Rock and Roll Jesus: The Spiritual songs of Van Morrison

George Ivan “Van” Morrison was born on August 31, 1945 in Belfast, No. Ireland at the end of World War II. His father was a Protestant and his mother was a Jehovah’s Witness.  Van was raised as a Protestant. Northern Ireland was divided along religious lines during this time, known as the Troubles. with the Protestants fighting with the Catholics for control of the country. The fighting between Protestants and Catholics lasted from 1960-1998,approximately.The Protestants were seen as Pro-Great Britain while the Catholics wanted independence from Britain and desired unification with Ireland.

When Van was fourteen, he convinced his father to buy him a saxophone and he devoted most of his time to mastering the instrument. By the time he was 15, he left school and began playing guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone in local bands. At this time in Ireland, if you weren’t cut out for school, you were expected to follow in your father’s footsteps and become a laborer. His first job was as a window washer. He commemorated that time in his life with the song, Cleaning Windows, released in 1981 on the album Beautiful Vision.

His musical journey begins

Van first toured Europe at 17 as a member of the “Monarchs”. But he got his big break with Gloria, when he fronted the band THEM from 1964 to 1966. He began his solo career in 1967, releasing his first big hit, Brown Eyed Girl. at the age of 22.

Throughout his career, one can find a random song with a spiritual twist or outright profession of a spiritual nature in the albums he released. Van was not embracing traditional religion but emphasizing feelings regarding his spiritual side. He once told an interviewer, that he wouldn’t touch religion with a ten-foot pole. He held the conviction that religion can mean anything from soup to nuts, but generally it meant organization with someone else calling the shots. To him, spirituality has a deeper meaning for each individual.

Discography:

If you research his discography, you will find an early spiritual bent on If I ever needed someone, from the album His Band and Street Choir (1970).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wO31lI-IW0&list=RD3wO31lI-IW0&start_radio=1

In 1977, he recorded Kingdom Hall, an homage to his mother, on the album Wavelength and Joyous Sound from A Period of Transition.

In 1982, he recorded the album Beautiful Vision which featured the songs She gives me Religion, Across the Bridge where Angels dwell and the title track Beautiful Vision.

The next year saw the release of Higher than the World from the album Inarticulate Speech of the Heart. In the liner notes, he dedicated the album to L. Ron Hubbard, the leader of Scientology. Van flirted with Scientology as a distant, pampered celebrity. The interest didn’t last long.

His greatest years recording and releasing Christian/Spiritual music was from 1985-1991 on four different albums.

In 1985, from the album A Sense of Wonder came the Masters Eyes, By His Grace and A Sense of Wonder

1986 Van released No Guru, No Method, No Teacher offering Someone Like You.

In 1989 came Avalon Sunset which included Whenever God shines his Light(with Cliff Richards), Have I told You Lately (that I love You), Contacting my Angel, When will I ever learn to Live in God, These are the Days and When the Saints come Marching In.

Then in 1991 the album Hymns for the Silence included I can’t stop Loving You, and See Me Through, Part II/ Just a Closer walk with You( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uQyWq2eTP0&list=RD_uQyWq2eTP0&start_radio=1)This album included classic Protestant hymns Be Thou my Vision and Just a Closer Walk with You in honor of his upbringing.

Here are the lyrics and the YouTube link to one such song, Whenever God shines his Life:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–XE4CYGRSY

Whenever God shines his light on me
Opens up my eyes so I can see
When I look up in the darkest night
Then I know everything’s going to be alright
In deep confusion, in great despair
When I reach out for him, he is there
When I am lonely as I can be
I know that God shines his light on me

Reach out for him, he’ll be there
With him your troubles you can share
If you live the life you love
You get the blessing from above
He heals the sick and he heals the lame
Says you can do it too in Jesus name

He’ll lift you up and he turns you around
And he puts your feet back on higher ground

Reach out for him, he’ll be there
With him your troubles you can share
You can use his higher power
In every day and any hour
He heals the sick and he heals the lame
And he says you can heal them too in Jesus name

He’ll lift you up and he turns you around
Puts your feet back on higher ground

When he shines his light
Whenever God shines his light
On you, on you
He is the way
He is the truth
He is the light
Oh

Van Morrison continues to make new music and occasionally does a few live performances. I have not yet explored the later albums since 1991, at this time. Van earned the ability to produce his own records and refuse the pressures from the record companies to give them hits. The hits came in spite of the pressure from “the suits”.

In 2020, during the worldwide COVID pandemic, Van Morrison and Eric Clapton were contrarians to the prevailing demands that everyone get vaccinated. The two of them garnered their share of enemies from the worldwide music community but it didn’t stop them from standing on their principles and beliefs.

I encourage you to listen to the songs that I have highlighted and see what new ones you may find. I welcome your comments regarding new tunes that you discover which would fit well with the Rock and Roll Jesus theme.

This new blog is the sixth in the series Rock and Roll Jesus, which turns the spotlight on songs of a spiritual nature from a contemporary artist who is not considered part of the New Christian Artist world of music. Each blog can be found at Substack as well as here in Do You Believe In Magic.

