“Sweet Thing” – Van Morrison
(Words/music: Van Morrison, available on Astral Weeks, Warner Brothers 1968)

Last night, due to a few days with a skewed sleep schedule, I found myself up watching Jimmy Fallon’s first show even though I had to be up for work five hours later.  Still, wide awake, I took in the show, driven in part by the knowledge that it would end with Van Morrison singing a song from his Astral Weeks album, specifically the lovely “Sweet Thing.”  I hadn’t listened to that album in a while (until this afternoon, when I put it on to relax), but I was eager to hear how the aged Morrison would translate one of his more wistful songs for late night television.  The song, as with much of Astral Weeks, moves differently than traditional pop music.  Rather than move within a verse-chorus structure, Morrison’s band sounds more like a group of jazz musicians vamping and embellishing rather than a folk-pop band running through an arrangement.  His rhythm section sets the groove, and each of the musicians take turns adding their flourishes to the mix.  It creates a lovely bed for Morrison – the featured player in this jazz ensemble.  More than at any other point on Astral Weeks, he sounds off the cuff and relaxed, giving off an improvised vibe even though that’s probably not the case.  Still, the repeated phrases and the slight vocal variations remind me of a jazz master putting his personal stamp on a standard.

While Morrison’s vocals draw on the loose feel of the song, he also sings a bit like a soul singer.  Sure, it’s hard to think of any of his Motown contemporaries singing over something like “Sweet Thing,” but Morrison employs some of the same sensibilities.  The musical flourishes – the flute melodies and guitar fills, for example – act as a reaction to Morrison, directing attention back to him.  In the center stage, Morrison lets certain notes hang a bit longer when necessary and repeats certain words for rhetorical effect.  Most importantly, he senses the moments where he needs to lean into a phrase and executes these flawlessly, letting his voice carry up a bit higher.  This was the greatest disappointment watching Morrison on TV last night.  His band sounded great, and for the most part, Morrison sang well enough for someone performing a forty year-old song.  I just kept finding myself waiting for him to seize these moments and add a little lift into his voice; I’m not looking for perfection, but rather just an attempt at grabbing the reins.  Instead, the entire performance seemed a little flat – without these subtle vocal moments, it just seemed like a bunch of really skilled musicians having fun playing a Van Morrison song rather than watching a Van Morrison performance.

More on Van Morrison: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm