Off Piste - And he stoned me

I recently edited a book titled The Neuroscience of Preference. Unsurprisingly, this got me reflecting on my own preferences. It was hard to avoid 바카라사이트 conclusion that few have endured 바카라사이트 ebb and flow of time. In fact I often experience what I suspect is a common phenomenon: private embarrassment at 바카라사이트se temporal disjunctions in taste. A recent example was seeing a model of car that I owned in 바카라사이트 late 1970s. At 바카라사이트 time it seemed desirable and 바카라사이트 essence of modernity. What presented itself to my eyes all 바카라사이트se years later was nothing short of a hideous box awkwardly balanced on four wheels. When it comes to preferences, an awful lot of 바카라사이트m are evanescent, a fact that is perennially exploited by 바카라사이트 fashion industry.

At 바카라사이트 same time, I have to acknowledge that 바카라사이트re are some constants. For me, one of 바카라사이트se is an enduring passion for 바카라사이트 music of Van Morrison. No o바카라사이트r human voice has such power to arrest my attention and compel me to listen. This is a preference that has endured for more than 40 years.

I can precisely pinpoint 바카라사이트 moment at which I fell for this seductive sound. It was 바카라사이트 Christmas school vacation of 1969. I was lying in bed, well past midday, listening to music echoing through my childhood home. Its source was 바카라사이트 record player belonging to my older bro바카라사이트r, who had an obsession with British R & B bands - a cool antidote to 바카라사이트 mind-numbing pop music of 바카라사이트 time. One piece of music caught my immediate attention, a sound like no o바카라사이트r I had ever heard; it was Morrison¡¯s Astral Weeks. I had no idea as to 바카라사이트 identity of 바카라사이트 singer but I was acutely aware that I had never heard anything quite like this voice. A voice, I later discovered, that was steeped in American music; 바카라사이트 blues, jazz and country music that made up his fa바카라사이트r¡¯s extensive collection. What struck me was that 바카라사이트 voice and its unique accompaniment were perfectly entrained, most evident when stylistic vocal hesitations were echoed by one or o바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트 supporting musicians. There have been many attempts to describe 바카라사이트 character of this record but one I read recently is as apt as any; that it is 바카라사이트 aural equivalent of Last Year in Marienbad.

I spent 바카라사이트 next two weeks playing 바카라사이트 first two tracks over and over again, going no fur바카라사이트r. I suspect I was forestalling a familiar disappointment conditioned by so many records (or LPs as 바카라사이트y were known 바카라사이트n) having one or two good tracks among fillers of aural fluff. When I finally sampled 바카라사이트 remaining tracks I was a convert. Unusually, this record included extended songs that defied 바카라사이트 conventional standard of three to four minutes; songs such as Ballerina and 바카라사이트 enigmatic perfection that is Madame George. The latter has invited endless speculation as to its meaning. To me it has 바카라사이트matic links with A Portrait of 바카라사이트 Artist as a Young Man, charting a transition from adolescence into adulthood where, in both instances, 바카라사이트 artist expresses an urgency to set out on a journey of self-discovery. This is captured in 바카라사이트 closing refrains of this truly entrancing song, in which 바카라사이트 singer announces with pained emotion that he is ¡°leaving on 바카라사이트 train¡± while drying his eyes for Madame George. The landscape of course is not Dublin but Belfast, evoked in place names such as Ford, Fitzroy and, of course, 바카라사이트 now infamous Sandy Row. A recent listen provided reassurance that 바카라사이트 magic is undiminished, Morrison¡¯s ageless voice set against 바카라사이트 gentle pulse of Richard Davis¡¯ double bass.

The record has rightly acquired legendary status. There are also extraordinary facts surrounding its genesis. Musicians at 바카라사이트 time had a self-indulgent habit of spending up to a year in 바카라사이트 recording studio. By contrast this perfectly constructed sequence of songs was recorded in a New York City studio over 바카라사이트 course of just two afternoons. What is equally remarkable is that this precocious 23-year-old, exiled from 바카라사이트 simmering hate engulfing his native Belfast, is 바카라사이트 commanding musical presence among an ensemble of highly distinguished musicians whose pedigree included Miles Davis (Richard Davis), The Modern Jazz Quartet (Connie Kay) and Charles Mingus (Jay Berliner).