My only live experience seeing Van perform was back in Sept. 2019 when I saw him perform as part of the Willie Nelson Outlaw Music touring festival. My friend Steve Morse and I caught them at the Pavillion at Montage Mountain in Scranton,PA. His set was sandwiched between sets by the Tedeschi Trucks band and Willie Nelson and friends. Van did not disappoint!

You are encouraged to explore all of my previous blogs at DoYouBelieveInMagic.Blog. Your thoughts and opinions are always welcome. Please share your thoughts on any of the songs or any personal experiences you may have with Morrison’s music.

Remembering Bob Weir: the end of an era

On January 10, I was making dinner at home when I received a text from my friend Jim, who wrote,” Just saw Bobby didn’t make it”. That caught me off guard and by surprise. I turned to social media for more information and I read a post from Bob Weir’s account announcing the tragic news that he died from underlying lung issues after courageously battling cancer. I was floored, this hit hard. It felt the way it would hearing that a friend had suddenly and unexpectedly died. I got emotional and then broke the news to my wife, a fellow Deadhead. She looked at me incredulously as she tried to process the news. After that, I began receiving text messages from friends, near and far, offering condolences to me, knowing how much I loved Bob and the Grateful Dead. This news hit me as a personal loss, something that would affect me.

That night, I spent hours by myself, listening to Sirius’s Grateful Dead channel. There an impromptu show was broadcasted featuring the long-time hosts of the weekly talk show,” the Golden Road” along with long time roadie Big Steve Parrish. For three hours, I listened to the show while reading parts of a novel. I needed some time to process this terrible news. One comment that struck me as sage advice to those of us who were mourning,” Don’t cry because it’s over, Smile because it happened. ” I’m working on this.

It has been said many times; there is nothing like a Grateful Dead show and they were right. One could attend consecutive shows and not hear a song repeated. The community that the Grateful Dead organically grew is a tight group of characters. The feeling at their shows is like a family reunion with folks meeting up with old time and long, lost friends. People react to others in a gentler manner than one would expect. But the biggest and best part of it all is the music, where no song is ever played the same way. The Grateful Dead played more concerts than any other band in the US or UK. Following the Grateful Dead put you in touch with a culture of living, loving and dancing!

Through all of this the steady influence was Bob Weir. In 1963, he joined Jerry Garcia in a jug band called the Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions. They later became the Warlocks and in 1965 adopted the moniker the Grateful Dead. For the next 30 years, they toured extensively, much more than most performers of the day.

In 1972, I was a 17-year-old just getting into the live music scene. Friends and I were attending an Allman Brothers band concert in the Bronx, NY on an August afternoon. The band was coming out for their encore when a stage roadie announced to the sound booth that particular microphones would be used by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir. With Dead drummer Bill Kruetzman joining the mix, the Allmans and the member of the Dead delved into a 45-minute rendition of “Mountain Jam”, a take on the 1967 Donovan tune, There is a mountain. I was hooked and that performance burned in my memory to this day.

In 1974, I saw my first Grateful Dead concert at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ. It was a Wall of Sound show, something the Dead attempted for that year only. Over the years, I saw the Grateful Dead 14 times, including the Cornell, NY show on May 8, 1977. My last Grateful Dead show was in Atlanta, Ga on March 27, 1995.During this 21-year run, I also saw the Jerry Garcia band six times but only saw one Bob Weir led band, Kingfish, at the Beacon Theatre in NYC.

After Jerry died, Bobby along with bassist Phil Lesh carried on the legacy of the band they gave life to. Together and separately, they kept the music alive. They toured the country, encountering Deadheads at every turn. The music was well received and kept the camaraderie going. I caught Bob Weir and RatDog five times, Phil Lesh and friends three times and Billy Kreutzman’s BK3 once.  In the early 2000’s they toured as the Dead, with Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring on lead guitar. I saw them twice. In 2009, Phil and Bobby joined forces as Furthur, a nod to the destination posted on the front end of the Merry Pranksters/Ken Kesey traveling bus. For two years, in 2012 and ’13, I saw the Weir/Lesh led Furthur six times! I usually wound up going two nights in row during a weekend. Then, in 2015, I was in attendance for the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary celebrations at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

After the 50th anniversary shows in Chicago, Bob announced that he and original band drummer Billy Kreutzman along with longtime drummer Micky Hart, had formed a new band they called Dead and Company. Along with John Mayer on lead guitar, former Allman Brother Oteil Burbage on bass and Bob’s long bandmate Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, they toured from the fall of 2015 until the 60th anniversary show, last August 2025 in San Francisco. During this run of concerts, I saw the band 15 times in 10 years,including the final shows in 2023 in San Francisco and three shows at the Sphere,Las Vegas in 2024 and ’25.

Why did I detail my ventures seeing Bob Weir and his bandmates? When you have consistently been listening to the music and seeing the shows for more than 50 years, you form a bond on different levels. That is why this one really hurt.

