This is my second contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In my first installment [Here], I yakked about the VAN MORRISON song 'Cleaning Windows'. Well, dogged if I ain't back with more Van-The-Man for ya!
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A lot of Morrison's music has spiritual themes, and a great deal of it slowly rolls itself out, gradually becoming almost a kind of hypnotic "music meditation". However, Van has a great love of early American Folk, Blues, Country and R&B styles and incorporated them into many of his songs.
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Below, I put together a 3-song playlist titled 'VAN MORRISON - Uptempo & Funky'. The first song on the list is Van's cover of the old standard Country Blues song [link> 'MIDNIGHT SPECIAL'. He turns it into a Blues-Rock powerhouse! This was amongst Morrison's earliest recordings, and I think he delivers the ultimate rendition of this great old song. I LOVE the bass playing on this track!
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The second song, 'I'VE BEEN WORKING', comes from Van's first live album 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' (1973). I believe this is unquestionably one of the very greatest live albums ever released, and I also believe this may be the funkiest song I've ever heard; I can't sit still while it plays! I'm wild about the interplay between the musicians - the way they all take turns bursting in and playing off of each other's licks. Bassist David Hayes once said: "When I speak to Van about that album, he still talks about it as having marked the peak of his career. He really feels he was on to something very special."
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And the third and final song of this set is 'IF YOU ONLY KNEW', a cover of a Mose Allison song from Morrison's 1985 album 'A Sense Of Wonder'. In my first blog bit of this MusicFest, I mentioned how much I love the saxophone playing of [link> Pee Wee Ellis. Ellis played with James Brown in the 1960s, and Van knowing a great musician when he hears one, enlisted Pee Wee for recording and touring for over two decades. 'If You Only Knew' contains possibly my very favorite example of Pee Wee's playing, where he takes a kind of scorched-earth policy into the solo and just blows everything away!!
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Here ya go - 3 "Uptempo & Funky" Van Morrison songs - I hope you dig 'em!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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Woah.... say it isn't so!
ReplyDeleteTwo posts in one week? I am truly honored!
Am enjoying this funky and groovy playlist this afternoon.. such a pleasant surprise.
Hope all is well with you. As for me, am starting to feel slightly human again.
Thanks for joining in today!
~Mary
Howdy, MMQE ~
DeleteVan-The-Man could definitely get on down with his bad self! That was one funky White boy, and he has *ALWAYS* had nuttin' but top-notch players backing him up!
Yeah, at first I just thought I'd post 2 or 3 random songs, but then a theme came to mind, and that lit a fire (well, a spark, perhaps) under me.
Glad to hear you're feeling better. Me, I'm not sure *how* I feel. Kind of numb these days. But that's what the whiskey's for. (While feel numb when you can feel numb-er?!)
Hope you have a nice weekend.
~ D-FensDogG
'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'
Thanks for the funky tunes! It's the middle of the night here and I enjoyed them all. You're right about the fabulous musicianship going on. ☺ So, what does MMQE stand for, anyway? Mary, Mary, Quite Extraordinary? That would fit. Whiskey is an excellent pain reliever. Have a good night!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the White Irish Funk, DEBBIE.
DeleteI just now noticed that I wrote >>... While feel numb when you can feel numb-er?!
"While"? WTP?! Can't believe I didn't catch that when I proofread the comment before clicking "Publish". I hadn't even poured a glass of Bourbon yet!
I've noticed several typos I've made in comments lately. I really AM kind of mentally out of it... more'n usual.
Yip! Mary, Mary, Quite Extraordinary. If anyone doesn't believe it, there's the BOTB Master chart on her blog, standing as testimony to the fact.
~ D-FensDogG
'Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...'
Here's hoping your mental fog clears up, soon. We all make typos, now and then. I was tired and didn't notice. ☺ Mary is definitely cool. Wishing you a good Sunday.
DeleteThanks, DEBBIE!
DeleteI'm in a weird place right now, but hopefully it will pass... or I will.
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
I do like Van Morrison! But just thinking about the volume of this ROcktoberfestamundo stuffs is tiring. I am glad I don't blog. No way would I be able to find time to put this stuff together even at the occasional level, let alone one of those daily post events!
ReplyDeleteI still have VM's "Sense of Wonder" LP, too, but I did not know that this tune was a Mose Allison one. I have a few Mose cassette tapes, but have not listened in a long time. The cassettes have been relegated to the attic for a few years.
Commenting right now is a challenge, hence I might miss one or be late. I am driving across country again.
Have you begun any local "DRIVING?" (know what I mean, nudge, nudge?) And no driving while numb, or numb-er.
SIXGUN ~
DeleteYeah, a commitment to post daily is something I'd never make. To me, that's taking a pleasant pastime and turning it into a non-paying "job". But I can do this thang because it's at my own pace, and because I'm not yet employed full-time anywhere.
No worries about commenting, McBruhthuh. I appreciate it when you're able to stop by, but you're the busiest person I know, so I'm actually a wee bit surprised by how often you DO manage to stop in, read, and comment.
Haven't started driving part-time yet. It'll probably be another week. Lots of paperwork to do first, and some orientation classes, etc. I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I'm just trying to keep the faith that God's "got this".
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation