Music Archives - Page 105 of 247

Van Morrison: “It’s a Long Way to Belfast City Too”

St. Dominic's Preview On August 31, 1945, George Ivan Morrison was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, although we came to know him as Van Morrison. So today is a great day to listen to some Van Morrison music, even though I never need much of an excuse to hear songs such as one of my favorite all-time songs, “St. Dominic’s Preview.”

Imagery in “St. Dominic’s Preview”

The song “St. Dominic’s Preview” is the title track from Van Morrison’s 1972 album. It is a song of images, beginning with a line about cleaning windows, a reference to Van Morrison’s working class roots and an early job as a window cleaner.

The song describes the streets of Belfast during the Troubles, while also dashing across the ocean at times to check San Francisco, Buffalo, and “every Hank Williams railroad train,” but always returning to gaze out on Saint Dominic’s Preview.

What is “St. Dominic’s Preview” About?

In the excellent book about the album, Saint Dominic’s Flashback: Van Morrison’s Classic Album, Forty Years On, Peter Wrench writes that he sees the title song “[a]s a series of largely autobiographical shards from a young man who has travelled the world and achieved a great deal, but doesn’t feel nearly as settled or satisfied as people might expect.”

By another account, Van Morrison’s idea was to center the song around “a church called St Dominic’s where people were gathering to pray or hear a mass for peace in Northern Ireland.”

In many ways, the sound of the song is more important than any specific image, as I loved the song long before I had any idea about what a “St. Dominic’s Preview” might be. In the music, you hear the sound of seeking life, familiarity, and comfort.

So it does not matter whether or not you pray to St. Dominic or live in Belfast. We all need more songs that hope for peace and comfort. “I think it’s about time, time for us to begin.”

In the above video, Van Morrison performs “St. Dominic’s Preview” in Ireland in 1979. In related news, Legacy Recordings acquired the rights to albums in Van Morrison’s back catalog and is reissuing albums including St. Dominic’s Preview. The company released a 37-track, compilation, The Essential Van Morrison, on August 28, 2015.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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A Humbug Pill, a Dose of Dope, And a Great Big Bill

How Can a Poor Man On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans, Louisiana. The hurricane and its after effects devastated the city and surrounding areas along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The following year, Bruce Springsteen visited New Orleans and performed his version of the song “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live.” He used the first verse from the original by Blind Alfred Reed. But then he added three new verses that focused on the situation in New Orleans.

Springsteen’s lyrics criticize the federal response to the emergency, invoking President George W. Bush‘s trip to the area: “He took a look around, gave a little pep talk, said ‘I’m with you’ then he took a little walk.” At his performance in New Orleans, he introduced the song with a reference to the “Bystander-in-Chief.”

Springsteen released his version of “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (American Land Edition) (2006). Below is the original version of the song by Blind Alfred Reed, who wrote “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” in response to the Great Depression: “When we pay our grocery bill,/ We just feel like making our will.”

Reed, who lived from 1880 to 1956, recorded his version in New York City on December 4, 1929, less than two months after the stock market crash. Check it out.

Ry Cooder also recorded a variation on Reed’s original version, releasing it on his self-titled album in 1970. Musically, one can hear how Cooder’s version apparently influenced Springsteen’s version.

Check out this video of Cooder’s 1987 performance of “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California.

Unfortunately, it seems like we will always need songs like these. Fortunately, we have artists like Reed, Cooder, and Springsteen to keep challenging us.

Photo of Hurricane Katrina via NASA (Public Domain). Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Elvis Presley With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: “If I Can Dream”

Presley Orchestra

An upcoming album — called If I Can Dream — repackages some classic Elvis Presley recordings into new versions backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Priscilla Presley is the executive producer of the album, explaining in Rolling Stone that the new release likely is an album that Elvis would have wanted to make. The first single is a re-working of the classic “If I Can Dream” from his “1968 Comeback Special.”

We have heard some reworkings of Elvis recordings in recent years with some success like “A Little Less Conversation,” which became a 2002 hit as a remix by Junkie XL. So it is not too surprising to see some other attempts along those lines. The original “If I Can Dream” already featured some orchestra instruments, so it is not too far of a leap to add a little more. So the song does not sound radically different, merely building on what was already there so you can imagine Elvis reworking his catalog with new recordings along these lines. Check it out.

The new album will feature both beloved classics and lesser-known songs. So alongside songs like “Love Me Tender,” “American Trilogy,” and “Burning Love,” we will hear reworkings of “Steamroller Blues,” “Anything That’s Part of You,” and “And the Grass Won’t Pay No Mind.” There is also a duet with Michael Bublé on “Fever.”

Priscilla explains that the album’s goal is to keep Elvis current by staying true to his voice. She is already thinking about songs for a second volume. Of course, she knew Elvis and I did not, but listening to “If I Can Dream,” it seems like a tasteful way to keep the King relevant in the new century. If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will hit stores on October 30.

What do you think of the plans for the album: consistent with Elvis’s work or just a money grab? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Steve Earle Takes On Confederate Flag in “Mississippi, It’s Time”

Steve Earle, no stranger to taking on social justice and political issues in his songs, recently performed a new song about Mississippi’s flag and the Confederate flag controversy. In “Mississippi, It’s Time,” he tells the Magnolia state it is time to take the Confederate battle flag out of the state’s flag (pictured above).

Below is his first public performance of the song at the New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee in August 2015. “You can’t move ahead if you’re looking behind.”

September 10, 2015 Update: Steve Earle is officially releasing “Mississippi, It’s Time,” with the track hitting stores on September 11. Proceeds from the sale of the song will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Listen to the official recording of “Mississippi, It’s Time” by Steve Earle & The Dukes below.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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I Heard Her Pray the Night Chicago Died

Two hit songs from 1974 were story songs with an unusual connection: Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died” and “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.

Paper Lace The year 1974 was an odd year for music, with a number of unusual hit pop songs that you rarely hear today. The year featured acts like Bob Dylan returning to touring for the first time in eight years. Queen played its first North American concert. And the Ramones made their first appearance at CBGB. Yet, some of the biggest hit songs of the year were Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting” and Blue Suede’s reworking of BJ Thomas’s 1968 release “Hooked on a Feeling,” adding ooga-chaka’s.

And two odd 1974 pop hits featured an unusual connection to each other: Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods’ “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” and Paper Lace‘s “The Night Chicago Died.”

“The Night Chicago Died”

“The Night Chicago Died” hit number one on the charts for Paper Lace on August 17, 1974. If you were around in those days, you probably can sing along to “The Night Chicago Died.” But if you were born after that date, it is quite possible you have never heard of the song.

“The Night Chicago Died” is a story song about a 1930s battle between Al Copone’s men and the Chicago police. Songwriters Peter Callander and Mitch Murray tell a Prohibition-era story that is largely inaccurate in both historical events and city geography.

But perhaps what made the song a hit was the part about the songwriter watching his momma cry while waiting to see if her policeman husband would come home alive. Spoiler alert: The father-husband returns safely.

At the end, the singer recalls that the door opened wide “And my daddy stepped inside,/ And he kissed my mama’s face, And he brushed her tears away.”

“The Night Chicago Died” was a huge hit. It sold more than three million copies.

The British band Paper Lace consisted of Philip Wright (drummer and lead singer on “The Night Chicago Died”), Cliff Fish, Phil Hendriks, and Dave Major. While Paper Lace had a number one hit with “The Night Chicago Died” in the U.S., the song only went to number two on the U.K. charts.

“Billy Don’t Be a Hero”

Paper Lace, who still tour, did have a number one hit in the U.K. prior to “The Night Chicago Died.” The band’s version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” — a story song about a woman telling her love not to get killed in the war — went to number one in the U.K earlier in 1974.

But before Paper Lace could release their version of “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” in the U.S., Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods claimed their one-hit-wonder status by releasing their version. The Bo Donaldson song went to number one in the U.S. in June 1974.

Like “The Night Chicago Died,” the song “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” was written by Callander and Murray. “Billy,” however, has a sadder ending, with the heroic Billy getting killed.

Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods reformed in the mid-1990s and still toured as of 2015. Mike Gibbons, the lead singer on “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” did not tour with the band on the oldies circuit. And he passed away on April 2, 2016.

The song does not name the war where Billy is killed. From the lyrics (“the soldier blues”) most assume the song is set during the Civil War. But in 1974 any song mentioning war made one think of the Vietnam War.

I have barely heard “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” since the year it was released. It does make a delightful brief appearance in the background music in Walk Hard: The Dewy Cox Story (2007).

Yet, like “The Night Chicago Died,” I can still sing every word. That’s the power of pop.