Van Morrison, "Saint Dominic's Preview"

Ken takes an Irish road trip to Northern California

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Jul 13, 2022

Ken’s Pitch:

Mitch is a guy that likes to be recognized for his many accomplishments. He’s not (nor was he ever) a football star, a track champion, a drama club standout, or president of the chess club (although his backgammon skills are top tier). He was, however, the guy that introduced me to the hardest working band in show biz, Goose. He was also the guy back in 1987 that had several books on the shelves of his navy blue, modular bedroom by a guy named Jack Kerouac. I had heard of Kerouac, but I was a young, naive teen raised in the suburbs by a mother who read grocery store novels and a father whose entire reading list consisted of The Old Man and the Sea and Doonesbury.

I read On The Road and The Dharma Bums in high school, and was obsessed with the Beat generation. I followed with Howl and A Supermarket in California, moved on to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, A Coney Island of the Mind, Naked Lunch and so many others. Thanks for the intro, Mitchy.

What I liked best about the Beat writers was the rapid-fire flow emanating from each line; stream of consciousness writing was the way my mind worked and generally the way I spoke, and I just assumed everyone else did too. They were censorless, and the words they put down were raw and packed with feeling. Their pieces lacked polish, and that’s exactly the way they wanted them to be.

Dylan’s “Desolation Row” is probably my favorite Beat-inspired song, an 11-plus minute, intricately-detailed story peppered with old literary references. Dylan is the king of this lyrical style, but not far behind is the pride of Northern Ireland, Van Morrison (apologies to Rory McIlroy).

While the opening track of St. Dominic’s Preview, “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile)” is a catchy little number, and “Gypsy” follows as a stereotypical Morrison song, the weight of this album starts with “Listen to the Lion”. “Lion” doesn’t have overly complex lyrics or music, but it’s a meandering road that gets more raw, more animalistic, more improvisational as it slowly makes its way to the end, culminating with Morrison actually roaring into the microphone, letting his internal lion out of its cage.

The title track is one of my favorite songs, and somehow it seems to be completely overlooked in the mainstream, yielding radio play to more easily digestible hits like “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Moondance”, and “Into the Mystic”. It’s a shame because “St. Dominic’s Preview” is one of the greatest pieces in the Van Morrison catalog.

With an ode to northern California next, the beautiful “Redwood Tree” is a story that sounds like it was written by someone who grew up under the protection of those glorious pines, a testament to how well the Irishman paints his lyrical pictures.

The musical Beat poetry hits its apex on the last track, “Almost Independence Day”. In it, Morrison recalls looking out over the San Francisco Bay on a particular summer night in July. It’s verse is nothing more than a journal entry of sights and sounds, but when combined with the right mix of Van on the twelve-string and Ron Elliott on the six-string, it’s stunning!

Van Morrison has a ton of hits. They’re all on other albums. What St. Dominic’s Preview brings, is first-rate poetry set to beautiful music. We need more of that in the world, so I would love to make some room on the shelves of the Newbury St. Collection for Van Morrison.

Mitch’s Response:

Ken referenced the Beat Generation, but I think this pitch is more in the wheelhouse of their wayward successors, the Merry Pranksters. In other words, I think Ken is trolling us. Or at least trying to get revenge for Elton John.

Once again, he’s made a questionable album pick for a legendary artist and put us in a bind where we either have to put a lesser album in the Newbury St. Collection (we hate doing that) or we have to block someone who obviously deserves admission (is that Phil Collins’ music again???)

Moondance would have been the popular pick and Astral Weeks would have been the cool pick, and both of those albums would have sailed through. I would have pitched Veedon Fleece, as we’ve long established that my taste in music is sublime. But Saint Dominic’s Preview? The R&B cosplay album with two “epic” songs that literally drag on forever?

"Jackie Wilson Said” is an incredible tune, and the only recorded example of the word “heaven” being stretched into seven syllables. “Saint Dominic’s Preview” is a gorgeous rewrite of “Tupelo Honey”. “Redwood Tree” is pleasant but unremarkable. “Listen to the Lion” could have been a great tune, but the tedious vamping at the end just sucks all of the life out of a pretty melody.

Otherwise, Saint Dominic quickly falls from grace. “Gypsy” sounds like the theme song to a canceled ‘60s caper show with Peter Falk. “I Will Be There” is paint-by-numbers blooz, and “Almost Independence Day” could use less hot doggin’ and more fireworks.

I’m not falling for your tricks this time, Kenny B. Van’s great and Saint Dominic’s Preview is a pleasant record, even if it’s not at the top of the 247 albums he’s released to date. You win this time.

Pitch successful (sorry, Van, you’ll need to get vaxxed before the induction ceremony.)

CJ’s Response:

The summer after I graduated from college, I was a chaperone on a bus tour for overprivileged Long Island teenagers. We started up in Calgary and worked our way down the West Coast through some of this continent’s most breathtaking national parks. When they weren’t complaining that the campgrounds didn’t have a proper day spa or that the hotel sheets lacked the requisite thread count, the kids were listening to a very specific setlist. As the bus made its way through Montana and Idaho, the PA system blared an inordinate amount of Billy Joel and Elton John (Come to think of it, Ken would’ve been right at home on this tour.) and exactly one Van Morrison song—“Brown Eyed Girl”.

Only instead of singing the first line of the song properly (“Hey, where did we go?), these sons and daughters of the Five Towns would invariably belt out:

Hey there, amigo!

Morons.

That summer over thirty years ago was the last time I ever thought about the music of Van Morrison. Not because I don’t like it. Just because it never really moved the needle for me. I feel the same way about Bob Seger. He’s got some great songs and I know a lot of people like him, but I can’t get excited about him or the Silver Bullet Band.

So, when I scanned the contents of Saint Dominic’s Preview and found that I knew exactly one song, I was a little nervous. After I got through the familiar “Jackie Wilson Said” (covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners when they weren’t trying to talk Eileen into a sexual encounter), I braced myself for some early ‘70s esoterica.

Guess what? Mikey liked it. Not all of it, mind you. “I’ll Be There” is kind of a clunker and “Redwood Tree” is an awkward, if well-intentioned, elegy. But, “Gypsy” is as enchanting as its name and “Listen to the Lion” is as stirring as Ken described it. Even if it could’ve used a good editor.

I even liked the (slightly) bloated “Almost Independence Day” because the imagery is vivid and sensual. And because I enjoy running in the local 5K on Independence Day.

To top it all off, Ken is absolutely correct that the title cut is the album’s best track. The instrumentation and the harmonies are gorgeous. I’m not 100% sure what Van is driving at, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll stick with him on this particular bus tour.

Okay, Ken. You got me. Van is in.

Well done, amigo.

Pitch Successful (While Van is here, he can remind Mitch and Ken who the lead singer of Thin Lizzy is.)

Ken’s pitch was successful and Van Morrison’s Saint Dominic’s Preview has ascended to the Newbury St. Collection.

We’re spent enough time listening to the lion, so jump into the mystic and let us know if someone like you thinks that Van Morrison’s Saint Dominic’s Preview is a sweet thing or if you’re not feeling it anymore.

Exile on Newbury St.

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