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Bob Dylan 951019 Memphis, TN, Mud Island


Setlist from Bill Pagel's page (thanks to Glen Dundas):

                                Memphis, Tennessee

                                       October 19, 1995

                                          Mud Island



     1.Drifter's Escape 
     2.Man In The Long Black Coat 
     3.All Along The Watchtower 
     4.What Good Am I? 
     5.Watching The River Flow 
     6.Silvio 
     7.Mr. Tambourine Man (acoustic) 
     8.Masters Of War (acoustic) 
     9.Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (acoustic) 
    10.God Knows 
    11.It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry 
    12.Obviously Five Believers 

       (encore)
    13.Alabama Getaway 
    14.One Too Many Mornings (acoustic) 
    15.Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35 

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 15:27:50 -0400 From: Zimmy644@aol.com To: hw61-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: Mud Island Oct 19, 1995 Set List 8:56 PM 1. Drifters Escape 2. Man In the Long Black Coat 3. All Along the Watchtower 4. What Good Am I 5. Watchin' the River Flow 6. Silvio 7. Mr. Tambourine Man(acoustic) 8. Masters of War(acoustic) 9. Don't Think Twice(acoustic) 10. God Knows 11. It Takes Alot to Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry 12. Obviously 5 Believers Encore 13. Alabama Getaway 14. One Too Many Mornings(acoustic) 15. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 This was my sixth Dylan show in the last eight years, and it was the first time Ive ever seen him without his clever little harmonica holder. For the second half of Mr. Tambourine Man, Bob took the microphone from the stand and played the harmonica like Bruce Willis. This was all we heard from his harmonica all night. Alabama Getaway just has to be heard to be believed. I felt it was one of the strongest perfomances of the night. One Too Many Mornings was the closest Ive come to crying since I heard Hattie Carrol live a few years back. For the obligatory Rainy Day Women, the near capacity crowd sang along quite nicely. Bob was dressed in what looked like Versace. He had a silver lamme shirt, black tuxedo pants (which he has been wearing for all the shows ive been to), black and white patent leather shoes, and a stylish wallet chain on his right side. He was very verbal, introducing the band, and thanking the crowd for its many standing ovations. Zimmy644 a.k.a. Josh
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 12:00:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Sigrid H Trumpy (trumpy@nadn.navy.mil) To: Karl Erik Andersen Hi Eric, I loved Memphis and Dylan was great. .. ..... Here's the Mud Island, Memphis setlist: (I want to go back there for sure) Memphis 10-19-95 setlist Drifters Escape Long Black Coat Watchtower What Good Am I Watching The river Flow Silvio _____ Acoustic: T-man Masters of War Don't Think Twice _____ God Knows It Takes A Lot To Laugh Encores: Alabama Getaway One Too Many Mornings Rainy Day Women The Rev. Billy C. Wirtz opened. ... I forgot "Obviously Five Believers" after "It Takes Alot To Laugh" at the end of the show before the encores.
