Saint Dominic's Preview
Encyclopedia
Saint Dominic's Preview is the sixth solo album by Northern Irish
singer-songwriter
Van Morrison
. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records
. Rolling Stone
declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record yet released."
The diversity of the material on the album highlighted Morrison's fusing of Celtic folk
, R&B, blues
, jazz
and the singer-songwriter
genre. "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
" and the title track were blends of soul
and folk
, while lesser known tracks such as "Gypsy" and "Redwood Tree" continued to display a lyrical celebration of nature's beauty. Also on the album were two lengthy tracks, "Listen to the Lion" and the closing "Almost Independence Day
" which were given primal, cathartic and intense vocal performances from Morrison. These tracks were similar to the songs on his 1968 album, Astral Weeks
.
The album reached number 15 on the Billboard 200
when it was released. This would remain Morrison's best ever U.S.
success on the Billboard 200 until 2008 when Keep It Simple
came in at number 10 on the Billboard chart.
Ted Templeman
was co-producer on the album. Several of the musicians who played on the album were newly recruited: Jules Broussard, saxophonist and previously from Boz Scaggs
, pianist Mark Naftalin
who had previously played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Ron Elliott
from The Beau Brummels
and Bernie Krause
played the Moog synthesizer.
: "The album was kind of rushed because of studio time and things like that. But I thought it was a good shot, that album. There were a lot of good songs on it. St. Dominic's Preview was more into where I'm at, more into what I was doing." The album contained only seven songs because of the length of two of the songs.
The album opens with "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
" pop and R&B
in genre and a tribute to Jackie Wilson
, one of Morrison's influences who had a hit with the song "Reet Petite".
According to Rolling Stone
reviewer Stephen Holden.On "Gypsy": "Van states where he's at artistically; the rhythms, alternating between double and triple time, are driving and excited, the harmonies faintly Middle Eastern, and the multiple guitar textures exotic."
"I Will be There" is a twelve-bar blues played with a honky-tonk piano and evoking Ray Charles
composed of heavily realistic lyrics that speak of the singer grabbing an overcoat, his toothbrush and underwear.
"Listen to the Lion" is an eleven-minute song that begins with a mellow opening and Morrison then improvises new singing methods, turning himself into a lion with growling, wailing and various other vocal techniques as the song progresses. It has been said to be, by both technique and emotion, "a vocal performance that remains unparalleled by his contemporaries." Caledonia
, one of Morrison's favourite symbols, is referred to "during the coda when he works himself up into a trancelike gospel improvisation": "And we sailed and we sailed and we sailed and we sailed... way up to Caledonia." Brian Hinton
described the song: "We are back in Astral Weeks territory, a bass led shuffle and Van lost in his own poetic universe, but here his voice takes wilder risks; growling, a near death rattle, feral grunts and roars." The chorus chanting "Listen to the Lion" behind the singer is made up of three male voices, including Morrison, "singing at himself".
The title track, "Saint Dominic's Preview
", was said by Morrison to have been composed after seeing an ad for a peace vigil to be held at St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco. The song is written in a "stream of consciousness" fashion as with the Astral Weeks
songs. Lyrics in the song refer to different stages of Morrison's life: "chamois cleaning all the windows" (teenage years) and "The record company has paid out for the wine" (his contemporary status as a pop music star). Erik Hage
calls it "expansive and groundbreaking, representing an enlarging scope and ambition in Morrison's music."
"Redwood Tree" is reminiscent of "And It Stoned Me
" on the Moondance
album, with a soulful celebration of nature, water and a boy's childhood experiences.
"Almost Independence Day
" is a two-chord cycle that uses a moog synthesizer
and various musical and vocal techniques to translate to the listener the feelings the singer had while staring across the San Francisco harbor. Along with "Listen to the Lion", it is more than ten minutes in length and has been compared to it as being as "musically daring in its own way". Erik Hage
describes the song as "a mood piece, and a precursor to his 1980s work (particularly Common One), where his whole raison d'être became trying to inspire meditative states in the listener." Speaking of this song, Morrison told Ritchie Yorke
: "It wasn't my concept to write a sequel to 'Madame George
'. I like the song though. It was just contemplating organ and the Moog. Everything was recorded live except that one high part on the synthesiser. I asked Bernie Krause to do this thing of China Town and then come in with the high part because I was thinking of dragons and fireworks. It reminded me of that. It was a stream of consciousness trip again."
