Van Morrison: His Band & The Street Choir - 1970
"People think you're a hippie because of the long hair and beard...I'd bought the kaftan in Woodstock, and that's what people were wearing" - Van Morrison
After delivering a soulful masterpiece in Moondance, Morrison went full on Celtic soul in this breezy and brassy offering that boils over with effortless true, punchy and gritty soul.
Gone are the extended, jazzy workouts of Astral Weeks and we get twelve shortish, vibrant songs which are more about the feeling of the music than the lyrics. It is not poetry, it is rocking, soulful blues. It remains a favourite of mine in his canon. Oddly, Morrison is show on the cover in a shroud-like garment, like some sort of holy man.
Lord have mercy.....
It kicks off with the infectious groovy funky strum of Domino, a track that fully exemplifies that "Celtic soul" sound that Morrison premiered at this time - horns punching in with abandon and Van in full control of the band. John Peel said that Morrison was the only white man who should be allowed to sing "Lord have mercy". He had a point, didn't he?
In a different vein is the slow, piano-driven ballad Crazy Face. Just take in that crystal clear guitar and luxuriate in the mid-song saxophone solo. Proper Van soul. It was this sort of stuff that first attracted me to The Man way back. The song has a live feel to it, particularly when Van goes into his "ladies and gentlemen" bit at the end. The tempo ups again on the jaunty Give Me A Kiss, a track inspired by Morrison's love for fifties skiffle, I'm sure, augmented by the wonderful brass section once more. Again, there is an ad hoc feel to it that is irresistible.
The blues arrives for real on the gritty grind of I've Been Working, a track which has Van exclaiming "woman woman woman" as he reaches the choruses, letting her know the score. Great saxophone on here again. Call Me Up In Dreamland is a lively, catchy number with a singalong chorus. It should have bee a hit single if you ask me. It reminds me a bit of Sam Cooke's Having A Party. Morrison was, of course, a big Cooke fan. The sombre I'll Be Your Lover Too is the album's only real musical and atmospheric hark back to the bass and acoustic guitar balladry of Astral Weeks. It also provides a precursor to much of the material on 1974's Veedon Fleece.
Blue Money is a cookin' r'n'b-influenced workout in the same vein as Domino, Call Me Up In Dreamland and Give Me A Kiss. The "dooey dooey dooey" chorus vocal is a bit strange, however. Apparently it was a top 30 hit in the US, something I was unaware of. Virgo Clowns is a strong acoustic ballad with Van going a bit improvisational over its staccato rhythmic sway. The track ends with some maniacal laughter. Gypsy Queen summons up the soulful spirit of Moondance's Crazy Love. Van's voice is much higher than usual, and certainly more than it is now. The song has a stonking soul chorus and some great brass. It is one of the best cuts on here.
Sweet Jannie is a bassy, chugging blues that harks back to the Them era. If I Ever Needed Someone is a fine, gospelly slow number on which Van gets into the tradition of listening his listeners higher and higher. A similar effect is delivered on the sweet soulful closer, Street Choir.
Overall, this is a most undervalued member of the Van canon. The Man himself hated it, of course. What does he know, eh?
As regards the title of the album, it certainly is a clunker. Wordy and clumsy. However, when I was first properly getting into Van in the early 1980s, - checking out his back catalogue - it was the album's name which caught my eye - something seemingly credible about the name "street choir" I guess. Sounded sort of Springsteen-ish, I thought at the time.
