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New Van Morrison, Rolling Stones releases

April 5, 2022

Available now from http://www.1960s.london

Van Morrison – “It’s Too Great To Stop Now” Live 1971 2LP set

Side One

1. Into The Mystic (Morrison)

2. I’ve Been Working (Morrison)

3. Friday’s Child (Morrison)

4. Que Sera, Sera (Livingston & Evans) /

    Hound Dog (Leiber & Stoller)

Side Two

1. Ballerina (Morrison)

2. Tupelo Honey (Morrison)

3. Wild Night (Morrison)

4. Just Like A Woman (Dylan)

Side Three

1. Moonshine Whiskey (Morrison)

2. Dead Or Alive (Guthrie)

3. You’re My Woman (Morrison)

4. These Dreams Of You (Morrison)

Side Four

1. Domino (Morrison)

2. Call Me Up In Dreamland (Morrison)

3. Blue Money (Morrison)

4. Bring it On Home to Me (Cooke)

5. Buena Sera, Signorina (Sigman & de Rose)

Personnel

Van Morrison: guitar, harmonica, vocal

Ronnie Montrose: electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin

Mark Jordan: piano, organ

Bill Chuch: bass

Bill Atwood: trumpet, trombone

Jack Schroer: soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones, piano

Rick Shlosser: drums, percussion

Ellen Schroer: vocals

Janet Morrison: vocals

Sleevenotes: Richard Cory

Recording Details

All tracks recorded live at Pacific High Recorders, Marin, California on September 5th 1971 and broadcast on Radio KSAN FM in October 1971.

Morrison’s live 1974 double LP It’s Too Late To Stop Now is “one of the greatest live albums of all time and one acknowledged by Morrison as a career peak” (John Tobler). It was recorded at shows in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and London between May and July 1973. What is less well known is the concert given by Van and his stellar band in September 1971 to an intimate audience of less than 200 at the Pacific High Recorders studio  in Marin County, near to where Morrison was living with his wife Janet and their new daughter Shana. Many of the praises applied to It’s Too Late…apply equally to the earlier session, presented here in glorious stereo. By the time of this recording Van Morrison had left behind the beat-group days of Them and the intricate song cycle of Astral Weeks, although he plays homage to both. What took their place were the 1970 LPs Moondance and His Band And Street Choir, both rooted in soul and R&B but also informed by Morrison’s love of traditional folk and jazz. His next LP Tupelo Honey would follow in October 1971.

Opening track Into The Mystic makes for a relaxed introduction, highlighting the ability of the Atwood/Schroer horn section to punctuate a song. Morrison improvises vocally, but the well-drilled band follows him. I’ve Been Working  features the jazzy piano of Mark Jordan and finishes with a whispered “You send me”.  Friday’s Child is a real rarity. Written in 1967 for Them it is a song about leaving home with the telling refrain “you can’t stop now” carried effectively by Jordan’s piano and the female backing vocals of Ellen Schroer and Janet Morrison. A more humorous insight into Morrison’s childhood is provided by the segue from  Que Sera Sera into a riotous Hound Dog that positively drips with grease.

The only song here from Astral Weeks, Ballerina expands to nine minutes.  Next up are two songs from the forthcoming LP Tupelo Honey. The title track is a relaxed reflection on Morrison’s new-found bucolic existence, whilst Wild Night by contrast is all horn-driven exuberance. Newly released as a single it starts with some enticing guitar from Ronnie Montrose and never lets up. Van Morrison was a good interpreter of Bob Dylan, with Them’s version of It’s All Over Now Baby Blue  being particularly effective. Just Like A Woman is beautifully sung, although some of Morrison’s vocal improvisations dismantle the sexual ambiguity of the original.

Moonshine Whiskey is another new track from the soon-to-be released Tupelo Honey which demonstrates the band’s ability to stop on a dime, orchestrated by Morrison’s discrete hand signals. Dead Or Alive is a Woody Guthrie song, popularised by Lonnie Donegan on the UK skiffle scene of the early 1960s. Another rarity, this cheerful performance belies the message of its lyrics and features some buoyant call-and-response vocals. You’re My Woman was inspired by Janet Morrison, who thus sings about herself. The band turn These Dreams Of You into an irresistible invitation to the dance floor driven by the impeccable rhythm section of Chuch and Schlosser.

