Happy Thanksgiving! Watching The Last Waltz is just as part of Thanksgiving as the meal with the family…that and Alice’s Restaurant which is coming.
The Band on Thanksgiving in 1976 at the Fillmore West. The film starts off with THIS FILM MUST BE PLAYED LOUD! A cut to Rick Danko playing pool and then it then to the Band playing “Don’t Do It”…the last song they performed that night after hours of playing. Through the music and some interviews, their musical journey and influences are retraced.
This film is considered by many the best concert film ever made. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. I love the setting with the chandeliers that were from the movie Gone With The Wind. The quality of the picture is great because it was shot with a 35-millimeter camera which wasn’t normally done with concerts.
Before the Band and guests hit the stage, Bill Graham, the promoter, served a Thanksgiving dinner to 5000 people that made up the audience with long tables with white tablecloths.
The Band’s musical guests included
Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison (my favorite performance), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters
The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris also appear but their segments were taped later on a sound stage and not at the concert.
Robbie wanted off the road earlier and that is what the Last Waltz was all about…the last concert by The Band with a lot of musical friends. He was tired of touring and also the habits the band was picking up… drugs and drinking. Richard Manuel, in particular, was in bad shape and needed time.
The rest of the Band supposedly agreed but a few years later all of them but Robbie started to tour as The Band again. Richard Manuel ended up hanging himself in 1986. Rick Danko passed away in 1999 at the end of a tour of a heart attack attributed to years of drug and alcohol abuse. Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.
The Band sounded great that night and it might be the best version you will ever hear of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
The Last Waltz is a grand farewell to a great band and a film that I revisit at least twice a year… once always around Thanksgiving.
The complete concert is at the bottom…without cuts.
Dave from A Sound Day (check out the other posts on Dave’s “Turntable Talk”) posted this on November 5, 2022. He wanted a group of us to write about what we thought was the best year in music…I ended up picking the turbulent year of 1968.
When I think of the best year of music …for me it’s between 7 years. I would pick 1965 through 1971. I cannot pick all so here it goes…I pick 1968. It had some of the greatest albums and singles ever.
It was a turbulent year, to say the least. We lost two proponents of peace—Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. Other events include the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, riots in Washington, DC, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War, values, and race.
The music was also toughened up by moving away from psychedelic music. The social climate and The Band’s album Music from Big Pink had a lot of influence on this. You still had psychedelic music released but overall, music was more stripped down to the basics.
My favorite album of all time was released by The Beatles. My favorite album by The Rolling Stones was released that year as well. Let’s look at the albums released in 1968…it’s outstanding.
The Beatles – The Beatles (The White Album)
The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
The Kinks – Are the Village Green Preservation Society
That list could be on my desert island list… those albums are still being played today. I’ve only scratched the surface of the albums that year.
The Holy Trinity of Rock all released music that year… which would be The Beatles, The Who, and The Stones. I can’t imagine living in the era when these bands were in their prime and roamed the earth. The Who didn’t release an album, but they did release some singles and were gearing up for the following year. Let’s look at some of the singles of that year.
The Beatles – Hey Jude/Revolution
The Beatles – Lady Madonna
The Who – Magic Bus
The Rolling Stones – Jumping Jack Flash
Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
The Doors – Hello, I Love You
The Rascals – People Got To Be Free
Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
Otis Redding – The Dock of the Bay
The Supremes – Love Child
The Chamber Brothers – Time Has Come Today
Janis Joplin – Piece of My Heart
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Suzie Q
Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends
The year featured the debut album of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Brian Jones made his final album with the Rolling Stones and it was the start of their great 5 album stretch. The Who started to record the album that would break them worldwide with Tommy. Dock of the Bay would be released posthumously after Otis Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The Grateful Dead would release their second album Anthem of the Sun and continue to build one of the largest fan bases ever. Jimi Hendrix was breaking barriers with his experimentation in the studio as well as live.
The Band would change the game by releasing Music From Big Pink. It influenced nearly everyone at the time to go back to a rootsy kind of music. Fleetwood Mac would release their debut album this year. Jeff Beck would release his legendary album Truth.
FM radio was getting huge at this time and showed that audiences didn’t have to have top 40 hits to buy albums. Take Van Morrison for instance. Astral Weeks didn’t have a “hit” on the album but continued to be played and sell. The Beatles The White Album is as diverse as you can get… Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Reggae, Avant-Gard, Blues, Hard Rock, and some 20’s British Music Hall thrown in for good measure. No singles were released from this album or Sgt Pepper the previous year. They treated singles and albums as two different things. Hey Jude and the hit version of Revolution was recorded during the White Album but yet they left those two off. The Stones would do the same and leave off Jumpin’ Jack Flash from Beggars Banquet.
1968 set the stage for the coming decade’s rock music. Bands like The Who, Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin didn’t need hit singles. You bought the album now and listened to the music in the context of that format. There were still pop/rock singles but the albums were gaining traction.
To wrap it up…I think any of the years between 1965-1971 could have a strong argument for my tastes. If you are into disco or synth music…not as much.
Everyone seemed to like the first one so I thought I would bring it back. I did list many of the lyrics that you suggested in the comments on the other post…SO… this post was written by all of us…and uh…the ones that actually wrote the songs!
Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear,it’s not dark yet but it’s gettin’ there... Bob Dylan
The sunshine bores the daylights out of me…Rolling Stones
I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles, I asked Timothy Leary, but he couldn’t help me either, they called me the Seeker…The Who
Cows are giving kerosene, the kid can’t read at seventeen, the words he knows are all obscene, but it’s alright… The Grateful Dead
You take what you need and you leave the rest, but they should never have taken the very best… The Band
Wild thing you make my heart sing you make everything groovy… The Troggs
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away… Bruce Springsteen
Rich man, poor man, beggar man thiefyou ain’t got a hope in hell, that’s my belief… ACDC
The farther one travels the less one knows the less one really knows …The Beatles
My friends are gone and my hair is grey I ache in places I used to play…Leonard Cohen
Whatever gets you through the night … John Lennon
God, what a mess, on the ladder of success Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung …The Replacements
Oh, let the sun beat down upon my faceand stars fill my dream I’m a traveler of both time and space… Led Zeppelin
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola La-la-la-la Lola… The Kinks
She keeps her Moet et Chandon in her pretty cabinet “Let them eat cake”, she says just like Marie Antoinette… Queen
Shammy cleaning all the windows singing songs about Edith Piaf’s soul… Van
You can’t be twenty on Sugar Mountain though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon… Neil Young
Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again…Simon and Garfunkel
During Han’s song draft, fellow blogger Paul picked Caravan off of the album Moondance. I got the album out and enjoyed it yet again. I first got the album in the mid-80s and I count it as one of my favorite albums ever…and it’s not even my favorite Van Morrison album.
The song is one of the most romantic songs ever. Van had recently married his girlfriend Janet Planet (gotta love that name) when he wrote this song. It’s a very popular wedding song, it didn’t work too well though for Van though… Morrison and Janet divorced in 1973.
Her name before she married Morrison was Janet Rigsbee.
The song has been covered many times. Artists to cover this song include Brian McKnight, Ray Charles, Aaron Neville, Helen Reddy, Rod Stewart, Paul Carrack and John Anderson. Canadian vocalist Michael Bublé covered this for the title track of his 2009 album.
Van Morrison’s ex-wife, Janet Planet, now goes by Janet Morrison Minto after marrying her third husband, Chris Minto. She currently operates a beading business in Los Angeles via Etsy. Her shop, Lovebeads, sells uniquely designed necklaces and bracelets. So go and buy some necklaces or bracelets from Janet Planet!
Crazy Love
I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles And the heaven’s open every time she smiles And when I come to her that’s where I belong Yet I’m running to her like a river’s song
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She’s got a fine sense of humor when I’m feeling low down Yeah when I come to her when the sun goes down Take away my trouble, take away my grief Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
Yes I need her in the daytime (I need her) Yes I need her in the night (I need her) Yes I want to throw my arms around her (I need her) Kiss and hug her, kiss and hug her tight
Yeah when I’m returning from so far away She gives me some sweet lovin’ brighten up my day Yes it makes me righteous, yes it makes me whole Yes it makes me mellow down in to my soul
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
The first time I saw Van Morrison was on November 4, 1978 on Saturday Night Live. I was 11 and didn’t know anything about him. I hadn’t even heard Brown Eyed Girl…I would not hear that song until I was 18 in 1985. That in itself is one of the mysteries of life…how I could of possibly go 18 years without hearing that song.