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 04:42:02 -0400 From: WhatWasIt (whatwasit@AOL.COM) Subject: Mud Island 10/19/95 review *** A Blistering Set *** Mud Island Ampitheater, Memphis, TN, October 19, 1995 It was a comfortably cool, clear night in Memphis, TN. Significant, given that Mud Island has no roof. Taking the tram to the island (right, it really is an island) and walking across the walkway to the amphitheater confirmed all of the stories about this place - it is one of the best venues for live performance you will find anywhere. From the audience perspective, there is a view of downtown Memphis skyline looming large (only a few hundred yards away) across the top of the stage and out to the left and right. The Mississippi river and its banks could be seen to left and right of stage, complete with several boats drifting around (cheap seats, but the sound could not have been very good!). Warm-up act was one-man show with keyboard/vocals only. Comedy routine reminiscent of piano bar at America Center in Phoenix, if you are familiar. FUNNY guy. Good stuff. Routine spoofing Jimmy Swaggert style evangalist was hysterical. Can't remember his name (e-mail if known). At somewhere around 9:00pm, lights went down and PA announced "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME TO THE MUD ISLAND AMPHITHEATRE, COLUMBIA RECORDING ARTIST BOB DYLAN!" With lights down, Bob and band members moved to their places onstage. Stage lights up, band kicks into "Drifter's Escape". Sound was tight. Bob's vocals quite audible to me, partially because I re-familiarized myself with these lyrics prior to show, knowing it has become the standard opener of late, with a hard rocking full-band arrangement rather than the 1967 studio original from John Wesley Harding album. Very slightly slower tempo than was used in Biloxi and New Orleans during the past week. Bob timed delivery of lyrics carefully, was into what he was doing. Biloxi and N.O. shows had been a little sloppy on Drifter's, but this sounded great. Bob wears cream-coloured jacket with shimmery surface having hints of pinks and other colors in reflections. Black and white patent leather shoes visible from top of ampitheatre. Drummer Winston Watson wears long sleeve white shirt, black vest. Bass player Tony Garnier wears dark outfit, not sure of detail. Pedal steel & other instruments player Bucky Baxter in usual red w/berret style hat; no beard anymore. Bucky is seated behind pedal steel, on small platform beside drum set that appears to be raised on set of cinderblocks. Guitar player John Jackson in brown with sunglasses and cowboy hat. Thick billows of incense waft out over the crowd and create sweet smell and add effect to the stage lighting. Audience (mostly full by now, some were still coming in) remained fully seated, with those of us in-the-know realizing that those not-in-the-know were wondering what the hell they were hearing. It creates what must be an intentional effect of sedating, worrying, and wondering amongst a group that contains many there for their first Dylan show having heard good and bad things about his career, many there with boyfriends/girlfriends and wondering who Bob Dylan is and isn't he some washed up Blowin in the Wind 60's dude, some whose most recent knowledge is Dylan's religious music ("He's not gonna play awl that God stuff Izzie?" howled my next-door audience member after hearing that I know about Dylan performances). Totally calm, the audience continued to sit and watch, many talking to each other (what is this? is this how Like a Rolling Stone goes? It doesn't sound like it) but all seeming to enjoy the tight, great rock sound of the band. If nothing else, the only clue they get is that "hey, the bands sounds pretty good", and they retain skepticism but are upbeat. "Man in the Long Black Coat" followed. Dylan delivered a spellbinding performance of this song. Stage light effects were used to create several large groups of broken-up ameoba shaped lights areas across the front part of the stage. Bob's vocal performance was outstanding - it had the eerie quality of the original (Oh, Mercy! album, 1989), and rose to a howl for the most dramatic lines. The softly strumming bass of the original was replaced by a slowly pounding wall of bass with harshly cutting lead guitar abruptly breaking in for brief, wild runs following the end of verses. Dylan and J.J. Jackson both played some leads, but Bob played more of it. Audience nterested now. Still many not familiar with the songs; real Dylan fans know Oh, Mercy! album as thoroughly as any older classic, but audience always has many that only know "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Everybody Must Get Stoned" (they think it's titled) and say "Did Dylan write that?!" when "All Along the Watchtower"> is played. But "Black Coat" is so unique with its images of the mysterious black coat man. I believe that audience members realized they understood most of Dylan's words even though they were not previously familiar with the song. Much applause at end of Black Coat, but audience still totally seated. Standard third song "All Along the Watchtower" picked up the pace. Having seen 10 Dylan shows, I have heard him play this 10 times. He ALWAYS plays Watchtower. Sounded better than ever. Band rocked out as usual. Bob sang the words with inflection and passion, raising to a howl for "...two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howwwwllllll!!!!!'. This was the best Watchtower I've heard. Audience into it; there was the predicable release that occurs when a band first plays a song that most everyone is familiar with. Great lead guitar. Bob playing much of it. Dylan sat everyone back down again with "What Good am I?" (Oh, Mercy! album, 1989). An extremely slow-tempo, delicate song, Bob delivered this with a passionate vocal performance full of torment and confusion. Long, hanging pauses strung out the tension. Tony Garnier excellent on bass here. Lightly jumping from note to note in time with the lyrics, as in the style of the original. Stage lighting created several yellowish-gold circles across front of stage. This was the first performance of this tune I have seen, and I have not seen it on playlists from any other show. One of the great things about Dylan shows is wondering what less-known song he will pull out of his hat, and whether it will come across well. "What Good am I?" was it tonight, and it was a major winner, brilliantly performed. "Watching the River Flow" kicked things back into a rock-and-roll tempo. VERY fast, upbeat version Dylan is using; almost a rockabilly undercurrent rather than the slower, bluesy original (found only on Greatest Hits, Vol. II). Entirely appropriate selection, since we were, in fact, watching the river flow during the show. Other "appropriate" tunes hoped-for but not played would include "...Memphis Blues Again" (of course) and "Went to See the Gypsy" (a lesser- known about Dylan's meeting with Elvis in a Memphis hotel). Audience getting back into the rock mode, but not on their feet yet. "Silvio" (Down in the Groove, 1985) is a song originally recorded with Jerry Garcia and other members of the Grateful Dead. Dylan has been playing this at all of the 1995 shows, but with an entirely different arrangement. It kicks and rocks with a hard, fast beat that jumps and shifts constantly. Audience rocking. Band VERY together, shifting tempos and jumping around like a single, coordinated entity. Again unfamiliar, I think, to a certain percentage of the audience, but NO ONE can hear THIS band play Silvio and go away unconvinced of how good they are. Acoustic set begins. Dylan followed formula he has been using on most of the 1995 shows - six full-band songs with electric guitar, change to acoustics for three songs with no drums, switch back to electric rock for three more, break then two-song encoure, break then final song encoure. "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bringing it All Back Home, 1965) was the first acoustic song. Dylan has changed the arrangement slightly since earlier in the year; he wears and plays the acoustic guitar along with J.J. Jackson. Tempo and tune is very, very true to original studio version. Bob sings this great poem with passion, inhabiting the words. Audience VERY into this familiar classic, roaring with applause and cheers each time the refrain comes around, but thankfully they shut up enough during the verses for us to hear them. All can hear and understand every word of this; Bob's voice sounding incredibly clear, precise, and just GREAT. Tony Garnier hugging a large, stand-up acoustic bass, Bucky Baxter plucking away on some tiny strung instrument that produces high, twinging leads, and Bob and J.J. dueling back and forth with acoustic leads. After all the lyrics, long instrumental continues to everyone's pleasure. A GREAT sound from this arrangement. Then, when it appeared to be winding up, it was really just a quiet-down while Bob retrieved a harp. Audience responds enthusiastically, gleeful that they are indeed going to get some of the legendary harmonica tonight. Dylan waits for the tune to "come around" on the guitars played by the others (Bob had put his guitar down, and was holding harp with hands - no fixed harp-holder), then began slowly honking out a single note alternating between soft and louder. This continued for a few bars, allowing the audience to slightly subdue and wonder if this simply honking was all Dylan could or would do with the harp. Then, Bob started to play. And did he PLAY. Slowly he shifted from the single note to runs up and down the tune. And it was getting slowly LOUDER and LOUDER. Audience response correspondingly rose to a frenzy as Dylan had the harp wailing and singing, running up and down and all around, always maintaining and increasing volume just over the level of the crowd. When they finally wound down to an end, the Audience roar, cheers and applause indicated that Dylan had them all now; skeptics had been silenced. The acoustic set then launched into a dark sound, a slow rhythmic strumming with an ominous, dramatic feel. "Masters of War" (The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, 1962), a now-ancient war protest song, has maintained currency through present day, unfortunately. Dylan's voice was kept low, subtly rage-filled and strong as he sang these lyrics, rising to a low howl for verse-ending lines: "...I think you will find, as your death takes its toll, that all of your money won't BUY BACK YOUR SOUL!!". "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, 1962) finished the acoustic set by returning to an upbeat note. One of Dylan's more familiar great classics, this received great audience response. He revealed a faster-paced arrangement than the original, and