As a black man, Van has the unique ability to transport me back to my Baptist church roots and memories. There is something sacred in his delivery and music which makes me grateful for air in my lungs. My tears are my frequent proof.
Love it too and was awesome all The way thru .. just beautiful tone, notes, precision, timing and emotion all rolled into one Solo .. a true professional guitarist
Totally agree! I knew Mick well. He had no idea he was expected to solo and had to make it up on the spot (or so he told me!). You knew you were next if Van turned to look at you. I remember Mick saying he thought it was over but Van was still facing him so he knew he was expected to go round again and decided on his traditional ‘choppy’ style for part two. How cool is that! RIP Mick.
Everyone on that stage contributed their piece of elegance to this legendary song. I've loved Van Morrison since I was a teenager and at 72 I just keep finding more and more reasons for that love to grow! Van Morrison, one of the composer's to the Soundtrack of my youth 🎼🖤
Excerpt from a tribute written by Mark Hagen after Mick Green's untimely death: 'He played a solo on The Philosopher's Stone that was so gorgeous, so fluid and so spine-tingling that I've never been able to watch it again for fear of spoiling the memory. When I asked him about it afterwards, Mick was typically self-deprecating. "Oh yeah" he said. "I wasn't expecting that; Van just pointed at me and said "play"".'
I had the pleasure of becoming good friends with Mick Green in later life. He taught guitar in schools while I taught kit drumming. We jammed many times and even did a show at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch. The look on the parents faces after several lame songs about crossing the sea when three 11 year old guitarists walked out, plugged in and blew the roof off with The Ventures ‘Walk Don’t Run’! Mick and I were on rhythm section and cranked to the max, I will never forget it! It must be well over a decade since we said farewell for the last time. Mick you were legendary!
What is this guy talking about.. Van Morrison overlooked !! He is one of the most respected musicians alive. If he was being overlooked you would not be calling him a legend... Fame is fleeting.. Legends last forever.. rave on Van Morrison
From a player's perspective, watch the musicians look to Van during key points/solos. The respect they have for him, and the approval they seek from him is seldom found in todays musical world. Always known as a task master, and often hard to work with, Van, none the less, elevates the soul and playing of everyone around him. He is THE MAN!
thats because if someones fucks up the public isn't going to say Gee that instrument player in Vans band really sucked, they'd say Van sucked last night so yeah-he demands perfection and doesn't suffer fools lightly
My dad was always into his blues, and went through a phase of playing this every single Sunday morning. I hated it due to the repetition and my poor taste at the time. Only now, I realise how great it is. Should have been one of his funeral songs, really. I regret that.
I hear ya. I remember my father offering me a ticket to go see Van at the Opera House in Belfast in the 1980s. I was a kid. Wild horses couldn't have dragged me there. I now regret not going. Van is my favourite artist, and I love his 80s output.
I keep coming back to this, a wonderful performance, Van's really 'on it' and the icing on the cake is that guitar solo by the one and only Mick Green (R.I.P.)
the most fantastic singer/songwriter of all time.....he just takes you on a different spiritual journey every day with every new song i listen to... thank you Van for bringing so much joy, peace and love into my life, i feel blessed for sure listening to your tunes.
Anthony Dumville I totally agree.. Such depth and just spiritual experience with Van and his music. So blessed to have been turned on to him & his music yrs ago. I traded in the Van Morrison Yahoo fan club & got great cds from all over the world... Lots of boots but proud of every one..
You got that right! Even lately, as old as he is, the man has been putting out two albums a year, each one a gem! His "Miss Otis Regrets," for example, is definitive!
Edward Atterton - Lovely solo, isn't it. I'm not really a Van fan, but I am of Mick Green, and I found out about Mick's solo when I was reading a tribute Mark Hagen wrote after Mick's untimely death. Here's the excerpt: '...he played a solo on The Philosopher's Stone that was so gorgeous, so fluid and so spine-tingling that I've never been able to watch it again for fear of spoiling the memory. When I asked him about it afterwards, Mick was typically self-deprecating. "Oh yeah" he said. "I wasn't expecting that; Van just pointed at me and said "play"".'
Edward Atterton I think don't think it was understated at all. I got it and you are right it was perfection. Not unlike the Band on the Last Waltz track....'It makes no Difference.'.Brilliantly sung by the late Rick Danko. Funny because I always thought Van the Man was the best that night. Pity for rest! God Bless Van the Man.
I love hearing a solo get a round of applause, as the sax player does here. Martin Barre always gets one after his solo in Aqualung, and there's a great example on Little Feat's live version of The Fan on Electrif Lycanthrope (sic) when the band cooks up a storm then gets a well-deserved ovation. Van's huge band here, every one of them, deserves their own accolade. When even Van appears to be enjoying himself, you know something transcendental is going on.