He was playing the song Wavelength and it sounded great. I would not become a fan until 1985…I bought a compilation album of the sixties and I heard Brown Eyed Girl…it started a Van Morrison record buying frenzy. Since then I’ve been a huge fan. I saw him on March 7, 2006 at the Ryman Auditorium and he didn’t disappoint. If I could sing like anyone in history…it would be Van.
Van has said that this song is about the Voice of America, which is a radio service run by the United States government for political purposes. Morrison said that he listened to the service when he was a kid.
The song peaked at #42 in the Billboard 100 and #63 in Canada in 1978. The album Wavelength peaked at #28 in the Billboard Album Charts, #31 in Canada, #27 in the UK, and #9 in New Zealand in 1978.
Van Morrison:“It’s actually about Europe, because that’s where the station was. It came out of Frankfurt, and the first time I ever heard Ray Charles was on the Voice of America. We tried to get a tape recording of the Voice of America to put on the front of that track, but it didn’t work out. I didn’t get it by the time the album was due to be mixed. But I think it would have made it a lot clearer if the signature thing was on the front of it. It doesn’t click for a lot of people.”
Wavelength
This is a song about your wavelength And my wavelength, baby You turn me on When you get me on your wavelength Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah With your wavelength Oh, with your wavelength With your wavelength With your wavelength Oh mama, oh mama, oh mama, oh mama oh mama, oh mama
Wavelength Wavelength You never let me down no You never let me down no
When I’m down you always comfort me When I’m lonely you see about me You are ev’ry where you’re ‘sposed to be And I can get your station When I need rejuvenation
Wavelength Wavelength You never let me down no You never let me down no
I heard the voice of America Callin’ on my wavelength Tellin’ me to tune in on my radio I heard the voice of America Callin’ on my wavelength Singin’ “Come back, baby Come back Come back, baby Come back”
Do do do dou dit do do dou dit do do do do do Do do do dou dit do do dou dit do do do do do
Won’t you play that song again for me About my lover, my lover in the grass, yeah, alright You have told me ’bout my destiny Singin’ “Come back, baby Come back Come back, baby Come back”
On my wavelength Wavelength You never let me down no You never let me down no When you get me on When you get me on your wavelength When you get me Oh, yeah, Lord You get me on your wavelength
You got yourself a boy When you get me on Get me on your wavelength Ya radio, ya radio, ya radio Ya radio, ya radio, ya radio Wave wave wave
If I ventured in the slipstream Between the viaducts of your dream Where immobile steel rims crack And the ditch in the back roads stop Could you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes?
It’s really a crime to focus on one song off of this album. I really shouldn’t separate it from the album but this is the opening track to the great album Astral Weeks. Some have this album as the number 1 album of all time.
In 1966, Morrison visited the Belfast, Ireland, home of his friend, painter Cecil McCartney… He’d been working on some paintings themed around astral projection, and they caught Van’s attention and he tried to translate the visuals into a song.
John Payne the flautist who had been working with Morrison, said it was the first time he had ever heard it, and that although the song may sound rehearsed it was actually captured from the only take
This song acted as the hook for me for the rest of the album.
Van Morrison described the title:“like transforming energy, or going from one source to another with it being born again like a rebirth. I remember reading about you having to die to be born. It’s one of those songs where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that’s basically what the song says.”
