Van Morrison: 5 Wonderful Versions of “Vanlose Stairway”

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Send me your picture
Send me your pillow
Send it through Krishna
On the Vanlose Stairway[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]..A larger point to be made with “Vanlose Stairway” is that no matter what words Morrison is singing, it is the music and singing itself that offers a glimpse at the soul — the true inspiration of the term soul music. And Morrison is nothing if not a soul singer. The lyrics just happen to add to the soul-stirring music. It does not matter that most people have no idea what Vanlose refers to, especially given that Morrison does not pronounce it correctly. But the descending three chords of the verse — played by a horn section and turnaround uplifting chorus — hit the listener on a gut level, especially on the powerful live recording of the song on A Night in San Francisco (1994), which truly transcends anything mere words could communicate.
-Bill Janovitz (allmusic.com)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Vanlose Stairway is track 7 on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. It has been performed 729 times live (289 times as part of a medley) according to ivan.vanomatic.de (great website btw).

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July 11: David Bowie released the single “Space Oddity” in 1969

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six)
Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three)
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (two, one, liftoff)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]…Finally, he teamed up with Elton John producer Gus Dudgeon to create “Space Oddity,” a song he’d been fiddling with all year. The folk ballad about astronaut Major Tom getting stranded in space was rushed out by his label to coincide with the launch of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the BBC played the song during the coverage of the event. “In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn’t,” he told Performing Songwriter. “It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing.
rollingstone.com[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Single by David Bowie
from the album David Bowie
B-side “Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud”
Released 11 July 1969
Format 7-inch single
Recorded
Genre
  • Psychedelic
  • folk rock
Length 5:15 (album version)
4:33 (UK single edit)
3:26 (U.S. single edit)
Label Philips
Songwriter(s) David Bowie
Producer(s) Gus Dudgeon

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July 10: Johnny Cash Recorded Kris Kristofferson´s “Sunday Morning Coming Down” in 1970

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad
So I had one more for dessert
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

This country classic is written by Kris Kristofferson and was popularized in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a number one hit for Johnny Cash.

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July 10: Watch Tom Waits @ Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in 2012

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]I realised in New York that the only people qualified to run the country are cutting hair and driving cabs..[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Interviewed by Fallon he talks about who should be running the country, how he wanted to have a room not a hall regarding to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and how he once was rejected from being a member at a New York City Y.M.C.A.

Watch his performance of “Raised Right Men” and the interview below.

Tom Waits @ Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
July 10, 2012

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July 7: Great Concert by The Who @ Tanglewood, Lenox, MA, USA 1970 (video)

the_who___tanglewood_1970

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]The fire and passion of the Who in 1970 and the symbiosis that these four musicians achieve here is nothing short of astounding. The Leeds and Isle of Wight recordings will always remain as two of the Who’s landmark 1970 recordings, and deservedly so, but thanks to this spectacular new transfer of Bill Graham’s recordings, Tanglewood is now equally worthy of attention.
~Alan Bershaw (The Concert Vault)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA
July 7, 1970

  • Roger Daltrey: Vocals, Harmonica
  • John Entwistle: Vocals, Bass
  • Keith Moon: Vocals, Drums
  • Pete Townshend : Vocals, Guitar

Setlist:

Continue reading “July 7: Great Concert by The Who @ Tanglewood, Lenox, MA, USA 1970 (video)”

Great New Album from Steve Earle – So You Wannabe an Outlaw

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]“There’s nothing ‘retro’ about this record,” Earle says. “I’m just acknowledging where I’m coming from.” So You Wannabe an Outlaw is the first recording he has made in Austin, TX. Earle has lived in New York City for the past decade. “Look, I’m always gonna be a Texan, no matter what I do,” he says. “And I’m always going to be somebody who learned their craft in Nashville. It’s who I am.”
amazon.com[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

For me this is Steve Earle´s best album since Transcendental Blues (June 6, 2000). Backed by his band The Dukes (guitarist Chris Masterson, fiddle player Eleanor Whitmore, bassist Kelly Looney, and new members drummer Brad Pemberton and pedal steel player Ricky Ray Jackson) & recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin. Produced by Richard Bennett.

Continue reading “Great New Album from Steve Earle – So You Wannabe an Outlaw”