When That Rough God Goes Riding : Listening to Van Morrison

by Marcus, Greil

• ISBN13: 9781586488215
• ISBN10: 158648821X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-06
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

"Van Morrison," says Greil Marcus, "remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music." WhenAstral Weekswas released in 1968, it was largely ignored. When it was rereleased as a live album in 2009 it reached the top of theBillboardcharts, a first for any Van Morrison recording. The wild swings in the music, mirroring the swings in Morrison's success and in people's appreciation (or lack of it) of his music, make Van Morrison one of the most perplexing and mysterious figures in popular modern music, and a perfect subject for the wise and insightful scrutiny of Greil Marcus, one of America's most dedicated cultural critics.This book is Marcus's quest to understand Van Morrison's particular genius through the extraordinary and unclassifiable moments in his long career, beginning in 1965 and continuing in full force to this day. In these dislocations Marcus finds the singer on his own artistic quest precisely to reach some extreme musical threshold, the moments that are not enclosed by the will or the intention of the performer but which somehow emerge at the limits of the musician and his song.

Author Biography

Greil Marcus is the author of The Shape of Things to Come, Like a Rolling Stone, and The Old Weird America; a 20th anniversary edition of his book Lipstick Traces was published in 2009. With Werner Sollors he is the editor of A New Literary History of America, published last year by Harvard University Press. Since 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.

Table of Contents

Northern Muse. Greek Theatre, Berkeley. 3 May 2009	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
A Grimy Cinderella in a Purple Stage Suit
Mystic Eyes. 1965	p. 15
Tupelo Honey. 1971	p. 18
Baby Please Don't Go. 1965	p. 23
John Brown's Body. 1975	p. 27
Caravan. The Last Waltz. 1976	p. 29
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. 1966	p. 36
I'm Going to My Grave with this Record
Astral Weeks. 1968	p. 43
Almost Independence Day. 1972. Listen to the Lion. 1972. Caledonia Soul Music. 1970	p. 63
Moonshine Whiskey. 1971	p. 73
Just Like a Woman. 1971	p. 74
The Last Laugh, on Mark Knopfler, Sailing to Philadelphia. 2000	p. 80
A Belief in the Blues as a Kind of Curse One Puts on Oneself
Common One. 1980 … Tell Me Something. 1996	p. 85
Linden Arlen Stole the Highlights. 1974	p. 96
Breakfast on Pluto. 2005	p. 100
The Healing Game. 1997	p. 110
There was No False Face the Song Could Not Erase
Into the Music. 1979	p. 125
Friday's Child. 1971	p. 134
Madame George. 1968	p. 140
Saint Dominic's Preview. 1996	p. 157
Sweet Thing. 1968	p. 163
Take Me Back. 1991. Jennifer Jason Leigh, 1995	p. 166
Mystic Eyes. Greek Theatre, Berkeley. 2009	p. 175
Behind the Ritual. 2008	p. 178
Acknowledgments	p. 185
Index	p. 187
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.