Astral Weeks
If I ventured in the slipstream Between the viaducts of your dream Where immobile steel rims crack And the ditch in the back roads stop Could you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes? To lay me down In silence easy To be born again To be born again From the far side of the ocean If I put the wheels in motion And I stand with my arms behind me And I’m pushin’ on the door Could you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes? To lay me down In silence easy To be born again To be born again There you go Standin’ with the look of avarice Talkin’ to Huddie Ledbetter Showin’ pictures on the wall Whisperin’ in the hall And pointin’ a finger at me There you go, there you go Standin’ in the sun darlin’ With your arms behind you And your eyes before There you go Takin’ good care of your boy Seein’ that he’s got clean clothes Puttin’ on his little red shoes I see you know he’s got clean clothes A-puttin’ on his little red shoes A-pointin’ a finger at me And here I am Standing in your sad arrest Trying to do my very best Lookin’ straight at you Comin’ through, darlin’ Yeah, yeah, yeah If I ventured in the slipstream Between the viaducts of your dreams Where immobile steel rims crack And the ditch in the back roads stop Could you find me Would you kiss-a my eyes Lay me down In silence easy To be born again To be born again To be born again In another world In another world In another time Got a home on high Ain’t nothing but a stranger in this world I’m nothing but a stranger in this world I got a home on high In another land So far away So far away Way up in the heaven Way up in the heaven Way up in the heaven Way up in the heaven In another time In another place In another time In another place Way up in the heaven Way up in the heaven We are goin’ up to heaven We are goin’ to heaven In another time In another place In another time In another place In another face
Ya’ know, their turnin’ on in the classroom ain’t the point. It’s when you’re missin’ out teacher teach ya’ how to roll a joint.
I’ve pulled the album out and I’ll type the liner notes on this song… Mighty Like A Rose:
“Remember Brown Eyed Girl? (It’s not here) Well it’s father, Mighty Like a Rose is one elegant slice of raunch and it’s here in spades. It’s a simmering summer song about a nympha and her sugar cubes. “
This song was not a B side… it was never released when the band was together. I first heard it when I bought an old import album called Them Featuring Van Morrison – Backtrackin’ that was released in 1974. I found it in a cutout bin in the mid 80s.
It has the sound of Brown Eyed Girl. Van Morrison has said that this was just a demo…not a finished song but it sounds really good. It does predate Brown Eyed Girl…after he left Them he recorded for Bert Burns and released Brown Eyed Girl.
Them was a very good sixties band. Some of their songs were Stones like…in many cases a little tougher and raunchier…and I mean that in a good way. Mighty Like A Rose is one of my favorite Them songs.
I doubt the song would have passed the censors back then…it probably would have been blacklisted immediately.
Mighty Like A Rose
You have drowned a thousand sorrows all in one, and mixed with mugs, (?) and millionaires you have done. Ya’ been and gone and done it for a quid, and just what you don’t know, up there you got hid.
Lord, you’re only fourteen summers and God knows, yeah, child, you’re gettin’ mighty like a rose.
You got pulled (?) for tryin’ to straighten up this town, and looked bashful bribin’ old, bent Barrister Brown.
Ya’ know, their turnin’ on in the classroom ain’t the point. It’s when you’re missin’ out teacher teach ya’ how to roll a joint.
Lord, hey, while you’re down there lookin’ up my nose, yeah, child you’re gettin’ mighty like a rose.
Next time they try to fire me, ya’ make the scene. You’re gettin’ sugar cubes for breakfast. Ya’ know what I mean.
And the, the hazard old, (?) the wind blows through you’ ears. Ya’ haven’t got enough of those what ya’ haven’t got for years.
Yeah, but never mind steppin’ on my toes. Yeah, child, you’re gettin’ mighty like a rose.
Yeah, hey, hey, you’re mighty like a rose. Uh-huh, aww, aww, aww, aww, aww, aww, mmm-mm, mmm-mm, mmm-mm, mmm-mm…
This is my tenth-round choice from Hanspostcard’s album draft…100 albums in 100 days. This wraps up the Desert Island Album portion of our show…now on to other albums and music movies.
When I was 18 in 1985 I heard Brown Eyed Girl for the first time. Somehow I missed that song growing up…which seems impossible but the song took me down a great path. I started to order imports of Van’s early Them records and then started on his 70’s solo albums.
I bought them out of order but I ended up with his late sixties and seventies albums like Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band and Street Choir, Veedon Fleece, Wavelength, Tupelo Honey, Hard Nose The Highway and this one (I then worked on the 80’s albums). I traveled a lot in my car in those days…seeing a girlfriend or just cruising about. Saint Dominic’s Preview was an album I kept going back for Van’s voice, phrasing and songwriting.
The album peaked at #15 in the Billboard Album Charts and #14 in Canada in 1972.
When I got the album I had a summer job in the middle of nowhere in this back water town. I had to drive over an hour to get there and Van kept me company singing about Safeway’s Supermarket and Redwood Trees. One listen to this album and I’m young, carefree, and having a really good time living life. Music brings back memories and this one makes me feel exactly like I felt then.
The title track Saint Dominic’s Preview is a great piece of work. This song and Tupelo Honey are probably my favorite Van Morrison songs. This one takes you on a lyrical journey…And for every cross cuttin’ country corner, country corner For every Hank Williams railroad train that cried, And all the chains, badges, flags and emblems, And every strain on brain and every eye
Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) is all about happiness. Whenever I feel down…I play this and it’s impossible to feel down. The song is an obvious tribute to the great Jackie Wilson. I’m in heaven, when you smile
Almost Independence Day is an epic song. It has a nice flow to it and it was largely improvised. Van Morrison and guitar player Ron Elliot are trading guitar licks and then Lee Charlton joins with some great jazz-influenced drums. The over all sound of this is fantastic.
Redwood Tree evokes nostalgia and memories of growing up, in a similar way as his song And It Stoned Me. Oh redwood tree, Please let us under When we were young we used to go, Under the redwood tree
So we are set on our respective islands with our top ten albums now. The only regret I have is that we didn’t have more favorite album picks…but it has to be some limit. The Beatles, The Who, Big Star, The Zombies, The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Van Morrison. Not a bad 10.
Now let’s move on to the last three.
1. Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile) 2. Gypsy 3. I Will Be There 4. Listen to the Lion 5. Saint Dominic’s Preview 6. Redwood Tree 7. Almost Independence
One of Van the Man’s best songs. The jazz and bouncy feel of this song hooks you. I really started to notice the song in the movie An American Werewolf in London.
The song was the title track to the Moondance album released in 1970.
Van didn’t release the song as a single until 1977…over seven years after it was first released. The song peaked at #92 in the Billboard 100 in 1977.
“Moondance” started as a Jazz saxophone instrumental, and Van played that original sax solo he wrote for the song. Van had said he used to play this sax number over and over, anytime h picked up his horn.
The song was listed as #226 in Rolling Stone magazine’s December 2004 feature “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
From Songfacts
Van Morrison comes up with songs many different ways, sometimes a lyric or title idea sparks a song, and other times it’s a melody.
That Rolling Stone quote is about all you’re going to get from Van regarding the song. He is notoriously fickle when it comes to speaking about his music, as he feels that the songs should speak for themselves. The liner notes to the Moondance album were written by his girlfriend Janet Planet, and instead of a traditional explanation of the recording process or a list of thank-you’s these notes are a fable, telling the story of an artist in ancient times who has a great gift but keeps it to himself. When his wife gets sick, he cures her using his gift of song. She then asks, “But who will ease your pain, who will save you?”
The flute is a big part of this song. It was played by Collin Tilton, who replaced John Payne on the instrument for the Moondance album.
This song plays throughout the sex scene in the 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London (Director John Landis also asked Cat Stevens for the use of “Moonshadow,” but was turned down). It was also used in a 2002 episode of the TV series The West Wing.
Pianist and organist Jeff Labes recalled the recording of the track to Uncut: “I remember ‘Moondance’ itself was a big question mark. It was jazzy, and didn’t seem to belong to the pack. The first time we recorded it, it came out really well, but Van thought there must be a catch. So we did it about a dozen times, and ended up going back to the first one, He liked to sing live along with the track, because Sinatra did that. He loved having a first-take vocal. He was looking for the magic.”
Moondance
Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance ‘Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I’m trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
Well, I want to make love to you tonight I can’t wait ’til the morning has come And I know now the time is just right And straight into my arms you will run And when you come my heart will be waiting To make sure that you’re never alone There and then all my dreams will come true, dear There and then I will make you my own And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside And I know how much you want me that you can’t hide
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance ‘Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I’m trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
One more moondance with you in the moonlight On a magic night La, la, la, la in the moonlight On a magic night Can’t I just have one more dance with you my love
The intro to this song is worth the price of admission. Van Morrison and guitar player Ron Elliot are trading guitar licks and then Lee Charlton joins with some great jazz-influenced drums. Van has said it was written in a stream of consciousness style. The recording was more of a jam than a thought out rehearsed process. It’s easy to get lost in this song.
Morrison released this song and album Saint Dominic’s Preview in 1972. I “found” Van in the 80s. I had heard Domino, Blue Money, and Wavelength (on SNL) when I was a kid but first heard “Brown Eyed Girl” when I was 18 years old. Why it took me so long I don’t know but after that, I had to know everything about him.
I was lucky to see him in concert in 2006 at the Ryman. If you ever get the chance to see him…don’t pass it up. His voice is even better in concert than on record and that is saying something.
Van Morrison:I picked up the phone and the operator said, “You have a phone call from Oregon. It’s Mister So-and-So.” It was a guy from the group Them. And then there was nobody on the other end. So out of that I started writing, “I can hear Them calling, ‘way from Oregon.” That’s where that came from.
Almost Independence Day
I can hear them calling way from Oregon I can hear them calling way from Oregon And it’s almost Independence Day
Me and my lady, we go steppin’ (we go steppin’) We go steppin’ way out on China town All to buy some Hong Kong silver And the wadin’ rushing river (we go steppin’) We go out on the, out on the town tonight
I can hear the fireworks I can hear the fireworks I can hear the fireworks Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay I can hear them echoing I can hear, I can hear them echoing Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
I can see the boats in the harbor (way across the harbor) Lights shining out (lights shining out) And a cool, cool night And a cool, cool night across the harbor I can hear the fireworks I can hear the people, people shouting out I can hear the people shouting out (up and down the line) And it’s almost Independence Day
I can see the lights way out in the harbor And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night breeze And I feel the cool night breeze And I feel, feel, feel the cool night breeze And the boats go by And it’s almost Independence Day And it’s almost, and it’s almost Independence Day
Way up and down the line Way up and down the line…
This song is probably my earliest memory of a Van Morrison song as a kid. I didn’t find out about him though until my senior year in high school. Somehow I never heard Brown Eyed Girl until I was eighteen.
Blue Money was a top 40 hit but you don’t hear it as much now. It’s a song that is off of his album His Band and the Street Choir released in 1971. The song became Morrison’s third best selling single of the 1970s, remaining on the charts for three months.
The album peaked at #32 in the Billboard Album Charts.
What Blue Money refers to in the song, and in most uses of the term, is money earned from racy photographs and images.
Blue Money
The photographer smiles Take a break for a while Take a rest, do your very best Take five, honey Five, honey
You search in your bag Light up a fag Think it’s a drag, but you’re so glad To be alive honey Alive honey
Said when this is all over You’ll be in clover We’ll go out and spend All of your blue money Blue money Blue money
There are many versions of this old blues song but the one I know the best is Them featuring a 19-year-old Van Morrison on lead vocal. This song was the A-side to Gloria when it was released. Gloria ended up being the hit but this one managed to peak at #10 in 1961 and #65 in the UK in 1991.
Morrison based Them’s version on John Lee Hooker’s 1949 arrangement, which he titled “Don’t Go Baby.” He heard the song on Hooker’s 1959 Highway of Blues album.
A pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page, a session musician at the time, played guitar on Them’s version. There’s debate over whether or not he wrote the guitar part or simply played what Them’s Billy Harrison came up with. Whether or not Page is actually the one playing is, itself, debated.
Blues great Big Joe Williams is credited with writing this song, but it was developed from a folk song titled “Long John,” which was recorded in 1934 by John and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. That recording captures the song being sung by black prisoners working at Darrington State Prison Farm in Texas. It was a popular tune there because “Long John” was about an escaped prisoner on the run from authorities.
