emasures earlier than usual
(2) "betray/sighed to, lie/be lied to//bury/be bured, marry/already married”
(3) "?recommend/be recommended, defend/be defended//delay/be waylaid, betray/be betrayed”
(4)"(?)/(?), believe/can’t be believed //miss/be missed, faith/not even a scientist"

EDIT# - during applause -- clips beginning of monologue (MUST QUESTION WHETHER THIS IS THE SAME CONCERT – DIFFERENT TONE TOWARDS CROWD AND DIFFERENT TONE TOWARDS DYLAN )

Dylan: “Anyway, you’ll need something . . . we’re not worried about all that – even though it is the last day of times, because, we see all this . . . hostages being taken here . . . drugs being outlawed there . . . all these sad stories that are, uh, floating around . . .

CROWD: “Trouble In Mind!”

And we’re not worried about any of that, we don’t care about the atom bomb, -- any of that – because we know this world is going to be destroyed, (indecipherable), and Christ will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem for a thousand years -- when the lion lies down with the lamb, well, the lion will eat straw on that day. Also, if a man doesn’t live to be a hundred years old, he will be called accursed -- that’s interesting, isn’t it?

But we don’t mind; we know that’s coming. And if any man have not the spirit of Christ within him, he is a slave to bondage. You know bondage? I know you all know bondage. So you’ll need something just a little bit tough to hang on to. The name of this song is called, “Hanging On To A Solid Rock, Made Before The Foundation Of The World.” And if you don’t have that to hang on to, well, you’d better look into it.”

SOLID ROCK

can hear counting in
(2) "everybody's expecting a false peace to come"
pause before guitar solo and extended pause following solo, with drums, bass and guitar all expecting earlier entry
bass drums and guitar, as well as Helena Springs all expecting final chorus before Dylan actually steps in, then Dylan extends chorus an extra repetition

?EDIT?- brief drop-out during applause

SAVING GRACE

Dylan runs chords up neck, checking tuning while crowd settling down

EDIT# - End Of Disc One

SAVED

Dylan leads in with six repeated chords.
(1) "grace/word/light/spirit"
(2) "By his truth I can be upright, by his love I do endure"
(3) "Nobody to rescue me, nobody dared, by his (indecipherable muff), by his mercy I've been spared// He bought me with a price, (indecipherable muff, For so long . . . etc."
Helena belting out during final chorus.

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU

very smooth performance, nice harp solos, all cadences worked out
Dylan begins on very first chord, organ comes in with off note on first, “what can I do for you?”
(1) “Opened up a door that couldn’t be shut and you opened it up so wide// filled up a hunger...”
(2) "You’ve done it all and there's no more anyone can do."
(3) “show me where to start.”
Dylan ends final harp solo on high octave note.
Very strong applause at end

IN THE GARDEN

(1) “did they know he was the son of god” sung flat, without cadence
no arpeggio between first and second stanzas, just silence and cymbal, drums begin in second stanza
builds very nicely into solo following second stanza

#EDIT - during applause

Audience conversation near taper:

A1 - “Really strange or what?”

A2 - “Really weird, man.”

A1 - “There’s a leopard skin suit—they look like they’re relics of the Sixties. Burnt out in 1965!”

A2 - “The gay 80’s!” (laughter)

A1 - “The gay 80’s! They were some --” (indecipherable -- then lost in guitar intro to next song)

Dylan: "Alright on the keyboards tonight, on keyboards tonight, give him a warm hand, Spooner Oldham. On the other set of keyboards, Terry Young. On lead guitar, Fred Tackett. On the drums tonight, Mr. Jim Keltner. And on electric bass guitar tonight, Mister Tim Drummond. Singing on the bottom tonight, Miss Helena Springs. Singing the middle part, Miss Regina McCreary.

BLESSED IS THE NAME

Forgets Mona Lisa Young intro?
Pretty tight performance, but Tackett’s guitar solo goes nowhere, sudden clapping during last chorus, as though Dylan walks off waving again?

#EDIT - during applause

Crowd noise near taper: “Mike! Mike! Mike!”

PRESSING ON

Chorus x 3, first stanza, chorus x 4, second stanza, chorus x 5
Backing singers join on second chorus, crowd member squeals just as Dylan begins first stanza
(1) “Many try to stop me, try to shake me up in my mind.”
Crowd begins clapping as Dylan joins singers at front of stage
(2) “Ain’t nothing that can hold you down; ain’t nothing that you lack.”

SOURCES:

One known reference tape circulating:

The first (191179AJMD) is a stereo audience recording which lacks the seven opening songs by the band and the eighth song by the band following "Covenant Woman."

This is a very good recording, but appears to have been carefully edited throughout, raising questions regarding it’s authenticity. 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.

For instance, the monologue preceding “Solid Rock” appears openly confrontational towards the crowd, a quality which is notably lacking in the monologues earlier in the concert. Moreover, the crowd responds enthusiastically to the religious content of Dylan’s earlier monologues, whereas, there appears to be more hostility in the latter. The wandering nature of Dylan’s latter monologue makes it difficult to assume anything.

Furthermore, the audience conversation preceding “Blessed Is The Name” would seem to suggest this performance is taken from a winter concert by its reference to the “Gay ‘80’s;” however, the band intros include Helena Springs, who did not continue with the Winter and Spring legs of the tour. On the other hand, the band intros also appear to omit Mona Lisa Young, so who knows.

There is one destructive edit clipping Dylan’s monologue preceding “Solid Rock” and Regina Havis McCreary’s performance of “Put Your Hand In The Hand” has been edited out immediately following Dylan’s intro. There is some obtrusive audience chatter in places, though it is primarily exuberant response from individual crowd members. These shouts somewhat mar what is otherwise a very fine recording of “Pressing On.”

This concert appears to circulate in several forms, some of which are quite clearly culled from other evenings. For whatever reason, this concert has been more aggressively edited than any other I’ve found on this tour.