Since there are only two days left in Van Morrison Week, I’m playing one of Pete’s requests tonight, and will do a post with a few of the other suggestions from Clive and rawgod tomorrow night. Today’s song is one that I vaguely remember hearing, but don’t fully recall it, so I probably heard it only in passing once or twice.

According to Wikipedia …

The first known recording of “Jackie Wilson Said” was in January 1972 at singer and musician Lee Michaels’ studio in Mill Valley, California. For this early demo, Morrison and Doug Messenger played guitars and Michaels contributed piano. Only three sections had been composed and there was no clear structure. On January 29 it was recorded with “Gypsy” at Pacific High Studios in San Francisco for his forthcoming album, Saint Dominic’s Preview. Morrison was joined by his band at the time: Messenger on guitar; Rick Shlosser on drums; Bill Church on bass; Mark Naftalin on piano and Jack Schroer on saxophone. This version was released by Warner Bros. in July 1972 and featured as the opening tune on the album.

Morrison’s band had only rehearsed the song once before the session, which led to the parts being rearranged in the studio. Despite the initial problems, the band recorded it in one take, as Messenger recalls: “At the end [we] all stood in silence: had [we] got it in one go? Van called for another take, but stopped a few bars in because he felt it wasn’t working. ‘I think we’ve got it.’” Overdubs were added later on by saxophonists Schroer and Rolf “Boots” Houston. Writer Peter Wrench commented that “What does seem clear, though, is that ‘Jackie Wilson’ is a genuine example of a one-take wonder which came together extraordinarily quickly as a shared creation in the moment.”

According to Morrison “Jackie Wilson Said” was “particularly inspired” by a line in Jackie Wilson’s song “Reet Petite”. Morrison also acknowledged later in his career that his vocals are also influenced by the 1950s soul singer, remarking that Wilson’s consecutive hits were an important influence in developing his early vocal style. According to biographer Peter Mills, Morrison’s vocal performance, which borrows from early styles of rhythm and blues, pop, jazz and blues, “is prime time Morrison: tight, melodic, fully vocalised from the centre-back of the throat”.

“Jackie Wilson Said” was released as a single in July 1972 in the US and August 1972 in the UK, with the rare and never again released song “You’ve Got the Power” as the B-side. It peaked at number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Record World said the single “just about lives up to the promise of its title” and that it’s an “exhilarating preview” of the album. Thomas Ryan wrote in 1996 that the song was “denied its commercial destiny by never gaining entry to the upper echelons of the singles charts, a fact as unacceptable as it is inexplicable.”

In reviewing the album for the BBC, James Young describes the song as “soulful and uplifting” and comments that “it’s awash with lyrical hooks powered by his increasingly mellifluous voice, and backed with pumping horns and rhythm section. It also showcases his signature utterances and vocalisations, the do-de-de-doos and dang-a-lang-a-langs, which are pure homage to his soul and doo-wop influences.”

Robert Christgau wrote in his review of Saint Dominic’s Preview, “‘Jackie Wilson said it was reet petite,’ he shouts for openers, and soon has me believing that ‘I’m in heaven when you smile’ says as much about the temporal and the eternal as anything in Yeats.”

Reviewer Scott Floman states that the song was the best of “four monumental tracks” on the album commenting that, “The joyous ‘Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile)’ starts the album off with three minutes of pop perfection, thereby continuing his recent trend of beginning each album with a great concise upbeat number. This grand horn heavy homage to another great r&b performer is the best of the bunch.”

Jackie Wilson Said

Van Morrison

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
I’m so wired up
Don’t need no coffee in my cup
Let it all hang out
Let it all hang out

Ding a ling a ling
Ding a ling a ling ding
Ding a ling a ling
Ding a ling a ling ding
Do da do da
I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven
I’m in heaven, when you smile
When you smile, when you smile
When you smile
And when you walk
Across the room
You make my heart go
Boom boom boom
Let it all hang out
Baby, let it all hang out
And every time
You look that way
Honey child, you make my day
Let it all hang out
Like the man said let it all hang out

Ding a ling a ling
Ding a ling a ling ding
Ding a ling a ling
Ding a ling a ling ding
Do da do da
I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven
I’m in heaven, when you smile
When you smile
I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven
I’m in heaven, when you smile
One more time
I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven
I’m in heaven, when you smile
When you smile

Writer/s: VAN MORRISON
Publisher: Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind