Many moons ago I worked with a woman who may have been the biggest Bob Dylan fan I've ever known--she literally thought he walked on water. For whatever reason, she'd never seen The Last Waltz. Her boyfriend managed to get a copy and as she was leaving work to spend an exciting evening watching a concert film, all she could talk about was seeing Dylan perform with The Band. Before she left I warned her to be prepared--Van Morrison gave the performance of the film performing "Caravan", and Dylan (as every other performer on that night) paled in comparison. She looked at me skeptically as she left, but when she came to work the next day she took one look at me and said, "Boy, were you ever right." Morrison's performance that night is quite probably the best single song performance I've ever seen in all my years following pop music.
Van Morrison is another in a long line of artists featured here on FNJ whose career resume is just a tad long for a brief recap. Morrison's career started in 1958 in his native Northern Ireland and he played in a series of local bands until 1964 when he joined up with some fellow Northern Irishmen and formed Them. Few folks know that the oft covered garage rock favorite "Gloria" was written by Morrison and originally performed by Them. He went solo in 1968, had a hell of a run through the 70's, and though he hasn't had quite the commercial success since, has still remained an intriguing figure in the annals of rock and roll. Morrison has released 39 albums since 1968 (and five live albums), sold millions of records, is renowned for his live shows, won two Grammys, was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 (with an introduction by none other than Ray Charles), and was knighted in 2016 (that's "Sir Van Morrison" to you, bub). Regular readers (both of you) know that I am a big fan of what is known as "Blue-Eyed Soul"--well, Van Morrison invented it (to this day, Morrison considers himself to be a soul singer). Though Morrison has done very well commercially, he isn't as big of a household name as some of his contemporaries, but virtually any list of the all time greats of rock and roll will have Morrison somewhere near the top--and deservedly so.
"Caravan" was released in 1970 on Morrison's influential (and my favorite album of his) LP Moondance. As the song was never a single, once again this week we have no shout outs for Billboard magazine. The album itself is Morrison's best-selling of his career, and was ranked at #65 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Fun Fact: The sha-la-las in the Counting Crows song "Mr. Jones" are a tribute to Van Morrison (specifically "Brown Eyed Girl")....
Morrison has said that "Caravan" was inspired by hearing the radio playing in one of his neighbor's homes night after night when he was living in Woodstock, NY. And what an inspiration--it's probably hard for young folks today listening to a song about the glory of music on the radio when in this day and age there are literally dozens of sources for hearing music. But once upon a time the radio was the only place to hear music, new and old, and one could hear Bob Dylan, the Supremes, the Beatles, and Marvin Gaye, in just that order (good luck finding a station like that today). From its tantalizing piano at the outset, to its horns, to the gypsy inspired lyrics, "Caravan" is a pop music marvel, carried home (as has often been the case in Morrison's songs) by the Celtic Soul of Morrison's vocals. Close your eyes and turn it up...so you know, it's got soul. Indeed.
Lyric Sheet: "Turn it up, turn it up, little bit higher, radio/Turn it up, that's enough, so you know it's got soul..."
Enjoy:
