Van Morrison, The Holy Modal Rounders: Cafe Au Go Go, New York NY
This article originally appeared on Billboard on September 13th, 1969
NEW YORK — The Cafe Au Go Go, relatively idle in recent months, interrupted renovations with a splash of good music Aug. 29-31, displaying the talents of Van Morrison and the Holy Modal Rounders.
It is a stroke of luck for connoisseurs of rock that Van Morrison has decided to grace the city with his special brand of musical sorrow. He was the Irish lead singer of the English rock group Them, one of the top early British groups who were, like the fledgling Stones and Animals, heavily influenced by American early rock. It was with Them that Van Morrison gained fame as the composer of 'Gloria'.
Now performing on his own, he has sopped up influences ranging from bubblegum to Dylan and including a heavy dose, of course, of blues. He has developed a sophisticated style, transcending the limits of an ordinary rock singer without losing any of his early intensity. Always a master of music and rhythm, he has become an excellent lyricist, somehow having created a distinctive brooding self without discarding his emotional roots.
As a performer, Morrison is tantalizing often to the degree of irritation. He is so wrapped up in the perfection of his work and the feeling of his song that he hardly recognizes the audience, acknowledging them occasionally with a bemused smile, surprised, it seems that anyone can keep up with him.
Morrison has surrounded himself by a remarkable trio of musicians, the most spectacular is pianist Jeff Weebus [Jef Labes – RBP ed.]. The result is an intoxicating jazz rock. Morrison himself plays a tortured lead guitar (for some reason he chose to play an amplified acoustic guitar when an electric one would have served his purpose better) in addition to his inimitable vocals. His voice, for those who have not heard it, is similar in texture to Jose Feliciano although it's raunchier and more expressive.
He reluctantly played his smash single of 1967 'Brown Eyed Girl' but the tune seemed frivolous compared with his new introspective material. His stream of consciousness narratives, punctuated by forceful escaping feeling lifts his music to a high artistic level, while making his material virtually un-performable for any other singer. He includes some standard rock riffs but he makes it all seem much more serious than simple rock 'n' roll. Morrison who records for Warner Bros.-7 Arts, appears at Unganos Monday (15) through Thursday (18).
The Holy Modal Rounders, who record for Elektra, are still one of the funkiest groups. Somehow having survived the multitude of changes that have swept the musical world in the last few years they have re-emerged as an amusing and relevant act. Their songs still deal primarily with parts of the body and drugs, and their manic stage jokes are generally so "in" that only they can understand them — or want to. But after all the freakier-than-thou nonsense is gone the Rounders produce some far-out country flavored music. Pete Stampfel is one of the better electric violinists around and he also possesses a strange voice. Howling as he hunches over the mike, he appears to be aspiring dirty old man. There is a glint in his eye that implies some giant practical joke but he has an indisputable sense of music. Steve Weber's lead guitar is fine as is the rest of the group. Highlighting the set, of course, was 'Boobs a Lot', which Weber wrote when he and Stampfel were still with the Fugs.
Also appearing were two artists who will record for Richie Havens' Stormy Forest label. Cathy Smith is a beautiful Los Angeles singer-songwriter, and Tom Brimm is a self-styled folk artist.
