Van Morrison - The Lion Roars - 1973

 

VanMorrison
The Lion Roars
Live at The Lion's Share San Anselmo 2/15/73
(bootleg CD)

No label

CD1: (early show)

1. Since I Fell For You (4:51)
2. I've Been Working (5:32)
3. Into the Mystic (scat version) (10:47)
4. Caravan (8:47)
5. I Just Want to Make Love to You (8:46)
6. Hard Nose the Highway (7:13)
7. St. Dominic's Preview (6:46)
8. Hey Good Lookin' (2:08)
9. Everybody's Talking (6:50)
10. Help Me (5:50)
    Total time: (67:41)

CD2: (late show)

1. I've Been Working (6:38)
2. Wild Children (5:13) *
3. St. Dominic's Preview (6:31) *
4. Listen to the Lion (13:15)
5. Since I Fell For You (4:36)
6. Misty (4:17)
7. The White Cliffs of Dover (5:41)
8. Caravan (7:34)
9. Hard Nose The Highway (6:50)
10. I Just Want to Make Love to You (4:54)
    Total time: (65:48)

* : the CD insert lists "St. Dominic's Preview" before "Wild Children".

From the liner notes:
The Lion's Share broadcast from San Anselmo,CA is one of the great treasures prized by Morrison collectors.It is also one of the most difficult to find complete in excellent quality.

The broadcast on a low power Berkeley station [ed: see notes below] limited the reception area. Even worse,the Bay Area was rocked by a winter storm on broadcast night which not only interfered but interfered in different locations at different times.For the first time on disc,the complete two set Lion's Share Show is now in excellent quality pieced together from three sources for the cleanest tape possible.

The effort is well worth it for the rarities the listener is treated to. With jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi sitting in , Van opts for a looser sound and a number of unique performances. Check out the wordless scat singing on "Into The Mystic" as well as the long instrumental breaks. Van sings both the verses and scats on a one time performance of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" from the movie "Midnight Cowboy".

The Lenny Welch classic "Since I Fell For You" received two treatments: the first Van plays it straight while the second is an extended jazzy version with Van's most impassioned singing of the night. Other unique treats are the World War II era "White Cliffs of Dover", Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" and a lovely version of the Johnny Mathis hit "Misty".

Among the regular songs of this era, the most compelling is "Listen to the Lion" in which Van implores us to "listen to the lion inside of me".

Amen.

Additional information from Paul Grosso:
Just for the record, the broadcast was on KPFA - it's a non-commercial station but certainly not low power. It's actually heard all over the Bay Area and has repeaters feeding their signal all the way down to Monterey. Unless my brain cells fail me, I believe that KTIM in Marin County also broadcast a live feed of the broadcast. KTIM was a commercial "underground" station where I was a disk jockey during this period.

Additional information from Mike Burns:
During "Hard Nose the Highway", in the early show, Van namechecks the following musicians:
Brother Jack Schroer: saxophone
Jeff Labes: piano
Doug Messenger: guitar
Marty David: bass
Rick Shlosser: drums

Sound quality IS an improvement over that of Stormy Weather in San Anselmo, even if there is occasional hiss. The CD's and the back liner have a lion's head as background - a nice presentation touch. An essential boot, in my opinion.