- Format: MP3
Final '78 show
audience
Bob talk 1978-12-16
(before Ballad Of A Thin Man) You know in the 50’s they used to have carnivals that came trough town. I know that you’re familiar with carnivals here. Anyway, back then every carnival had what they called a geek. Everyone know what a geek is? A geek is a man who eats a live chicken. He bites the head off, and then he bites the rest of it off. Anyway, he drinks up the blood, eats the heart, everything. Sweeps up the feathers with a broom. In those days it cost a quarter to see him. Nowadays I suppose it'd be 15-20 dollars, back then it was still a quarter. Anyway, no one much get too tight with a geek, you know? I was having breakfast one day with a bearded lady and she tells me that a geek is so low down that he can't be believable. He thinks that everyone else in the whole crew is freakier than he was. (....). I remembered that years later when I was walking down a street in Nashville you know, about 1960 something, when Al Kooper was playing organ for me at the time. And we were walking down the street, we had long hair, and nobody in Nashville, at that time, did have long hair. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, none of those people had long hair at this particular time. Anyway, we were walking down the street and the buses used to stop, people would come running out of there tores just to look at us. I thought this was kind of peculiar really because we hadn't done anything. Somewhere along the line I put, tried to put all of it into this particular song.
(before Maggie's Farm) Thank you, thank you. In 1963, I think it was, I was invited to play at the Newport Folk Festival. I went there to play with all good intentions but happened to play this particular song. I’d been there the year before and played and didn't cause too much of a sensation. But this particular year I was there I played this particular song and they booed me out of town. They put me on a train and said, "Never come back". Well I didn't let it bother me too much. But it’s hard to believe that a song could cause such a
disturbance, but it did!
(before Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)) Thank you! I was on a train once in New Mexico, from Durango to San Diego. Anyway, I fell asleep on this train and woke up in a place called Monterey. The train was pulled into the yard there and a whole family of people were getting off There was one old man stepping up to the platform to get onto the train. This old man wore nothing but a blanket and a derby at. Anyway, I followed him get on to the train, come down the aisle and take a seat right across the aisle from me. I was watching it all through the window of the train that turned into a long mirror, you know? So, after a while, I was still gazing out of this so called mirror and I felt these strange vibrations, so I turned my head and when I turned to look at him I could see that both his eyes were burning like they was on fire, and there was smoke coming out of his nostrils! I figured this was the man I wanted to talk to. So I turned back and looked into this mirror again to try and get it together. And when I finally did get it together I turned round to ask him a few things, and he had disappeared.
(before Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35) Thank you. There's three girls in the group. They're gonna sing you a song I wrote one time a few years ago. They cornered me last night they said, "Bob you can't sing that song no more." They didn't think I was doing it right. They insisted on singing it, so it goes like this. I hope they do a good job.
(before One More Cup Of Coffe (Valley Below)) Thank you. A few years back I was invited to a high holy gypsy holiday. I don't want to exaggerate but it really is. Anyway, one year we decided to go over and check it out and see what happens on that particular day. It seems like all the gypsies from all over Europe, Bulgaria and Romania, England, Scotland, France, all kind of different countries. They ll meet, they all meet up at that particular time and they party for a week. So I went over to see what that was all about. And I did manage to meet the King of the gypsies. I met a young man with 16 wives and 125 children. I was very impressed of that, for some reason. And I tell you though, from traveling around you do see a lot of people who have power, you know? And a lot of people who do have power and don't deserve it, and a lot of people who do deserve it, don't have it. Taking all that into account this man, he’d go hand in hand with his power, no question about that. Anyway I stayed there the whole week and stayed up for the entire week, did everything twice, and, it was about time to go and he said, "What can we give you Bob, now that we are gonna go our separate ways?" And I just needed to stay up for one more day, you know, to get back up (....) in France. So I said, “One more cup of coffee for the road”. And it was given to me in a paper bag, black, and I headed off.
(band intros before It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)) Thank you, thank you very much. Alright thank you. Ladies and gentlemen on the drums tonight, from Kingston, Jamaica, Ian Wallace. And on the bass guitar, Jerry Scheff. On the keyboards, from Trinidad, the one and only Alan Pasqua. All right, on lead guitar, the oldest member of this group, born in 1921. From Clearwater, Florida, ladies and gentlemen, Billy Cross. All right, on the violin and mandolin, sometimes the electric guitar, the youngest member of this group, only fifteen years old, been with me for five long years. Doesn't smoke dope, drink whiskey or chase women. All that's gonna change tonight. David Mansfield! On rhythm guitar, from Bogota, Colombia, doesn't speak any English at all. It's a pleasure to have him in the group. Gave up a promising career as a sports car driver to join this band. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the founders of punk rock music, Steven Soles. On the tenor saxophone a young man, probably many of you have heard many times before on many of Phil Spector’s records. Anyway, he's a legend in his own lifetime, and many other lifetimes, the phenomenal, Steve Douglas. All right, on the backup vocals three young ladies I so dearly love. On one side, my ex-girlfriend Helena Springs. I like to eat and Helena doesn't like to cook. Anyway, in the middle, my current girlfriend, Jo Ann Harris. She is sweet too. All right, on the other side. the true love of my life and fiancée, Miss Carolyn Dennis. On the conga drums, from Detroit City, a young lady who's really been around. Miss Bobbye Hall. I think that's everybody. I hope we played something right for you tonight.
(before Forever Young) Thank you. We’re gonna get out of here now. Hit that long road home. So, here's a song I wrote for one of my babies when he was a baby. He's not a baby anymore but wanny play it anyway. Thanks for coming. Thanks you for your love and understanding!