included long dueling-guitar instrumentals. Electric guitars came back out and the band kicked into "God Knows" (unreleased). It is my understanding that this song has never appeared on a Bob Dylan album. I had heard it once before, at Dylan's June 2, 1995 performance at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. Normally, Bob's religious themes incite controversy. At this point, the audience was so fired up for the show and ready to rock again after the great acoustic sets, it didn't matter what it was about. I don't know all the lyrics, but the tune definitely rocks. Many sections of audience up on their feet and rocking at this point. Dark stage, some deep red and blue lighting. The guitars start up something, and when bass and drum kick in, "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (Highway 61 Revisited, 1965) came into focus. A heavy blues tune, POUNDING drums and bass begin to rock the place. Dylan's soulful, powerfully loud wailing began "WEL L I RIDE ON A MAIL TRAIN BABY, CAN'T BUY A THRIIIILLLLLLLL....". Bob and J.J. rolling and reeling through THUNDERING bluesy electric guitar leads, and WE WERE ALL ON THE MAIL TRAIN and it was heavy and unstoppable. Two minutes into this, and all were on their feet. Forget "I wanna hear familiar stuff". Forget the age thing. Forget where you are. THIS HOUSE IS COMING DOWN. Didn't time it, but Train must have run about 10 - 15 minutes. After long, roaring guitar runs the band would suddenly (with perfect timing) shift into cruise with just POUNDING drums and bass only, and Bob would wail and howl out another verse of the lyrics. Simply unbelievable vocal performance. More FIRE and ENERGY that you could imagine. ".... DON'T SAY I NEVER WARNED YOU, WHEN YOUR TRAIN GETS LOST!!!!!!!" sounded like I never thought it could live, having been such a huge fan of the original version of this song for so long. When the Train finally "pulled into the station" with a slow, extended shut down like there was some huge inertia to overcome, the audience was a rolling thunder. I couldn't help but think "..Dylan's done it again; some of these people had come in here thinking they were goiing to see an oldies show, a washed-up rocker, a screwed-up has-been, someone that plays "Like a Rolling Stone" so they can sing along "... How Does it Feel", and he's blown them so far out of their mindset they are reeling and rocking and don't know who they are or where they came from anymore, only that they are rocking and rolling tonight. But Bob isn't stopping now. "Obviously 5 Believers" (Blonde on Blonde, 1966) jump started and kept on jumping. Fast paced, rollicking roller played true to original arrangement, just LOUDER. The band kicked through this classic in tight unison, with ripping leads from J.J. and Dylan. Audience totally into it, all of them rocking. Bob has been frequently using this number as the last before encoures. As the band took bows before exiting the stage, man standing next to me (who said his name was Dean) turns and simply says: "I guess that qualifies as a blistering set". Truer words never spoken, Mr. Dean. After a brief few minute break, Dylan and band launched into "Alabama Getaway" (not a Dylan composition; this is a cover of Grateful Dead song). Bob has been performing this and some other Dead tunes since the death of Jerry Garcia. This was an inspired, rocked out version. Audience very very into this, even most of the non-Dead knowledgeable recognizing the song as it was one of the few Dead tunes that received a good bit of airplay when originally released. Great performance by Dylan and all band members for this. Acoustic guitar came back on for "One Too Many Mornings" (The Times They Are A-Changin', 1963), but this was not a mellow performance. Long, winding guitar solos, pounding drums, shifts of tempo, and most of all the soulful wailing of Dylan on these lyrics achieved an intensity level beyond that of "Train" earlier in the set. This was the most intense, passionate, REAL performance I have ever seen from Dylan. Stage lighting created varied effects during shifts of tempo. I'm sure many audience members did not recognize the song, but there was NO ONE sitting down from beginning to end. A brief break, and Dylan was back to rock again with "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (Blonde on Blonde, 1966). Needless to say, the audience was 100% with it for this. Familiar to almost everyone that knows anything about Dylan or rock music at all, Bob has been using this as the rousing closer at most of his recent shows. Dylan was very upbeat and into the whole show. He introduced the band, making several cracks about who they were or where they were from. He was high-fiving and pointing out to the crowd during the final standing ovations. Bob Dylan's 1995 tour is the best event in the music industry. There are no acts that can compare with the energy and excitement this performer generates. Dylan has so much material; he always mixes in some familiar classics, some off-beat selections to please the true fans, incredible instrumental performances, great acoustic sets, and the sound of the tightest rock band going. If you have ever thought about going to see Bob Dylan, now is the time. DON'T MISS IT!!! As audience member Mr. Dean added, "Can't buy a thrill? Buy a ticket to the Bob Dylan concert!" P.S. If anyone has tape of this show, please e-mail...
