His Band and the Street Choir
His Band and the Street Choir | ||||
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Warner Bros. | ||||
Producer | Van Morrison | |||
Van Morrison chronology | ||||
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Singles from His Band and the Street Choir | ||||
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His Band and the Street Choir (also referred to as Street Choir)
Reviewers praised the music of both sessions for its free, relaxed sound, but the lyrics were considered to be simple compared with those of his previous work. Morrison had intended to record the album a cappella with only vocal backing by a vocal group he called the Street Choir, but the songs released on the album that included the choir also featured a backing band. Morrison was dissatisfied with additional vocalists to the original quintet that made up the choir, and these changes and others have led him to regard Street Choir poorly in later years.
His Band and the Street Choir was as well received as Morrison's previous album,
Production
Recording
Recording began with a demo session at a small church in Woodstock, which was not intended to produce any official releases. During its course Morrison worked on leftover material from his previous two albums (Astral Weeks and Moondance), recorded songs that he had not performed in the studio before ("Crazy Face" and "Give Me a Kiss"), as well as two instrumentals. Limited recording equipment was used, operated by drummer Dahaud Shaar, who was intending to open a recording studio in Woodstock at the time.[2] Shaar remembered: "I found an old church and we would just load in. I'd set up a pair of mikes and we would just run down some tracks with the tapes running. They became like a working thing for the album."[3]
For his new band Morrison brought back three musicians from the Moondance sessions: saxophonist Jack Schroer; guitarist
Between March and May 1970 Morrison began work on the album at the A&R recording studios in New York City.
Morrison returned to the A&R studios between June and August to record the remaining six tracks that featured on the album.[7] For this second session Dahaud Shaar filled the role of engineer, though Shaar did not remember Morrison giving the job to him: "Elliot thought he was going to be the co-producer, but then again I never saw him calling takes or asking people to change parts ... I didn't consider myself co-producer. Van would ask me questions and I would give him answers, but it was never a defined role."[2] Morrison felt dissatisfied with some of the final recordings, and notably reworked the song "Street Choir" shortly before studio work concluded.[11]
Composition
Some songs featured on His Band and the Street Choir were first recorded for the albums Astral Weeks and Moondance. Morrison rewrote and rearranged them for release on Street Choir because the recordings for his new album featured different personnel and instrumentation.[12] The songs on the album, which Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Landau believes have a free, relaxed sound to them, borrow from various music genres;[13] the simple lyrics lack the complexity popularly expected from Morrison's work.[14] According to Pitchfork journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Street Choir eschewed Moondance's jazz influences in favor of "soul and gospel, using folk almost as an accent", all the while possessing a "heavy R&B kick".[15] AllMusic contributor Jason Ankeny believed that, without the "overt mysticism" of the singer's previous two records, it was "simply Morrison's valentine to the rhythm and blues that inspired him".[16]
The first recording that would feature on His Band and the Street Choir was "I've Been Working", an out-take from the Astral Weeks sessions in 1968 and the Moondance sessions in 1969.[12] The final version produced on His Band and the Street Choir is upbeat and shows the influence of James Brown. Morrison notably sings the line "Woman, woman, woman, you make me feel alright" in unison with the horn section, which Jon Landau describes as "breathtaking".[13][17]
"
"Virgo Clowns" was first recorded at the start of 1969 as "(Sit Down) Funny Face". Morrison next recorded it during the first Street Choir session, renaming it simply "Funny Face". It was re-recorded during the second session under the completely different title of "Virgo Clowns".[12][24] In its final form, Morrison and John Platania duet on acoustic guitars.[22] As the song fades out laughter is heard performed by Dahaud Shaar and Larry Goldsmith.[25]
"Crazy Face" evolved from "Going Around with Jesse James",[20] a song Morrison first recorded for Astral Weeks on 15 October 1968.[12] Both songs contain references to American outlaw Jesse James.[20] Morrison arranged "Crazy Face" in the irregular time signature 8/4; the first, third and seventh beats of the bar are emphasised.[26] It begins with a gentle piano introduction,[20] and ends abruptly, which, in Peter Mills' view, represents a shot from a gun, consistent with the American outlaw theme.[17]
"Give Me a Kiss" and "Gypsy Queen" are the final songs recorded during the first recording session.