Baby, Please Don’t Go
Baby, please don’t go Baby, please don’t go Baby, please don’t go Down to New Orleans You know I love you so Baby, please don’t go
Baby, your mind done gone Well, your mind done gone Left the county farm You had the shackles on Baby, please don’t go
Before I be your dog Before I be your dog Before I be your dog To git you way down here I make you walk alone Baby, please don’t go Hey
Baby, please don’t go Baby, please don’t go Baby, please don’t go Down to New Orleans You know I love you so Baby, please don’t go
Before I be your dog Before I be your dog Before I be your dog Git you way down here Make you walk alone Baby, please don’t go
Know how I feel right now My baby leavin’, on that midnight train And I’m cryin’
Baby, please don’t go Oh, baby please don’t go Baby, please don’t go Down to New Orleans You know I love you so Baby, please don’t go Let’s go
Before I be your dog Before I be your dog Before I be your dog To git you way down here I make you walk alone Baby, please don’t go, yeah
This song changes my mood as soon as it plays. Into the Mystic flows through you…wait… hold on… I’m sounding like a sixties guru but the song is a special one. It was on his album Moondance released in 1970. The album peaked at #29 in the Billboard Album Charts.
Van’s output from the late sixties to mid-seventies was just incredible in quantity and quality. He continues to this day releasing music. In the last 10 years, he has had 3 top ten albums.
I’ve never really tried to interpret this song…I just go where it takes me.
Van Morrsion: “‘Into the Mystic’ is another one like ‘Madame Joy’ and ‘Brown Eyed Girl’. Originally I wrote it as ‘Into the Misty’. But later I thought that it had something of an ethereal feeling to it so I called it ‘Into the Mystic’. That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics in WB Music, I couldn’t figure out what to send them. Because really the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there’s ‘I was born before the wind’ and ‘I was borne before the wind’, and also ‘Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one’ and ‘All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won’ … I guess the song is just about being part of the universe.”
From Songfacts
This is about a sailor at sea thinking about returning to his lover, who is back on land. Normally a foghorn signals danger, but in this case it means he is close to home and his love.
There is room for interpretation beyond the superficial meaning. It might be interpreted as expressing an understanding that life is finite (the ship sailing on its round trip) and must be lived to its fullest (“I want to rock your Gypsy soul”), and an acceptance of its inevitable end (“We will magnificently float into the mystic, when the foghorn blows I will be coming home”). When you have seen the world and loved someone, you should have no reason to fear the end because you have lived your life to the fullest.
The original title was “Into the Misty.”
According to Morrison, he couldn’t decide whether the first line should be “We were born before the wind” or “We were borne before the wind.”
This was played in the 1989 Mary Stuart Masterson movie Immediate Family. She played a woman who was young and pregnant and planning to give her baby to Glenn Close and James Woods, who couldn’t have a baby of their own.
According to a BBC survey, because of this song’s cooling, soothing vibe, this is one of the most popular songs for surgeons to listen to whilst performing operations.
Jen Chapin, the daughter of Cat’s In The Cradle singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, covered this on her 2008 CD Light of Mine.
Into The Mystic
We were borne before the wind Also younger than the sun Ere the bonnie boat was won As we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry Smell the sea and feel the sky Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that foghorn blows I will be coming home And when the foghorn blows I want to hear it
I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul Just like way back in the days of old And magnificently we will flow into the mystic
When that fog horn blows You know I will be coming home And when that fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul Just like way back in the days of old And together we will flow into the mystic Come on, girl
This song jumps out of the radio right at you. The horn section is great and so is Van’s voice in this song. Robert Christgau, writing in the Village Voice in 1971, described “Domino” as one of the “superb examples of Morrison’s loose, allusive white r&b.”
Domino peaked at #9 in 1971 on the Billboard 100. It was on the album His Band and the Street Choir which peaked at #32 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1971. Like I said in another post…I bought this album without knowing much about it except Blue Money and Domino…because it was Van Morrison and I wasn’t disappointed.
Van Morrison: “The record company was asking me for singles, so I made some like “Domino”, which was actually longer but got cut down.”
From Songfacts
This song is a musical tribute to Morrison’s inspiration, Fats Domino. Its musical style combines those of Irish Celtic (something that people from Ireland are terribly proud of) and urban contemporary gospel.
In his 1989 book The Heart of Rock and Soul, The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever, Dave Marsh ranks this song at #197.
Morrison’s then wife, Janet Planet, sang vocals on the album.
On this track, Morrison’s used lyrics from an earlier song he wrote titled “Down the Maverick.”
“Down the Maverick” referred to a radical artists’ colony started by Hervey White in Woodstock, New York. The Maverick still exists today as part of the Woodstock Art Colony.
Domino
Don’t want to discuss it I think it’s time for a change You may get disgusted Start thinkin’ that I’m strange
In that case I’ll go underground Get some heavy rest Never have to worry About what is worst and what is best (get it)
Oh oh Domino (all right) Roll me over Romeo There you go Lord have mercy
I said oh oh Domino Roll me over Romeo There you go Say it again
I said oh oh Domino I said oh oh Domino, dig it
There’s no need for argument There’s no argument at all And if you never hear from him That just means he didn’t call or vice versa That depends on wherever you’re at Or and if you never hear from me That just means I would rather not
Oh oh Domino Roll me over Romeo There you go Lord have mercy I said oh oh Domino Roll me over Romeo
There you go Say it again Oh oh Domino I said oh oh Domino.
Hey Mr. DJ I just want to hear some rhythm and blues music On the radio On the radio On the radio Uh-uh, all right Uh-uh, all right Uh-uh, all right Uh-uh Hear the band One more time
This is a lively song by Van the Man…Van Morrison. First heard this song after I bought the Van Morrison album Saint Dominic’s Preview in the 80s without knowing any song on it…I didn’t need to…it was Van Morrison. Van is one of my favorite singers…it’s not just his voice but the way he phrases his words. If you ever get a chance to see him live…do it. I got that honor (The Pay The Devil tour) once and I have to say he sounded better live than on record and that doesn’t happen a lot.
The song peaked at #62 on the Billboard 100 in 1972. This song is an obvious tribute to the great Jackie Wison.
The opening track of Saint Dominic’s Preview, this is a tribute to Jackie Wilson, one of Morrison’s influences. Released as the first single from the album, it charted at #61 on the Hot 100.
Guitarist Doug Messenger recalled the recording of the song to Uncut: “Jackie Wilson Said was totally disorganized. He didn’t know where anything went, and no one seemed to know what to do with it. Van went away and the band worked on the basic structure. When he came back we went through it a couple of times and he was real happy because all of a sudden it seemed to be making sense. He said, ‘I think it’s coming together,’ which is what he always said when he felt it was working.”
“I remember he said to the drummer, Ricky Schlosser, ‘When I sing “boom boom boom,” hit the tom and the kick drum at the same time.’ We ran through it once or twice, and the first recorded take is what’s on the album. It was all over the place, but somehow it worked. Even when he ad-libbed at the end -‘One more time’- somehow we all kept it together. At the end, Van was smiling like a Cheshire Cat. ‘I think we got it!’ We tried a second take and – of course – it all fell apart.”
The song was used as the opening theme for the 1991 comedy movie Queens Logic.
This was covered by Dexys Midnight Runners on their 1982 album Too-Rye-Ay. Released as a single, it reached #5 on the UK singles chart.
Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)
Jackie Wilson said It was Reet Petite Kinda love you got Knock me off my feet Let it all hang out Oh, let it all hang out And you know I’m so wired up Don’t need no coffee in my cup Let it all hang out Let it all hang out
Ding a ling a ling Ding a ling a ling ding Ding a ling a ling Ding a ling a ling ding Do da do da I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven I’m in heaven, when you smile When you smile, when you smile When you smile And when you walk Across the room You make my heart go Boom boom boom Let it all hang out Baby, let it all hang out And every time You look that way Honey child, you make my day Let it all hang out Like the man said let it all hang out
Ding a ling a ling Ding a ling a ling ding Ding a ling a ling Ding a ling a ling ding Do da do da I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven I’m in heaven, when you smile When you smile I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven I’m in heaven, when you smile One more time I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven I’m in heaven, when you smile When you smile
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