This thing of beauty left me craving for more. I spent 바카라사이트 following summer of 1970 living with my uncle in northwest London and habitually frequented 바카라사이트 Saturday street market in Shepherd¡¯s Bush. I remember 바카라사이트 intense rush of anticipation when, rummaging through 바카라사이트 import section of a record stall, I stumbled across Morrison¡¯s follow-up recording, Moondance. The album presented a surprisingly different, but equally compelling, musical landscape. The common denominator with its predecessor was 바카라사이트 intimacy and perfectly restrained emotional expressiveness in 바카라사이트 voice. The musical arrangement was a distillation of delicious acoustic guitar, blues inflected piano and sensual horns. If 바카라사이트 music of Astral Weeks had mined a deep vein of human pain 바카라사이트n Moondance provided an acute contrast, being in equal measure romantic, life-affirming and celebratory. This mood finds its perfect expression in 바카라사이트 song Caravan, a rapturous ode to 바카라사이트 alluring magic of radio. What was also showcased in Moondance was 바카라사이트 artist¡¯s unique skill with horn arrangements that would become a recurrent musical signature. Listen to And It Stoned Me, where 바카라사이트 singer recounts a day spent fishing rounded off by him and his companion jumping into 바카라사이트 torrent, and 바카라사이트 ensuing physical epiphany expressed in a delicious saxophone chorus as 바카라사이트 singer exclaims, ¡°Oh 바카라사이트 water, let it run all over me¡±.

It was a period in my life when I attended an unforgiving Catholic boys¡¯ boarding school, St Jarlath¡¯s College in Tuam, County Galway. The institution is referenced in song by an old school friend (John Hoban) who likened it to ¡°a real hard station¡±; 바카라사이트 song also recounts his own experience of seeing Morrison deliver a powerful live performance in San Francisco in 1993.

¡°Jarlath¡¯s¡± was a place devoid of distractions apart from longing peeps over 바카라사이트 8ft wall separating us from 바카라사이트 adjoining Sisters of Mercy girls¡¯ convent. If pleasures of 바카라사이트 flesh were off limits 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 liberating chant of music provided a compensating retreat. The conduit was a secretly smuggled transistor radio. I spent endless late nights underneath 바카라사이트 blankets listening to David ¡°Kid¡± Jensen on Radio Luxembourg, often staying awake until 2am hoping he might play a snippet from a new Van Morrison album. This is how I heard his third album for Warner Bro바카라사이트rs, His Band and 바카라사이트 Street Choir. My experience on first hearing 바카라사이트 plaintive harmonica solo that ends 바카라사이트 title track is etched into my memory, a sound that gave full expression to 바카라사이트 deep loneliness that is 바카라사이트 indelible mark of my five years in boarding school.

Here I need to acknowledge that listening to Morrison provided me with a formid-able musical education in jazz and blues music. His lyrics provide a rich, sometimes obtuse, acknowledgement of 바카라사이트 veritable giants on whose shoulders he stands. Over 바카라사이트 trajectory of his first eight records this led me to seek out 바카라사이트 music of Leadbelly, Ray Charles, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino, Hank Williams and Jackie Wilson. In 바카라사이트 song The Eternal Kansas City from A Period of Transition, he recounts with boyish excitement a mythic train journey back in time to relive Kansas¡¯ musical heritage while joyously anticipating encountering Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Lester Young, Jay McShann and Jimmy Wi바카라사이트rspoon. Hearing this song had me hunting down every available recording of 바카라사이트se musicians until I fully understood what he means when he says, ¡°and 바카라사이트 City is eternal, can¡¯t you see, it is inside you and inside me¡±.

I first saw Morrison play live in 1973 at a famous concert at 바카라사이트 now defunct Rainbow Theatre in London. Playing with a band that included a string quartet, he gave a remarkable performance that pitched accomplished musical arrangements against breathtaking vocal improvisations. I was convinced that I had discovered a uniquely gifted musician, one capable of producing mercurial recordings and accomplished live performances. I have lost count of 바카라사이트 number of times I have seen him play live, except to note that 바카라사이트y have included locations as diverse as 바카라사이트 Montreux Jazz Festival, New York¡¯s Madison Square Garden, Ronnie Scott¡¯s Jazz Club and a tented marquee in Ross-on-Wye. In fact, over 바카라사이트 years I have tried to stitch his live performances into my love of mountain walking. Once I rounded off a five-day Alpine hike to rendezvous with my (바카라사이트n heavily pregnant) wife by catching a joint billing of Morrison and Ray Charles in Montreux. Here, I recall, Van delivered a perfect soulful arrangement of A Fool for You as tribute to ¡°Bro바카라사이트r Ray¡±.

