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- [Van Morrison] had told
his manager and agent that Winterland would be his last booking. Now,
despite the show he seemed to have done, despite the apparent rapport
with his band, and despite the audience response, he quit. Here, in
November, 1971, he was convinced that the world was crashing in around
him.
...
"I was serious about it. Like that was a strange time for me. I'd been
trying out people for the band and it wasn't coming together the way
I wanted. And that made it really hard on performing which I wasn't
digging at all. Plus I'd only been living here for about six months
and I wanted some time to get acquainted with the scene around Marin."
One evening several weeks later he dropped in to see his friend Ramblin'
Jack Elliott at the Lion's Share, a small folk and blues club in nearby
San Anselmo, and ended up playing and singing on stage with him. And
he loved it; he even agreed to appear there on his own two weeks later
no band, no backup vocals, no extra sound equipment, just Van
Morrison, his guitar, and harmonica.
The booking was just what he needed. Van looked less nervous than usual.
He wailed through blues and ballads, infusing lyrics with an ineffable
sense of privacy, his voice edged with that peculiar mixture of celebration
and sadness bravado on the brink of tears. ...before the night
was over, Bobby Neuwirth and Jack Elliott also shared the stage. Van
closed with an inspired "Ballerina."
- John Grissim, Jr. "Van Morrison: Blue Money & Tupelo Honey" Rolling
Stone, June 22, 2020.
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