The exuberant mood persists through Domino where even the notoriously taciturn Morrison sounds like he’s having a good time: Bruce Springsteen was clearly listening very closely to this masterclass in band dynamics. Call Me Up In Dreamland and Blue Money retain this cheerful vibe. A leisurely stroll through Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home To Me tees up the unexpected set closer Buena Sera, Signorina. Previously a hit for Louis Prima, Dean Martin and Acker Bilk it starts bizarrely with the 1812 Overture played as a polka before rocking out.

 “This is Van Morrison at the top of his game, delivering a set fuelled with unbridled passion. With no trace of the nervousness or anger that occasionally marred his concert performances during this era and with his sense of humour so prominent, it is no wonder that this recording has achieved such legendary status among Morrison’s fans and collectors. This provocative performance is often brilliant and is an enthralling listen from beginning to end.” Alan Bershaw

Sleevenotes: Richard Cory

On Tour ’65 2CD Set

The Rolling Stones

CD One

  1. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)
  2. I’m Alright (McDaniel)
  3. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  4. Pain In My Heart (Neville)
  5. Around And Around (Berry)
  6. Time Is On My Side (Meade)
  7. I’m Movin’ On (Snow)
  8. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
  9. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)
  10. I’m Alright (McDaniel)
  11. Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger, Richard) / Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard) / I’m Movin’ On (Snow)
  12. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  13. Around and Around (Berry)
  14. Off The Hook (Nanker, Phelge)
  15. Time Is On My Side (Meade)
  16. Carol (Berry)
  17. It’s All Over Now (Womack, Womack) 
  18. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
  19. It’s All Over Now (Womack, Womack)
  20. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  21. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
  22. I’m Alright (McDaniel)
  23. Crawdad  (McDaniel)
  24. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  25. Pain In My Heart (Neville)
  26. Around And Around (Berry)
  27. The Last Time (Jagger, Richards)
  28. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)

Recording Details

Tracks 1 & 2 Recorded live at Halle Munsterland, Munster, Germany (first show) on September 11th and broadcast on German TV (ZDF) Schaufenster Deutschland and Deutsche Wochenschau

Tracks  3 – 10 recorded live in the Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg, Germany on September 13th (second show) and broadcast on German TV

Track 11 Recorded live in Waldbuhne, Berlin, Germany on September 15th and broadcast on German TV SFB Berliner Abendschau on September 16th

Tracks 12 – 23 Recorded live at the Olympia, Paris for RTL Radio, First Show April 18th 1965

Tracks 24 –  27recorded live at Wembley Empire Pool, London on 11th April 1965 and broadcast on April 18th as “The Big Beat ’65” (ABC and ITV).

Track 28 Track Rehearsal recorded live and broadcast January 6th on UTV Belfast Six Five

CD Two

  1. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
  2. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
  3. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  4. Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going)
  5. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)
  6. Down The Road Apiece (Raye)
  7. Little Red Rooster (Dixon)
  8. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
  9. Play With Fire (Jagger, Richard)
  10. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)
  11.  Around And Around (Berry)
  12. If You Need Me (Bateman, Pickett, Sanders)
  13. Down The Road Apiece (Raye)
  14. Time Is On My Side (Meade)
  15. What A Shame (Jagger, Richard)
  16. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  17. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)
  18. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Russell, Burke, Wexler)
  19. Pain In My Heart (Neville)
  20. I’m Alright (McDaniel)
  21. Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going) (Lynn)
  22. That’s How Strong My Love Is (Jamison)
  23. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)
  24. Cry To Me (Russell)
  25. She Said Yeah (Jackson, Christy)
  26. Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger, Richard)
  27. Useless Information (Jagger, Richard)
  28. She Said Yeah (Jackson, Christy)
  29. Get Off Of My Cloud (Jagger, Richard)
  30. Reelin’ And Rockin’ (Berry)

Recording Details

Tracks 1-3 Recorded and broadcast on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’, New York 2.5.65

Tracks 4 & 5 Recorded for ‘Yeh Yeh’ with Tony Hall, BBC Light Programme, London on 20.8.65 and broadcast on 30.8.65

Tracks 6 -10 Recorded for ‘Shindig’, Los Angeles on 20.5.65 and broadcast on 26.5.65. Backing track for Satisfaction recorded at Chess Studios, Chicago on 10.5.65

Tracks 11 – 26 recorded and broadcast on ‘Ready Steady Go’, Studio One, Wembley (ARTV) on 07.08.64 (11 & 12), 15.01.65 (13 – 15), 26.02.65 (16), 9.04.65 (17 – 20), 10.09.65 (21 – 23, pre-recorded on 2.9.65)  and 22.10.65 (24 – 26).