The second recording session yielded the remaining material.[12] "Call Me Up in Dreamland" is a gospel-style composition.[25] The lyrics refer to life on the road,[22] as Morrison was touring when he recorded the album.[8] They also refer to Morrison and Janet Planet's life at the time: "We were finally, really living in a dreamland—believe it or not—it was a magical time", Planet recalled.[32]
"
In the album closer, "Street Choir", Morrison repeats the questions, "Why did you let me down / And now that things are better off / Why do you come around". Because of these lyrics Heylin wrote that "such songs [as "Street Choir"] were spawned by an increasing awareness of just how badly ripped off he had been".[37] Ken Brooks has said that the lyric "Move On Up" is another reference on the album to a Curtis Mayfield song.[29] The track prominently features Keith Johnson's trumpet and Morrison's harmonica. Writer Brian Hinton described the lyrics as perversely bitter,[22] while Jon Landau wrote that "Street Choir" was one of the "two or three finest songs" of Morrison's career because of its "musical and poetic energy".[13]
Packaging
David Gahr took the gatefold photos of Morrison surrounded by his musicians with their wives and children at a party for Planet's son, Peter, born from a previous relationship. Morrison dismissed these photos as "rubbish". However, Johnny Rogan commented that the front cover looks far worse; it included a "hilarious" image of Morrison in a full-length kaftan.[8] Morrison complained about the stereotypical front cover as well: "people think you're a hippie because of the long hair and beard. ... I'd bought the kaftan in Woodstock, and that's what people were wearing."[8] Mills agrees that "Van Morrison was never a hippie, but this was as close as he came."[38]
Reception
Release
His Band and the Street Choir was first released on LP in November 1970 and was Morrison's third record to be produced for Warner Bros.
His Band and the Street Choir peaked at number 32 on the
Critical response
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Pitchfork | (8.7/10)[15] |
Q | [50] |
Rolling Stone | (favourable)[51] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [52] |
Uncut | 8/10[53] |
Reviewers generally praised Street Choir. Jon Landau of Rolling Stone compared it to Morrison's previous work:
"His Band and the Street Choir is a free album. It was recorded with minimal over-dubbing and was obviously intended to show the other side of Moondance. And if it has a flaw it is that, like Moondance, it is too much what it set out to be. A few more numbers with a gravity of 'Street Choir' would have made this album as close to perfect as anyone could have stood."[51]
ZigZag magazine reviewer John Tobler felt, "even if it's inferior to Moondance, it is still better than eighty per cent of the records you've got in your collection."[54] Robert Christgau wrote in The Village Voice, "A few humdrum cuts and an occasional minor lapse of taste make this a less compelling album than Moondance, which only means it wasn't one of the very best of 1970. The good cuts, especially 'Domino' and 'Blue Money,' are superb examples of Morrison's loose, allusive white r&b."[47] Biographer Brian Hinton commented that His Band and the Street Choir is "vaguely reminiscent of Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline".[22] Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello identified His Band and the Street Choir as one of his 500 essential albums and "Street Choir" as one of his favorite songs.[55] In 2006 Johnny Rogan called the songs on the album "a severe disappointment when compared to the material on the previous two albums."[8]
Morrison and the musicians' responses
Van Morrison regarded Street Choir poorly, as he told biographer Ritchie Yorke in 1973: "Somewhere along the line I lost control of that album. I'd rather not think about that album because it doesn't mean much in terms of where I was at ... the album didn't sell very well and I'm glad."[56] Morrison first lost control of the album before its release, when it was retitled from Virgo's Fool to His Band and the Street Choir:
