The first time I saw and heard 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 of Brown Eyed Girl. He was playing the song Wavelength and it sounded great. I would not become a fan until 1985 when I got a compilation album with Brown Eyed Girl on it.
When I heard Brown Eyed Girl I read everything I could about Van Morrison. The first album I purchased was Tupelo Honey so I went from there and bought most of his ’70s albums… plus a Them compilation.
Kingdom Hall kicks the album off as the opening track. It’s very radio-friendly and commercial-sounding. The album was one of his best sellers up to that time. Jehovah’s Witnesses use Kingdom Halls for worship and Bible lessons. During the 1950s, his mother Violet was a steady member of the Witnesses for a few years and Van occasionally accompanied her. Evidently, he had a good time at those at least during the singing.
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.
I was lucky to see him in concert on March 7, 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 has a complicated history. Some have said he was the nicest person in the world to them and some not so much. I guess that describes a lot of us.
Harvey Goldsmith (Morrison’s manager): “Every single person that had been involved with him, be it record company, publishing, promoting, agency or whatever, had a tremendous respect for him. But everyone also said that he was the most difficult person in the world to deal with.”
Kingdom Hall
So glad to see you
So glad you’re here
Come here beside me now
We can clear inhibition away
All inhibitions
Throw them away
And when we dance like this
Like we’ve never been dancin’ before
[Chorus:]
Oh, they were swingin’
Down at Kingdom Hall
Oh, bells were ringin’
Down at the Kingdom Hall
A choir was singin’
Down at the Kingdom Hall
Hey, liley, liley, liley
Hey, liley, liley, low
Do do do do do do, do
Do do do do do do
Do do do do do do, do
Do do do do do do
Good body music
Brings you right here
Free flowin’ motion now
When we’re shakin’ it out on the floor
Good rockin’ music
Down in your shoes
And when we dance like this
Like we’ve never been dancin’ before
[Chorus]
Down at the Kingdom Hall
They were havin’ a party
They were havin’ a ball
Bells were ringing out
And the choir was singin’
Hey, liley, liley, liley
Hey, liley, liley, low
Do do, do do, do do, do do
Sugar was there
Did you see Sugar
Down at the Kingdom Hall
Sugar was tough
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