Van Morrison “Real Real Gone”

Hitting Random on the iTunes playlist . . .

“When you’re tired of what you got, try me.”

Much respect to the artists who acknowledge their influences, and sing about them, to insure that the audience goes hunting for the source.

I know plenty of music from the 60s and before, but only in the context of Oldies radio. So Carl Perkins and Elvis and The Beatles and The Stones and The Doors all entered my listening life at the same time. They were integrated into my consciousness on a level playing field, not as a progression of music styles through the years.

That makes context harder to ascribe to some classic artists. But that’s why I love Van Morrison’s “Real Real Gone.” Though originally recorded in 1980, it wasn’t officially release (or absorbed by me) until 1990. And at the time, I didn’t really know any of the artists Van gives a shout out to.

But it opened the door to those artists. So when I heard “In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett, I could see the connection “Real Real Gone” was drawing back to the 60s. When I heard Sam Cooke, I understood better the soul Van was trying to inject into his music.

When Solomon Burke came to town, I had to go see him.

And in a way probably more direct than Van intended, when I hear “Real Real Gone,” the artists whom he was invoking come alive to me in a way they would never have, just flipping past the Oldies station on the FM dial.


Clips of the artists mentioned in this post:


Hear the Solomon Burke concert I went to, in the mvyradio archives

Van is notoriously non-friendly to YouTube, so the only version of “Real Real Gone” I could find this the pictorial tribute to Colin Firth. Enjoy!


Sam Cooke


James Brown


Wilson Pickett


Solomon Burke


Gene Chandler