"Real Real Gone" is a hit single written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and included on his 1990 album ''

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

''. It has remained a popular live performance tune and Morrison has included it on the set lists at many of his concerts since releasing it.

Recording and composition

It was originally intended for the album ''

Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...

'' that was recorded in February 1980 at Super Bear Studios in France, but as the tempo became too lively with

Herbie Armstrong Herbert Christopher Armstrong (born 14 May 1944) is a Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is known for his collaborations with Kenny Young in the bands Fox and Yellow Dog, and with Van Morrison in the early 1960s and again in t ...

's rhythm guitar, it didn't fit in with the other songs in the album. The song that is a track on the album, ''Enlightenment'' was recorded during the sessions that took place in 1989 with Mick Glossop as producer. In a review for the album ''Enlightenment'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called the song "Real Real Gone" his most engaging R&B raveup since the days of '

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

Other releases

''Real Real Gone'' was also included in the 1993 compilation album ''

The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two'' is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1993. Morrison chose the tracks for this album himself. It is mostly drawn from his work during 1984–1991. "Real Real ...

''. It was included briefly during the " In the Garden" medley, before "

You Send Me "You Send Me" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer Sam Cooke, released as a single in 1957 by Keen Records. Produced by Bumps Blackwell and arranged and conducted by René Hall. The song, Cooke's debut single, was a massive ...

" on the live album ''

A Night in San Francisco ''A Night in San Francisco'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1994. Guest artists were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. ...

''. In 1998 an outtake of it appeared on the compilation album '' The Philosopher's Stone''. As it appeared in the movie ''Donovan Quick'', it was included in the 2007 compilation album ''

Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

''. As a medley with "

", it was one of the songs performed when Morrison appeared at the

Austin City Limits Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-based ...

in 2006 and was included on the limited edition album, ''

Live at Austin City Limits Festival ''Live at Austin City Limits Festival'' by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison is a limited edition live album recorded from the Austin City Limits Festival concert at which he was the first night headliner on 15 September 2006. It has ...

''. A remastered version of this song is included in the 2007 compilation album, ''

Still on Top - The Greatest Hits A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

''. ''Real Real Gone'' was re-recorded with

Michael Buble Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

for the '' Duets: Re-working the Catalogue'' album, released in March 2015.

Personnel on the original release

*Van Morrison – vocals *Bernie Holland – guitar *

Steve Gregory Stephen 'Steve' Gregory (born 1945) is an English jazz saxophonist and composer. He plays tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophone as well as the flute. Biography and career Gregory was born in London. At St. Paul's School he learned guit ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*Dave Bishop –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

*Malcolm Griffiths –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

– organ *Steve Pearce – bass guitar *

Dave Early Dave Early (5 April 1957 – 14 October 1996) was an English drummer and percussionist. He was best known as the original drummer for Sade. He also worked with Chris Rea, Van Morrison, The Chieftains, Mary Black, Ananta, and others. Later he moved ...

– drums

Personnel on The Philosopher's Stone

– vocals *John Allair – organ *Herbie Armstrong – rhythm guitar *Mick Cox – guitar *

Pee Wee Ellis Alfred James Ellis (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 196 ...

–

* David Hayes – bass *

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

– trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

Peter Van Hooke Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1984 to 1995) and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headstone, ...

– drums

Covers

Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography ...

covered "Real Real Gone" on his 1981 album ''

Deal It Out ''Deal It Out'' is Tom Fogerty's fifth and final solo album, though he would release one album, ''Precious Gems'', as "Tom Fogerty + Ruby" and record an album with Randy Oda, '' Sidekicks'', that was released posthumously. Track listing All son ...

''. Other covers of the song are by

Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album ''I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to ...

on '' Vanthology: A Tribute to Van Morrison'' and it was released as a single by Herbie Armstrong in 1981.

Charts

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press {{Van Morrison singles 1990 singles Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison 1989 songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Van Morrison