Tracks 27 – 29 recorded and broadcast on NBC ‘Hullabaloo’ New York  11.11.65.

Track 30 Recorded for ‘Nestle’s Top Swinging Groups’, Radio Luxembourg Studios, London Mayfair 18.03.64

Personnel

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica

Brian Jones – guitar

Keith Richard – guitar, backing vocals

Bill Wyman – bass

Charlie Watts – drums

Sleevenotes

Following the success of our On Tour ’64 release we are delighted to bring you a companion volume from the following year. 1965 was the year that the Stones exported their domestic success to the rest of the world: the tracks here comprise radio and TV broadcasts from the UK, Germany, France and the USA.

The Rolling Stones first visit to Germany was a “riotous five city affair” (Bill Wyman) with thousands of screaming fans greeted by the police using water cannons. An Essen policeman claimed “I’ve seen nothing like this since the old days of a Nazi or Communist rally.” The Berlin date ended in a full-scale riot: the excerpts of Get Off Of My Cloud, Satisfaction and I’m Moving On included here come from a German TV news programme scandalised by the damage done to the venue. Equally seismic was Brian Jones meeting Anita Pallenberg for the first time after the Munich gig. 

Two songs from Munster reveal Jagger making full use of a big stage to rouse a predominantly-seated audience during Satisfaction. Jones is in imperious form, shaking a tambourine to get the crowd going during the closing I’m Alright. An impassioned Everybody Needs Somebody To Love opens the Hamburg set, with Jagger testifying during Pain In My Heart. The recording is so clear you can hear Jagger’s handclaps on Around And Around before the guitars of Richard and Jones muscle in and take over. Time Is On My Side features Keith Richard’s languid backing vocals providing a charming if slightly ragged harmony. A rare live outing for I’m Moving On includes Brian Jones on slide duetting with Jagger’s harmonica whilst Richards holds down the rhythm. A very polite Charlie Watts introduces The Last Time – more joint Jagger/Richardvocals and chiming twin guitars. The band stomps through Satisfactionbefore finishing with I’m Alright, Bill Wyman’s bass carrying the rhythm as Jagger works the crowd into a frenzy.

The Olympia, Paris was the venue for another exhilarating gig, thankfully recorded in good quality by French radio. A brief snippet of Everybody Wants To Somebody To Love prefaces a rockin’ Around And Around, Jagger’s vocal exuberance matched by the Richards / Jones guitar team tearing into the solos. The loping rhythm of overlooked B-side Off The Hook highlights the dexterity of Watts and Wyman. Carol kicks off with an electrifying intro from Keith Richards, whilst  Brian Jones’ slide guitar is the focus of Little Red Rooster (introduced here by the rarely-vocal Charlie Watts). Sheer punk energy drives Route 66. A lengthier Everybody Needs Somebody To Love is followed by The Last Time, featuring Richard’s distinctive backing vocals. Then back to the Crawdaddy club in Richmond for two rarely-played Bo Diddley covers I’m Alright and Crawdad itself, both of which have the desired effect of making the crowd go completely bonkers. 

Amidst this European success the UK was not overlooked. Bill Wyman remembers “On 11th April we played our first UK show in three weeks at the Empire Pool, Wembley. It was ‘The NME Poll Winners concert’ in front of a capacity audience of 10,000. Other acts included the Moody Blues, Georgie Fame, the Seekers, Donovan, Them, the Animals and the Beatles. We closed the first half and the Beatles closed the show.” Everybody Needs Somebody To Love is performed at a slower pace than usual and forms a medley with Pain In My Heart . Around and Around features a pair of densely interwoven guitars whilst the start of The Last Timeis greetedwith female screams and benefits from distinctive Keith Richards backing vocals. At the concert the Stones picked up awards for Best New Group, Best British R’n’B Group and Mick Jagger won Best New Disc Or TV Singer.

Rounding off the first disc is a brief but charming rehearsal of Little Red Rooster, done for Irish TV.

Disc Two collates the Stones 1965 TV appearances in the UK and in the US. London’s Ready Steady Go! would became the Stones televisual home from home. Fronted by uber-mod Cathy McGowan this is where the Stones learnt to play to the cameras. Mick Jagger: “RSG! wasn’t safe, it took risks and waded right into the wonderful chaos of the times. It was the best rock’n’roll show of all time”. Initial programmes were  mostly mimed, although the Stones August 1964 performances of Wilson Pickett’s If You Need Me and Chuck Berry’s Around And Around are unmistakeably live.  January 1965 saw the Stones playing their own What A Shame as well as covers of Time Is On My Side and  Down The Road Apiece. During the February 1965 performance of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love Mick was dragged offstage by female members of the Stones fan club.

By April 1965 every band was performing live. The programme’s iconic slogan “The Weekend Starts Here!” adds excitement to The Last Time, followed by the Everybody Needs Somebody To Love / Pain In My Heart medley and a truncated version of I’m Alright. By September 1965 the Stones’ increased popularity had earned them their very own edition of RSG! which showcased a more soul orientated approach through covers of Barbara Lynn’s Oh Baby! (We Got A Good Thing Going) and Otis Redding’s That’s How Strong My Love Is, before closing with a pounding Satisfaction.  Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg was especially pleased with the way Satisfaction turned out,  “a very exciting performance”. Sheila Oldham (Loog’s wife) described it as “so great, watching the Stones do Satisfaction was like having sex, it was fabulous”. There is a rare appearance from sixth Stone Ian Stewart on Oh Baby! and his distinctive piano can be heard in the second half of the song. An October 1965 session contrasts the impassioned ballad Cry To Me with the all-out ravers of Get Off My Cloud and She Said Yeah, the latter co-written by Sonny Bono under an alias.

A short-lived BBC radio programme was “Yeh Yeh” was hosted by Tony Hall and featured the Stones in August 1965. Versions of Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going) and(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction are different to those on the official BBC On Air release. A further rare track is the Radio Luxembourg recording of Reelin’ and Rockin’.

The success of RSG! spawned similar shows in America such as Shindig and Hullabaloo.  The Stones recorded five tracks for Shindig in May 1965. Little Red Rooster benefitted from some additional howling and Brian Jones’s peerless slide, whilst a brief Down The Road Apiece squeezed in a Berry-style solo from Keith Richard. What the natives made of references to Hackney and Knightsbridge in the brooding Play With Fire is not known. The backing tracks for these songs were specially recorded at RCA Studios in Los Angeles two days previously and feature an early collaboration with Billy Preston on keyboards. Mercifully the Hullabaloo Orchestra’s brief ‘interpretation’ of Satisfaction is overwhelmed by the Stones rocking out on inspired live versions of She Said Yeah and Get Off Of My Cloud, Jones and Richards sporting matching Gibson Firebirds.

Equally influential in the US was The Ed Sullivan Show. Whilst Shindig and Hullabaloo were filmed on the West Coast and had pretensions to being  hip, the Sullivan show was ultra-conservative and based in New York. Even so, Ed Sullivan provided a useful platform for the Stones right up until November 1969, giving aspiring rock’n’rollers such as Patti Smith their first glimpse of the band. On their May 1965 appearance The Last Time seems to take Charlie by surprise as he is still setting up when the song starts. Brian sports a gorgeous white Vox Teardrop but it is Keith that solos. Brian’s slide provides the focus of Little Red Rooster, duetting with Jagger’s harmonica at the end of the song. Jagger vamps his way into Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, the audience screaming louder in response to his pointing at them during the “you, you, you” sequence. Remarkably the band still bow at the end of each number.

From February 1964 through to November 1965, the Stones were frequent performers on mainstream radio and television. It was like having them in your living room: they would never offer this easy access again.  From 1966 onwards the increasing fragility of Brian Jones would result in the Stones gradually cutting back on their live performances, both in person and on TV. Once 1967’s “Summer Of Love” was safely out of the way the Stones would resurface in the darkly menacing video for Jumping Jack Flash, all tribal make up and bug-eye shades.

The weekend would no longer start here, because the weekend would never stop.

Sleevenotes – Linda Lu

From → Music, Vinyl

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