Adding it all up it was 69 shows in 52 years. The music that this band created was the soundtrack of my life. Nary a day would go by where the music of the Dead wasn’t played. I loved being a Deadhead and wore it like a badge of pride all these years. Phil Lesh passed away on October 25, 2024 at the age of 84. Fifteen months later, Bobby joined him, Jerry, Pig Pen, Keith and Donna, Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick, hopefully to make beautiful music once again.

The music will go on with artists that will honor the legacy of the Grateful Dead. However, the era of a Dead bandmate leading a group of talented musicians to pay homage to the Grateful Dead is now gone.  When someone brings you such happiness for over 50 years, losing them unexpectedly is hard to take. Sure, I’ll press on, but a huge part of my life is gone and “he’s ain’t coming back”.

May the four winds blow you safely home, Bobby

HARK: You ain’t heard nothing like this before…a Christmas record review

I realize that this post is being published after Christmas in 2025 but it has been a busy time of year. Many of you may not see this for months, any way!

Recently I was listening to holiday music on Sirius XM satellite radio when I came across a most unusual version of The Little Drummer Boy. It was a familiar Christmas tune but what made it unique was the Beatles influence that wrapped itself around this tune. I had to learn more about the artists behind this tune. This led me to discover the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band.

The Fab Four was founded in 1997 in Orange County, CA by Ron McNeil, Rolo Sandoval, Ardavan Sarraf and David Brighton. The musicians played their own instruments and lent their vocals to the Beatles catalogue. Over nearly 30 years, they have performed their Beatles tribute worldwide and have been recognized as one of the best recreators of their songs. Over the years there have been more than 30 members who have been part of the Fab Four. Surprisingly, the current lineup includes two original members McNeil (Lennon) and Sarraf (McCartney) and they are currently joined by Gavin Pring (Harrison) and Erik Fidel (Starr). In 2012,the band won an Emmy for their 2012 PBS TV special.

The song that caught my attention came from a 2012 album HARK. This is a compilation of two previously released albums A Fab Four Christmas and Have yourself a FAB-ulous Little Christmas, both released in 2002. I took a complete listen to the compilation and am listing the songs and their Beatles influence for your appreciation.

1)Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer based on I Saw Her Standing There          

2)Joy to the World based on Please, Please Me and Little Child                          

3) Feliz Navidad based on And I Love Her                                               

4) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing based on Help

5)Away in a Manger based on You’ve Got to Hide your Love Away

6)Good King Wenceslas based on Tell Me What You See                                            

7)It Came Upon a Midnight Clear based on Baby’s in Black                                   

8) Winter Wonderland based on Honey Don’t

9)Frosty the Snowman based on Mr. Moonlight

10) Let it Snow! Let it Snow! based on Eight Days a Week

11) Silent Night based on Norwegian Wood

12) The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) based on Here, There and Everywhere

13) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen based on Within You, Without You

14) Santa Claus Is Coming to Town based on When I’m 64 and Honey Don’t

15) What Child Is This based on While My Guitar Gently Weeps

16) Blue Christmas based on Revolution 1

17) Dear Santa based on Oh! Darling

18) The Little Drummer Boy based on Sun King

19) Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree based on Got to Get You into My Life

20) Jingle Bells based on Tomorrow Never knows

21) Sleigh Ride based on Lady Madonna

22) The First Noel based on Let it Be

All of these songs should be easily found on your favorite streaming device. I initially found them on YouTube and listened to the album on Spotify.

Give this a listen and then slip this music on at your next holiday gathering. Beatles fans will want to add this to their Holiday song repertoire. It will be interesting to capture the impressions of your guests. Please give us your feedback regarding these tunes, you may find that you want to include these songs for next year’s Christmas season.

#Hark #theFabFour #theBeatles

Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams: Highlights, Twilights and Sunsets

 Every year, Charleston, SC hosts a 17-day Music and Arts festival, lovingly called the Spoleto Festival. During this stretch yearly, the organizers seek to bring to their audience performers of renown. Be it the theatre, ballet, orchestral music, dance or the visual arts, there is something to capture the attention of nearly everyone who travel near and far to revel in the cultural wonders presented.

Amongst this year’s performers in the live music category were two ladies whom I have longed to see perform, but which opportunity has escaped me. Not this year. The lineup of artists who were to descend on the stage at the Cistern, on the campus of the College of Charleston, was impressive. Among the performers were the Band of Horses, a solo performance by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Yo La Tango, Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams. I was fortunate to see Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams, separated by 5 days. One feature that made these outdoor shows so special was the setting of the Cistern, a walled space graced by magnificently mature live oak trees, complete with outdoor lights and comfortable chairs.

The Cistern deserves some special recognition for the climate it creates. This space gets use at graduation for a few days and serves the College for varied purposes throughout the year. But for nearly two weeks each year, it is transformed into an intimate, outdoor space for great performances.

Truth be told, I have never seen either artist throughout the careers. I wanted to experience the Queen of Punk Rock, Patti Smith and the Country/Folk/Rock artistry of Lucinda Williams. Both performances went on without the weather limiting the time we could spend with these artists.

