When that rough god goes riding: listening to Van Morrison

209 Pages·2010·1.087 MB·English

by  Marcus, Greil;Morrison, Van

prints 4-color C, M, (803), K + silver PMS 877.
Printer swap process yellow for PMS 803 for all instances (art + type)
Glossy lamination
Music/BioGraphy w “[A] series of nonfiction short stories…”
h —peTer GersTenzanG,
e new York TiMes book review
n

t
h
a
t Greil Marcus

r
o
u
G
h

This book is a quesT G
to understand Van Morrison’s particular genius. In his long
o
career of extraordinary and unclassifiable moments, beginning in 1965 and continu- d
ing in full force to this day: sometimes entire songs, sometimes single words or even the
G
guttural spaces between words that become musical events in themselves.
o
e
s w hen

“ [E]xplores moments of contradiction, sublime beauty, audacity, failure, and grace in the r
singer-songwriter’s career with a keen ear, weaving the rich thoughtfulness we’ve come i
d
to expect from one of America’s best cultural critics and historians into an elegantly i that
structured series of staccato essays.” —roberT loss, popMaTTers.coM n
G
“As erudite and opinionated as Morrison is mercurial and expressive.”
—Jon breaM, Minneapolis sTar Tribune rouGh
“ Superbly fulfills criticism’s primary function: It sends you for the first or 100th time to the
works of art on which it muses, better equipped to experience what’s always been there.” G
—Jon repp, cleveland plain-dealer r God
e listeninG to van Morrison
i
l

