How else to begin the show but with the voice of Regina Havis to cleanse the air and give a little plea to let me ride? Recorded April 20, 1980 at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, This was Concert # 4 with the Third Gospel Band for Bob Dylan. Backed up by Clydie King, Gwen Evans, Mary Elizabeth Bridges, Mona Lisa Young, and Terry Young on piano, here’s Regina explaining how it came to be that she would open the shows with this Spiritual number by Rev. Willie Morganfield.
If I got my ticket, Lord, can I ride?
If I got my ticket, Lord, can I ride?
If I got my ticket, Lord, can I ride?
Ride up to Heaven in the mornin’.
This was recorded just about the same day Dylan composed a letter to a friend who had just joined the U.S. Military, in which he writes:
“the Spirit of the Lord is calling people here in this beautiful and clean city but they are more interested in lining up for Apocalypse Now than to be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost —” (lettersofnote).
References:
Marshall, S. (n.d.). An exclusive interview with Regina Havis. B-Dylan. Retrieved Dec. 17th, 2011, from http://www.b-dylan.com/pages/samples/reginahavis.html
Morganfield, W. (Can I Ride) If I’ve Got My Ticket Lord [Recorded by Bob Dylan]. On Born Again Music [CD]. Luxembourg: Flashback. (April 20, 1980).
Usher, S. (2011). People are more interested in Apocalypse Now than the Holy Ghost. Letters of Note. Retrieved Dec. 17th, 2011, from http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/05/people-are-more-interested-in.html
A Mouthful of Pennies 