Although recorded in 1983, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was not officially
released until 1991 and was not performed by Bob Dylan in concert until 1997. I saw it
first in Essen, Germany on June 16th 1998, where this gem had not even been printed on
the cue sheet.
In September 2000 I saw Bob perform "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" again, in Cardiff, Wales,
where Dylan the band leader beckoned Charlie Sexton to extend his very nice guitar
solo preceding the last verse: "God is in his heaven ..."
This was the first of three times that fall, where this statement was followed
up two songs later by Dylan's confession, that he keeps on tryin' to get there,
before they close the door.
In 2001 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" has been performed four times, in Melbourne,
Australia; in Montreux, Switzerland; in Springfield, Illinois; and in Spokane,
Washington.
In 2002 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared in three European shows in May, in
Rotterdam, in Manchester, and during the first London show. It sure has
been a pleasure to be present during both of these British performances
of this brilliant song, which Bob gave us within 49 hours.
The next appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was in August 2002 in Canada,
when Bob played it in Halifax. In October 2002 in Las Vegas "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL"
was treated to its first acoustic live performance.
Half a year later, during both shows in Houston, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" had its
first two appearances in 2003, with Bob on piano and electric guitar (with the
audience cheering as Bob sang: "I traveled through East Texas").
Six days later it was performed in Nashville, without guitar, only on piano. On the
next day "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared in Louisville, for the first time ever in
the same set as "SAVING GRACE".
In May, nine days later, Bob performed "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" in Atlantic City;
and next, five days after that, in Asheville, North Carolina, where it was preceded
by "DIGNITY", which just had followed "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND", making this a wonderful
string of three of the finest songs written in the eighties. Two days later
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared during a shorter festival set in Birmingham, Alabama.
In July 2003 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in West Valley City, Utah;
and then in Ketchum, Idaho. In August it appeared in Columbus, Ohio, and in
Northampton, Massachusetts. More than three months later, in London, in November,
Bob Dylan performed "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" during the last show of his finest
European tour since 1981.
The first appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" in 2004 was at the Vic Theatre in Chicago,
for the second time in the same set as "SAVING GRACE". Only three days later, in St. Paul,
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed again. Five days after that, in Detroit,
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" and "SAVING GRACE" shared another set list. Ten days further on,
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared in Boston.
In April, at the last of three shows in Washington D.C., "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed
during a concert which had started with the first "GOD KNOWS" since 2001, and which also
included gems like "TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN", "I SHALL BE RELEASED", and "I BELIEVE IN YOU".
During the third show in June, in Atlantic City, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed again
in the same set as "GOD KNOWS", "TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN" and "I SHALL BE RELEASED". Five
days later "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared during the Bonnaroo 2004 Music Festival in
Manchester, Tennessee.
During the European tour in 2004 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in Córdoba, once more
in the same set as "GOD KNOWS" and "I SHALL BE RELEASED". In August, in Richmond, "BLIND
WILLIE MCTELL" appeared again in the same show as "GOD KNOWS", "I SHALL BE RELEASED", and
"TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN". Six days later, in Lexington, Kentucky, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL"
was performed once more in the same set as "I SHALL BE RELEASED" and "I BELIEVE IN YOU".
During the fall tour of 2004 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared at first in Berkeley, California,
in the same set as "GOD KNOWS", "FOREVER YOUNG" and "TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN". The next
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed two weeks later in De Kalb, Illinois, this time in the
same show as "GOD KNOWS", "FOREVER YOUNG" and "NOT DARK YET".
The next performance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was in Columbus, Ohio, two days after the
US election, as part of a brilliant set list which also included "DIGNITY",
"TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN", "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND", and the fourth ever performance of "PO' BOY".
The first appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" in 2005 was in March in Denver, in the same show
as the first "SAVING GRACE" of 2005. Two weeks later, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan,
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed again, this time in the same set as "SAVING GRACE" and
"FOREVER YOUNG".
Five days after this, during the second Boston show, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared together
with "FOREVER YOUNG" and "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND". And twelve days later, in New York,
"BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in the same show as "SEÑOR", "A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL",
and "MISSISSIPPI".
During the May to July stadium tour of 2005, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed four times.
In North Carolina it appered together with the typical Sunday songs for this tour, "GOD KNOWS"
and "TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN", and in Massachusetts together with the only "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND"
of the tour.
Four more times "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in July 2005, in four consecutive concerts,
starting with the "Amazon-Show" in Seattle, which Bob chose to close with a marvelous "I SHALL
BE RELEASED" duet with Norah Jones. In Victoria, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" shared another set list
with "GOD KNOWS"; and in the first of the Vancouver shows it was performed together with
"SHOOTING STAR".
The next appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was in Oslo, Norway, during the second show of the
European fall tour of 2005. Three more times this song was performed in Europe that fall, in
Hamburg, in Rotterdam, and in Nottingham. In Rotterdam I was present during the performance of
this song, and "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was the first peak of the show for me, well sung by Bob,
and nicely accompanied on Banjo by Donnie. In a world where levees are not fortified to stand
hurricanes, because funds are channelled elsewhere to fight wars, it is very fitting to hear
Bob Dylan sing: “… this land is condemned all the way from New Orleans to New Jerusalem …
God is in heaven, and we all want what's his, but power and greed and corruptible seed seem
to be all that there is …”.
The first performance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" in 2006 was during the second of two shows
in Kansas City, Missouri; the next one was already three days later, in Des Moines, Iowa,
and four days after that "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared in the second of two shows
in Memphis, Tennessee. In Asheville, North Carolina, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed
again, and one member of the audience reported directly after the show: "Blind Willie McTell
was the biggest highlight for me. The organ adds a whole new dimension to this song....beautiful
and haunting and worth the price of admission alone."
The next performance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was one I was again honored to witness myself,
here in Cork, Ireland, at the second show of the European tour of 2006. It was the first
appearance of this gem on the Emerald Isle, and was delivered very focused and with great
phrasing, especially during the last verse. One of the peaks of a very fine show. The second
appeareance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" during the European tour was five days later, at the
Roskilde Festival in Denmark; and in mid July, in Le Cannet, France, it was sung by Dylan
in the same concert as the second "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND" of the tour. One week later, in Cosenza,
Italy, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was included in the last concert of the European summer tour of 2006.
The next appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was exactly one month later, in Columbus, Ohio; before
one week after that, in Washington, Pennsylvania, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed again in the
same set as "EVERY GRAIN OF SAND". In September "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in Cooperstown, New York.
During the fall tour of 2006 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in two of the 29 shows, in Madison and Boston;
and during the European spring tour of 2007 "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" appeared only once, during the first London show.
The second performance in 2007 of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was during the North American summer tour, in Bethel, New York;
and the third appearance of "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" in 2007 was in Melbourne, Australia. Two more times in 2007 Bob Dylan
chose to perform "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL", both in October, in Cincinnati and Chicago.
In February 2008, "BLIND WILLIE MCTELL" was performed in Dallas, Texas, during the second of three warmup shows for Dylan's Latin America tour.
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one.
~ Ecclesiastes 5 ~
God is in heaven and you are on earth.
~ Revelation 21 ~
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from
the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and
God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning
nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
