Saint Dominic's Preview (song)
Encyclopedia
"Saint Dominic's Preview" is the title song on the 1972 sixth album
of Northern Irish singer-songwriter
Van Morrison
. Gary Mallaber (from the Moondance
album) plays drums
on this song and Morrison's then wife, Janet Planet, is one of the back-up vocalists.
in late winter-early spring 1972.
It is said to contain Morrison's most Dylanesque
lyrics. The words form images but not a complete story as they are mixed with a variety of subjects such as cleaning windows, Edith Piaf
's soul, Yeats
and Hank Williams. Touching on the Belfast situation at that time (The Troubles
), there are references to "orange" boxes, "flag
s and emblem
s" and people determined "not to feel anyone else's pain."
Perhaps referring to his personal life and successful career at this time in his life are the lines:
Morrison has said the song came to him in a stream of consciousness and that he later picked up a newspaper
and read an announcement of a mass
that was being held in a St. Dominic's church
in San Francisco for peace in Belfast
. As he told John Grissim:
. It is also one of the songs performed in 1979, on Morrison's first video Van Morrison in Ireland
, released in 1981. The original recording was remastered in 2007 and included on the compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
.
Saint Dominic's Preview
Saint Dominic's Preview is the sixth solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records...
of Northern Irish singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
. Gary Mallaber (from the Moondance
Moondance
Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on Warner Bros. Records on 28 February 1970 and peaked at #29 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart....
album) plays drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
on this song and Morrison's then wife, Janet Planet, is one of the back-up vocalists.
Recording and composition
It was recorded during one of the Saint Dominic's Preview recording sessions that took place in the Wally Heider and Pacific High Studios in San Francisco and the Church in San Anselmo, CaliforniaSan Anselmo, California
San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, in the western United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet . It is located about north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the...
in late winter-early spring 1972.
It is said to contain Morrison's most Dylanesque
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
lyrics. The words form images but not a complete story as they are mixed with a variety of subjects such as cleaning windows, Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
's soul, Yeats
Yeats
W. B. Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright.Yeats may also refer to:* Yeats ,* Yeats , an impact crater on Mercury* Yeats , an Irish thoroughbred racehorse-See also:...
and Hank Williams. Touching on the Belfast situation at that time (The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
), there are references to "orange" boxes, "flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
s and emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
s" and people determined "not to feel anyone else's pain."
Perhaps referring to his personal life and successful career at this time in his life are the lines:
- All the restaurant tables are completely covered
- And the record company has paid out for the wine
- You got ev'rything in the world you ever wanted
- And right about now your face should wear a smile
Morrison has said the song came to him in a stream of consciousness and that he later picked up a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
and read an announcement of a mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
that was being held in a St. Dominic's church
St. Dominic Church in San Francisco
St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco, California, is a Roman Catholic parish situated in the Western Addition neighborhood, located at 2390 Bush St. . The parish was established by the Dominican order in 1873, and the current church, built in the Gothic style, was finished in 1928. In addition to...
in San Francisco for peace in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. As he told John Grissim:
I'd been working on this song about the scene going down in Belfast. And I wasn't sure what I was writing but the central image seemed to be this church called St Dominic's where people were gathering to pray or hear a mass for peace in Northern Ireland. A few weeks later I was playing at a gig in Reno, Nevada. I picked up a newspaper, and there in front of me was an announcement about a mass for peace in Belfast to be said the next day at St Dominic's Church in San Francisco. Totally blew me out. Like I'd never even heard of a St Dominic's Church.
Other releases
"Saint Dominic's Preview" was one of the live performances recorded and included on Morrison's 1974 acclaimed live album, It's Too Late To Stop NowIt's Too Late to Stop Now
It's Too Late to Stop Now is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1974 . Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever recorded, It's Too Late to Stop Now was recorded during what has often been said to be Morrison's greatest phase as a live...
. It is also one of the songs performed in 1979, on Morrison's first video Van Morrison in Ireland
Van Morrison in Ireland
Van Morrison in Ireland is the first official video by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1981 of a concert Morrison recorded in Northern Ireland two years earlier. The video also shows footage of the band whilst touring in Ireland and images of Belfast, including Hyndford...
, released in 1981. The original recording was remastered in 2007 and included on the compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
Still on Top – The Greatest Hits is the third compilation album to be issued by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 2007 . It was released...
.
Personnel
- Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
: guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
s - Jules Broussard: tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Bill ChurchBill ChurchWilliam 'Bill' Church , started out playing bass in a band called Sawbuck in 1969, with Mojo Collins, Starr Donaldson, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff. As the band was beginning to record their first album, Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Van Morrison on his Tupelo Honey album...
: bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Gary MallaberGary MallaberGary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - John McFeeJohn McFeeJohn McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long time member of the Doobie Brothers.-Biography:...
: steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use... - Doug Messenger: guitar
- Pat O'Hara: tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Janet Planet: backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Tom Salisbury: pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with... - Ellen Schroer: backing vocals
- Jack SchroerJack SchroerJohn Henry "Jack" Schroer was a saxophonist, pianist and arranger best known for his work with Van Morrison in the 1970s as a member of his band The Caledonia Soul Orchestra....
: altoAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
s - Mark Springer: backing vocals