"Somebody else got control of it and got the cover and all that shit while I was on the West Coast. I knew what was happening to it, but it was like I couldn't stop it. I'd given my business thing over to someone else and although I had final approval on things, they just went ahead and did the wrong thing. They told the record company it was one thing and it wasn't. So the whole thing went wrong."[56]
Despite this, assistant producer and drummer Dahaud Shaar recalled that Morrison had positive feelings towards the album at the time of its release.[57]
Janet Planet holds the view that "There is much to love about the songs on this album: 'Blue Money', 'Crazy Face', 'Call Me Up in Dreamland', 'Domino' - these are just great songs in any era."[58]
Track listing
All songs written by Van Morrison.[59]
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Personnel
- Musicians
- Van Morrison – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, tenor saxophone (on "Crazy Face" and "Call Me Up in Dreamland")
- Alan Hand – piano, Hammond organ, celeste
- Keith Johnson – trumpet, Hammond organ
- John Klingberg – bass
- John Platania – electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin
- Jack Schroer – soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones, piano
- Dahaud Shaar (David Shaw) – drums, percussion, bass clarinet, backing vocals
- backing vocals(on "If I Ever Needed Someone")
- The Street Choir
- Larry Goldsmith
- Janet Planet
- Andrew Robinson
- Ellen Schroer
- Dahaud Shaar (David Shaw)
- Martha Velez
- Production[60]
- Van Morrison – producer
- Dahaud Shaar – assistant producer
- Elliot Scheiner – production coordinator, engineer
- Dixon Van Winkle, Ed Anderson, Mark Harman, Richard Lubash – assisting engineers
- David Gahr – photography
- Janet Planet – album design
Charts
Album
Chart (1970) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[61] | 32 |
UK Albums Chart[42] | 18 |
US Billboard 200[41] | 32 |
Dutch Albums Chart[46]
|
48 |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US [44] |
NED [46] | ||
1970 | "Domino" | 9 | 22 |
1971 | " Blue Money "
|
23 | — |
"Call Me Up in Dreamland" | 95 | — | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
References
- Footnotes
- ^ Turner 1993, p. 107
- ^ a b c Heylin 2003, p. 238
- ^ Heylin 2003, pp. 237–238
- ^ a b c d Hinton 2000, p. 121
- ^ Hinton 2000, pp. 104
- ^ Becker n.d.
- ^ a b Heylin 2003, p. 520
- ^ a b c d e f g Rogan 2006, p. 257
- ^ Collis 1996, p. 122
- ^ Heylin 2003, pp. 239, 520
- ^ a b Heylin 2003, p. 242
- ^ a b c d e f g h Heylin 2003, pp. 518–520
- ^ a b c d e f Landau 1971
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 235
- ^ Pitchfork.
- ^ Ankeny 2001, p. 271
- ^ a b Mills 2010, p. 44
- ^ Unterberger n.d.
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 4
- ^ a b c d e f Brooks 1999, p. 55
- ^ a b Mills 2010, p. 43
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hinton 2000, pp. 122–123
- ^ a b c d DeWitt 1983, p. 88
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 240
- ^ a b c d Brooks 1999, p. 56
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 18
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 10
- ^ Collis 1996, p. 123
- ^ a b c Brooks 1999, p. 57
- ^ Rogan 2006, p. 258
- ^ Bangs & Marcus 1970
- ^ Mills 2010, p. 45
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 22
- ^ Marcus 1979, p. 20
- ^ a b Heylin 2003, p. 127
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 9
- ^ a b Heylin 2003, p. 221
- ^ Mills 2010, p. 41
- ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Van Morrison: His Band and the Street Choir". AllMusic.
- ^ Jurek n.d.
- ^ a b Anon. (b) n.d.
- ^ a b Anon. (c) n.d.
- ^ a b Hinton 2000, p. 120
- ^ a b c d DeWitt 1983, p. 63
- ^ Marcus 2010, p. 5
- ^ a b c Anon. (a) n.d.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "Van Morrison: His Band and Street Choir". The Village Voice.