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 06:07:17 GMT From: "Mathew C. Harriss" (mharriss@LIBERTY.UC.WLU.EDU) Subject: memphis, 10/19/95 I haven't seen this posted. 1) Drifter's Escape 2) Man in the long Black Coat 3) Watchtower 4) What Good Am I? 5) Watching the River Flow 6) Silvio 7) Mr. Tambourine Man (a) 8) Masters of War (a) 9) Don't Think Twice...(a) 10) God Knows 11) Takes a Train... 12) Obviously 5 Believers e) Alabama Getaway e) One Too Many Mornings (a) e) Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 04:08:42 GMT From: TIMOTHY R DAVIS (timrdavi@MARS.UTM.EDU) Subject: Memphis 10/19/95 Comments My seats were on the 10th row on the far right. I was there with an older friend of mine (actually he used to be my teacher in high school) and a couple of his friends from The Netherlands. The opening act sucked since I really wasn't in the mood for obnoxious comedy. I don't know if I've become numb or what, but I didn't get that nervous feeling I usually get when the lights go down and "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Would you please welcome...BOB DYLAN." Drifter's Escape didn't do a whole lot for me. I mean I was excited to be in the presence of the man, but Dylan looked out of it to me. But even though he might have looked out of it, his vocals were right on! Man in the Long Black Coat was great. This arrangement has a lot of tension in it with howls that Bob does. What Good Am I was even better. This song is so delicate, and Winston's hard slow beat on those drums was perfect. Winston probably went through at least 5 pair of sticks. Every time I looked up there were pieces of sticks flying around. Watching the River Flow was pretty cool too. I could see the river off to the right, and it was very appropriate. BTW, the Mud Island Amphiteatre is an outstanding venue. It's very intimate to seat as many as it does. Silvio rocked! I couldn't believe it. That's all I can say about that. The highlight of Tambourine man is when Bob went over and a got a harp near the end of the song and took the mic off the stand held the harmonica and did a long melodic solo 'til the end of the song. During Don't think twice I started plotting my plan to get down to the stage. I started watching to see if anyone was going to try to get a head start. After the last verse, I saw a woman go down to the stage, so I got up. When I got down there, security was telling her to go back to her seat so I spotted a seat on the aisle of the the third row in the center. I sat down. Damn that was good seat! When God Knows started up, I went down to the rail in front of Bob's mic and that's where I stayed for the rest of the show. That part went by so fast. I just kind of swayed to the music. I was disappointed at how little Dylan looked up. He stared at the speakers in front of him 95% of the time. I did make eye contact with him during It Takes A Lot... I was lipsyncing "The windows are filled with frost" and he looked right at me for second. Dylan was lively through Rainy Day Women as he was posing a lot and winking at this redhead two people away from me. I enjoyed the show overall, and I can wait to see the St. Louis show! later, Tim Davis
Dates 1995
Tour