Bob Dylan, Jefferson Civic Center
Birmingham, Alabama

3 December 1978

1.My Back Pages
2.She’s Love Crazy (Tampa Red)
3.Mr. Tambourine Man
4.Shelter From The Storm
5.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
6.Tangled Up In Blue
7.Ballad Of A Thin Man
8.Maggie's Farm
9.I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
10.Like A Rolling Stone
11.I Shall Be Released
12.Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
13.The Times They Are A-Changin'
14.Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
15.It Ain't Me, Babe
16.Am I Your Stepchild?
17.One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
18.Blowin' In The Wind
19.Girl From The North Country
20.Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
21.Masters Of War
22.Just Like A Woman
23.To Ramona
24.All Along The Watchtower
25.All I Really Want To Do
26.It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
27.Forever Young
—
28.Changing Of The Guards

Concert # 56 of the 1978 US Fall Tour. 1978 concert # 105

Concert # 82 with the 1978 World Tour Band: Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar), Billy Cross (lead guitar), Alan Pasqua (keyboards), Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals), David Mansfield (violin & mandolin), Steve Douglas (horns), Jerry Scheff (bass), Bobbye Hall (percussion), Ian Wallace (drums), Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals).

1 instrumental without Bob Dylan.

3, 5, 15, 16, 22 Bob Dylan (harmonica).
14 Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (vocals) without Bob Dylan.
15 Bob Dylan solo (vocal, harmonica & guitar).

BobTalk
You know they used to have these carnivals come through town in the 50’s. I don't know if they still have them. Everyone had someone called a geek. You know what a geek is? A geek is somebody who eats a live chicken. Right out front he bites the head off, eats that. Then he pretends to eat the rest of it. The whole thing used to cost a quarter, now it would cost 5-6 dollars. But then it cost a quarter. Anyway, he was a pretty little ..., what you call low down, you know, nobody wants to talk to him eat with him, bother with him, hang out with him. But I was talking to the bearded lady one day at breakfast. She told me that this man was so awful that he used to think that everyone else was strange and that he was straight. Anyway, that kind of shocked me at first but I can remember that years later people, were looking at me in a funny way so. (before Ballad Of A Thin Man)
I first played this song at the Newport Folk Festival, and they booed me out of town. But it didn't bother me none. I've played it ever since. (before Maggie's Farm)
Thank you. I was riding on a train one time from Durango, Mexico to San Diego. I fell asleep once and I woke up and the train was parked outside Monterey. I was a little bit groggy, so I stared into the window which was a like a long mirror. An I saw about one family get off the train. About 17 or 18 kids, I saw them get off the train, and I saw this old man step up to the train. Anyway, in the mirror he looked, all he was wearing was a blanket. Must have been about 150 years old at least. Anyway, he came up the aisle and he sat down next to me on the other side of the aisle. And finally I just couldn't stand it anymore, I just had to turn and look at him. I looked at him, I could see that both his eyes were on fire, were burning, and his nostrils had smoke coming out. I figured this was the man I wanted to talk to. (before Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power))
A few years ago I went to a high holy gypsy holiday. It happened to be on the same day that I was born on. So, I knew about this for years, anyway. A few years back I went over to see what the gypsies did on the day that I was born on. It turned out that their holy day was like Christmas for them. They celebrate for a week in a place in the south of France. Like they party for a week. And they throw some (....)down the street. Anyway I was fortunate to meet the king of the gypsies over there. And, ... very interesting, the king of the gypsies had 16 wives and 125 children, and a few friends on the side. Anyway, that kind of changed my way of thinking on all this. So, I stayed with them for about a week. I did everything twice. Anyway, it was time to go. I told the king it was time to go now. “What would you like (....) I couldn’t think of anything I hade done except drink coffe, so I said just give me one more cup Of coffee for the road. He put it in a bag and I went down the road to the valley below.
Thank you! Ladies and gentlemen, on the drums tonight, give him a warm hand, from Kingston, Jamaica, Mr. Ian Wallace. Yes, that's him. Alright, on the bass guitar, Jerry Scheff. On the keyboards, from Trinidad, Alan Pasqua. On the lead guitar, the oldest member of this group, was born in 1921., ladies and gentlemen Mr. Billy Cross. He's just beginning to live. The youngest member of this group, fifteen years old, he's been with me five years. Doesn't smoke dope, drink whiskey, chase women. All that's gonna change tonight, David Mansfield. Oh yeah, he plays the violin, mandolin and the dobro. All right, on the rhythm guitar, a man from Bogota, Colombia, doesn't speak any English, but he does play his heart out doesn't he? Gave up a career as a sports car driver to join this band. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Steven Soles. If he stops playing, he’s gonna start driving the bus. On the tenor saxophone a man who's really actually a legend in his own lifetime. He used to play with Duane Eddy. On one of Duane Eddy's tours. He made many of Phil Spectors greatest records. Steven Douglas. He's gonna blow something for you now all by himself. Gotta give him his credit. On the backup vocals tonight, three young ladies I can't really do with out anymore. I know I don't have the greatest voice in the world, but they make it sound just a little bit better. On the right, Jo Ann Harris. In the middle, Helena Springs. And on the other side is Carolyn Dennis. On the conga drums, can you hear the conga drums out there? From Detroit City, the most amazing Miss Bobbye Hall. We're about to get out of here. But we may be back I'm not ready to be put out in the pasture just yet. (before It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding))
All right, thank you very much for coming. We're gonna get out of here now. I wrote this song for one of my babies when he was a baby. He's not a baby anymore and he's not here, but I wanna play it anyway. (before Forever Young)

1 new song (3%) compared to previous concert. No new songs for this tour.

Mono audience recording, 140 minutes.

Session info updated 31 March 2003.

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