. This would remain Morrison's best ever U.S.
charting until 2008's Keep It Simple
came in at number 10 on the Billboard charts.
Erik Hage
wrote that "it is one of the strongest albums in the Van Morrison canon because it seems to adapt and incorporate all of the lessons and discoveries of the rich period of evolution that came before it while still opening up new windows." Miles Palmer writing in The Times
commented that "The cumulative impact is devastating." Scott Floman gave the album an A rating and believed it to be "one of Morrison's most ambitious and best albums".
In a Rolling Stone
review, Stephen Holden found that "The coexistence of two styles on the same record turns out to be very refreshing; they complement each other by underscoring the remarkable versatility of Van's musical imagination." Rolling Stone also declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record yet released".
The Allmusic review with a rating of 4.5 stars comments that the album, "hangs together on the strength of its songs, an intriguingly diverse collection which draws together the disparate threads of the singer's recent work into one sterling package."
Robert Christgau
ends his A- rated review with: "The point being that words—which on this album are as uneven as the tunes—sometimes say less than voices. Amen."
It was his first album not to have love as its central theme and significantly (as his marriage was deteriorating) the cover shows Morrison sitting on church steps playing guitar with ripped trousers and scruffy boots looking like a gypsy
troubadour
out on the street. Photographs for the album were taken by Michael Maggid in St. Anselm's Church in San Anselmo, California
near Morrison's home with the cover photograph shot on the steps of Montgomery Chapel on the grounds of the San Francisco Theological Seminary
in San Anselmo.
Production
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record yet released."
The diversity of the material on the album highlighted Morrison's fusing of Celtic folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, R&B, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and the singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
genre. "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
"Jackie Wilson Said " is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, Saint Dominic's Preview. It was released by Warner Bros...
" and the title track were blends of soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, while lesser known tracks such as "Gypsy" and "Redwood Tree" continued to display a lyrical celebration of nature's beauty. Also on the album were two lengthy tracks, "Listen to the Lion" and the closing "Almost Independence Day
Almost Independence Day
"Almost Independence Day" is the closing song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1972 album Saint Dominic's Preview. The song is ten minutes long and features Morrison trading guitar licks with Ron Elliott.-Recording and composition:...
" which were given primal, cathartic and intense vocal performances from Morrison. These tracks were similar to the songs on his 1968 album, Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks is the second solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in November 1968 on Warner Bros. Records. It was Morrison's first album after Warner Bros. had been able to free him from his contract with Bang Records...
.
The album reached number 15 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
when it was released. This would remain Morrison's best ever U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
success on the Billboard 200 until 2008 when Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple is the thirty-third solo studio album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on March 17, 2008 by Exile Productions Ltd./Polydor in the U.K.. and on the Lost Highway Records label on April 1, 2008, in the U.S....
came in at number 10 on the Billboard chart.
Recording
The album was recorded during late winter and spring in 1971 at Wally Heider Studios and Pacific High Studios in San Francisco and at the Church in San Anselmo. The fourth track on the album, "Listen to the Lion" was recorded during the Tupelo Honey sessions in 1971 at Columbia Studios in San Francisco.Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman
Ted Templeman is an American record producer.-Career:He began his career in the mid 1960s in the Santa Cruz area as a drummer in a band called The Tikis. At the suggestion of Lenny Waronker, the group decided to change their name. Harpers Bizarre was born in 1966, with Templeman switching to...
was co-producer on the album. Several of the musicians who played on the album were newly recruited: Jules Broussard, saxophonist and previously from Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, pianist Mark Naftalin
Mark Naftalin
Mark Naftalin is an American blues keyboardist, composer, and record producer.-Life:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Naftalin is the son of former Minneapolis mayor Arthur Naftalin; he is married to third wife Ellen Naftalin...
who had previously played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Ron Elliott
Ron Elliott (musician)
Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
from The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino , Ron Elliott , Ron Meagher , Declan Mulligan , and John Petersen...
and Bernie Krause
Bernie Krause
Bernard L. Krause is an American musician, soundscape recordist and bio-acoustician, who coined the term biophony and helped define the structure of soundscape ecology. Krause holds a Ph.D. in bioacoustics from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati.-Biography:Bernie Krause was born in 1938...
played the Moog synthesizer.
Composition and themes
Unlike his two previous albums, Morrison spoke well of this one when interviewed by biographer Ritchie YorkeRitchie Yorke
Ritchie Yorke is an Australian-born author, broadcaster, historian and music journalist. Born in Brisbane in 1944, while his father was serving with the Australian Army, Yorke developed a passion for rock ‘n’ roll in his early teens.-Biography:...
