Page 37 - the NOISE April 2015

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OF NOTE THIS MONTH
VAN MORRISON: BLOWIN’ HIS NOSE
Van Morrison, circa 1973. ESTATE OF DAVID GAHR ARCHIVES
MUSIC BLOODLINE ARCHIVES
BY TONY BALLZ
Leon Russell goes way back.
In the late 1950s, he was band mates with fu- ture guitar hero and fellow Tulsa native JJ Cale. In the 1960s he joined The Wrecking Crew, the studio pros that played on hundreds of sessions. He was writing top ten hits before he was 25. He was in Delaney and Bonnie’s late ‘60s touring band where he caught the attention of George Harrison, who used Russell on All Things Must Pass. He appears in The Concert for Bangladesh, singing “Youngblood” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Russell founded Shelter Records in 1970. He wrote “Delta Lady” for Joe Cocker and participated in Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and film. He produced and played with Bob Dylan in
1971. Hewrote“Superstar,”“ASongforYou,”(both huge hits for the Carpenters) and the Grammy- nominated “This Masquerade” (a top tenner for George Benson). His stately piano graces Badfin- ger’s “Day After Day.” His 1970s solo albums are unsung masterpieces that effortlessly blend Gos- pel, R & B, Country, New Orleans funk, and good ol’ Rock & Roll with a sly wink.
In the mid-1970s Leon Russell married Mary Mc- Creary, a black woman. They recorded several LPs with their black and white faces prominently on the covers. Perhaps not coincidentally, his stature in the industry slipped quite a bit, despite having a #1 country single in 1978 (a duet with Willie Nelson). He started another label and released records in- dependently. Russell spent the next three decades ignoring, and being ignored by, the music business.
Elton John brought Russell back into the public eye in 2010. The duo recorded a hit LP, The Union, and toured the US. Leon Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2011.
The man himself, 73 years young, will be ap- pearing with Nolan McKelvey at The Orpheum Theater on Thursday April 9 in all his Moses- bearded glory. He’s a stone legend who still walks this Earth, folks. See y’all there.
songs, really. Just keep the tape rolling in between takes, it would be a short session. One request: keep a tally of the song titles and stop him when it got to thirty. The engineer shrugged, rolled tape, and opened a trade magazine. Van set his wristwatch on the music stand in front of him and cleared his throat. What to start with ... something for Bert? Yes, good ol’ dead Bert Berns, Mr. Twist And Shout. He listlessly strummed some random chords and sang:
Twist and shake, baby Twist and shake, baby Do the twist
Do the shake
Baby, hey hey hey!
After about a minute, he stopped.
“OK, this next one’s called, “Shake And Roll.’”
Shake and roll Shake and roll, baby All night long
All night long
The same chords even. After about a minute, he stopped. “This is called, ‘Stomp and Scream.’”
Stomp and scream, baby Oh baby
Stomp and scream, baby
Wow, this songwriting stuff was easy. Out they flew: “Scream and Holler,”“Jump And Thump,”“Shake It Mabel,”“Hold On George,” ... gems, all of ‘em. Van felt he really hit a stride
around number ten, “The Big Royalty Check”:
I’m waiting for my royalty check to come And it still hasn’t come yet
It’s about a year overdue
I guess it’s coming
From the big royalty check in the sky
And who could forget that old favorite, “Ring Worm”:
I can see by the look on your face That you’ve got ring worm
I’m very sorry, but, I have to tell you That you’ve got ring worm
The hits just kept on comin’: “Hang On Groovy,” “You Say France and I Say Whistle,”“Want a Danish,”“Chickie Coo,”“Here Comes Dumb George,” Van felt the single should be “Blowin’ Your Nose”:
They put an album together And we’re releasing it next week It’s called Blowin’ Your Nose
It’s got a psychedelic jacket
And it’s called Blowin’ Your Nose It’s a gorgeous album cover
You should see it
It’s groovy
Maybe they could put out a double A side of “Blowin’ Your Nose,” with “Nose In Your Blow”:
Nose in your blow
In the wintertime, baby Nose in your blow
Nose in your blow, baby You’re crazy, you go crazy You’re going insane, baby Don’t worry about it Have another sandwich Nose in your blow
Got nowhere to go
In the snow
Let’s hear them overdub studio musicians around that.
Van had just finished “The Wobble,” when the engineer cut in and said they had reached number thirty. Van said, “What the hell, let’s give them one extra. I’m feeling generous,” and busted out number thirty-one,“Wobble And Ball.” He thanked the engineer and left with the reels.
Van Morrison copyrighted the thirty-one improvised songs, all around one minute long, as his compositions. He then de- livered the tapes to Bang Records personally. Ilene Berns re- acted with surprise, then astonishment, then ire. Bang’s law- yers informed her that the songs did indeed fulfill the terms of the clause and that Van Morrison was under no further con- tractual obligation to Bang Records.
Later that year Warner Brothers issued Astral Weeks, Van Morrison’s “true” first album. It was widely hailed as a mas- terpiece. Van enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Warners. Nearly fifty years later, Van Morrison the legend still performs and records. He has never received any royalties from “Brown Eyed Girl,” his biggest hit.
The “Contractual Obligation” album was not released by Bang Records. It sat in their vaults for decades. After Ilene Berns’ death, the company was sold and the tracks eventually leaked out. A handful of small European labels have released them on CD, often packaged with Van Morrison’s other re- cordings for Bang. They are Rock & Roll Folklore.
No one said they had to be good songs.
| Tony Ballz is bringing music folklore to
the foreground. music@thenoise.us
Got a Note? music@thenoise.us thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • APRIL 2015 • 37