mysteriously saved – BOB DYLAN 1979

1     Introduction

2     1979 At A Glance

3     The 1979 Calendar

4     Slow Train Coming

4.1      Live history

4.2      Officially released live versions

4.3      Performances during The Never-Ending Tour

5     The First Gospel Tour

5.1      Introduction

5.2      The show

5.3      The musicians

5.4      The dates

5.5      The songs

5.6      Statistics

5.6.1    Show statistics

5.6.2    Song statistics

5.6.3    Album statistics

5.7      Comments

5.7.1    Recommended shows

5.7.2    Songs

6     Songs 1979

7     Suggested Readings

7.1      Books

7.2      Selected articles

8     SOURCES

9     Bibliography

 

Next

Mysteriously Saved

 

1           Introduction

This year started with three months in Bible class at The School of Discipleship in Southern California, and ended with the first part of the famous Gospel Tour. Once again Bob Dylan did the completely unexpected. Not only did he became a newborn Christian, he recorded a gospel record with only original songs and hit the road with a show that did not contain one single song from his previous records!

 

2           1979 At A Glance

 

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3           The 1979 Calendar

January

Playboy publishes the Ron Rosenbaum interview.

30 April

1st Slow Train Coming session in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama.

1 May

2nd Slow Train Coming session.

2 May

3rd Slow Train Coming session.

3 May

4th Slow Train Coming session.

4 May

5th Slow Train Coming session.

17 August

The 1966 film Eat The Document is broadcast on New York TV station Channel 13.

18 August

Release of Slow Train Coming.

September

Release of the Gotta Serve Somebody/Trouble In Mind single.

20 October

Dylan & his Gospel Band appear at Saturday Night Live with three songs from Slow Train Coming.

November

Release of Man Gave Names To All The Animals/When You Gonna Wake Up? single.

1 November

The Gospel Tour starts with no less than 14 shows at the Fox Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

8 December

The Bruce Heiman telephone interview is broadcast by KMEX Radio in Tucson.

 

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4           Slow Train Coming

Slow Train Coming was recording in five sessions in a week’s time in early May. They were produced by Jerry Wexler & Barry Beckett. Here's a summary of these sessions:

 

 

 

 

 

take released on

 

 

Date

Song

takes

STC[1]

BIOG[2]

BS[3]

single

31 April

Trouble In Mind

8

7

 

 

 

1 May

Precious Angel

1

1

 

 

 

 

Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One

10

 

 

 

 

2 May

When You Gonna Wake Up?

3

3

 

 

 

 

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

1

1

 

 

 

 

Ye Shall Be Changed

1

 

 

1

 

3 May

Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One

1

 

 

 

 

 

I Believe In You

2

1

1

 

 

 

Slow Train

1

1

 

 

1

4 May

Gotta Serve Somebody

4

3

1

 

 

 

Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)

4

4

 

 

4

 

When He Returns

9

9

 

 

 

 

Man Gave Names To All The Animals

6

6

 

 

6

For more details about some of these sessions please refer to the corresponding session pages.

4.1       Live history

Song

Debut

Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One

San Francisco, California, 16 November 1979

Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)

Hollywood, Florida, 16 December 1978

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979

Gotta Serve Somebody

New York City, New York, 20 October 1979

I Believe In You

New York City, New York, 20 October 1979

Man Gave Names To All The Animals

San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979

Precious Angel

San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979

Slow Train

San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979

When He Returns

San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979

When You Gonna Wake Up?

New York City, New York, 20 October 1979

 

4.2       Officially released live versions

Dylan And The Dead

Gotta Serve Somebody

Anaheim, California, 26 July 1987

 

Slow Train

Foxboro, Massachusetts, 4 July 1987

 

4.3       Performances during The Never-Ending Tour

Gotta Serve Somebody

1988-1991, 1998-2002

I Believe In You

1989-1996, 1998, 2002

Man Gave Names To All The Animals

1989-1991

When You Gonna Wake Up?

1989 (once)

 

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5           The First Gospel Tour

5.1       Introduction

The Gospel Tour that started in 1979 and continued in the spring of 1980, featured only gospel songs, either performed by the backup singers, or by Bob Dylan backed by the band. No songs from his other records were played. The setlist was almost constant from night to night. The audience responses were confused, angry and sometimes outright hostile. Many came to see a rock and roll show and were given a gospel concert. Dylan responded with long sermons between songs about the end of the world, the battle of Armageddon and the second coming. These lengthy raps are included in the session pages.

