In the summer of 1983, needing a break from my high-paying, but totally dead-end job at Kodak in Rochester, I asked for a month off and got it – and I bought my 19 yr old self a plane ticket and Euro-Rail Pass and set off to Europe. I brought a Walkman and just ONE …
Search Results for: van morrison
I’ve always had to call into question not just the musical taste of someone who claims not to like Van Morrison, but their entire being. For me, it would be like saying that ‘I don’t like to breathe fresh air’ or ‘I prefer to live in a dark cold cave’ than enjoy a sunshine day. …
I’m rediscovering Van after 30 years away. At the very least “Jackie Wilson Said” has to be the best of the Van Morrison singles and probably the high water mark of his career: Here’s a fantastic clip from live TV on the continent. At the very least you must listen until the foghorn whistle blows: …
At Mississippi Records in Portland this past weekend, not only did I find a DJ promo copy of Veedon Fleece on vinyl for $4, but also Cahoots by the Band, which I never knew had this collab with the Belfast Cowboy. “Oh, Belfast cowboy, lay your cards on the grade Oh, Belfast cowboy, can you …
No artist ever did a better job of turning an innocent lip-synch into a monumental fuck-you. – Scott Schinder http://youtu.be/GiaYVr7Vg9M
Right about now, I could use a “cold wind in August” – it’s fairly warm in LA. August 31 is Van the Man’s birthday, I thought I’d celebrate with Van, joined by Dr. John on keys, and Mick Ronson on guitar, (one of my favorite power trios ever) filmed on Dutch TV in ’77. – …
Producer Ted Templeman remarked that he went through three engineers during the recording of the LP, due to Morrison’s “ability as a musician, arranger and producer”: “When he’s got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing … I’ve had to change engineers who couldn’t keep up with him.” Morrison’s …
When asked: “What is a friend?” Aristotle replied: “One soul inhabiting two bodies.” In 1989, Dylan spent some time with Van Morrison in Athens, Greece. The two were at Philopappos (The Hill Of The Muses) on June 27, performing Van’s song “Foreign Window”, “it’s a song about suffering….it’s not about any one person or any …
Getting My First Listen To Van’s Live album from 1974. But now I see a link to Wavelength.- Live. Damn, I loved/still love that one. But hey, “We gaze out on.” – Ron Swanson
Indescribably beautiful: .
Portland, OR January 2, 2011 – Ending months of negotiation and unbridled industry speculation, EastPortlandBlog.com announced today its decision to declare 2011 to be the “Year of Van Morrison” in East Portland, on the internet, and across the world. “We are delighted that our year-long celebration of Van Morrison, the man, his music and his …
“Summertime in England” is from Van’s Common One album, his least popular and most misunderstood work. The song is typically 15 minutes in length, an incredible blend of jazz and gospel, suffering and bliss, and is best enjoyed live. Saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis has free reign in this 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival appearance. Love it! …
The passage below is from an interview with Greil Marcus posted on Blogcritics.org concerning “When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison“: “It is at the heart of Morrison’s presence as a singer,” Marcus asserts, “that when he lights on certain sounds, certain small moments inside a song…can then suggest whole territories, completed …
A lovely, dark, deep, vesperlike version of “Vanlose Stairway,” done by Van Morrison and crew for BBC Four:
Obvious thoughts RE: “Year of Van Morrison” contrivance: 1. In high school everyone seemed to think that Morrison’s last name was “Van Morrison,” just like an older relative of Van Halen. 2. Mr. Morrison is very short, but this physical limitation did not prevent him from taking an adult-sized helping from the Communal Cocaine Pile …
Tomorrow is the 35th Anniversary of The Last Waltz. According to the Wik, “The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as the end of The Band’s illustrious touring career,and the concert …
Upon hearing of East Portland Blog’s celebration of 2011 as “The Year of Van Morrison,” Tim Midgett registered his discontent with Van by sending me this link to a WFMU blog entry about Van’s curious 1967 recording sessions undertaken for Bang Records. http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/09/van_morrisons_c.html The entry is a few years old, and at one time it …
Photo Credit: Zach Sinclair NASHVILLE, TN – Patrick Davis, the South Carolina-born and Nashville-based songwriter is thrilled to share his newest single “L-O-V-E” which exclusively premiered earlier this week via Glide Magazine who called the song “feel good country soul …incorporating a bright Memphis soul sound with his own country-folk roots that is sure to impress fans of Chris …
Belfast singer-songwriter Gareth Dunlop released the title track of his upcoming album Animal (out April 22) alongside a stunning, surreal video. “Animal” was inspired by the artist’s internal monologue about hangups and oddities in songwriting. Dunlop explains: “A great piece of advice I once received was to ‘write like no-one will ever hear it.’ It tricks my brain into being …
“I wrote this song just after the birth of my second child. It was the early hours of the morning and he was sleeping on my chest. The days had no plan and I loved those quiet hours in the dead of the night when the world slept. The lines and melody landed together. I …
The stunning video above was created by Slade Takala-Lamey with light assistance from sexy Erman Mete. Willie and the Goodsouls’ new album is self-titled. The entire work is a lovely, emancipated, fresh, Euro-transcription of roots rock. LIYL Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nick Drake, Arthur Lee, Skip Spence, Bela Bartok, Bela Fleck, Van …
“Daylight Star” is the debut single by Sun Cutter (aka Kevin Pearce), out June 19th on all digital platforms. Taken from an eponymous debut which will be released later in 2020 on Bronzerat Records. Two years ago Sun Cutter, who is from Colchester, England, suffered a heart attack on a golf course whilst still in …
Does anyone out there have a say in which songs are chosen for this laudable and beautiful charitable exercise? As far as I know, they haven’t peerformed a Van Morrison song yet. Moondance? I’d like to see 40 expatriated crown subjects covering Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” or 50 stateless and angry former New Yorkers punching …
There’s magic here. Donald Fagen magic. “I had sort of written it acoustically and then we changed the vibe of it with that four on the floor beat and the bigger harmonies and stuff,” says Peter More. “It’s sort of about the pursuit of trying to find that constant through life, which isn’t so easy. …
Getting into the Irish poet Phil Lynott. I always knew I would. I think I need to start covering ‘Whiskey in a Jar’. He had what Van Morrison called the Hurrrrah in his voice, that real singers have. You either have it or you don’t. A singer should make you turn your head and turn …
A little bit less than once a week I find myself at AudioElement, (http://audio-element.com) a high-end audio store not far from my office in Pasadena, California. I come to AudioElement with a satchel of vinyl records, a quart of record cleaner, and a stack of premium record sleeves. I then spend an hour or so …
“Bury It There” is the new single from Kimberly Anne, available digitally now and impacting October 5th on Polydor. Written by Kimberly Anne and produced by Charlie Hugall (Florence & The Machine, Ed Sheeran, Lucy Rose) and Mark Crew (Bastille), the subtly anthemic “Bury It There” is built on an insistent guitar riff and staccato …
Have you seen the year of FX’s comedy cartoon Archer, season four or so, called Archer Vice? I’ve watched that same season over and over every night for weeks and it’s perfect, a lovely piece of trash. Viewers can count on the usual season’s worth of spot-on chicanery from superstud Archer, his disturbing and oversexed …
Saturday June 15 marked the first day of my summer vacation and I lived it up on a beautiful sunny day just south of Seattle at the White River Amphitheater. The amphitheater grounds are vast rambling grounds with Mt. Rainier looming gloriously over it. When I first arrive around 11:30, the press list had not …
Poet and mystic William Blake was considered a madman by his contemporaries. His work received little attention while he was alive. I didn’t became aware of Blake until I plugged into Allen Ginsberg’s versions of Blake via Ginsberg’s song/poems – and via Van Morrison’s Sense of Wonder and Veedon Fleece albums where Van quotes and …