The Man and his band on top form! (A Night In San Francisco - Van Morrison)

Member Name: GentleGenius

Product:	A Night In San Francisco - Van Morrison
Date:	26/04/09 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything

Disadvantages: Nothing

VAN MORRISON: Lead vocals, guitars, alto sax, harmonica
GEORGIE FAME: Organ, lead & backup vocals
HAJI AHKBA: Flugelhorn, backup vocals, Master of Ceremonies
KATE ST. JOHN: Oboe, tenor & soprano saxes, backup vocals
RONNIE JOHNSON: Guitar
TEENA LYLE: Vibes, percussion, recorder, backup vocals
JONN SAVANNAH: Keyboards, backup vocals
NICKY SCOTT: Bass, backup vocals
GEOFF DUNN: Drums
BRIAN KENNEDY: Lead & backup vocals
JAMES HUNTER: Lead & backup vocals, guitar
SHANA MORRISON: Sharing lead vocals with Van Morrison on "Beautiful Vision"
CANDY DULFER: Alto sax, backup vocals
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Sharing lead vocals with Van Morrison on "Gloria"
JUNIOR WELLS: Backup vocals, harmonica
JIMMY WITHERSPOON: Lead vocals on some tracks

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Van Morrison's "A Night In San Francisco" is a live double album, recorded at a concert held on 18th December 1993 in San Francisco's Masonic Auditorium, in front of a very enthusiastic, roaring and cheering audience.

The album reached no.8 in the UK charts in April 1994, and presumably due to the nature of the album being live with some long tracks (mainly medleys), I believe there was no promotional single released.

I was lucky enough to see Van live at Wembley Arena in June 1996 (a birthday present from a friend), and apart from the addition of Ray Charles, his band plus the music and songs performed, was an almost duplicate of the album I am reviewing here.

Words can't accurately describe what an amazing experience that was for me. It was a hot summer's evening, and the Arena was jam-packed full. I did want to kill somebody who hadn't switched their mobile phone off and was busy receiving calls throughout half of the performance, but for those who had a deep appreciation of what was happening on stage, it was definitely a night to remember. Van and the band were truly on top form, and it was great to see him perform with Ray Charles.

I'm not going to describe every track on this album below even though I love them all, as there are far too many of them - and I'll be here all night typing if I did, plus the finished review would be much longer than anyone I'm sure would wish to read.....even the music buffs amongst you all. I am merely going to talk about my absolute personal favourites - and, here goes! (I shall provide just a list at the end of the tracks that I haven't reviewed). Some of the tracks which don't appear as my favourites on this album, are actually some of my favourites from Van's other albums - just that maybe I prefer the original studio or different live arrangements of them to how they appear here.

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I FORGOT THAT LOVE EXISTED
This track begins with drumming and piano, and the arrangement is very similar to the version on one of Van's earlier studio albums. The band are very together here, with Van on lead vocals and Candy Dulfer in the background on alto sax. For me the best part of this track is a rather complex guitar solo in the middle by Ronnie Johnson. Van has his best voice hat on too. One thing I've always loved about Van (of course amongst a lot of other performers) is that he is brilliant live and doesn't need special effects, dubbing etc., to make his performance sound presentable. Candy treats us to a lovely, very complex alto sax solo about 2/3rds of the way through this track, then re-appears with yet another, just before Van sings the last few lines....his voice going softer and softer.

VANLOSE STAIRWAY/TRANS-EURO TRAIN/FOOL FOR YOU (Medley)
Now, this medley of tracks is pure, pure, unadulterated class. It begins with guitar at the forefront, backed by very soulful brass. Van's voice takes the lead vocals into the song Vanlose Stairway (I don't at this point want to say too much about the song itself, as I will be reviewing the studio album on which it appears at a later date). Georgie Fame does a little lead vocal here too. The whole effect of this medley is pure soul, with lashings of Van's special wistfulness, and the three songs blend into one another perfectly - you can't see the join! The brass section in the background is very typical of 1960s black soul, lending an almost gospel feel to the whole effect. Now and again you can hear Brian Kennedy's voice pop up, but it lacks the power on this particular medley to be at the forefront. As the medley eases into Trans-Euro Train, all I can say is WOW!!! Van and Brian Kennedy share some improvised soul singing, and their voices do something to me, along with the almost soul-spearing tune, that I find impossible to describe - suffice to say that it is the essence of what Van is all about, at his very core. Brian and Van stop singing, and everybody takes over the vocals of the tune, backed by heavy instrumentals with the whole band joining in. This makes me want to on the one hand sit up very straight in my seat, yet on the other side of the coin, makes me want to collapse into floods of tears! Wow, wow, WOW! It's just pure emotion!

BEAUTIFUL VISION
On this track, Brian Kennedy introduces Van's daughter, Shana. She takes the stage and the lead vocals, backed by guitar and Brian's voice. Shana has a C&W-sounding voice, yet it's very powerful and she hits some pretty high notes on this track that is a re-working of the original from Van's studio album of the same name. Though there is no mention of it in the details of performers and instruments played, I can clearly hear an Irish whistle in the background, yet the song doesn't have a Celtic feel at all. Georgie Fame provides very gentle organ-backing, that adds a slight hymn-like quality to this slow, very up in mood song. Some of the magic that is on the studio album version of this song is missing, but it's still brilliant.

SEE ME THROUGH/SOLDIER OF FORTUNE/THANK YOU FA'LETTINME BE MICE ELF AGAIN (Medley)
Now! How the hell am I going to describe this? The English language just isn't rich enough for me to do it justice, but it is my all-time favourite piece of music by Van. He begins the mid-tempo live version of his song "See Me Through", with some rather breezy guitar and piano backing. At this point, it's just a straight song, but you can feel that something very big and powerful is about to happen. The audience is silent, and I think they can sense that something's coming! Van does the segue into Soldier Of Fortune by lowering his voice almost to a whisper....then.....Brian Kennedy and the other backing vocalists join in, quietly at first, then gradually getting louder. Van moves away from lead and joins in with the backing, taking us somewhere exquisitely painful...the song (which actually is quite fast) gets louder and louder, then Candy Dulfer blasts in with the most poignant, sad, soulful, wistful sax improvisation I have ever heard. This part of the medley is very very repetitive, but it needs to be.....then it quietens right down, with Van singing some what I feel to be improvised lines about going up the mountainside, where the water runs clear....the instrumentals go really soft, then it all begins to speed up again - still wistful, sad and poignant to a degree that's almost unbearable to listen to in its searing, gut-wrenching beauty. As much as I love, love, love this medley, I always find it extremely difficult to hear, as it takes me to parts of myself that are too difficult to cope with - and I'm not the only person it has that effect on. As Van closes the Soldier Of Fortune part of the medley down very softly and quietly - partly singing and partly speaking in a whisper, he slides into just a tiny rendition of the old Sly & The Family Stone song, Thank You Fa'lettinme Be Mice Elf Again. The audience go absolutely crazy after their utter silence during the whole performance of this mind-blowing and mesmerising triage of songs.

AIN'T THAT LOVING YOU BABY
This is a nice, happy, jazzy piece with very up in mood brass and guitar backing Van's voice singing the main tune. Amongst many others, one thing I love about Van is the versatility of his voice. He can sing many different genres of music with perfection. There's not a tremendous amount to say about this track, other than it's just a nice, easy-sounding piece of jazz which is light relief after the all-consuming power of the See Me Through / Soldier Of Fortune / Thank You Fa'lettinme Be Mice Elf Again medley. Georgie Fame is very good on his organ!!!!

STORMY MONDAY/HAVE YOU EVER LOVED A WOMAN/NO ROLLIN' BLUES (Medley)
This is a deliciously sleazy, bluesy track with Van on vocals, backed by some lovely sax from Candy Dulfer, together with piano, gentle drumming and Georgie Fame on organ. There's something quite dirty about Stormy Monday as it's performed here, and Van's voice does this old classic song good justice. Jimmy Witherspoon then joins in, seamlessly taking Stormy Monday into the song Have You Ever Loved A Woman - another old classic song. His voice is lovely and sleazy, slightly gruff, and full of a slightly tongue-in-cheek bluesy feeling.

TUPELO HONEY
This is one of Van's old standards, taken from his album of the same name (which I shall review at a later date, so wont say too much about the song itself in this particular review). This is a song I love, which here is opened by Brian Kennedy taking the lead vocals initially. His voice is right for this song, as there are some very high notes to hit, and he can do it with ease. There's a lovely little guitar break in the middle, the mood of which I can only describe as sweetly wistful. Van then joins in to a roar of approval by the audience and takes over the lead vocals, with Brian moving into backing vocal mode, and their voices blend well together. The only complaint I'd have about this live track is that the brass is a little too heavy, as it's a very gentle song and can't take too much hacking about.

MOONDANCE/MY FUNNY VALENTINE (Medley)
Now and wow! We launch into a very upbeat, uptempo and up in mood jazzed up rendition of Van's classic Moondance! Van takes his voice into jazz mode, backed by Brian Kennedy and the rest of the band playing very enthusiastically. At first, it just sounds like a jazzy version of Moondance......then....we get a bit of scat singing by Van, a vibes solo by Teena Lyle.....then Candy Dulfer takes over and blows our minds to pieces with a truly masterful, skilful and highly complex improvised sax break. She then for a moment takes a back seat, while Georgie Fame gives an organ solo that at first sounds a little dry, but then picks up energy and sounds great. A bit more singing from Van - with everybody else joining in on backing vocals, then the song just glides into My Funny Valentine. Van and Brian take the lead vocals - there is a point where they get a little out of sync with one another and it sounds somewhat muddled, but they pull it back together again, scat singing a little of the old Lorraine Ellison song "Stay With Me Baby", before quietly doing a little more improvisation based around Moondance. Whilst that is going on, Van personally thanks each member of the band individually, saying their names twice each, in true jazz form.....and in the background, the band is speeding up and up, building to a massive crescendo keeping in Moondance mode. Either Jimmy Witherspoon or John Lee Hooker (I'm not sure which), asks the audience to "stand for The Man" while the rest of the band goes wild in the background, before winding down to a grand finale, with Georgie Fame closing the track. The audience raise the roof with their cheering and applause.

SHAKIN' ALL OVER / GLORIA (Medley)
This begins with a few chords from Gloria (Van's old classic penned song), then launches into Van singing Shakin' All Over. The brass backing is quite prominent, and guitar plays the main Shakin' All Over riff. In the middle, the backing instrumentals go very quiet to the sound of hand-clapping from the audience, and Van speaks a few words to the band (most of which I can't decipher). Then in comes a lovely piece of guitar, seguing into Gloria, with John Lee Hooker taking lead vocals in semi-scat singing style. John adds an urgency to the song, and there's some lovely, raw, twiddly guitar in the background, with Van uttering the occasional "yeah" and some other little words. The rest of the backing vocalists join in, singing the words "John Lee" - then Van, joined by Brian Kennedy, sings the main melody of Gloria in a rocked-up style of the song that we're all so very familiar with. It all gets very fervent, energetic and loud - pounding almost - as the song progresses, then quietens right down again, but still with a steady, driving beat - Van, in fun, calls for "some decorum, please!", before sharing the lead vocals once more with Brian, and they together perform an old blues/jazz style of "question and answer" - John Lee Hooker makes everyone laugh, when at the point where Van and Brian sing "she makes me feel alright", breaks in with "and she makes me feel good too!". Van then says he wants to read the riot act, and says "SSssshhhhh" - then proceeds with the rest of the band to in fun, give a little elocution lesson on how to pronounce the letters of the word "Gloria". Then the whole band plunges back into the song, repeating the final lines over & over, winding down to a hugely massive finale - Van I believe at this point leaves the stage, and everyone else (audience included) is singing the words "Van The Man" to the Gloria tune. John Lee Hooker acknowledges everybody in the band - this is the final track on the double CD - and thanks the audience for coming, wishing them all a Happy Holiday!

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As I said earlier, here is the list of tracks appearing on the double album that I haven't reviewed. They are by no means inferior; just that those above are my personal favourites.

DID YE GET HEALED
IT'S ALL IN THE GAME/MAKE IT REAL ONE MORE TIME (Medley)
I'VE BEEN WORKING
YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO FREE
HELP ME
GOOD MORNING LITTLE SCHOOLGIRL
JUMPING WITH SYMPHONY SID
IT FILLS YOU UP
I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU/IT'S A MAN'S, MAN'S, MAN'S WORLD (Medley)
LONELY AVENUE/4 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING (Medley)
SO QUIET IN HERE / WHERE IT'S AT (Medley)
IN THE GARDEN / YOU SEND ME / ALLEGHENY (Medley)
HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU

This whole double album is a true masterpiece, and is definitely something that I'm sure jazz lovers would enjoy. Having said that though, I'd also add that it possibly wouldn't be a good album to begin with when trying to familiarise yourself with Van Morrison's work.

The band and Van himself really push the boat out, and put so very much soul, drive and energy into giving what must have been a truly wonderful performance to witness first hand, e.g. being in the audience. I feel highly priveleged to have seen it re-performed almost identically at Wembley three years later.

I want to say so much more about this wonderful live concert, but my eyelids are drooping (it's 1:20am) and my bed is calling, plus I don't want to make this review longer than some people might appreciate, so I'll close by saying that "A Night In San Francisco" can be purchased from Amazon as follows:-

USED: from £5.96 (on CD)
NEW: from £12.49 (unclear if on CD or DVD)

It doesn't appear at the moment to be available as an mp3 download from Amazon.

Thanks for reading, and goodnight!

Summary: A very energetic and powerful live album which will rip your socks off and blow your mind!