Wow, this was brilliant, and introduced me to a few musical moments I had not heard at all before, and in many other cases offered a welcomed reminder of transcendent, transitive moments on recordings that I value -- and I appreciated the chance to listen to again with thoughtful ears.
I don't have an audio clip to share in the moment, but a type of transitional, knowing moment in performance occurred at least once at a Van Morrison show, one of the few where he was in good spirits throughout most of the performance. He covered, as he often did at that time, Sondheim's "Send In The Clowns," and chose to have some fun with the fifth (and last) verse. When he got to the lines "Isn't it rich....isn't it queer....losing my timing this late...in my career?" -- he drew out the line "losing my timing this late" for an uncomfortably long time (even by Van standards), then with a chuckle offered "in my career" -- an example of using the lyric to poke fun at his advanced career, and the notion that he lost his timing at that exact moment, when of course he was putting the audience on. Him being generous with his audience, while at the same time obviously enjoying himself and the interaction, are both rare enough occurrences at his shows, and when I listen to his prank there it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Even curmudgeons sometimes wanna have fun!
Thanks, James. That sounds like a great Van moment - do send a link if you find one, or perhaps I'll track it down. I had planned to include Van either doing his 't-t-t-' thing on early 70s live 'Cyprus Avenue' or something from 'Listen to the Lion', but the post was already getting too long. I'd like to include him in a follow-up piece.
The most joyous version of this that I am aware of is on the bootleg Pagan Streams, IMHO one of the best unofficial concert recordings that captured both great sound and a very animated Van. The YouTube link does have nice track markers and timing indicators, so you can find the start of the song at the 2:07:47 mark....with the goofy "losing my timing this late in my career" lyric segment entering at 02:10:18, with the payoff at 02:10:38.
Note that this version includes goofy vocals from Georgie Fame as well.
I also have created an MP3 performance from the bootleg "Making It Real One More Time," Olympia Theatre, Paris, 25 April 1990, where "Clowns" was the final encore. VTM always seems animated (to my ears) at his various Paris shows, and the fans were clearly into what he did with the song at the end of that show. I likely would need your (or at least some) email address in order to send you the MP3 if you want it.
My experience of the song was weirdly different, in his live version. He played a killer, mostly uptempo set at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland, OR on 23 September 1998. Great show, he was in an obviously great mood, etc. He did not sing "Clowns" at that show.
But, I drove down to Eugene to see him the next night at Mac Court in Eugene. This was the tour where Lucinda Williams opened all the shows, then Van and Bob flipped a coin to see who would play next. In Portland, Van was second on the bill, and killed. Dylan closed the show, and was awful. Perhaps more fairly, his sound was awful, and it was a tough listen.
In Eugene Dylan played second, and he killed. I was shocked at how great he was, after sucking in PDX. Van completed the show, going 3rd. But, he was in an awful mood -- the ugliest I've ever witnessed (and I've seen plenty of angry Van shows). The energy in the room was terrible, as he berated his band, yelled at the techs constantly, and was generally an asshole.
But...and here is the interesting thing....the audio of that show, widely available as a bootleg, is incredible. It is an audience recording, but a good one. More to the point -- all of his nasty, negative energy did NOT translate to the audio, instead you mostly have a great, passionate performance of the songs he was doing on that tour. It is the single biggest exception to my experience of seeing a show live, and then listening to the bootleg audio. Remarkable.
Thank you for the link. It's great, and I'm going to listen to the whole show as well as that moment. And thanks for the great stories about the shows. Van, Dylan and Lu: what a combo!
Fascinating thoughts for my morning coffee; thinking of both the punctum and the "vocal tear" (I love that double meaning) makes sense in how to academically frame a corrido like Los Tigres Del Norte's "La Puerta Negra", the singing aches.
Tremendous and thorough investigation and writing, Richard. Very well done. I've listened to several of your audio samples and love how you present and analyze them. As a painter, I find that those special moments in the song that stand out and give me chills, whether it is an instrument or a vocal, are akin to a single profound, whimsical, or poignant brushstroke on a painting. The painting, as a whole, may be beautiful, but the essence of the painting, its emotional depth, and artistic genius are encapsulated in that one brushstroke.
Returning to music and sound - I'm by no means a Dead Head, but I did see the Dead many times, and I have a lot of shows on tape. There's a moment on 'I Know You Rider' where Jerry sings - "I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train, I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train!" the gentleness of his voice in the first verse, followed by the emotional expression and huge strum exploding from the band, during the second verse, is always the moment I am waiting for. On certain shows, it sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to my eyes (March 31, 1973, in Buffalo, NY is a great example).
Starting at the guitar solo (at 2:25:23) Jerry's line finally comes in at the 2:26:26 mark. For me, this is a perfect example of that sonic brushstroke.
Thank you, Michael. I love the brushstroke idea. In many ways it works better than Barthes' punctum because a brushstroke suggests movement and music is, of course, moving. I also love the Dead as another example, and your chosen moment in particular. When I was originally thinking of examples I might use, the Dead didn't cross my mind, even though I used to be a huge fan. If I'd considered them, I might have thought--as with the Neil Young and Prince guitar solos I though I woudl include--that they were more about the ongoing *process* of musical movement than particular *moments*. But, now that you've prompted me to think of them, I'm starting to remember moments in Dead jams that I look forward to, and never fail to be affected by, when they arrive. And thanks for sharing the link to that show - one of my favourite Dead eras.
My gosh this is a good piece. I haven't listened to the samples yet, I'll need to go back and do that, but the careful attention to how specific performance choices create musical moments is impressive, and not an easy thing to communicate in writing.
This is really fascinating! It's given me some new ways to articulate what I love about music.
Thank you!
Wow, this was brilliant, and introduced me to a few musical moments I had not heard at all before, and in many other cases offered a welcomed reminder of transcendent, transitive moments on recordings that I value -- and I appreciated the chance to listen to again with thoughtful ears.
I don't have an audio clip to share in the moment, but a type of transitional, knowing moment in performance occurred at least once at a Van Morrison show, one of the few where he was in good spirits throughout most of the performance. He covered, as he often did at that time, Sondheim's "Send In The Clowns," and chose to have some fun with the fifth (and last) verse. When he got to the lines "Isn't it rich....isn't it queer....losing my timing this late...in my career?" -- he drew out the line "losing my timing this late" for an uncomfortably long time (even by Van standards), then with a chuckle offered "in my career" -- an example of using the lyric to poke fun at his advanced career, and the notion that he lost his timing at that exact moment, when of course he was putting the audience on. Him being generous with his audience, while at the same time obviously enjoying himself and the interaction, are both rare enough occurrences at his shows, and when I listen to his prank there it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Even curmudgeons sometimes wanna have fun!
Thanks, James. That sounds like a great Van moment - do send a link if you find one, or perhaps I'll track it down. I had planned to include Van either doing his 't-t-t-' thing on early 70s live 'Cyprus Avenue' or something from 'Listen to the Lion', but the post was already getting too long. I'd like to include him in a follow-up piece.
Richard:
The most joyous version of this that I am aware of is on the bootleg Pagan Streams, IMHO one of the best unofficial concert recordings that captured both great sound and a very animated Van. The YouTube link does have nice track markers and timing indicators, so you can find the start of the song at the 2:07:47 mark....with the goofy "losing my timing this late in my career" lyric segment entering at 02:10:18, with the payoff at 02:10:38.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDD6vYxA8k0
Note that this version includes goofy vocals from Georgie Fame as well.
I also have created an MP3 performance from the bootleg "Making It Real One More Time," Olympia Theatre, Paris, 25 April 1990, where "Clowns" was the final encore. VTM always seems animated (to my ears) at his various Paris shows, and the fans were clearly into what he did with the song at the end of that show. I likely would need your (or at least some) email address in order to send you the MP3 if you want it.
My experience of the song was weirdly different, in his live version. He played a killer, mostly uptempo set at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland, OR on 23 September 1998. Great show, he was in an obviously great mood, etc. He did not sing "Clowns" at that show.
But, I drove down to Eugene to see him the next night at Mac Court in Eugene. This was the tour where Lucinda Williams opened all the shows, then Van and Bob flipped a coin to see who would play next. In Portland, Van was second on the bill, and killed. Dylan closed the show, and was awful. Perhaps more fairly, his sound was awful, and it was a tough listen.
In Eugene Dylan played second, and he killed. I was shocked at how great he was, after sucking in PDX. Van completed the show, going 3rd. But, he was in an awful mood -- the ugliest I've ever witnessed (and I've seen plenty of angry Van shows). The energy in the room was terrible, as he berated his band, yelled at the techs constantly, and was generally an asshole.
But...and here is the interesting thing....the audio of that show, widely available as a bootleg, is incredible. It is an audience recording, but a good one. More to the point -- all of his nasty, negative energy did NOT translate to the audio, instead you mostly have a great, passionate performance of the songs he was doing on that tour. It is the single biggest exception to my experience of seeing a show live, and then listening to the bootleg audio. Remarkable.
Thanks for all your writing, I appreciate it.
Thank you for the link. It's great, and I'm going to listen to the whole show as well as that moment. And thanks for the great stories about the shows. Van, Dylan and Lu: what a combo!
Fascinating thoughts for my morning coffee; thinking of both the punctum and the "vocal tear" (I love that double meaning) makes sense in how to academically frame a corrido like Los Tigres Del Norte's "La Puerta Negra", the singing aches.
Great example! And it's put me in mind of a track I might include if I do another of these posts - not Los Tigres, but with a Mexican connection.
Tremendous and thorough investigation and writing, Richard. Very well done. I've listened to several of your audio samples and love how you present and analyze them. As a painter, I find that those special moments in the song that stand out and give me chills, whether it is an instrument or a vocal, are akin to a single profound, whimsical, or poignant brushstroke on a painting. The painting, as a whole, may be beautiful, but the essence of the painting, its emotional depth, and artistic genius are encapsulated in that one brushstroke.
Returning to music and sound - I'm by no means a Dead Head, but I did see the Dead many times, and I have a lot of shows on tape. There's a moment on 'I Know You Rider' where Jerry sings - "I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train, I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train!" the gentleness of his voice in the first verse, followed by the emotional expression and huge strum exploding from the band, during the second verse, is always the moment I am waiting for. On certain shows, it sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to my eyes (March 31, 1973, in Buffalo, NY is a great example).
Starting at the guitar solo (at 2:25:23) Jerry's line finally comes in at the 2:26:26 mark. For me, this is a perfect example of that sonic brushstroke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqtUDg9WFu8
Thank you, Michael. I love the brushstroke idea. In many ways it works better than Barthes' punctum because a brushstroke suggests movement and music is, of course, moving. I also love the Dead as another example, and your chosen moment in particular. When I was originally thinking of examples I might use, the Dead didn't cross my mind, even though I used to be a huge fan. If I'd considered them, I might have thought--as with the Neil Young and Prince guitar solos I though I woudl include--that they were more about the ongoing *process* of musical movement than particular *moments*. But, now that you've prompted me to think of them, I'm starting to remember moments in Dead jams that I look forward to, and never fail to be affected by, when they arrive. And thanks for sharing the link to that show - one of my favourite Dead eras.
My gosh this is a good piece. I haven't listened to the samples yet, I'll need to go back and do that, but the careful attention to how specific performance choices create musical moments is impressive, and not an easy thing to communicate in writing.