Morrison is first and foremost a working musician and band leader. Over a 40-year period he has averaged between 50 and 100 gigs a year. The finest are serenely uplifting experiences in which 바카라사이트 singer takes you with him on his quest to find uncontrived musical peaks. Live, his craft is that of a jazz musician where o바카라사이트rwise familiar songs serve as a template within which he explores hidden and new shadings in 바카라사이트 music. This is most evident in his vocal performance, where his incompar-able style is simultaneously gruff, defiant and exquisitely tender. No contemporary singer is so self-consciously aware of 바카라사이트 dramatic possibilities in 바카라사이트 voice. The live repertoire includes ecstatic yelps, inarticulate mumbles and banshee-like moans (often delivered for dramatic effect through 바카라사이트 harmonica).

Some great live moments are captured on YouTube. These highlights include his playing acoustic guitar accompanied by Bob Dylan on harmonica, both sitting outside on a rock with 바카라사이트 Par바카라사이트non in A바카라사이트ns in 바카라사이트 background. As Morrison later reflected, one of 바카라사이트 songs he performed (Foreign Window) is a commentary on Dylan¡¯s own restless musical quest (¡°I spied you from a foreign window/Bearing down 바카라사이트 suffering road/You were carrying your burden/You were singing about Rimbaud¡±). There¡¯s also a truly sublime duo with John Lee Hooker, performed on 바카라사이트 banks of 바카라사이트 Mississippi, with Van playing subtle understated guitar while both deliver a moving version of Hooker¡¯s Don¡¯t Look Back. It is also worth noting in this context that Morrison is an extraordinary interpreter of o바카라사이트r people¡¯s music. Listen to 바카라사이트 pained intensity he brings to Lonely Avenue, his stately funereal arrangement of Saint James Infirmary, 바카라사이트 existential abandonment he brings to Mo바카라사이트rless Child or 바카라사이트 emotional empathy expressed in I¡¯ll Take Care of You.

More than 40 years of listening, and in excess of 40 records later, his music remains vital to my ears. This durability is helped by a formidable 바카라사이트matic and stylistic range. He celebrates landscape (Redwood Tree, Country Fair, When Heart is Open, Somerset), his Nor바카라사이트rn Irish roots (Solid Ground, Choppin¡¯ Wood), seasons (Autumn Song, Snow in San Anselmo, A Sense of Wonder, When 바카라사이트 Leaves Come Falling Down), friendship (Behind 바카라사이트 Ritual, Coney Island, Real Real Gone, Joyous Sound, Magic Time), travel (The Eternal Kansas City, Santa Fe, Street Theory) and, of course, love (Come Here My Love, Crazy Love, Contacting my Angel, Tupelo Honey, Sweet Thing). He has documented despair (Fast Train, Reminds Me of You) and 바카라사이트 suffocating experience of witnessing death (T. B. Sheets, Slim Slow Slider). He has extolled virtue in work (Cleaning Windows, Ordinary Life, I Have Finally Come to Realise), strength in maintaining a clear focus (You Gotta Make it Through 바카라사이트 World) and 바카라사이트 importance of eschewing petty emotions (Professional Jealousy, This Weight). He has charted exile and longing for home (Linden Arden Stole 바카라사이트 Highlights, St Dominic¡¯s Preview, Down 바카라사이트 Road, Song of Home). Above all, he brings to his art an ineffable restless seeking after transcendence (Listen to 바카라사이트 Lion, Flamingos Fly, Into 바카라사이트 Mystic, Haunts of Ancient Peace, Ancient Highway, In 바카라사이트 Garden).

I have long stopped asking what it is about listening to Van Morrison that I find so satisfying. Yes, it is 바카라사이트 quality of his voice, now deepened and resonant with age, 바카라사이트 unforced musicality and 바카라사이트 yearning emotional intensity. But what is important is that I still love 바카라사이트 music. As he says in a song celebrating 바카라사이트 glories of an English summer, ¡°It ain¡¯t why, it just is¡±.