Van Morrison - 1973-02-15 - San Anselmo, CA (FM/FLAC)

(FM broadcast FLAC)

Van Morrison 
February 15, 1973 
The Lion's Share 
San Anselmo, CA 

"The Lion Roars" bootleg pro CDR version > EAC V0.99 prebeta 5 > TLH 2.5.0 > FLAC 
mix of multiple FM broadcast sources 

Disc 1: 
01. Since I Fell For You 
02. I've Been Working 
03. Into the Mystic (scat version) 
04. Caravan 
05. I Just Want to Make Love to You 
06. Hard Nose the Highway 
07. St. Dominic's Preview 
08. Hey Good Lookin' 
09. Everybody's Talking 
10. Help Me 

Disc 2: 
01. I've Been Working 
02. Wild Children 
03. St. Dominic's Preview 
04. Listen to the Lion 
05. Since I Fell For You 
06. Misty 
07. The White Cliffs of Dover 
08. Caravan 
09. Hard Nose The Highway 
10. I Just Want to Make Love to You 

From the liner notes: 
The Lion's Share broadcast from San Anselmo, CA is one of the great treasures prized by Morrison collectors. It is also one of the most difficult to find complete in excellent quality. 

The broadcast on a low power Berkeley station [ed: see notes below] limited the reception area. Even worse, the Bay Area was rocked by a winter storm on broadcast night which not only interfered but interfered in different locations at different times. For the first time on disc, the complete two set Lion's Share Show is now in excellent quality pieced together from 
three sources for the cleanest tape possible. 

The effort is well worth it for the rarities the listener is treated to. With jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi sitting in, Van opts for a looser sound and a number of unique performances. Check out the wordless scat singing on "Into The Mystic" as well as the long instrumental breaks. Van sings both the verses and scats on a one time performance of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" from the movie "Midnight Cowboy". 

The Lenny Welch classic "Since I Fell For You" received two treatments: the first Van plays it straight while the second is an extended jazzy version with Van's most impassioned singing of the night. Other unique treats are the World War II era "White Cliffs of Dover", Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" and a lovely version of the Johnny Mathis hit "Misty". 
Among the regular songs of this era, the most compelling is "Listen to the Lion" in which Van implores us to "listen to the lion inside of me". 

Additional information from Paul Grosso: 
Just for the record, the broadcast was on KPFA - it's a non-commercial station but certainly not low power. It's actually heard all over the Bay Area and has repeaters feeding their signal all the way down to Monterey. Unless my brain cells fail me, I believe that KTIM in Marin County also broadcast a live feed of the broadcast. KTIM was a commercial "underground" station where I was a disk jockey during this period. 

Additional information from Mike Burns: 
During "Hard Nose the Highway", in the early show, Van namechecks the following musicians: 
Brother Jack Schroer: saxophone 
Jeff Labes: piano 
Doug Messenger: guitar 
Marty David: bass 
Rick Shlosser: drums 

Sound quality IS an improvement over that of Stormy Weather in San Anselmo, even if there is occasional hiss. The CD's and the back liner have a lion's head as background - a nice presentation touch. An essential boot, in my opinion.