"I Will Be There" is a song featured on Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison's sixth album '' Saint Dominic's Preview'' (1972). The song is also the B-side to Morrison's single "

Warm Love "Warm Love" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The song was included on his 1973 album '' Hard Nose the Highway''. It was a Top Forty single hit when released in April 1973.Yorke, Into the Music, p. 102 Jack ...

", released in 1973.

Recording and composition

"I Will Be There" was recorded in April 1972 at the Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, along with " Saint Dominic's Preview" and " Redwood Tree".Wrench. ''Saint Dominic's Flashback'', p.1818/3575 It is one of few overtly jazz songs written by Morrison, and the first since the release of " Moondance" in 1970. The song is led in by Tom Salisbury on piano, who also arranged the three songs from the session. Salisbury explained his contribution to the song:"I wrote the horn chart." "It was written with simple triads as the chords. We ran over that one ahead of the session and Doug Messenger expanded the progression by using four- and five-part jazz chords: G7(9), F(9,6,flat5), E7#9, etc." Also featured in the song is a saxophone solo from long serving Jack Schroer. The other members of the band used for the session were Doug Messenger on guitar, Bill Church on bass, Gary Mallaber on drums and Jules Broussard on saxophone.

Writing

The lyrics are the most lighthearted of the songs on ''Saint Dominic's Preview'', with the singer grabbing his razor, suitcase, toothbrush, overcoat and underwear, sung in quick succession in a break in the music. Peter Wrench notes that "The words tumble over themselves in a joyful jumble: they shouldn’t quite fit the beat but they do." Wrench believes that it is not a song that Morrison refined lyrically, citing the line "Try not to be through the mill" as an example.

Reception

John Collis says, "A hero (of Van), is evoked by the piano-led blues "I Will Be There" - the spirit of Ray Charles looms large in the song." The '' Rolling Stone'' review of ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' remarks: "'I Will Be There' goes the furthest of any (of the songs in ''Saint Dominic's Preview'') into R&B-jazz roots, as Van pays expert musical tribute to Count Basie and Joe Williams."

Live performances

The first known performance of "I Will Be There", which is likely to be the first time the song was performed, was on April 27, 1972.Wrench. ''Saint Dominic's Flashback'', p.1994/3575 It was one of the live performances recorded and included on Morrison's 1996 live album, ''

How Long Has This Been Going On "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical ''Funny Face'' in 1927. History According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', after the premiere of ...

''. A live performance of "I Will Be There", recorded in 1989, is featured on the video album, '' Van Morrison The Concert'', released in 1990.

Personnel

* Van Morrison:

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

s *Jules Broussard: tenor saxophone *Bill Church:

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Gary Mallaber:

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Doug Messenger: guitar *Tom Salisbury: piano *Jack Schroer:

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Covers

* Colin James on '' Colin James & The Little Big Band 3'' * Pee Wee Ellis with Van Morrison

Notes

References

*Album notes for ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' by Van Morrison. Warner Bros. Records. *Collis, John (1996). ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', Little Brown and Company, *Mills, Peter (2010), '' Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison'', London: Continuum, *Wrench, Peter (2012). ''Saint Dominic's Flashback: Van Morrison's Classic Album, Forty Years On'', FeedARead. Kindle Edition. {{authority control 1972 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman Song recordings produced by Van Morrison