VANS FRIDAY

I found this on a blog from Ireland called Bubble Brothers. They sell wine and give out some great information on smaller vineyards and more reasonably priced wine. This is Van Morrison and Chet Baker doing Send in the Clowns. From the looks of it, it may be Ronnie Scotts, a jazz club in London but I will have to look that up. I have been a fan of the The Mans since my brother Joe introduced him to me and he and Kieran Healy made me listen to Its Too Late To Stop It Now, vowing a better live record was yet to be made. Since that recording in 1974 Van has released 2 more live recordings. But this I had never heard of. He did do a string of jazz club in the early and mid 80's, not a lot of regular concert hall gigs, Van being infamous for leaving the stage at a whim and other rock eccentricities. This was also right before he made a four or five of Irish centric albums, going back to live in Ireland after being in the US and England for years. What's great is not only the pairing but the fact that they murder this version. Every great song writer has one or two songs that everybody thought they could sing the best, this happens to Stephan Sondheim's, the greatest American song writer of the latter 20th century. This was also right before Chet died in Holland, I'm sure not too much footage of him before he went. This may have been Chet's set as Van seem to be reading the lyrics and looks like he just joined for one song. About as hackneyed a song as their is but give a listen, these two martyrs will still move ya. Maybe this will become a regular spot, Vans Friday