A Look Back At Glastonbury 1982
It was 30 years ago today that Van played at the Glastonbury Festival in England. Long time Van fan looks back on the festival and Van's gig that day.
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| Van Morrison at Glastonbury June 19, 1982 |
From Pat's long running blog, Visions Of Pat
In the year of 82 there was a pestilence on the land,it began at Thatcher and spread outwards. I was living in a little village called Hilperton with my mate Fred and another bloke called Wally in a house called 'The Nook'.Next door lived this old man who we called 'the old grey fella'.He was always banging on the wall because of the noise.I was one of Thatchers victims,on the dole but i used to do a bit of gardening around the village to get some beer money. I did the gardening at the local pub The Lion And Fiddle and the pub owner used to give me some money and then I'd sit in his bar and give him the money back over the course of the evening.Thatcher was starting her Falklands adventure,it was the worst of times and the even worser of times but there was something to cheer up about,a new Van album 'Beautiful Vision'
The line 'If you see her say hello' is the title of a Dylan song off Blood On The Tracks.I wonder if Van pinched it off Bob? (Paragraph missing here,will deal with later) Whats my line?' sings Van in the next song. Whats My Line was a popular panal show on the telly when i was a kid.It was hosted by Eamon Andrews and the panalists had to guess what the contestants did for a living.Van tells us his line was 'Cleaning Windows'. This is a great song unlike anything else on the album and i think Mark Knopfler plays on it.In the song Van talks about buying 5 Woodbines and i did actually find a packet of 5 woodbines at work under some floorboards.Van the name dropper is in evidence here with Jimmy Rodgers, Jack Kerouac and Christmas Humphreys getting a mention amongst others.Van likes to get his listeners into things he is into.'Baby don't let it slide' sings Van at the end.I think he was a bit worried about climbing up the ladder!
'Vanlose Stairway' is another great song.The apartment where they lived in Copenhagen is quite an ordinary looking building but Van can make anything sound romantic,this stairway reaches right up to the moon!.Georgie Fame also does a great version of this on his own on the Van Morrison Songbook album that Simon Gee compiled. 'Aryan Mist' is another song inspired by Alice Bailey and her Tibetan friend.Apparently the railway carraige charm is a reference to amphetamines.
'Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell' is a very contemplative evocative song which leads us in to the instrumental 'Scandinavia' which features Van on piano which is most unusual.I remember him doing this one at my second ever Van concert in 1982. This technique of the quiet song leading into the instumental is also used on a couple of other Van albums in the early 80's.The idea is that the music induces beautiful visions and mystical raptures in the listener and it works because this album is brilliant!
I went in my local pub in Trowbridge one day in April 1982 and a new poster had appeared on the wall.
"Hey,Van the man is on at Glastonbury," I told my friends in Scum Corner. "We know",they replied,"and you havent heard the best bit, Pee Wee is doing the backstage barThis is Pee Wee the pub landlord, not to be confused with Pee Wee Ellis the saxophone player. This was a chance too good to miss so I pestered Pee Wee until he finally agreed to give me a job.This was my third visit to Glastonbury.The year before i had got in a right mess doing things i shouldn't but this year i was going to behave and be sensible.On Wednesday June 16th 1982 a gang of of jolly boys and girls piled onto Pee Wee's bus and we set off down the ancient highway to Glastonbury.
All went well for the first couple of days, i made myself useful, fetching and carrying and proudly wearing my backstage pass.On Friday morning it began to rain heavily and the site was turned into a sea of mud.It was the wettest day in Somerset for 45 years but i didn't care, i was nice and dry backstage.The first act on was Manchester poet John Cooper Clarke who was really funny.As he walked off stage i shook hands with him and told him how great he was.Then a huge truck of the Edwin Shirley Trucking Company pulled up and who should jump down but Mick Townley who i knew from Bradford On Avon.He was a roadie for Black Uhuru and had just hauled their gear from Paris.I latched onto him and we watched Sly and Robbie do their stuff from the side of the stage.By now i had totally forgotten about my duties.I was having a good time!There was an American bloke hanging out backstage and chatting to everyone,he seemed familiar but i couldn't think who he was.I needed a drink and at the bar i got talking to another American, a little fella with a thick mop of curly dark hair.
"Whats your name mate?"I asked him.
"Randy"
"Well Randy,i'm going to buy you a brandy!" What an idiot!My friends were still reminding me about this 10 years later.This bloke was none other than the world famous guitarist Randy California,formally of the group Spirit.We got on fine though and the rest of the day descended into an alcoholic haze.That night when i crawled into my rancid sleeping bag i was really happy, tomorrow was the big day!It had been 3 long years since i had last seen Van and you never know i might even get to meet him! When i awoke the next morning it had stopped raining but the sky was grey and overcast and i had a terrible hangover.Not to worry,i thought to myself,a couple of drinks will get me straight.As i made my way to the back of the Pyramid stage i met the Backstage manager who was looking at me like a rat on a fork.
"I want your stage pass and i want you out of here now!"
"You cant do that, I work here"
"No you don't, I watched you all day yesterday and you didn't do anything except get drunk and annoy people, gimme that pass now."
After a bit more argument I handed over my pass and trudged through the gate and into the mud. The disappointment was almost unbearable. Van had missed his chance to meet me! I had to put it behind me and enjoy the rest of the day. I bought myself a gallon container of cider from the cider wagon. It stank but it was cheap and the effect was dynamite. I found a dry patch of ground and sat down to watch Roy Harper who i have always liked. During Roys set a breeze began to blow and eventually the sun came out. The Tor emerged from the mist and the scene was set. There are power cables that run right across Worthy farm held up by a line of pylons stretching away into the distance towards the Tor.I rememberered Vans words which now seemed really prophetic,'Meet me down by the pylons's everything seemed to be making sense, the cider was kicking in! The crowd in front of the stage got bigger and bigger as the afternoon wore on. As it approached 4 o'clock rivers of people could be seen walking down towards the stage through the tents.Eventually there must have been 30,000 people in front of the stage and i elbowed my way right to the front. The excitment was electric!Then Van shuffled on stage and picked up a guitar.A huge cheer greeted him but he didn't seem aware that there was an audience there at all.He was totally focused on the music. He mainly did material from Beautiful Vision but the highlight was Summertime In England. He seemed to be singing about the very ground we were standing on. It was a truly mystical experience to be there. After 80 minutes he was gone after a rousing version of Gloria.
The next day I realised who the American was who I had spotted backstage. It was Jackson Browne. He had stayed for the entire 3 days to enjoy the festival, not just turn up, trouser the money and bugger off like a lot of people. Anyway, I have seen Van many times since but no concert has quite equalled for sheer excitment and anticipation that muddy day in the Vale of Avalon all those years ago.
-Pat Corely
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