Bob Dylan Gotta Serve Somebody Live at the Grammys February 27, 1980 Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles

Bob Dylan - Gotta Serve Somebody 1980

0:09 Kris Kristofferson
2:15 Fred Tackett Solo guitar
3:42 Words
3:54 Bob’s Harmonica Solo
5:30 Clydie King

The 22nd Grammy Awards show was held on February 27 1980, at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Note the smile and a hint of mischief in Dylan’s expression, dressed in tuxedo, and singing this to the elite. Kris Kristofferson can be seen enjoying the irony of it all.

An epic performance.

Page 141 of Clinton Heylin’s “Trouble in Mind” records notes:

“You do a rehearsal in the afternoon prior to the Grammy’s, for the cameraman and the soundman. While we were doing that, someone in the production staff asked Dylan… would he cut the tune short for production purposes? In other words, it was like four minutes and they wanted it three. Dylan then set about delivering a performance that would go on to the crack of dawn. Not only was he back to his blistering best, but just when it seemed the song must end, he stepped back to let Tackett take a lead, before locating a harmonica from somewhere inside the penguin suit he was wearing for the occasion, proceeding to blast the news straight on through. And still he found the time and energy for one more chorus, on which he spelt it out for all to hear – not ‘it may be the Lord’ but ‘it can be the Lord’! The whole thing clocks in a couple of seconds shy of six minutes thirty, making that production staff rue the day he asked Dylan to truncate his whole reason for performing at the Shrine.”

Dylan receives the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance 1979 (for his “Gotta Serve Somebody” single) 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”.

…a mere eight days after the final Saved session, Dylan and the band delivered a definitive rendering of another song they had been nightly regurgitating in concert over the past three months. The song was ‘Gotta Serve Somebody.’ The occasion was the annual Grammy awards ceremony. Nominated for best male rock vocal performance, Dylan and the band proceeded to show what a week of rest, at home in LA, might have done for all parties concerned, even if the award was already in the bag (it was his first Grammy) and the next album in the can.
-Clinton Heylin (Behind The Shades)
Dylan won a Grammy award (his first) for “Gotta Serve Somebody,” which was judged “Best Vocal Performance of 1979.” He and his band attended the televised award ceremony (February 27, 1980) and delivered a very hot, seven-minute version of the song, complete with new lyrics and even some harmonica playing. Dylan wore formal dinner wear (white tie) and thanked the Lord and his record producers.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986

It is a great performance, ironically far surpassing his vocal on the actual record. He even plays some demon harmonica. With typical perversity, he also changes the words, and the entire performance clocks in at over six minutes. Not surprisingly, Dylan wins his first Grammy Award, thanking in his acceptance speech “The Lord, Jerry Wexler, and Barry Beckett … who believed.” The award ceremony takes place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and receives the usual extensive television coverage.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995


Shrine Auditorium
Los Angeles, California
27 February 1980
22nd Annual Grammy Award Ceremony
* Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
* Fred Tackett (guitar)
* Spooner Oldham (keyboards)
* Terry Young (keyboards)
* Tim Drummond (bass)
* Jim Keltner (drums)
* Clydie King, Regina Havis, Mona Lisa Young (background vocals)


Bob Dylan: “Gotta Serve Somebody” at the 1980 Grammy Awards at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, on February 27, 1980. It is the first track on the 1979 studio album, Slow Train Coming, released on August 20, 1979. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for a Male Artist at the 22nd Grammy Awards.
Via: Youtube