For those who may not be unfamiliar with either artist, let me make the introduction.

Patti Smith is the mother of Punk Rock, hailing from S. Jersey. She’s been at it for over 50 years and laid the path for so many female rock/folk artists to come. She made famous her version of Bruce Springsteen’s, “Fire” and her biggest hit is a protest anthem, “People have the Power”. She puts her activist feelings into note and verse. Her voice is still strong and her energy level is exemplary for someone in their late 70s.

Lucinda Williams has been captivating audiences for more than 40 years. The singer songwriter hails from Lake Charles, LA. Her songwriting, whether for herself or another artist, is well crafted and begs for your attention. One of her best received albums was 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album that year. Over the years she has gathered seventeen Grammy nominations. She wrote The Night’s Too Long for Patti Loveless in 1990, Passionate Kisses for Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992 and Crescent City for Emmylou Harris in 1993.She has been adored by concert goers for as long as I can remember. In November, 2020 she suffered a stroke which affected the left side of her body. She was discovered with a blood clot on the right side of her brain. She underwent extensive rehabilitation and she has made a remarkable comeback, judging by her performance this month in Charleston.

As the last verses of Lucinda Williams set closer, Rockin’ in the Free World by Neil Young, got us out of our seats, I couldn’t help but think of what I had witnessed these nights in early June.

Keep up the good work, ladies!

#pattismith #lucindawilliams #thecistern #doyoubelieveinmagic #spolettofestival2025

SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!

Since when did being in the audience at a rock, country or metal performance become a noisy lounge atmosphere where mindless chatter replaces the focus on the performance and appreciating why you came there in the first place?

This past March (2025) I was in the audience for a solo acoustic performance by Trey Anastasio, lead guitarist and vocalist for Phish. The setting was the Gaillard Auditorium in Charleston, SC. The facility was built for such an intimate performance to an audience of less than 2000 fans. The acoustics are great for orchestras, Théâtre performances and intimate shows like the one we saw. What nearly ruined the evening was a run in with a loud and obnoxious patron who insisted in carrying on a non-stop conversation, oblivious to the amazing show Trey was delivering. I was far enough removed that I didn’t hear it but one member of our group was and confronted the patron.

Of course, they didn’t recognize that they were negatively affecting other people’s ability to enjoy the show. Nor did they appear to be concerned that good money was spent for tickets and drinks. And, shockingly, they didn’t apologize. Instead, they decided to take it up a notch and let my friend have a piece of what might be their mind.

I describe the above illustration to ask what is going on in audiences, small and large? I am not alone in my frustration regarding the behavior of the audiences that I have witnessed in the last 10 to 20 years. Rather than focusing on the reason we are there, so many in the audience are

talking, oblivious to the artist on stage.  It doesn’t matter if we are in a small club or a 20,000-seat indoor facility, people all around are talking to others and ignoring the performance. Why don’t they go to a bar where a jukebox is playing, instead?

Why do people insist on talking during a performance? Not being a psychologist, I’m unsure how to fully answer that question. Is it an age issue?  Let’s dig a bit and see what we can figure out.

Artists know all too well that many in the audience are distracted and not giving their full attention to what is going on at the stage. I’ve experienced numerous instances where an artist implores the audience to pay more attention to what’s happening on the stage and ignore those around them or what’s on their phone.

As today’s prices for concert tickets continue to rise, you would think that people would pay more attention to the   artist that they have laid down good money to see. My experience is that this doesn’t seem to affect many in the audience. Do most of the chattering crowd buy their own tickets or is someone else footing the bill?  How many have some “skin in the game”?

Have concerts become more of a social setting and not a special occasion to witness musical genius? Do many of the audience have enough knowledge of an artist’s body of work to maintain their attention on the main event?   In some situations, could it be that they are all too familiar with the artists’ performance and therefore treat the show as background noise for the more important personal interaction? Is there a cultural or generational difference that clouds peoples’ actions and make them oblivious to what is going on around them?

Blocking out the noise is a tough task. I find it frustrating to hear people competing with the artists we are there to see.  How do you get people to be respectful of you for the reason we are all there? If you have some good, proven suggestions, we’re all ears…for now.

#shutupandlisten #treyanastasio  #gaillardauditorium #doyoubelieveinmagic

If you don’t know Jorma, you don’t know Jack

Last January 30, I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for a performance of acoustic Hot Tuna, at the Charleston Music Hall(SC). Hot Tuna is Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy and occasional side musicians to round out the sound. This night, they were a quartet, with drummer Will Smith on drums and an unnamed artist weaving harmonica notes around the flat-picking genius of Jorma Kaukonen.

But wait, who is Hot Tuna and why should we be interested in what they have to offer? Let’s travel back in time for an understanding of the genius of Hot Tuna. For starters, Jorma and Jack met in high school back in the DC area in the fifties. By 1958, they would play as a duo in some seedy bars around DC. and the surrounding areas. In 1962, Jorma began studies at Santa Clara University.in California

It was here, at college, that he met Janis Joplin, with whom he had a fling. By 1965 he was being offered the lead guitar slot in a new band, Jefferson Airplane. He lobbied for Jack Cassidy to play bass and that was what it took to transport Jack from DC to SF. Alongside Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Marty Balin and Spencer Dryden, they led the San Francisco sound alongside the Grateful Dead, Carlos Santana and Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The wild success of “The Airplane” allowed Jorma and Jack plenty of time for them to perform as an acoustic duo acoustic in small clubs and electric music just about anywhere else. Jorma,Jack and their Airplane bandmates were inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Airplane disbanded in 1973 and resurrected as Jefferson Starship a few years later. By this time, Jorma and Jack had left no doubt that they were devoted to Hot Tuna 100% of the time. It’s been that way ever since. Over the years there were plenty of solo Jorma tours but Jack usually only went out on the road with Jorma. And they toured a lot! I was 17 in 1972 when I first saw Jefferson Airplane perform outdoors at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, NY. In 1975, as a college sophomore, I saw Hot Tuna fours times both indoors and out, all electric. They were the loudest electric band I have heard in concert until I saw the Foo Fighters in Columbia, SC in 2017. Below are two photos that I took of the band back 1975, as a student at the State University college at Oneonta, NY. Jorma and Jack autographed these after the show.

Over the decades, I caught an occasional show from Hot Tuna, like the night I saw them at the Windjammer on the Isle of Palms near Charleton. It’s a small beach bar that likely holds less than 500 when they pack it in. But most of my most recent encounters with Jorma was at the Pourhouse, a small bar in Charleston (SC) where he usually played solo or with one accompaniment on stage.

The last time Jorma was in town he opened for the David Bromberg band at the Music Hall. It was Jorma and his guitar sitting and singing for an appreciative audience. On January 30, it was Jorma on acoustic guitar, Jack Cassidy on electric bass, Justin Juip on the drums and an unnamed harmonica player adding some soulful notes in between Jorma’s flatpicking. For two sets and a break, they gave the audience nearly two and a half hours of their favorite songs while the audience watched their musical mastery flow seamlessly from song to song. They kept the banter to a minimum throughout the evening. Jorma’s voice was surpassed only by his ability to pick and strum flawlessly through nearly two dozen tunes from their vast repertoire. Many of the tunes come from the early blues masters, such as five tunes from Rev. Gary Davis, and selections from Blind Willie Johnson and Leroy Carr. They were weaved around Hot tuna originals and a few Jefferson Airplane selections. The performance was like comfort food for the ears. You could just sit back in the Music Hall’s comfortable seats and let the music takes you away.

If you’ve read this far, you might have calculated that Jorma and Jack are up there in years. As it is, Jorma turned 84 last December and Jack will be 81 this April (2025). A small portion of career musicians are still performing and at a high level on top of that!  It’s high time to celebrate this duo who have been performing together for more than 60 years and certainly let you know they enjoy playing together.

Check out some of their videos on YouTube. I recommend Hot Tuna-Whining Boy Blues 12-7-2024 from the Capital Theatre, Port Chester, NY. This is the same lineup that performed together at the above-mentioned Charleston Music Hall show. If you hear of them coming to a theatre near you, run, don’t walk, to get tickets. Let me know what you thought of the show!

#hottuna #JormaKaukonan #JackCassidy #CharlestonMusicHall #JeffersonAirplane

Remembering 2024’s Lost Musicians and Artists

In 2022,2023 and now for 2024, I publish my list of musicians and artists who passed away that year. As we age, many contemporary artists who we have enjoyed their artistry have died and many get overlooked by the masses. It is my hope that this monthly abbreviated obituary will bring back good memories of great times we enjoyed listening to these artists. Following the calendar:

JANUARY:

*Joyce Randolph (15) 99 years~ Played Trixie, Ed Norton’s wife on the Honeymooners

*May Weiss (19) 75 years Lead singer of the Shangri-Las, whose biggest hit was Leader of the Pack

*Melanie Safka (23) 76 years ~Huge in the 60’s and early 70’s. Was known simply as Melanie and her biggest hit were Brand new key and Lay Down (candles in the rain)

*Chita Rivera (30) 91 years~- actress and dancer, two-time Tony Award winner

FEBRUARY:

*Wayne Kramer (2) 75 years ~co-founder of MC5, a Punk rock band

Toby Keith (5) 62 years-country artist best know for Red Solo Cup and more than 20 top Country tunes. Never smoke weed with Willie again along with great patriotic tunes are part of his legacy.

*Mojo Nixon-(7) 66 years- Singer/Songwriter and Sirius XM DJ. Famous for “Elvis is everywhere“.

*Jimmy Van Eaton (9) 86 years. Drummer on early Sun Records, playing for Jerry Lee Lewis amongst others.

MARCH:

*Brit Turner (3) 57 years ~drummer for Blackberry Smoke

*Steve Lawrence (7) 88 years ~Pop crooner very popular in the 50s to the 70s. Married to singer Eydie Gorme.

*Eric Carmen (9) 74 years ~ lead singer of the Raspberries

*Byron Janis (14) 95 years ~classic pianist who toured Russia in the 1960s as part of a cultural exchange

*Steve Harley (17) 73 years ~lead singer of the 70s glam rock band, “Cockney Rebels”

APRIL:

Casey Benjamin (2) 45 years ~Jazz saxophonist

*Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry (7) 87 years ~R&B singer, famous for “Ain’t got no home’

*Ben Eldridge (14) 85 years ~Banjo player and founder of folk band Seldom Scene

*Dickey Betts (18) 80 years ~original Allman Bros. band guitarist and singer

*Mandisa Lynn Hundley (18) 47 years ~Grammy award winning Christian music artist

*Nick Daniels III (27) 68 years ~bass player with Dumpstafunk

*Duane Eddy (30) 86 year ~ Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, famous for the lead guitar on ‘Peter Gunn’

MAY:

*Jim Mills (3)57 years ~Banjo player with Ricky Skaggs and vintage instrument trader

*Steve Albini (7) 61 years ~producer for Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey. Front man for Big Black and Shellac

*Bill Walton (27) 71 years ~College Basketball (UCLA) and NBA Champion (Portland and Boston) and the world’s biggest Deadhead

JUNE:

*Kinky Freidman (27) 79 years ~Singer, songwriter and irreverent self-proclaimed Texas Jew boy

*Martin Mull (27) 80 years ~Comedian and actor

JULY:

*Joe Egan (6) 77 years ~member of Steelers Wheel, ‘Stuck in the middle with you’

*Joe Bonsall (7) 76 years ~Oak ridge Boys singer

*Bob Newhart (18) 94 years ~Comedian and actor

*John Mayall (22) 90 years ~English Blues legend and band leader

AUGUST:

*Shaun Martin (3) 45 years ~keyboards for Snarky Puppy

*Maurice Williams (6) 86 years ~singer of Stay and other Motown hits

*Greg Kihn (13) 75 years ~top 20 hit maker including the Breakup song and Our Loves in Jeopardy

*Gena Rowlands (14) 94 years ~Four time Emmy Award actress and two-time Golden Globe winner

*Peter Marshall (15) 98 years ~ Hollywood Squares TV game host

*Steve Silberman (29) 66 years ~studied under Alan Ginsberg, wrote for Wired magazine, inside access to the Grateful Dead and CSNY

SEPTEMBER:

*Sergio Mendes (5) 83 years ~leader of Brazil 64&66. Innovator of the Bossa Nova sound

*James Earl Jones (9) 93 years ~Actor and character voice in many movies

*Tito Jackson (16) 70 years ~brother and member of the Jackson 5

*John David ‘JD’ Souther (17) 78 years ~singer, songwriter and member of the Eagles

*Kris Kristofferson (28) 88 years ~Singer, songwriter, actor and Rhodes Scholar

OCTOBER:

*Johnny Neal (6) 78 years ~played keyboards and harmonica for the Allman Brothers and the Dickey Betts band

*Cissy Houston (7) 91 years ~2-time Grammy award winning gospel singer, mother of Whitney Houston

*Liam Payne (16) 31 years ~former member of One Direction

*Phil Lesh (25) 84 years ~Bassist for the Grateful Dead, the Dead, the Other Ones, Furthur, Phil and Friends and the Terrapin Family band

NOVEMBER:

*Quincy Jones (3) 91 years ~record producer and musical influencer

*Blake Rhea (6) 48 years ~ Bassist for Southern Avenue…murdered in a Memphis bar

*Lou Donaldson (9) 98 years ~Jazz and Bebop musician and innovator

DECEMBER:

*Zakir Hussain (15) 73 years ~Indian Tabla virtuoso, performed with Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum

Likely, I missed someone in the music and entertainment business this past year. Let me know who passed by under my radar in 2024 that touched your heart. My list is purely subjective.

Bob Dylan: Serve Somebody… Rock n Roll Jesus pt.4

If you’ve read my blogs before, this is the fourth installment of an unlikely theme for a music blog. Rock and Roll Jesus blogs are the most read of the blogs I have written over the last 9 years. It began with Spirit in the Sky (Norman Greenbaum) on August 15, 2017, followed by Presence of the Lord (Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood) on May 24, 2018 and Still haven’t found what I’m looking for (U2) on February 23, 2024. Today I offer Gotta Serve Somebody written by Bob Dylan. The constant theme to these songs is Christian principles in rock and pop songs by contemporary artists. While these songs won’t make it onto a Hillsong compilation, they do say something about themes which the artists are trying to promote.

Gotta Serve Somebody comes from the album, Slow Train Coming, released in 1979. This was the first track on side 1. Slow Train Coming is the first of a trio of Christian theme albums that Dylan released between 1979 and 1981.In 1980, Dylan released Saved and in 1981 he offered up Shot of Love

In 1978, Bob Dylan’s energy was tapped out from constantly being on the road, and on top of other pressures in his life, his last album Street Legal didn’t do so well. Legend has it that he saw a vision of Christ that year a few months after a fan threw a silver cross on the stage while Dylan was performing. Some musicians in his touring band were members of a Southern California-based organization named the Vineyard Fellowship. A girlfriend of Dylan’s, a Vineyard member named Mary Alice Artes, asked pastor Ken Gulliksen to speak to the singer. This led to Dylan beginning an intensive study of the Vineyard. It was this action which would go on to influence Dylan’s writing style for the next few years and led to the trio of albums.

Slow Train Coming was Dylan’s first release since becoming a born-again Christian. Much of the album thus deals with Dylan’s faith and Christian teachings. While the religious nature of the record alienated many of Dylan’s older fans, the album also gained Bob a new wave of Christian fans.

The song talks about the finding meaning in life through serving God. The song’s main message was highlighted in the lyrics, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody/Well it could be the devil or it could be the Lord/But you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. John Lennon thought this song was “embarrassing” and wrote Serve Yourself in response to it. The song criticized Dylan’s preaching and instead asserted: “you gotta serve yourself/Ain’t nobody going to do it for you”. In 1980, Dylan’s song was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a male. Dylan performed the song at that same ceremony. Later, Devo would cover this song live as their Christian rock alter-egos, Dove. Natalie Cole covered this on her 1999 album, Snowfall n the Sahara. This cover version featured a new verse that Dylan had written especially for Cole.

If you’re unfamiliar with the song, here are the lyrics:

You may be an ambassador to England or France                  
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance                                                    
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world                                               
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls                                                   

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed                                              
You’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                                       
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord                                                        you’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                                 

Might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict prancing on the stage                                                 
Might have money and drugs at your commands, women in a cage                        
You may be a business man or some high degree thief                                            
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief                                             

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed                                             
You’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                                      
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord                                                          
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                             

You may be a state trooper, you might be an young turk                                          
You may be the head of some big TV network                                                         
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame                                                 
You may be living in another country under another name                                      

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes                                                        
You’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                                      
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord                                                        
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody                                                                

You may be a construction worker working on a home                                               You might be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome                                    
You might own guns and you might even own tanks                                                
You might be somebody’s landlord you might even own banks      

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

You may call me Terry, you may call me Jimmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

 

 Here’s a YouTube link to the song for your audio-visual experience:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-CffhydlDo

Let us know what you think after indulging us by reading this blog!


The Las Vegas Sphere: The Ninth wonder of the World embraces Dead and Company

It is July 5th at 6 PM and 118 degrees in Las Vegas. My wife and I traverse the land bridge across Las Vegas Blvd. into the air-conditioned confines of the Venetian Hotel. Once inside this luxury resort, we follow the signs to the bridge that connects this glamorous hotel to the Sphere. We follow a small crowd along the air-conditioned path into the most amazing concert venue I have seen in my 53 years of being in the crowd. The Sphere was celebrating its one-year anniversary. The interior color scheme is a variety of blue, black and green. In the sky above our heads were amazing shapes hanging from the rafters. They twirled and danced independent of any background music. The escalators rose to each new level transporting fans who, many like me, were getting our first looks of this venue. What first struck me was the width of the concourse that wraps around each level. It afforded hundreds of people the opportunity to move freely around without a hint of claustrophobia. There were plenty of opportunities to purchase food, beverages and merchandise. I ascertained the situation in need of a beer. In front of me were a bank of refrigerators with swinging doors like you find in most convenience stores. Inside these coolers were rows of beers, with a great variety of domestic, imported and craft beers. Above the coolers were signs promoting the beverages and their cost. I grabbed my choice and followed the fast-moving line to an attendant who instructed me to place my drink on a metal apparatus which read the beer’s code and automatically priced my choice on a screen. I was guided to tap my card and in seconds I was off with my beverage at a minimal of time and effort. I followed the signs to my section and entered a short tunnel that turns left and then right into the venue. Here’s where the magic began.

Promptly at 7:35 PM Dead and Company take the stage way down below. Although they appear to be the size of scurrying ants, they are in fact larger than life tonight. The show begins, as has become customary, when the wall façade breaks into two along a jagged edge which becomes the Dead’s trademark lightning bolt. The separating façade reveals a smooth circular canvas which would transform this place into a most unforgettable experience.  They began zooming in with a view from outer space towards Earth, focusing down to California, then closer to San Fransisco and ultimately the Haight-Ashbury section of San Fransisco in the mid-sixties. Then the music began and the familiar guitar licks of Cold Rain and Snow got the crowd cheering and up on their feet.

Throughout the evening, the sound was impeccably balanced. I have worn hi-fidelity ear plugs to shows for nearly ten years and had planned to bring them with me but forgot them back at the hotel. After 800+ shows, it is a necessity for me to keep my tinnitus ringing to a manageable level. I am happy to report that I was able to manage the sound level due to the 167,000 individually amplified loudspeakers strategically spaced throughout this magnificent theatre. Throughout the evening’s performance, the sound never overpowered the senses and made for a most comfortable and enjoyable show. For those interested in the complete set list from this or any other show from their residency, go to setlistfm.com and search Dead and Company.

The first set of seven classic Dead tunes lasted a little more than an hour. The video performance was totally captivating. A steady stream of still and moving art paraded across the ceiling of the arena. There were many close ups of the band members performing both within the artwork and all by themselves. There were times where the images grew to the size of the building and then came right at you, where it felt like you were being absorbed by what you saw.

Intermission was slightly quicker than the norm of their outdoor shows. The band returned to the stage slightly after Nine PM for an eleven-song performance including the “encore”. The second half started with the classic combination of China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider and included a classic Dark Star. The spacey tune was accompanied by a flowing Star Wars themed display of the Cosmos, captivating the audience. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the show was the standard Drums>Space, a staple of Dead shows for decades. What used to be a signal to run to the restrooms has become an integral part of the show. This is not your father’s drum solo but a percussive assault of the senses. If you were lucky enough to be seated during this performance you felt your seat rumble, lean and punctuate every thundering beat from the percussion section. It was something that I have not experienced in any concert that I have ever attended.

Coming out of the Drums>Space performance the band started slow with Looks Like Rain and then picked up the pace on Brown Eyed Women before falling back to a danceable Fire on the Mountain, complete with drummer Micky Hart rapping his own verses, and then Throwing Stones. All throughout the performance, the screen changed with the songs, at one time projecting the 1974 Wall of Sound with screens on the left and right showcasing various members of the band in performance.

The band then featured news clips regarding their early days, confirming the lasting impression they made on the culture of the time. This led to their ‘encore’ of Not Fade Away, a fan favorite. The performance concluded around 11:15 PM and then the fans began their descent to the concourses and the escalators and stairs. The crowd was euphoric and well behaved as they congregated together in their descent to the bridge which led to the Venetian hotel or the superheated streets below.

A nice sampling of what you can expect at this kind of show is a performance of Shakedown Street and the visual presentation that is unique to this venue..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMnGgyJOLo

The Dead is now the third major act to perform at this multimedia wonder. It all kicked off last fall when the Irish band, U2 took up residence at the Sphere for forty performances. This was followed in April by Phish’s four-night stay. The Sphere also hosted the two-day NHL Draft in the middle of the Dead and Company string of weekends. When they conclude on August 10. Dead and Company will have given thirty performances, only outdone by U2.

When you hear that your favorite band is coming to the Sphere(sphere.com), don’t think twice, get the tickets!! You will not regret this and you WILL thank me!

March Madness in Live Music

 March roared into Charleston and brought with it nine performances of note. Beginning the month was the SC Blues Alliance at a local bar, a house concert by a renowned local folk artist and an enjoyable bluegrass ensemble from N. Carolina on the deck at the Pourhouse.  Edgy comedy from Englishman Jimmy Carr, Dawes and Lucius as a band performing the Tag Team Tour, Creed frontman Scott Snaap stepping out with his project and the 50th anniversary tour by Spyro Gyra all at my Music Hall displayed a broad brush of artists. The month ended with an acoustic duo from the Infamous Stringdusters performing the music of Jerry Garcia one night and then screaming guitars from Joe Satriani and Steve Vai sharing the stage at the Performing Art Center another night.

Of note, Jimmy Carr gave two performances one night at the Music Hall. His dry British humor and measured delivery added to his unique perspective of life. There were no taboos to the topics he might discuss and his performance was 15 to 20 minutes shy of two hours. I’ve not seen a comedian perform for that length.

What captured my ear the most was the Tag Team tour of Dawes and Lucius. The two ladies who front Lucius lent their voices to the Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith and his drumming brother Griffin. They opened their show with a cover of Pink Floyd’s Shine on you Crazy Diamond and ended their show with a Joe Cocker rendition of the Beatles’ A little help from my friends. In between the artists covered many tunes from each band’s catalogue which made up the bulk of their performance. Taylor talked about being at Joni Mitchell’s house last year and getting to sing with her. He then played Mitchell’s Come in from the Cold. They also paid tribute to Warren Zevon with Desperados under the Eaves and a lovely vocal performance by Lucius on the Grateful Dead’s Uncle John Band. All told they played for more than two hours in two sets and left the capacity crowd in wonder of the breadth and scope of the the songs offered that night.

The other performance that really got my attention was Andy Falco and Travis Book of the new grass band, the Infamous Stringdusters, performing the music of Jerry Garcia at local club the Pourhouse. Their two voices floated above the riffs and beats of an acoustic guitar and a standup acoustic bass. The sounds that they churned out filled the room and made the crowd dance all night long. Even if you weren’t a Deadhead but appreciate the bluegrass sound, you would enjoy the show.  However, if you are a Head, you would appreciate the songs they chose to perform to a small (under 150) crowd one Saturday night. Their set list was ambitious and the sounds were magical. A good time was had by all.

#lucius #dawes #tagteamtour #andyfalco #travisbook #charlestonmusichall #pourhouse #scbluesalliance #montreux #jimmycarr #daniellehowle #chathamcountyline #scottsnaap #spyrogyra #infamousstringdusters