 

5.2       The show

A gospel concert consisted of:

Set 1

6 songs by the backing singers plus Terry Young on piano

 

8 or 9 songs by Bob Dylan and the band

 

1 song by one of the backing singers and the band

Set 2

7 songs by Bob Dylan and the band

Encore

2 songs by Bob Dylan and the band

 

5.3       The musicians

Fred Tackett                         guitar

Spooner Oldham                   keyboards

Terry Young                         keyboards

Tim Drummond                    bass

Jim Keltner                          drums

Helena Springs                     vocal

Regina McCreary                 vocal

Mona Lisa Young                 vocal

 

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5.4       The dates

November

  1

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  2

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  3

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  4

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  6

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  7

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  8

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

  9

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

10

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

11

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

13

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

MA

14

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

MA

15

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

MA

16

San Francisco, California

Fox Warfield Theatre

SA

18

Santa Monica, California

Civic Auditorium

SA

19

Santa Monica, California

Civic Auditorium

SA

20

Santa Monica, California

Civic Auditorium

SA

21

Santa Monica, California

Civic Auditorium

SA

25

Tempe, Arizona

Gammage Center

MA

26

Tempe, Arizona

Gammage Center

MA

27

San Diego, California

Golden Hall

MA

28

San Diego, California

Golden Hall

MA, I

December

  4

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Kiva Auditorium, Convention Center

MA

  5

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Kiva Auditorium, Convention Center

MA

  8

Tucson, Arizona

Music Hall, Community Center

MA

  9

Tucson, Arizona

Music Hall, Community Center

MA

 

I

incomplete recording

MA

mono audience recording

SA

stereo audience recording

 

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5.5       The songs

 

set-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec

 

 

list

1

2

3

4

6

7

8

9

10

11

13

14

15

16

18

19

20

21

25

26

27

28

4

5

7

9

A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

G

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songs In order played

Setlist

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

S

Gotta Serve Somebody

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

26

I Believe In You

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

26

When You Gonna Wake Up

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

26

When He Returns

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

26

Man Gave Names To All The Animals

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

26

Precious Angel

6

7

6

6

6

6

6

26

Slow Train

7

6

7

7

7

7

7

26

Covenant Woman

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

26

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

9

9

9

10

9

9

9

26

Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)

10

10

10

11

10

10

10

26

Solid Rock

11

11

11

12

11

11

11

26

Saving Grace

12

12

12

14

12

12

12

26

What Can I Do For You?

13

13

14

13

14

14

14

26

Saved (Bob Dylan/Tim Drummond)

14

14

13

15

13

13

13

26

In The Garden

15

15

15

16

15

15

15

26

Blessed Is The Name

16

16

16

17

16

16

 

25

Pressing On

17

17

17

18

17

 

 

24

Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

1

 

 

5.6       Statistics

5.6.1   Show statistics

Number of shows:

26

Number of circulating shows:

26

Number of circulating & complete shows:

25

Number of different songs [4]:

18

Number of unique songs [5]:

18

Number of performed songs:

440

Mean number of performed songs:

16

Variation [6]:

1,1

5.6.2   Song statistics

 

# of

 

# of

 

 

songs

%

perf.

%

Electric

18

100.0

440

100.0

Acoustic

0

 0.0

0

 0.0

 

 

 

 

 

Albums

16

 88.9

414

 94.1

Singles

0

 0.0

0

 0.0

Outtakes

2

 11.1

26

 5.9

Covers

0

 0.0

0

 0.0

5.6.3   Album statistics

 

# of

 

# of

 

Album

songs

%

perf

%

Slow Train Coming

9

 56.2%

234

 56.5%

Saved

7

 43.8%

180

 43.5%

 

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5.7       Comments

5.7.1   Recommended shows

All the Santa Monica shows are excellent and here Dylan performs in front of an enthusiastic audience, not all that common during this tour. The reason is that these were four benefit shows to aid World Vision International, a non-denominational Christian charity organization. In complete contrast the audiences at the two shows in Tempe are probably the most hostile Dylan has ever played to, before and since. The second show in particular features some lengthy angry raps by Dylan and is unique in that Dylan refused to play any encores.

5.7.2   Songs

The Slow Train Coming outtake Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One is performed 16 November. This is one of three known versions of this great song.


6           Songs 1979

May

Baby Give It Up

1, 5

 

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

 

 

Gotta Serve Somebody

 

 

I Believe In You

 

 

Man Gave Names To All The Animals

 

 

Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One

4

 

Precious Angel

 

 

Slow Train

 

 

Trouble In Mind

 

 

When He Returns

 

 

When You Gonna Wake Up?

 

 

Ye Shall Be Changed

2

September

Responsibility

1, 6

 

Saving Grace

 

 

Someone Else's Arms

1, 5

 

Tell Me The Truth One Time

1, 6

 

The Wandering Kind

1, 6, 7

 

What's The Matter

1, 5

 

Without You

1, 5

October

Covenant Woman

 

 

In The garden

 

 

Pressing On

 

 

Saved

 

 

Solid Rock

 

 

Stand By Faith

3

 

What Can I Do For You

 

 

1.     Co-written with Helena Springs.

2.     Out-take from the Slow Train Coming sessions, released on Bootleg Series.

3.     Rehearsed before the start of the tour but never performed, no circulating version exists. Copyrighted in November.

4.     Out-take from the Slow Train Coming sessions. No studio take is in circulation. There are two live performances. Recorded by Jah Mallah and released on the album Jah Mallah on Modern.

