released October 6, 2020

Produced by Wesley Stace, with the assistance of Kurt Bloch
Engineered by Bob Whitfield

Recorded on 26th March 1999 at The Freight And Salvage, Berkeley.

On Annan Water:
Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica: JWH
Piano: Robert Lloyd
Pump Organ: Alison Faith Levy
Bass: Chris Xefos
Harmony Vocal: Ellis Paul

LINER NOTE

Dynablob 3 is a whole unedited show because it was easily the most popular vote when we asked you what you thought the next ‘Blob should be. I picked The Freight And Salvage show because it’s a representative show from this last tour and features Robert and I doing what we do best. The sound is great because the source is one of Bob Whitfield’s excellent tapes, on which Kurt Bloch and I did the minimum amount of post-production. Also the whole concert fits on to one compact disc which is an added advantage as it keeps the price down. The idea would be to do a few more of these from other tours so at least a show from every year is ‘on record’. Most of the rest would have to be two CD sets, however, due to the length of shows but, because I was playing this show with Ellis Paul, my set was a little more concise than usual!

Many of the usual things happen: I break a string right at the end of Talkin’…. Blues (but you can hardly tell). I invite requests, refuse some and do others. I have a conversation with an audience member that I wasn’t bargaining on. We have no idea what we’re going to play next. Some people accompany me on a song that we’ve never played together before (and in Alison’s case, on an instrument that she’d never played before!) These are the hallmarks of a regular night out and, in fact, if you bought this CD at a concert, you’ve probably just witnessed some or all the above…
.
As you know, I am not a great advocate of the set list. However there is a great moment of audible live set-listery when you hear me say to Robert loudly (but off-mic): "Golden Glove or Isle Of France?" after Things Snowball. Obviously, this would be a whole different release if he’d chosen The Golden Glove because it would have certainly sent the show off in a totally different direction (and that’s a beautiful thing…)

There is a useful suggestion from an audience member that the Isle Of France is, in fact, Paris. I have done considerable historical research into this and have discovered that the Isle Of France was, in fact, Mauritius called Ile de France by the French. (Actually, the research was done by Stephen Winick of Dirty Linen magazine.)

It’s very interesting that the two vocal screw-ups occur during the two songs I know the best. In Things Snowball, I sing the second line of the second verse instead of the second line of the first verse, and then sing it again (which is why I then say ‘deja vu!’). In The Red Rose And The Briar, I mess up the very bit I know best. These are ‘bad’ mistakes, if anyone minds. The perfectionist in me (oh yes, there is one…) minds a little but not enough not to release the tape (or, heaven forbid, do an overdub). I say during Window Seat, for no good reason, "I made the girl in 7b" — this isn’t the real lyric which is "I met the girl in 7b", but it’s a ‘good’ mistake because Mick Jagger wouldn’t have been able to get away with it in the 60s. But the idea was that you would receive this tape as it happened and, therefore, here it is.

Just to put the show in context, the previous night, in the company of James and Trudy, we had played a very strange concert in Ben Lomond, CA as mentioned during the set. After this show, James and I stayed up all night and then watched England play football at 7am at The Mad Dog In The Fog. The next morning, rather too early, Robert, Ellis Paul and I drove to Monterey where we played two shows on the Saturday night.

Some very good friends of mine were in the audience of this show and I’d like to thank them: The Clancys, Trudy Fisher, James Wesley Healey, The Taylors, Bruce and Babette Jackson, and Chris von Sneidern. I’d also like to dedicate it to Bob, Martin, Trudy and Rose, without whom…

All Songs by John Wesley Harding (TOWNSONGS/ASCAP), except 1, 3, 5, 7, and 11, Trad Arr Jones (Mollie Music).