Wonderful Remark
Encyclopedia
"Wonderful Remark" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

 and first released on the soundtrack album for the 1983 film The King of Comedy
The King of Comedy (1983 film)
The King of Comedy is a 1983 American dark comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, and directed by Martin Scorsese. The subject of the movie is celebrity stalking...

. In 1990, it appeared on his album The Best of Van Morrison
The Best of Van Morrison
The Best of Van Morrison is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1990 ....

and on the benefit compilation Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
- Notes :* On the included performance, the All-Starr Band consisted of Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Jim Keltner, Clarence Clemons, and Zak Starkey....

.

Recording

The song was originally recorded in August 1969 at one of the Moondance
Moondance
Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on Warner Bros. Records on 28 February 1970 and peaked at #29 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart....

studio sessions at Century Sound Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, but this version of the song was not released. The eight minute version that was released on the 1998 compilation album, The Philosopher's Stone
The Philosopher's Stone (album)
The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998 .The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1969 to 1988...

, was derived from one of the Saint Dominic's Preview
Saint Dominic's Preview
Saint Dominic's Preview is the sixth solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records...

recording sessions in late winter and early spring, 1972 that took place at Wally Heider Studios
Wally Heider Studios
Wally Heider Studios was a recording studio in San Francisco, California between 1969 and 1980, started by recording engineer and studio owner Wally Heider.-History:...

 and Pacific High Studios in San Francisco and at the Church in San Anselmo.

Legacy

On February 14, 1994 when Van Morrison was awarded the BRIT Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

 for his outstanding contribution to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 music, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 hostage John McCarthy
John McCarthy (journalist)
John Patrick McCarthy CBE is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis...

 testified to the importance of "Wonderful Remark" which he called "a song written more than 20 years ago that was very important to us."
McCarthy and Jill Morrell had written a book together in 1993, after McCarthy's release, using the words "some other rainbow" from "Wonderful Remark" for the book's title.
Clinging to some other rainbow
While we're standing, waiting in the cold
Telling us the same old story
Knowing time is growing old.

Other releases

A version of "Wonderful Remark" was recorded in 1972, and was featured in the outtake compilation album The Philosopher's Stone
The Philosopher's Stone (album)
The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998 .The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1969 to 1988...

that was released in 1998. It was included in the soundtrack to the film The King of Comedy
The King of Comedy (1983 film)
The King of Comedy is a 1983 American dark comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, and directed by Martin Scorsese. The subject of the movie is celebrity stalking...

, and this version was one of the movie songs featured on the 2007 compilation album Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits
Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits
Van Morrison at the Movies – Soundtrack Hits is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 2007 comprising 19 songs as featured in various movies. The album was released on 12 February 2007 in the United Kingdom and February 13, 2007 in the United States. ...

. Morrison donated the soundtrack recording to the benefit album Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
- Notes :* On the included performance, the All-Starr Band consisted of Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Jim Keltner, Clarence Clemons, and Zak Starkey....

. A remastered version of "Wonderful Remark" has been included on the 2007 compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
Still on Top – The Greatest Hits is the third compilation album to be issued by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 2007 . It was released...

.

Personnel on original release

  • Van Morrison - vocals, acoustic guitar
    Acoustic guitar
    An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

  • Robbie Robertson
    Robbie Robertson
    Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...

     - electric guitar
    Electric guitar
    An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

  • David Hayes
    David Hayes (musician)
    David Hayes is an American bass guitar player.Hayes has worked with Van Morrison, The Rowans, Terry & The Pirates, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Country Joe McDonald and others....

     - bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Richard Tee
    Richard Tee
    Richard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...

     - piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Jim Keltner
    Jim Keltner
    James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...

     - drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Nicky Hopkins
    Nicky Hopkins
    Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....

     - organ
    Organ (music)
    The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

    , synthesizer
    Synthesizer
    A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...


Personnel on The Philosopher's Stone

  • Van Morrison - vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Lee Charlton - drums
  • Bill Church
    Bill Church
    William 'Bill' Church , started out playing bass in a band called Sawbuck in 1969, with Mojo Collins, Starr Donaldson, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff. As the band was beginning to record their first album, Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Van Morrison on his Tupelo Honey album...

     - bass
  • "Boots" Rolf Houston - flute
    Flute
    The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

  • Ronnie Montrose
    Ronnie Montrose
    Ronnie Montrose, is an Amercian rock guitarist who has headed his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hartman, Edgar...

     - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
    Backing vocalist
    A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

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