: "The album was kind of rushed because of studio time and things like that. But I thought it was a good shot, that album. There were a lot of good songs on it. St. Dominic's Preview was more into where I'm at, more into what I was doing." The album contained only seven songs because of the length of two of the songs.
The album opens with "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
"Jackie Wilson Said " is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, Saint Dominic's Preview. It was released by Warner Bros...
" pop and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
in genre and a tribute to Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
, one of Morrison's influences who had a hit with the song "Reet Petite".
According to Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reviewer Stephen Holden.On "Gypsy": "Van states where he's at artistically; the rhythms, alternating between double and triple time, are driving and excited, the harmonies faintly Middle Eastern, and the multiple guitar textures exotic."
"I Will be There" is a twelve-bar blues played with a honky-tonk piano and evoking Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
composed of heavily realistic lyrics that speak of the singer grabbing an overcoat, his toothbrush and underwear.
"Listen to the Lion" is an eleven-minute song that begins with a mellow opening and Morrison then improvises new singing methods, turning himself into a lion with growling, wailing and various other vocal techniques as the song progresses. It has been said to be, by both technique and emotion, "a vocal performance that remains unparalleled by his contemporaries." Caledonia
Caledonia
Caledonia is the Latinised form and name given by the Romans to the land in today's Scotland north of their province of Britannia, beyond the frontier of their empire...
, one of Morrison's favourite symbols, is referred to "during the coda when he works himself up into a trancelike gospel improvisation": "And we sailed and we sailed and we sailed and we sailed... way up to Caledonia." Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton, MBE is an English poet and musicologist. In June 2006 he was honoured in H. M. the Queen’s Birthday Honours List with an MBE for services to the Arts.-Education:...
described the song: "We are back in Astral Weeks territory, a bass led shuffle and Van lost in his own poetic universe, but here his voice takes wilder risks; growling, a near death rattle, feral grunts and roars." The chorus chanting "Listen to the Lion" behind the singer is made up of three male voices, including Morrison, "singing at himself".
The title track, "Saint Dominic's Preview
Saint Dominic's Preview (song)
"Saint Dominic's Preview" is the title song on the 1972 sixth album of Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Gary Mallaber plays drums on this song and Morrison's then wife, Janet Planet, is one of the back-up vocalists....
", was said by Morrison to have been composed after seeing an ad for a peace vigil to be held at St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco. The song is written in a "stream of consciousness" fashion as with the Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks
Astral Weeks is the second solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in November 1968 on Warner Bros. Records. It was Morrison's first album after Warner Bros. had been able to free him from his contract with Bang Records...
songs. Lyrics in the song refer to different stages of Morrison's life: "chamois cleaning all the windows" (teenage years) and "The record company has paid out for the wine" (his contemporary status as a pop music star). Erik Hage
Erik Hage
Erik Hage is an American writer, cultural reporter, and critic raised in Boston and New York State. His books include the critical biography The Words and Music of Van Morrison and the work of literary criticism Cormac McCarthy: A Literary Companion , which was deemed "indispensable," "engaging,"...
calls it "expansive and groundbreaking, representing an enlarging scope and ambition in Morrison's music."
"Redwood Tree" is reminiscent of "And It Stoned Me
And It Stoned Me
"And It Stoned Me" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It is the opening track on Morrison's third solo album, Moondance, which was released in 1970.-Composition and recording:...
" on the Moondance
Moondance
Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on Warner Bros. Records on 28 February 1970 and peaked at #29 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart....
album, with a soulful celebration of nature, water and a boy's childhood experiences.
"Almost Independence Day
Almost Independence Day
"Almost Independence Day" is the closing song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1972 album Saint Dominic's Preview. The song is ten minutes long and features Morrison trading guitar licks with Ron Elliott.-Recording and composition:...
" is a two-chord cycle that uses a moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
and various musical and vocal techniques to translate to the listener the feelings the singer had while staring across the San Francisco harbor. Along with "Listen to the Lion", it is more than ten minutes in length and has been compared to it as being as "musically daring in its own way". Erik Hage
Erik Hage
Erik Hage is an American writer, cultural reporter, and critic raised in Boston and New York State. His books include the critical biography The Words and Music of Van Morrison and the work of literary criticism Cormac McCarthy: A Literary Companion , which was deemed "indispensable," "engaging,"...
describes the song as "a mood piece, and a precursor to his 1980s work (particularly Common One), where his whole raison d'être became trying to inspire meditative states in the listener." Speaking of this song, Morrison told Ritchie Yorke
Ritchie Yorke
Ritchie Yorke is an Australian-born author, broadcaster, historian and music journalist. Born in Brisbane in 1944, while his father was serving with the Australian Army, Yorke developed a passion for rock ‘n’ roll in his early teens.-Biography:...
: "It wasn't my concept to write a sequel to 'Madame George
Madame George
"Madame George" is a ten-minute song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album Astral Weeks, released in 1968. The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar...
'. I like the song though. It was just contemplating organ and the Moog. Everything was recorded live except that one high part on the synthesiser. I asked Bernie Krause to do this thing of China Town and then come in with the high part because I was thinking of dragons and fireworks. It reminded me of that. It was a stream of consciousness trip again."
Reception
The album charted at number 15 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. This would remain Morrison's best ever U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
charting until 2008's Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple
Keep It Simple is the thirty-third solo studio album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on March 17, 2008 by Exile Productions Ltd./Polydor in the U.K.. and on the Lost Highway Records label on April 1, 2008, in the U.S....
came in at number 10 on the Billboard charts.
Erik Hage
Erik Hage
Erik Hage is an American writer, cultural reporter, and critic raised in Boston and New York State. His books include the critical biography The Words and Music of Van Morrison and the work of literary criticism Cormac McCarthy: A Literary Companion , which was deemed "indispensable," "engaging,"...
wrote that "it is one of the strongest albums in the Van Morrison canon because it seems to adapt and incorporate all of the lessons and discoveries of the rich period of evolution that came before it while still opening up new windows." Miles Palmer writing in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
commented that "The cumulative impact is devastating." Scott Floman gave the album an A rating and believed it to be "one of Morrison's most ambitious and best albums".
In a Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
review, Stephen Holden found that "The coexistence of two styles on the same record turns out to be very refreshing; they complement each other by underscoring the remarkable versatility of Van's musical imagination." Rolling Stone also declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record yet released".
The Allmusic review with a rating of 4.5 stars comments that the album, "hangs together on the strength of its songs, an intriguingly diverse collection which draws together the disparate threads of the singer's recent work into one sterling package."
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
ends his A- rated review with: "The point being that words—which on this album are as uneven as the tunes—sometimes say less than voices. Amen."
Packaging
The album was originally planned to be titled Green but it was changed after Morrison wrote the song, "Saint Dominic's Preview" and used it as the title song. A Rolling Stone profile of Morrison in June 1972 quoted him as saying that the song had evolved from a dream about a St. Dominic's church gathering where a mass for peace in Northern Ireland was being held. Rolling Stone then commented that later while Morrison was in Nevada he read in a newspaper article that a mass was being held the next day for peace at a St. Dominic's church in San Francisco.It was his first album not to have love as its central theme and significantly (as his marriage was deteriorating) the cover shows Morrison sitting on church steps playing guitar with ripped trousers and scruffy boots looking like a gypsy
Gypsy
-Ethnic groups:* Romani people, a group widely dispersed throughout Europe* Dom people, an Indo-Aryan group** Lyuli, a Dom subgroup from Central Asia* Lom people, a group from East Anatolia and Armenia* Banjara, a group from India* Irish Travellers...
troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
out on the street. Photographs for the album were taken by Michael Maggid in St. Anselm's Church in San Anselmo, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
near Morrison's home with the cover photograph shot on the steps of Montgomery Chapel on the grounds of the San Francisco Theological Seminary
San Francisco Theological Seminary
San Francisco Theological Seminary is a graduate school affiliated with Presbyterian Church located in San Anselmo, California. Founded in 1871, SFTS is a graduate theological institution that is focused on graduate theological education in the Reformed tradition...
in San Anselmo.
Side one
- "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)"Jackie Wilson Said " is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, Saint Dominic's Preview. It was released by Warner Bros...
" – 2:57 - "Gypsy" – 4:36
- "I Will Be ThereI Will Be There (Van Morrison song)"I Will Be There" is a song featured on Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison's sixth album Saint Dominic's Preview . The song is also the B-side to Morrison's single "Warm Love", released in 1973....
" – 3:01 - "Listen to the Lion" – 11:07
Side two
- "Saint Dominic's PreviewSaint Dominic's Preview (song)"Saint Dominic's Preview" is the title song on the 1972 sixth album of Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Gary Mallaber plays drums on this song and Morrison's then wife, Janet Planet, is one of the back-up vocalists....
" – 6:23 - "Redwood Tree" – 3:03
- "Almost Independence DayAlmost Independence Day"Almost Independence Day" is the closing song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1972 album Saint Dominic's Preview. The song is ten minutes long and features Morrison trading guitar licks with Ron Elliott.-Recording and composition:...
" – 10:05
Personnel
Musicians- Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
- vocalSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
s, acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, twelve string guitarTwelve string guitarThe twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
s, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on "Listen to the Lion" - Jules Broussard - tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Lee Charlton - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on "Almost Independence Day" - Bill ChurchBill ChurchWilliam 'Bill' Church , started out playing bass in a band called Sawbuck in 1969, with Mojo Collins, Starr Donaldson, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff. As the band was beginning to record their first album, Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Van Morrison on his Tupelo Honey album...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Ron ElliottRon Elliott (musician)Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
- acoustic guitar on "Almost Independence Day" - "Boots" Houston - tenor saxophone, backing vocals
- Mark Jordan - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on "Listen to the Lion" - Connie KayConnie KayConnie Kay was an American jazz drummer.Kay was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet from 1955 until the group's dissolution in 1974...
- drums on "Listen to the Lion" - Bernie KrauseBernie KrauseBernard L. Krause is an American musician, soundscape recordist and bio-acoustician, who coined the term biophony and helped define the structure of soundscape ecology. Krause holds a Ph.D. in bioacoustics from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati.-Biography:Bernie Krause was born in 1938...
- moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
on "Almost Independence Day" - Gary MallaberGary MallaberGary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
- drums, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.... - John McFeeJohn McFeeJohn McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long time member of the Doobie Brothers.-Biography:...
- steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
on "Saint Dominic's Preview" - Doug Messenger - electricElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and acoustic guitars - Ronnie MontroseRonnie MontroseRonnie Montrose, is an Amercian rock guitarist who has headed his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hartman, Edgar...
- acoustic guitar, backing vocals on "Listen to the Lion" - Mark NaftalinMark NaftalinMark Naftalin is an American blues keyboardist, composer, and record producer.-Life:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Naftalin is the son of former Minneapolis mayor Arthur Naftalin; he is married to third wife Ellen Naftalin...
- piano, moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled... - Pat O'Hara - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
on "Saint Dominic's Preview" and "Gypsy" - Janet Planet - backing vocals
- Tom Salisbury - piano, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
- Rick ShlosserRick ShlosserRick Shlosser is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, has been a member ofVan Morrison's band and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He's also been a varied sessions drummer.-Discography:* Andy Pratt - Records Are Like Life...
- drums - Ellen Schroer - backing vocals
- Jack SchroerJack SchroerJohn Henry "Jack" Schroer was a saxophonist, pianist and arranger best known for his work with Van Morrison in the 1970s as a member of his band The Caledonia Soul Orchestra....
- altoAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
s - Mark Springer - backing vocals on "Saint Dominic's Preview" and "Redwood Tree"
- Leroy VinnegarLeroy VinnegarLeroy Vinnegar was an American jazz bassist.Born in Indianapolis, the self-taught Vinnegar established his reputation in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s. His trademark was the rhythmic "walking" bass line, a steady series of ascending or descending notes, and it brought him the nickname...
- double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on "Almost Independence Day"
Production
- Producers: Van Morrison, Ted TemplemanTed TemplemanTed Templeman is an American record producer.-Career:He began his career in the mid 1960s in the Santa Cruz area as a drummer in a band called The Tikis. At the suggestion of Lenny Waronker, the group decided to change their name. Harpers Bizarre was born in 1966, with Templeman switching to...
- Engineers: Donn Landee, Bob Schumaker, Jim Gains, Dave Brown, Steve Brandon
- Mixing: Donn Landee, Bob Schumaker on "Jackie Wilson Said"
- Photography: Michael Maggid
- Arrangements: Van Morrison, Tom Salisbury on "I Will Be There", "Redwood Tree" and "Saint Dominic's Preview"
- Remastering: Tim Young, Walter Samuel
Album
Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1972 | The Billboard 200 | 15 |
Singles
Billboard (North America)| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Jackie Wilson Said" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 61 |
| 1972 | "Redwood Tree" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 98 |
| 1973 | "Gypsy" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 101 |
External links
- Photos St. Dominic's Preview Album Cover Session by Michael Maggid