1 Introduction

1980 started with the continuation of the extensive Gospel Tour. The songs written for the tour was recorded in February and released after the end of the tour on the Saved album. After having refused to play anything else but his new gospel songs Dylan played a string of 19 dates on the US West Coast in November-December. This time he played assorted old songs and also a couple of never before performed covers. This mini-tour was aptly called 'A Musical Retrospective Tour'.

2 1980 At A Glance

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3 The 1980 Calendar

13-14 January	The second leg of the Gospel tour starts with two shows in Seattle, Washington.
January	Release of the Slow Train/Do Right To Me Baby single.
9 February	The second leg of the Gospel tour ends with two shows in Charleston, West Virginia
11-15 February	Saved is recorded in just five days in the Muscle Shoals Studios in Sheffield, Alabama.
22 February	Dylan receives the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance 1979 at the 22nd Grammy Award at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In his acceptance speech he thanks "The Lord, Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett who believed".
March	Dylan contributes harmonica on the recording of Keith Green's song Pledge My Head To Heaven, later released on the album So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt ... on Pretty Good Records.
17-20 April	Third and last leg of the Gospel Tour starts with four shows in the Massey Hall in Toronto.
15 May	Dylan is interviewed by Pat Crosby. The interview is broadcast by KDKA T
21 May	The 79^th and last of the Gospel Tour shows is played at the Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio. A second show was planned but had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
	Karen Hughes again interviews Dylan.
20 June	Saved is released.
June	Release of the Solid Rock/Covenant Woman single.
August	Release of the Saved/Are You Ready? single.
October	Rehearsals for the upcoming tour takes place at the Rundown Studios in Santa Monica.
9-22 November	Dylan hits the road for the third time this year and returns to Warfield Theater in San Francisco for twelve new shows.
12 November	Dylan tells the Leadbelly parable about how Leadbelly started to write children’s songs, but he hadn’t changed, he was “the same man”. Dylan then proceeds to perform the only known version of Caribbean Wind, a request from Paul Williams, who had met Bob Dylan backstage at one of the first Warfield shows.
13 November	A number of guests appear at the Warfield shows. First out is Carlos Santana who plays guitar on four songs in the second set, among them the live debut of The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar.
15 November	Mike Bloomfield is tonight’s guest. He plays guitar on Like A Rolling Stone and The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar. It turns out to be his last public performance.
16 November	Jerry Garcia turns up and plays guitar on four songs in the first set.
18 November	Paul Vincent interviews Dylan backstage. The interview is broadcast the next day by KMEL-FM radio.
19 November	Maria Muldaur is tonight’s guest. She sings Nobody’s Fault But Mine accompanied by Dylan and the band.
21 November	Ernesto Bladden interviews Dylan via telephone. The interview is broadcast by KPRI-FM radio on 25 November.
22 November	Roger McGuinn is the last Warfield guest. He sings and plays guitar on Mr. Tambourine Man and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.
4 December	Last show of the fall tour in Portland, Oregon.

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4 Saved

Saved was recorded in five sessions in a week’s time in February. It was recorded with the second Gospel band and all songs except A Satisfied Mind and probably the unidentified song had been performed during the two first legs of the Gospel Tour. Like Slow Train Coming these sessions were recorded in Muscle Shoals Studio in Sheffield, Alabama and produced by Jerry Wexler & Barry Beckett. Here's a summary of these sessions:

		# of		take released on
Date	Song	takes	Saved		BIOG[1]	single
11 February	Covenant Woman	11
12 February	Solid Rock	7	7		7	7
	What Can I Do For You?	2	2
	Saved	3	3			3
	A Satisfied Mind	1	1
13 February	Saving Grace	4	3 or 4
	Pressing On	9	9
	Unidentified Song	2
14 February	In The Garden	4	4
	Are You Ready?	9	9
15 February	Covenant Woman	1	1			1

Live history

Song	Debut
Covenant Woman	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
Solid Rock	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
What Can I Do For You?	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
Saved	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
A Satisfied Mind	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 November 1999, only known performance.
Saving Grace	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
Pressing On	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
In The Garden	San Francisco, California, 1 November 1979
Are You Ready?	Charleston, West Virginia, 8 February 1980

Officially released live version

Video: Hard To Handle

In The Garden

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 24 February 1986

Performances during The Never-Ending Tour

Solid Rock	2002
A Satisfied Mind	1999
Saving Grace	2003
In The Garden	1988-1991, 1994-1996, 2001, 2002

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5 The Gospel Tours 1980

5.1 Introduction

The Gospel Tour consisted of three parts:

1. The first leg in November-December 1979

2. The second leg in January-February 1980

3. The third leg in April-May 1980

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

Regina McCrary vocal

Mona Lisa Young vocal

Carolyn Dennis vocal – second leg only

Regina Peeples vocal – second leg only

Clydie King vocal – third leg only

Gwen Evans vocal – third leg only

Mary Elizabeth Bridgett vocal – third leg only

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5.4 Second Gospel Tour – January-February 1980

5.4.1 The dates

January

11	Portland, Oregon	Paramount Theatre	−
12	Portland, Oregon	Paramount Theatre	−
13	Seattle, Washington	Paramount Northwest Theatre	SA
14	Seattle, Washington	Paramount Northwest Theatre	SA
15	Seattle, Washington	Paramount Northwest Theatre	−
16	Portland, Oregon	Paramount Theatre	SA
17	Spokane, Washington	Opera House	−
18	Spokane, Washington	Opera House	SA
21	Denver, Colorado	Rainbow Music Hall	MA
22	Denver, Colorado	Rainbow Music Hall	PA,I
23	Denver, Colorado	Rainbow Music Hall	MA
25	Omaha, Nebraska	Orpheum Theater	MA
26	Omaha, Nebraska	Orpheum Theater	MA
27	Kansas City, Missouri	Uptown Theater	MA
28	Kansas City, Missouri	Uptown Theater	MA
29	Kansas City, Missouri	Uptown Theater	MA
31	Memphis, Tennessee	Orpheum Theater	MA

February

1	Memphis, Tennessee	Orpheum Theater	MA
2	Birmingham, Alabama	Jefferson Civic Center	MA
3	Birmingham, Alabama	Jefferson Civic Center	MA
5	Knoxville, Tennessee	Civic Auditorium	SA
6	Knoxville, Tennessee	Civic Auditorium	SA
8	Charleston, West Virginia	Municipal Auditorium	SA
9	Charleston, West Virginia	Municipal Auditorium	SA

MA	mono audience recording
SA	stereo audience recording
−	no recording available
I	incomplete recording

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5.4.2 The Songs

Set								January												February
list	11	12	13	14	15	16	17		21	22	23	25	26	27	28	29	31	1	2		3	5	6	8	9
A			•	•		•			•		•	•	•	•
B										•					•	•	•	•				•	•
C																			•		•
D																								•
E																									•

In order played

Set list	A	B	C	D	E	S
Gotta Serve Somebody	1	1	1	1	1	19
I Believe In You	2	2	2	2	2	19
When You Gonna Wake Up	3	3	3	3	3	19
When He Returns	4	4	4	4	4	19
Man Gave Names To All The Animals	5	5	5	5	5	19
Precious Angel	6	6	6	6	6	19
Slow Train	7	7	7	7	7	19
Covenant Woman	8	8	8	8	8	19
Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking	9	9	9	9	9	19
Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)	10	10	10	10	10	19
Solid Rock	11	11	11	11	11	19
Saving Grace	12	12	12	12	12	19
What Can I Do For You?	13	14	14	14	14	19
Saved	14	13	13	13	13	19
In The Garden	15	15	15	15	15	19
Blessed Is The Name	16	16	16	17		18
Pressing On	17	17			17	16
Are You Ready?				16	16	2
Total # of songs	17	17	16	17	17	321

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5.4.3 Statistics

Show statistics

Number of shows	24
Number of circulating shows	19
Number of circulating & complete shows	18
Number of unique shows[2]	4
Number of different shows[3]	3
Number of different songs[4]	18
Number of unique songs[5]	18
Number of performed songs	321
Mean number of performed songs	16
Variation[6]	1.1

Song statistics

	# of		# of
	songs	%	perf.	%
Electric	18	100.0	321	100.0

Albums	17	94.4	303	94.4
Singles	0	0.0	0	0.0
Outtakes	1	5.6	18	5.6
Covers	0	0.0	0	0.0

Recommended shows:

Seattle, 14 January

Denver, 22 January (incomplete PA tape)

Knoxville 5 February.

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5.5 Third Gospel Tour – April-May 1980

5.5.1 The dates

April

17	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Massey Hall	SA
18	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Massey Hall	SA
19	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Massey Hall	SA
20	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Massey Hall	SA
22	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Le Theatre Saint-Denis	SA
23	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Le Theatre Saint-Denis	SA
24	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Le Theatre Saint-Denis	SA
25	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Le Theatre Saint-Denis	SA
27	Albany, New York	Palace Theater	SA
28	Albany, New York	Palace Theater	SA
30	Buffalo, New York	Kleinhans Music Hall	SA

May

1	Buffalo, New York	Kleinhans Music Hall	SA, I
2	Worcester, Massachusetts	Memorial Theater	SA
3	Worcester, Massachusetts	Memorial Theater	MA
4	Syracuse, New York	Landmark Theatre	SA
5	Syracuse, New York	Landmark Theatre	SA
7	Hartford, Connecticut	Bushnell Memorial Hall	SA
8	Hartford, Connecticut	Bushnell Memorial Hall	MA
9	Portland, Maine	City Hall	SA
10	Portland, Maine	City Hall	−
11	Providence, Rhode Island	Ocean State Performing Arts Center	SA
12	Providence, Rhode Island	Ocean State Performing Arts Center	−
14	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Stanley Theatre	−
15	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Stanley Theatre	MA
16	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Stanley Theatre	MA
17	Akron, Ohio	Civic Theater	SA
18	Akron, Ohio	Civic Theater	SA
20	Columbus, Ohio	Franklin County Veterans Memorial Auditorium	MA
21	Dayton, Ohio	Memorial Hall	MA

MA	mono audience recording
SA	stereo audience recording
−	no recording available
I	incomplete recording

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5.5.2 The songs

Set						April														May
list	17	18	19	20	22		23	24	25	27	28	30	1	2	3	4	5	7	8	9	11	14	15	16	17	18	20	21
A																											
B			
C								
D																		
E																								
F																									
G																										
H																												

In order played

Set list	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	S
Gotta Serve Somebody	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	27
I Believe In You	2			2	2	2	2	2	25
When You Gonna Wake Up	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27
Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	27
Cover Down, Pray Through	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	27
Precious Angel	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	27
Man Gave Names To All The Animals	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	27
Slow Train	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	27
Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)	9	9	9	10	9	9		10	26
Solid Rock	10	10	10	11	10	10	10	11	27
Saving Grace	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	12	27
Saved	12	13	12	13	12	12	12	13	27
What Can I Do For You?	13	12	13	14	13	13	13	14	27
In The Garden	14	14	14	15	15	14	14	15	27
Are You Ready?	15	15	15	16	16	15	15	16	27
Pressing On	16		16	17	17	16	16	17	26
Covenant Woman		2	2						2
I Will Love Him		16							2
Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One				9				9	2
Lay Lady Lay (instrumental)					14				1
Blessed Is The Name						17			1
When He Returns							9		1
I Will Sing, I Will Sing							17		1
Total # of songs	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	438

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5.5.3 Statistics

Show statistics

Number of shows	27
Number of circulating shows	24
Number of circulating & complete shows	23
Number of unique shows[7]	10
Number of different shows[8]	7
Number of different songs[9]	23
Number of unique songs[10]	23
Number of performed songs	438
Mean number of performed songs	16
Variation[11]	1.4

Song statistics

	# of		# of
	songs	%	perf.	%
Electric	23	100.0	438	100.0

Albums	17	73.9	378	86.3
Singles	0	0.0	0	0.0
Outtakes	5	21.7	59	13.5
Covers	1	4.3	1	0.2

Comment

Lay Lady Lay is an instrumental fragment only. Dylan responds with "OK, we'll play it, if you sing it" to one of the ubiquitous requests for this song.

Recommended shows

Toronto 20 April and Hartford 8 May.

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5.5.4 Gospel tour summary

5.5.5 The songs

	1^st tour	2^nd tour	3^rd tour	S
Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody			27	27
Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One	1		2	3
Are You Ready?		2	27	29
Blessed Is The Name	25	18	1	44
Covenant Woman	26	19	2	47
Cover Down, Pray Through

Debut

5 The Gospel Tours 1980

Show statistics

Song statistics

Recommended shows:

Show statistics

Song statistics

Comment

Recommended shows