Then, as the rousing brass and Van’s celebratory declarations are brought to a concurrent and stirring standstill — your heart yet going boom-boom-boom — you’ll still be “in heaven, when you smile / When you smile, when you smile…”
In a mere matter of 2:57 comes and goes one of those joyous without being jejune songs that bear repeating over and over on your home stereo and that demand full volume on your car radio - thank god for the classic oldies’ format: as a single in ‘72, “Jackie Wilson Said” only peaked at #61, proving once again that there is no justice in the world.
And there’s no mistaking when the song comes on and takes you by surprise, first with Van, sans band, before the full-swingin’ kickapoo joy juice hits ya:
- Da, da, da, da, da…
Jackie Wilson said
It was "reet-petite"
Kinda love you got
Knock me off my feet
Let it all hang out
Oh, let it all hang out…
And you know…
Don't need no coffee in my cup…
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Article comments
1 - Mat Brewster
Good stuff, Gordon. I had to queue that song up just now. Man what a great little number.
2 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks, Mat. "Little" is right. But he made up for the three-minute length by putting two ten-minute+ songs on the same album. Not quite as catchy, though.
3 - Al Barger
It's kinda hard to argue against the comparison "not quite as catchy" when the standard is "Jackie Wilson Said." But pretty much every song from St Dominic's Preview is right up there. "Listen to the Lion" is my all-time Van fave - and the litmus test for a true Morrison fan.
I wouldn't feel too bad about the nominal chart position of the single when it was first released. The song has been a big hit - but just spread out over time. That happens. Very frequently, a song is a huge hit for a minute, a fad or whatever - but when was the last time you heard "You Light Up My Life" on the radio? There are a lot of young folk today who perfectly well know "Jackie Wilson Said" who have never heard of a Debbie Boone.
I don't think "Alison" even made the Hot 100 in 1977 - but I hear it all the time in the grocery store and such. But it's been a minute since I heard "U Can't Touch This."
4 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
What I meant to say, Al, is that it's not quite as catchy as anything on "Astral Weeks." And I have mixed feelings that not only didn't it chart as high as "Madame George," you don't hear it on radio as much.