van rice

[Wheels]

The same day... 40 years apart...

[Hannah650]

oh my bloody gawd!! That is so far past uncanny, we need a new word for uncanny!!


Dudes, im a bitfreaked!!

[Loveless]

Originally Posted by emmett

well van's famous for being grumpy with everyone and a bit of a recluse. but i still love him!

Did you ever hear Glen Hansard's story about meeting Van Morrison? Here it is anyway (someone else typed it all out)


Glen: "My friend knows Van. It's a very strange sort of situation, but she knows him and somehow they get on and it's a really great thing. But she was having this party in her house (She lives in Kildare) and she was like - "Do you fancy coming to Van's birthday party? I know that you love him". And I was like "Are you f**kin' joking!". She was like "It's going to be really mellow, so don't get excited. When you come just bring your guitar, put it down gently, don't say anything to him. Just, you know, watch yourself when you get there". And I was like "Totally, Yeah, Totally cool". She was like "Come along and bring a bottle of port". (Van likes to drink port). So I brought a bottle of port and arrived at the party and when we got there it was really wierd. There was like 20 people there. There was Van Morrison and Jerry Lee Lewis, some other people and Ron Wood and Marianne Faithful and someother people and some dogs and some kids. It was very, very intimate and really star-studded. I was really freaked out. I came in on my bike and it was pissin' rain so I arived in in all my gear and my helmet on and all that. We imediately were all seated for dinner and I was introduced to everybody and Van kind of grunted hello while he was stuffing this pork chop down his neck. (Details you don't need to know about, but I'm adding them for flavour for those of you who have heard the story).



It was really a kind of beautiful but tense dinner. We finished up and everyone went off and people were having a smoke in the other rooms and people were having a drink and there was music playing and it was really mellow. So we kind of found ourselves in this other room, just hangin' out, listening to Jazz music. And then at one point of the evening this lady came in and she was like "Everyone come into the kitchen because Van is singing some songs". When we got into the kitchen Van was kind of half-cut, standing against the fireplace. Him and Jerry Lee holding each other up. So they were playing all these great old Hank William's songs and we were all blown away. It was absolutely brilliant to be in the presence of a Jedi Master. They played a few songs and it was really cool. And then he said at one point "Does anyone want to hear a song?" Nobody was asking for any songs so I asked him to play "Hungry for your love". He looked down at me and pointed "YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" Everyone looked at me and I was like (Fat bastard under my breath). I was really hurt and I was like "I'm going home!" And my mate who'd invited me out was like "Come on in. It's cool. He's like that with everybody. He likes you. I can tell". Iwas like "I think I should head on. I don't want to be a nuissance". She was like "It's going to be cool. It's going to be fine. It's his birthday!"


So I went back in and I was sitting at the back, listening to more Hank Williams and really enjoying it. But I was really freaked out because I knew that there was such a small amount of people at the party and that at some point I'd have to pass him or you know... There was that awkwardness now, suddenly there was a bit of tension there. So just a couple of songs later he holds up the guitar again and says "Anyone want to play a song?" And I'm like nope. I wasn't opening my mouth. My friend was like "Glen! Glen! You'll sing!" And I was like "No, No, I don't want to"."Come on Glen, sing a song!" "No, No, I don't want to". And she goes "Sing a song". I did not want to sing a song but I found the courage, that maddness that you get when someone throws you out of an aeroplane. So I went up and took the guitar off him and he looked at me as he was handing me the guitar and he stormed out of the room. He gave me the guitar and just upped and went out of the room and I was like "NNoooooOOOOOoooHHHhhh!!!!" Everybody else stayed. I sang a song called "Síobhán" which I wrote years and years ago, that you probably don't know. I sang that song and that was cool and then they said "Will you play another song?" And everyone was kind of clapping and everything and it was very nice. So I played "Your Face" which I had just written at the time. Halfway through "Your Face" he came back in and now everyone's watching. He came back in and he moved over to where I was standing and just sat with his back to me. The back of his chair was hitting my knees and I was like "OOhhh God! He hates me soooo much!" And I finished my song and people were clapping but everyone was going sure because Van was the only person looking the other direction.



The song finished and he kind of swung his chair around and he was like "OK then, What was that song that you wanted me to play?" I said "Hungry for your love" and he was like "OK. I'll play it , you f**kin' sing it!" It was as if he was saying "Right, OK, Prove yourself! Do you know this song?" So I stood there and was like "What key is he going to play it in?" Everything flashed through my mind. But I blagged it out. I got it. I got through it. I love the song and I know it. And as the song went on he was like "Yeeaahhh!" He was giving the Van grunt which I know so well. The Van grunt is a good sign. "Yeeaahh, Yuupp, YEEAAAHHH!" So I got the Van grunt which made me feel more confident and my voice got bigger. We finished it and everyone was like eyes wide going "Yeeaahh!!" clapping. Didn't the kid do well! Van was like "Do you know any Bob Dylan?" I was like "Yeah." He was like "It's all over baby blue" I'll take the first verse, you take the second. So we started it and he took the first part and I took the second. We did harmonies with each other and everything and at the end of it we were like hangin' out. It was pretty amazing. We finished the song and everyone was like "Yes. f**king right. Cool!"


And then he stood up and he was like "Come on" and he grabbed me by the shoulders and he brought me into this other room and he sat me down and he was like "OK, sing". He just gave me the guitar and sat in front of me and just looked at me. There was no one else in the room and I sang. I played a song and he was like "OK. Sing another one". I'd only written like 20 songs so I played another and he said "Play another". And for two hours he's there telling me to play another. All I'm getting is a grunt every so often. He hasn't said a word to me. Then I said "Will you play a song?" "Aye". "What do you want to hear?" And I was like "Madame George". He was like f**kin straight into it. I was like "Whaaooohhhh". If anyone knows Van you never hear these songs. He never plays his "Astral Weeks" songs. He did that and then he played "Sweet thing" and then he was like "One Irish Rover" and he was like "Yeaahh. No Hassle". And I was learning all these songs, because for years you know, you see tabs and you hear the song and you kind of make up your own version, but watching the actual hands that wrote it move across the fretboard is the most incredible experience. For anyone who plays guitar you'll knkow how that works. It's like you see exactly how that note was made. So I was f**king floored by this thing.



Anyway to make a very long story very longer, the night went on and the sun came up and me and him were still sitting there passing the guitar. And at this stage a few of the people from the party - those who hadn't left - kind of came in and people were hanging around and just listening and there was a total f**king dueling banjo between me and him and at the end of the night he stood up. The sun was up, he was supposed to play some festival that day. He had promised to be down to a place in Blessington and he was like "Oh, f**k it! I'm cancelling that" He was off to bed. He said "Listen Man, Nice voice, nice songs Blah, Blah, Blah ...."</font>

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[minneken1911]

to Glen Hansard's Van experience,



whoa.....