Discovering Saint Dominic’s Preview

Getting under the skin of Van Morrison’s Saint Dominic’s Preview

Summer 2002. To overcome a romantic disappointment I took refuge in music. Just for a change. I frequently listened to artists like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Band, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger. Some months earlier though a friend had burned me two CDs: Astral Weeks and Moondance, and in the month of May I had bought my first Van Morrison record, recently released: Down the Road. In that period, besides listening to loads of records and cassette tapes, I had discovered two authors like Saul Bellow and Henry Miller. At the cinema a certain Peter Jackson was going strong and we were all disoriented because of Islamic terrorism. But that is definitely another matter, which here I don't have the time to deal with properly. I make this premise because the listener who was about to know and discover this record was a young dreamer, a bit unripe, maybe even a little romantic, but certainly not unfamiliar with books, cinema and pop music.

It was the clamorous and redundant summer of 2002 and it happened to fall into my hands, almost by mistake, surely by pure chance, Simple Twist of Fate, Dylan would say, the CD I want to talk to you about now. It was Saint Dominic’s Preview, sixth studio work for its author, Van Morrison. I knew little, very little about him, except for the fact that a long time before he had joined The Band to perform some songs in the concert film The Last Waltz, immortalized by Martin Scorsese and seen on TV late at night following the broadcast of Fuori Orario by Enrico Ghezzi. Above all, I didn’t know he was an artist capable of inspiring authors of the calibre of Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters. If the listening of the first records (Moondance and Astral Weeks) had opened me to a rich and eclectic musical world, it was with Saint Dominic’s Preview that I became aware of an aspect fundamental for me: I had to discover much more, I wanted to get everything that this great musician had produced and sung. Luckily for me at the time Cosenza was a musically lively and fertile city, there was a good number of shops and thanks to Iguana and especially to Orfeo, in the person of Carlo Cucco Marino, I recovered, in the space of a few months, a dozen titles, including the magnificent double live It’s Too Late to Stop Now, Into the Music, Beautiful Vision and Veedon Fleece. Records I will talk to you about in the next chapters of this listening guide to Van Morrison. Saint Dominic’s Preview, published during the summer of 1972, falls into the category of Van Morrison’s absolute gems, despite the fact that at the time of its making not many would notice it. Let’s see how the choice to combine rhythmic and short tracks like the brisk Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile), Redwood Tree and I Will Be There, with more lyrical and lengthy songs like Listen to the Lion, Almost Independence Day and the title track, will turn out in the long run to be one of the trademarks of the Irishman. Thus what in theory could have been an agile and short record, in duration and in contents, will become almost the follow-up to that masterpiece that preceded it in 1968.

From memory to melody: discovering Saint Dominic’s Preview

Recorded in San Francisco at Wally Heider Studio, at Pacific High Studio and at Columbia Studio, Saint Dominic’s Preview is produced by Van Morrison in collaboration with Ted Templeman. Among the musicians who take part in the recordings we mention the saxophonist Jack Schroer, who was following Morrison during that period both in studio and live, the drummer Gary Mallaber and the keyboardists Mark Jordan and Tom Salisbury. The latter will also be responsible for the arrangements of some tracks contained in the LP. Salisbury has collaborated with artists of the calibre of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs, Richard Davis and Jerry Garcia. Anticipating a masterpiece like Veedon Fleece, Saint Dominic’s Preview explores some sonorities that are typical of black music, mentioning right from the title artists like Jackie Wilson and Ray Charles. Van Morrison elects The Genius among his main musical influences, both regarding composition, as well as vocal performance and sound attitude. Over time this work will become one of the milestones for the author, with tracks able to enter the hit parade and themes that will inspire other authors: just think of how Springsteen and Bob Seger will study this mixture to make it their own. Not to forget the homage of Richard Price, a writer who in his cult book The Wanderers will mention the record as a source of inspiration. The same goes for cinema, which has used several times the opening track Jackie Wilson Said to create the right atmosphere of metropolitan jungle. For Erik Hage it is one of the strongest albums in the Morrison canon because it seems to adapt and incorporate all the lessons and discoveries of the rich period of evolution that preceded it, while simultaneously opening up to new sound horizons. Ultimately, the cumulative impact is in many respects devastating. Stephen Holden underlines how the coexistence of two different styles, on the same record, turns out to be refreshing. They complete each other, highlighting the remarkable versatility of the musical imagination of its author. It is probably the most ambitious record ever released by Van Morrison up to that point. The rhythms, alternating double and triple meters, are led in an exemplary way, through Middle Eastern harmonies and multiple exotic guitar textures. A work that is based on the strength of the songs; an intriguing and diversified collection, that brings together the disparate threads of the recent work of the singer, in a single package.

The songs of Saint Dominic’s Preview

"Listen to the Lion" is an eleven-minute song that begins with a gentle opening, before Morrison improvises in scat style, imitating the roar of a lion, as the piece progresses and develops. On a technical and emotional level, it is a vocal performance that remains unmatched among his contemporaries. Brian Hinton describes the song this way: "We are back in the territory of Astral Weeks, a bass-led shuffle and Van lost in his poetic universe. Yet here his voice takes wilder risks; he growls, emitting an almost deathlike rattle, alternated with wild roars." The title track, "Saint Dominic's Preview" was composed after seeing an ad for a peace vigil that would be held at St. Dominic’s Church in San Francisco. The song is written in the style of "stream of consciousness" as had already happened more explicitly, with the songs of Astral Weeks. The lyrics of the song refer to different phases of Morrison’s life: "the chamois cleaning all the windows" (adolescence) and "the record company has paid for the wine" (his current status as a pop music star). Erik Hage calls it "expansive and innovative," highlighting how Morrison’s music is in constant expansion and evolution. "Almost Independence Day" is as simple musically as it is intriguing, thanks to the back-and-forth between the guitars and the Moog. Like Listen to the Lion which precedes it, it is a track that exceeds ten minutes in length, which is why critics rightly judged it musically bold and personal. Erik Hage describes the song as "a piece of atmosphere and a precursor to some of his works from the eighties (especially Common One), in which his entire reason for being becomes the attempt to inspire meditative states in the listener." Speaking of this song, Morrison told Ritchie Yorke: "It wasn’t my intention to write a sequel to ‘Madame George.’ But I like the song. Everything was recorded live except for the Moog synthesizer line. I asked Bernie Krause to do this ‘Chinatown-style’ thing and then I came in with the top part because I was thinking of dragons and fireworks. It was a track all done through this stream of consciousness."

In terms of fruition, Saint Dominic's Preview is a work halfway between the lyricism of Astral Weeks and the rhythmic and melodic hooks of Moondance. A hybrid work, enjoying a moment of focus and great inspiration from its author. Compared to the previous His Band and the Street Choir and Tupelo Honey and the following Hard Nose the Highway, it contains a selection of songs of greater strength, depth and quality. It is no coincidence that among critics, music lovers and Van’s admirers, it holds a prominent place within this impressive discographic output. The one writing to you has always found it to be a fundamental record, in terms of motivation, inspiration and concept. Its fire will never go out. Hurrah! And this blog is called that, precisely because of the album Saint Dominic’s Preview.

To Listen to the Lion that resides in our soul. Is it possible to unite the dynamism of Moondance and the lyricism of Astral Weeks? This seems to be the winning formula of Saint Dominic’s Preview.

Dario Greco