5.     There is no circulating version with or without Bob Dylan.

6.     There is a circulating demo tape with Helena Springs but without Bob Dylan.

7.     Covered by Paul Butterfield on The Legendary Paul Butterfield Rides Again.

 

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7           Suggested Readings

7.1       Books

Bert Cartwright

The Bible In The Lyrics Of Bob Dylan. Wanted Man Study Series 1985.

Clinton Heylin

Saved! The Gospel Speeches of Bob Dylan. Hanuman Books 1990.

Gerhard Jansen

Slow Train Coming. Self published 1980.

Scott M. Marshall with Marcia Ford

Restless Pilgrim. The Spiritual journey of Bob Dylan. Relevant Books 2002.

Paul Williams

Dylan - What Happened? Enthwistle Books 1979.

 

7.2       Selected articles

Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One – lyrics in The Telegraph #14

Bob Dylan’s Church. The Vineyard Christian Fellowship – by Mac Linscott Ricketts, On The Tracks #4 (Fall 1994)

Fred Tackett interview – by Masato Kato, The Bridge No.4. Summer 1999

Interview With Mark Knopfler – The Telegraph #16

Regina Havis Brown interview – by Scott M. Marshall On The Tracks # 18

Saved! – three very good articles by Clinton Heylin in The Telegraph #28,29.30

Slow Train – by John Hinchey in The Telegraph #12

Spooner Oldham interview – by Scott Marshall, On The Tracks #17 (Fall 1999)

Trouble In Mind. A Rabbinic Perspective on Bob Dylan’s “Religious Period” – by Laurence A. Schlesinger, On The Tracks #4 (Fall 1994)

Visions On A Slow Train – Wes Stace in Fourth Time Around #2

 

8           SOURCES

Watt Alexander

The Gospel Project
www.angelfire.com/rant/gospelproject

William J. Clinton

The Bob Dylan CD & CDR Field Recordings Guide Of William J. Clinton
www.angelfire.com/wa/monicasdude

Tim Dunn

I Just Write 'Em As They Come.
Annotated Guide to the Writings of Bob Dylan
A Not-A-Ces Publishing Venture 1990.

Glen Dundas

Tangled Up In Tapes — 4th Edition

A Recording History of Bob Dylan

SMA Services, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 1999. Softcover 334 pages.

Clinton Heylin

A Life In Stolen Moments. Bob Dylan Day By Day 1941-1995.

Schirmer Books 1996, 404 pages.

Clinton Heylin

Bob Dylan, The Recording Sessions 1960-1994

St. Martin's Press, 1995, 233 pages.

Michael Krogsgaard

Positively Bob Dylan
A Thirty-Year Discography, Concert & Record Session Guide 1960-1991.
Popular Culture, Ink. 1991. 500 pages.

Michael Krogsgaard

Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions (Part 3).
The Telegraph #55, Summer 1996, pp. 111–142.

Craig Pinkerton

Bob's Boots
www.bobsboots.com/

Ray Stavrou

A Vinyl Headstone Almost In Place
Loose leaf binder, 530 pages.

 

9           Bibliography

John Baldwin

The fiddler now upspoke, Volumes 1–5.

A collection of Bob Dylan interviews and press conferences.

Desolation Row Promotions, 1995.

Carl Benson (ed)

The Bob Dylan Companion — Four Decades of Commentary.

Schirmer Books, New York 1998. Softcover 306 pages.

Michael Gray

Song & Dance Man III. The Art Of Bob Dylan

Cassell 1999. Hardback 918 pages.

Clinton Heylin

Behind The Shades. A Biography.

Summit Books 1991, 500 pages.

Daniel Kramer

Bob Dylan. Citadel Press (hardback) or Pocket Books.
Great photo book from 1964-1965.

Craig McGregor (ed)

Bob Dylan. A Retrospective.

William Morrow 1972

Anthony Scaduto

Bob Dylan. An intimate biography. New American Library 1973

Robert Shelton

No Direction Home. The Life and Music of Bob Dylan.
New American Library 1986.

Howard Sounes

Down The Highway. The Life Of Bob Dylan. Groove Press 2001.

Elizabeth M. Thomson (ed)

Conclusions On The Wall. New Essays On Bob Dylan.

Thin Man 1980

Paul Williams

Watching The River Flow

Observations on Bob Dylan's Art-in-Progress, 1966-1995.

Omnibus Press 1996, 255 pages.

Paul Williams

Performing Artist – The Music of Bob Dylan. Volume One, 1960–1973.
Underwood Miller 1990, 310 pages.

Paul Williams

Performing Artist – The Middle Years: 1974-1986
Underwood Miller 1992, 334 pages.

 

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[1] Slow Train Coming

[2] Biograph

[3] The Bootleg Series.

[4] electric and acoustic versions are counted as different songs.

[5] a song is counted as unique regardless of how it is performed.

[6] variation is computed as the quote between number of different songs and mean number of performed songs.