The tipsy evening Van Morrison and The Band that created a classic
If you were able to sell whatever the magic is that weaves itself throughout so many rock classics, you’d be a millionaire. You can’t sell that magic, but you can sell whiskey, and for Van Morrison and The Band, there wasn’t a huge difference between the two.
You often hear of bands and artists having an overreliance on alcohol, and there are a few reasons as to why this could occur. The first is the most simple, and it applies to addiction across the board, not just within the creative world: people like being drunk. The reason so many people drink a lot is because they enjoy the feeling of being drunk. This is all well and good when you don’t develop an overreliance on it, but it’s hard for some people not to. Alcohol becomes their sole source of dopamine, and therefore they become dependent.
Of course, another explanation as to why alcohol plays such a big part in the lives of a lot of artists is because it helps people to become more creative. This isn’t me saying alcohol unlocks hidden creative powers, that’s a pretty dangerous attitude to have, but you become less self conscious about putting forward ideas that you might have otherwise been more reserved on. This was the case with Van Morrison and The Band, as one silly little comment, after enough booze, gave them all they needed to make what would eventually become a great track.
Van Morrison was in the process of moving to California, and during the haze of the relocation, he wound up at Bearsville Studio in Woodstock, New York. During this time, The Band were recording new music in the Studio and so asked Van Morrison if he wanted to help them put a track together. Morrison, who wanted a break from his relocation, happily agreed. The drinks and ideas started flowing, and however much alcohol was consumed later, the song ‘4% Pantomime’ was created.
So, how did the idea actually come about?
“Robbie said, ‘Let’s write a song’,” recalled Morrison when discussing the track and the inspiration behind it. “I remembered this phrase he used, ‘It’s like a pantomime’. Then we looked at a bottle of Scotch, and it said something about 4 per cent. So we just put the two together and started trading lines.” Do you see what I mean about alcohol acting as a catalyst for creativity? A pretty nothing idea eventually became a fully fledged song.
Upon recognising the song had legs, Robertson decided to get the band together and booked studio time with everybody else that night. The drinks continued flowing into the recording process, and drummer Levon Helm has since described the recording process as being “extremely liquid”.
The track appeared on the band’s record Cahoots. It was received well by the fans, firstly because it featured a vocal performance from the iconic Van Morrison, whose unique style wouldn’t sound out of place anywhere. Pair that with the spontaneous and rock-infused nature of the track, and you have a truly exciting combination. It became clear that the song would be considered one of The Band’s best, booze and all.