Greil Marcus M
is the author of Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus, Writings 1968–2010 Goes
a
(PublicAffairs, 2010), The Shape of Things to Come, Like a Rolling Stone (PublicAffairs,
r
2006), The Old Weird America, and other books; a twentieth-century anniversary edition
c
of his book Lipstick Traces was published in 2009. With Werner Sollors he is the editor of u
ridinG
A New Literary History of America, published in 2009 by Harvard University Press. Since s
2000 he has taught at Princeton, Berkeley, Minnesota, and the New School in New York;
his column “Real Life Rock Top 10” appears regularly in The Believer. He lives in Berkeley.
$13.99/$16.50 CAN CCOOVVEERR DPHESOITGONS B©Y GREOTBT GY RIOMMAGES
ISBN 978-1-58648-952-6 AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK
51399
visiT www.publicaffairsbooks.coM
siGn up for our newsleTTer
9 781586489526
9781586489526-text_Layout 1 1/18/11 10:18 AM Page i
Praise for When That Rough God Goes Riding
“Writing about the songs of Van Morrison is rightly seen as
something of a paradox. Perhaps that’s because, for all his
scholarly use of multiple musical styles and his reference to
Yeats and Joyce, the Belfast Cowboy’s work is more sensual than
it is intellectual. Which makes the renowned rock critic Greil
Marcus, who’s written definitively on Elvis and Bob Dylan, the
right man to plumb that work. Combining an incantatory
prose style with careful reporting and inventive, sometimes in-
furiating judgments, Marcus manages to illuminate Morrison’s
cerebral soul music—even if, as the singer once claimed, ‘the
process is beyond words.’”
—Peter Gerstenzang, New York Times Book Review
“No critical testimonial is more welcome than this assessment
of Morrison’s work by one of America’s most astute cultural
critics. . . . Marcus is informed and insightful. Particularly illu-
minating are his observations on the tensions between Morri-
son’s roles as singer and songwriter, and on Morrison’s ongoing
‘quest for the yarragh’—fleeting, elusive moments of transcen-
dence. Morrison’s volatile idiosyncrasy and diverse oeuvremake
his career difficult to appraise, but Marcus convinces us of its
singular importance.”
—Gordon Flagg, Booklist
“[Marcus is] literate, brainy, and fearless in making cross-genre
comparisons.”
—Jeff Baker,Portland Oregonian
“Written in prose as free-associative as the music it concerns,
When That Rough God Goes Ridingderives energy from the fact
that Marcus was present at many of the landmark moments
he’s exegizing.”
—Ted Scheinman, Washington City Paper
9781586489526-text_Layout 1 1/18/11 10:18 AM Page ii
“When That Rough God Goes Riding explores moments of con-
tradiction, sublime beauty, audacity, failure, and grace in the
singer-songwriter’s career with a keen ear, weaving the rich
thoughtfulness we’ve come to expect from one of America’s best
cultural critics and historians into an elegantly structured series
of staccato essays which reveal Marcus’ fascination with Van
Morrison’s music.”
—Robert Loss, Popmatters.com
“This is the book that Van Morrison’s artistry has long deserved,
and The Man’s devotees will celebrate its blend of eloquence, pas-
sionate scholarship and soulfulness. [When That Rough God Goes
Riding] superbly fulfills criticism’s primary function: It sends you
for the first or 100th time to the works of art on which it muses,
better equipped to experience what’s always been there.”
—Jon Repp, Cleveland Plain-Dealer
“[Marcus’] ability to couple shrewd music criticism, historical
perspective, and broader genre analysis makes his work an
adventurous read. . . . Marcus doesn’t attempt to tidily summa-
rize Morrison’s life and career, but he does provide plenty of
thought-provoking insights into this enigmatic performer, and
his slipstream of references results in a fascinating meditation
on Morrison’s oeuvre. You wind up wanting to pull out and
listen to your Morrison albums and hunt down the many boot-
leg recordings that Marcus references here, searching for that
elusive yarragh.”
—Michael Berick, San Francisco Chronicle
“Marcus is a smart respite from the raging stupidity and anti-
intellectualism on every front, and yet knows how to have rock
‘n’ roll fun at the same time.”
—Michael Simmons, LA Weekly
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 1/25/10 9:39 AM Page iii
WHEN THAT ROUGH
GOD GOES RIDING
LISTENING TO VAN MORRISON
GREIL MARCUS
PublicAffairs
New York
9781586489526-text_Layout 1 1/18/11 3:18 PM Page iv
Copyright © 2010 by Greil Marcus
Hardcover first published in the United States by PublicAffairs™,
a member of the Perseus Books Group.
Paperback first published in 2011 in the United States by PublicAffairs
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
“It’s All in the Game” lyrics by Carl Sigman,
music by Charles Gates Dawes. Copyright © 1951 (renewed) by
Music Sales Corporation. International copyright secured.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th
Street, Suite 1321, New York, NY 10107.
PublicAffairs books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in
the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more
information, please contact the Special Markets Department at thePerseus
Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, call
[phone], ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected].
Designed by Trish Wilkinson
Text set in 11.5 Minion
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Marcus, Greil.
When that rough god goes riding : listening to Van Morrison / Greil
Marcus. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58648-821-5 (alk. paper)
1. Morrison, Van, 1945– —Criticism and interpretation. 2. Rock
music—History and criticism. I. Title.
ML420.M63M37 2010
782.42164092—dc22
2010001656
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-58648-952-6
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61039-018-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 1/25/10 9:39 AM Page v
CONTENTS
Northern Muse. Greek Theatre, Berkeley. 3 May 2009 ix
Introduction 1
PART ONE
A GRIMY CINDERELLA IN A PURPLE STAGE SUIT
Mystic Eyes. 1965 15
Tupelo Honey. 1971 18
Baby Please Don’t Go. 1965 23
John Brown’s Body. 1975 27
Caravan. The Last Waltz. 1976 29
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue. 1966 36
PART TWO
I’M GOING TO MY GRAVE WITH THIS RECORD
Astral Weeks. 1968 43
Almost Independence Day. 1972. Listen to the
Lion. 1972. Caledonia Soul Music. 1970 63
v
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 4/21/10 3:06 PM Page vi
vi CONTENTS
Moonshine Whiskey. 1971 73
Just Like a Woman. 1971 74
The Last Laugh, on Mark Knopfler,
Sailing to Philadelphia. 2000 80
PART THREE
A BELIEF IN THE BLUES AS A
KIND OF CURSE ONE PUTS ON ONESELF
Common One. 1980 . . . Tell Me Something. 1996 85
Linden Arden Stole the Highlights. 1974 96
Breakfast on Pluto. 2005 100
The Healing Game. 1997 110
PART FOUR
THERE WAS NO FALSE FACE THE SONG COULD NOT ERASE
Into the Music. 1979 125
Friday’s Child. 1971 134
Madame George. 1968 140
Saint Dominic’s Preview. 1996 157
Sweet Thing. 1968 163
Take Me Back.1991. Jennifer Jason Leigh, 1995 166
Mystic Eyes. Greek Theatre, Berkeley. 2009 175
Behind the Ritual. 2008 178
Acknowledgments 185
Index 187
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 1/25/10 9:39 AM Page vii
For Dave Marsh
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 1/25/10 9:39 AM Page viii
9781586488215-text_Layout 1 1/25/10 9:39 AM Page ix
NORTHERN MUSE. GREEK THEATRE, BERKELEY.
3 MAY 2009
T
he fourteen-pieceband assembled for a concert in which
Van Morrison was to perform the whole of his forty-one-
year-old album Astral Weeks so dominated the stage you
might not have even noticed the figure seated at the piano;
the sound Morrison made when he opened his mouth
seemed to come out of nowhere. It was huge; it silenced
everything around it, pulled every other sound around it
into itself—Morrison’s own fingers on the keys, the chatter
in the crowd that was still going on because there was no
announcement that anything was about to start, cars on
the street, the ambient noise of the century-old open-air
stone amphitheatre, where in 1903 President Theodore
Roosevelt spoke, where in 1906 Sarah Bernhardt appeared
to cheer on San Francisco as it dug out of its ruins, where
in 1964 the student leader Mario Savio rose to speak to the
ix