Van Morrison’s 50 Greatest Songs Countdown – #30 I’ve been working

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]I said woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman
Make me feel so good
Woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman
Make me feel alright[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

TOC

1. Facts
2. Quotes
3. Lyrics
4. Live versions
5. Cover versions

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Facts

Wikipedia:

“I’ve Been Working” is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison appearing on the album His Band and the Street Choir, released in 1970. The song was first an outtake from Morrison’s well received album Astral Weeks of 1968. Other versions of “I’ve Been Working” were recorded for Morrison’s next album Moondance, of which, three were released on the 2013 deluxe edition.

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”

Musicians

• Van Morrison – guitar, vocal
• Keith Johnson – trumpet, organ
• John Klingberg – bass guitar
• John Platania – guitar
• Jack Schroer – alto and baritone saxophones
• Dahaud Shaar (David Shaw) – drums

Production

• Van Morrison – producer
• Dahaud Shaar – assistant producer
• Elliot Scheiner – production coordinator, engineer
• Dixon Van Winkle, Ed Anderson, Mark Harman, Richard Lubash – assisting engineers

Live:

• Known Performances: 158
• First performance: August 21, 1970 in Yellow Springs. US
• Last performance: June 14, 2003 in Boston, US

From Van Morrison’s It’s Too Late To Stop Now:

2/1/1979 – Belfast:

 

10/6/1979 – Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ:

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Quotes

“His music is rooted in the era just before James Brown changed the rhythmic rules. Morrison’s hardly devoid of groove: “I’ve Been Working,” from 1970’s His Band and the Street Choir, chugs so hard that a producer named Rayko turned it into a disco edit; a pair of ten-minute run-throughs of the same song from the 2013 box of Moondance outtakes burn like contemporary James Brown”
– Michaelangelo Matos (NPR about the version on It’s too late to stop now, listen above)

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Lyrics

I’ve been workin’
I’ve been workin’ so hard
I’ve been workin’
I’ve been workin’ so hard
I come home
Make love to you, make love to you

I’ve been grindin’
I’ve been grindin’ so long
I’ve been grindin’
I’ve been grindin’ so long

Been up the thruway, down the thruway
Up the thruway, down the thruway
Up, down, back and up again

I said woman, woman, woman, woman, woman
Make me feel so good
Woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman , woman
Make me feel alright
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright

I said woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman
Make me feel so good
Woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman, woman
Make me feel alright
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
Make me feel so good
Set my soul on fire
Set my soul on fire
Oooo weee

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Live versions

7/29/1974 – Orphanage, San Francisco, CA:

 

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Cover Versions

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band from the live album, ‘Live’ Bullet:

 

– Bo Diddley from the album, Big Bad Bo:

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Check out:

• MusicThisDay.com
• Van Morrison posts here @ borntolisten.com
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• BTL @ Facebook

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Sources

• Wikipedia
• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography
• ivan.vanomatic.de (wonderful website for VM statistics)