I Will Be There (Van Morrison song)

"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.Mills, Hymns to the Silence, pp.13-14 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."Wrench. Saint Dominic's Flashback, p.1910/3575 Also featured in the song is a saxophone solo from long serving Jack Schroer.Mills, Hymns to the Silence, p.14Album notes for Saint Dominic's Preview 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.

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. Saint Dominic's Flashback, p.2449/3575 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.Wrench. Saint Dominic's Flashback, p.2466/3575

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."Collis, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, p.132 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."{{cite web| date=1997-06-03|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21052 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101210033116/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21052 |url-status= dead |archive-date= December 10, 2010 |title=Saint Dominic's Preview Music Review|publisher=Rolling Stone Magazine|last=Holden|first=Stephen|accessdate=2010-10-19}}

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

• Van Morrison: vocals
• Jules Broussard: tenor saxophone
• Bill Church: bass
• Gary Mallaber: drums
• Doug Messenger: guitar
• Tom Salisbury: piano
• Jack Schroer: alto saxophone

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

{{reflist}}

• 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, {{ISBN|0-306-80811-0}}
• Mills, Peter (2010), Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison, London: Continuum, {{ISBN|978-0-8264-2976-6}}
• Wrench, Peter (2012). Saint Dominic's Flashback: Van Morrison's Classic Album, Forty Years On, FeedARead. Kindle Edition. {{ISBN|9781781768600}}

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Category:1972 songs

Category:Van Morrison songs

Category:Songs written by Van Morrison

Category:Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman

Category:Song recordings produced by Van Morrison