- ^ Larkin 2006, p. 12
- ^ Graff & Durchholz 1999, p. 783
- ^ Anon. 1993, p. 110
- ^ a b Landau, Jon (4 February 1971). "His Band and The Street Choir". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Evans 1992, pp. 487–88
- ^ Gill, Andy (1 December 2015). "Van Morrison – Astral Weeks/His Band and the Street Choir". Uncut.
- ^ Yorke 1975, p. 88
- ^ Costello 2000
- ^ a b Yorke 1975, p. 89
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 243
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 241
- ^ Ankeny n.d.
- ^ Planet 1970, p. 4
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- Bibliography
- Ankeny, Jason (2001), "Van Morrison: His Band & Street Choir", in Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; ISBN 978-0879306274
- Ankeny, Jason (n.d.), His Band and the Street Choir, AllMusic, retrieved 6 April 2017
- Anon. (July 1993), "Review", Q
- Anon. (1999), Van Morrison Anthology, Los Angeles: ISBN 978-0-7692-8967-0
- Anon. [a] (n.d.), Dutch Charts: Van Morrison – His Band and the Street Choir, Dutch Charts, retrieved 21 January 2010
- Anon. [b] (n.d.), His Band and the Street Choir: Billboard, AllMusic, retrieved 29 December 2009
- Anon. [c] (n.d.), Van Morrison: albums, Official Charts Company, retrieved 5 January 2010
- Anon. [d] (n.d.), "Van Morrison: His Band and the Street Choir", Pitchfork, retrieved 6 April 2017
- Bangs, Lester; Marcus, Greil (19 March 1970), "Van Morrison: Moondance", Rolling Stone, no. 54, archived from the original on 10 December 2010, retrieved 30 April 2010
- Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press, ISBN 978-1-57859-061-2
- Becker, Günter (n.d.), 1970-04-26 - regular show, ivan.vanomatic.de, archived from the original on 18 October 2007, retrieved 29 December 2011
- Brooks, Ken (1999), In Search of Van Morrison, Andover, Hampshire: Agenda, ISBN 978-1-899882-95-3
- Christgau, Robert (11 March 1971), Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide (16), Robert Christgau, retrieved 30 March 2009
- ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 8 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- Collis, John (1996), Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, London: Warner Books, ISBN 978-0-7515-2068-2
- Costello, Elvis (1 November 2000), Costello's 500, Elvis Costello, retrieved 7 December 2008
- DeWitt, Howard A. (1983), Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music, Fremont, California: Horizon Books, ISBN 978-0-938840-02-2
- Evans, Paul (1992), "Van Morrison", in ISBN 978-0679737292
- Gill, Andy (December 2015), "Van Morrison Astral Weeks/His Band and the Street Choir", Uncut
- ISBN 978-0-670-89321-8
- ISBN 978-1-86074-312-2
- Jurek, Thom (n.d.), His Band and the Street Choir, AllMusic, retrieved 7 January 2010
- Landau, Jon (4 February 1971), "Van Morrison: His Band & The Street Choir", Rolling Stone, no. 75, archived from the original on 12 December 2010, retrieved 30 April 2010
- ISBN 978-0195313734
- Marcus, Greil (1979), Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island, New York: Knopf: distributed by Random House, ISBN 978-0-394-50828-3
- Marcus, Greil (2010), When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison, New York: Public Affairs, ISBN 978-1-58648-821-5
- Mills, Peter (2010), ISBN 978-0-8264-2976-6
- Planet, Janet (1970). His Band and the Street Choir (Media notes). Van Morrison. Warner Bros. Records.
- ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1
- Stapleton, Dan F. (December 2015), "Van Morrison's Early LPs Celebrated", Rolling Stone
- ISBN 978-0-670-85147-8
- Unterberger, Richie (n.d.), The Genuine Philosophers Stone One, AllMusic, retrieved 21 January 2010
- ISBN 978-0-85947-013-1
External links