Sir Van Morrison is another genius of song writing and songs and Sir Van Morrison is also a great musician .his musical understanding is unparalleled anywhere in the world..
Van the Man melts my troubles when I'm feeling a bit blue! Music always gets me through tough times and also elates me in the best of times. Keep singing and keep that impeccable timing...Every note sooths my soul....Van the Man you are always in my top ten performers....I'd saly number one today....Slan, Daddy-O...
Awesome version of a truly great song - and as said below, the guitar solo superbly shines and brings me back to this video over and over. .. nice sax solo too! Van in his prime simply cannot be beat for feel. groove, and emotion.
This is one of my favourite Van performances.He's rockin. And gettin the whole band into it. Leo Green, superb as always. I bet he would've loved to have given us another few bars of his sax towards the end. What a rocker he is.
This recording is simply sublime. It's so good it makes me want to cry every time I listen to it. It really stirs the emotions. Van you are a musical genius.
Glad I'm not the only one. I didn't cry when my parents died, or my sister, or my two best friends. Yet music, when played like this, can bring on the tears.
Truly a musical genius,Van Morrison has gifted us with timeless music. From 'Gloria' to the present, He needs to be honored in every hall of fame there is. Right now!
@George Ivan Morrison Oh my goodness,YES! I speak for thousands ,no,hundreds of thousands of people who have enjoyed your music from the very first days of Them to the present here in 2021. I thank you for the enjoyment you have brought to all of our lives. Saying Thank You just doesn't seem to be enough. The live performances here on RU-vid are absolute gold.
I love this song, me and my dad had tickets to see Van Morrison after listening to his album driving through Florida on holiday with friends. he didn't show at his gig for whatever reason, but I still love this song just wish me and my dad got to see him live before he passed away in July after suffering with cancer, This was our song love you always Dadx
Es que es increíble!!!!!! Grandes músicos, el saxo me encanta.... Geniales, Van Morrison, exquisito, viva Irlanda cuna de grandes músicos, 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Unfortunately it is all run through a computer. All the singers sound the same and there is no soul in the recordings. The only singer of substance for is Lady Gaga.
I used to revere VM, thought he was some special kind of rare entity, a transcendent being. But now I realize he was and is a gifted, sincere, precise artist. That's still a decent thing to be, a human being, if you spend your time and energy searching for beauty like he does. I listen to "Astral Week"s or "Into the Mystic" or "And It Stoned Me" and I am dissolved in beauty. Just completely dissolved, oblivious.
Van just lays his heart open and the words in our souls spill out....He's always had this gift and it never fails to move me. Van says what I can only think..but never put into words....His music is timeless!!
Loved him since I first heard Astral Weeks, when I was 18 in ‘ 88. This is one of my all time favs of his. I can remember hearing and watching this exact versions in my old childhood home. Something about his voice just gets me…can’t explain . The harmonica too 💕💕💕💕❤️The musicians on this are something else. Having a nostalgic moment right now 🥰Love music and how it can change your mood 🥰
I saw your dad with Van in NYC! I had third row seats and it was one of the best Van concerts I've ever seen out of the fifty I've been to! Your dad was great. May he RIP!
Fascinating - at 2:07 you see micro expression from Van - he’s slightly annoyed- wanting Mr Green to come in with that beautiful guitar and not hearing it. That’s why he looks over at him, do you think he might of got his greens mixed up? saxophonist - Leo Green 😂 This mans a Beacon of light in these dark times - people need to start getting real - if only Bob Marley was still alive - he would be standing side by side with Van
This is the greatest songwriter/performer of our time love him hate him get him or not his body of work IS and continues to be unbelivably awesome I am thankful To have had him in my life for so long and I wish I could thank him myself.
This is probably one of my favourite live performances, having seen van for the 4th time on 30/11/16 at apolloo in manchester how he reinvents old songs is masterful, not only improving them but changing instruments. for example piano for violins on mystery was something genius just a shame i cant hear it again in that style. I love the musicians different styles and the sax player and bass player are loving it. The chilled guy to the left of the sax makes me laugh too
Mr. Jef of San Rafael, Ca....during 1972-1973 World's Greatest Rock years - Today in the large as a 70 year-old. And history as vocalist, keyboards, music writer - conductor creates the strings and brass notes for Van..... Jef Labes was very recent in Rolling Stone magazine....Anything after these two years became a "follow their sound" after the best two years....Capt. Brad P.
I've seen him loads of times in Manchester - the Apollo, the Bridgewater, the Arena a couple of times (once with Bob Dylan, once with Bobby "Blue" Bland, didn't really enjoy that)), the Palace Theatre years ago. Long may he run.