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Van Morrison — Gloria (w/ John Lee Hooker)
Album: Too Long in Exile
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1145









Released: 1993
Length: 5:15
Plays (last 30 days): 1
Like to tell you 'bout my baby.
You know she comes around.
She's about five feet four,
From her head to the ground.
You know she comes around here
Just about midnight.
She makes me feel so good, Lord.
She makes me feel alright.
And her name is G-L-O-R-I,I,I,I..
G-L-O-R-I-A (Gloria)
G-L-O-R-I-A (Gloria)
I'm gonna shout it all night (Gloria)
I'm gonna shout it every day (Gloria)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(Guitar Solo)

She comes around here,
Just about midnight.
She makes me feels so good, Lord.
She makes me feel alright.
She comes walking down my street,
And then she comes to my house
She knocks upon my door.
And then she comes to my room.
And then she makes me feel alright.
G-L-O-R-I-A (Gloria)
G-L-O-R-I-A (Gloria)
I'm gonna shout it all night (Gloria)
I'm gonna shout it every day (Gloria)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Comments (154)add comment
For me, most of JLH's best music was his colab's...IMO, this is very close to "I'm in the mood" with Bonnie Raitt..
 sfoster66 wrote:

Normally loving Van, but this just feels way too much like a jam band in a garage...



Which is exactly why I really like this version.
 sfoster66 wrote:

Normally loving Van, but this just feels way too much like a jam band in a garage...


Hey, if this is a jam band, they can come jam in my garage ANY DAY - 
This sublime work came out as I began to wonder, "My God -- what have I done?" after moving from Boulder to the remote Noto Hanto, Ishikawa, on the Japan Sea coast of Western Japan. I bought this new CD at a tiny music shop in Hakui, took it to my new digs, and played it in heavy rotation thereafter. It kept me and my ex- company through many a long rainy spell, and even a typhoon or two that summer, and, being one of the only foreigners in that delightfully isolated and surreal realm, even then, still early on in my two decades on Planet Japan, I could really identify with the sentiment of being an expat too long in exile.
Normally loving Van, but this just feels way too much like a jam band in a garage...
 justin4kick wrote:

Van stick to your own Gloria, you don't need no Hooker.



Van can, and will, always do it any way he wants. I'm ok with that, he's the MAN.
AWESOME
Bugger. 
Had to bump this from 9 to 10. I can't stop moving to this!
Where is the 12+ rating ...
Bill's alway got something up his sleeves!

Great Song done by two at the top of their field.
Can't go wrong with the  Crawlin' Kingsnake
Ah'm a tappin' ma foot. {#Drummer}{#Bananasplit}
JLH showing that you don't have to get hysterical or set to shouting to blast some soul!
 Brilliant.....love it, with or without JLH. 
Was in his audience, right in front of the man and his band as he churned this out in Belfast  2013. Unforgettable
Coolness.  Never heard this version and I am liking more than I would have imagined.

-Will (entertainscape.com)
What do you get when you record two men who haven't changed their style of vocal delivery in decades? This.
Love this song but had never heard this version.  WHOA - LOVING!
 ziggytrix wrote:
I love peanut butter.

And I love sauerkraut.

But I would not want to eat them at the same time.

I feel exactly the same way about listening to Van Morrison and Hooker in this song. :(

 
Weird sensahuma, I must say.
Wow {#Drool}
Terrible!! Awful and so on....
{#Heartkiss}{#Heartkiss} ..... love it
 joelbb wrote:

Yeah, dyslexic "Gloria", G-R-O-L-I-A!  It's hard to understand how anyone could dislike the combo of Morrison, Hooker and "Gloria" (or "Grolia" or "Gorlia", or whatever).

 
{#Yes}
I like the one on a nite in san Francisco take best, but then again that one is far and away the best work van has ever released.
It's Magik!

Van + John Lee ... A great version of a great song.

 
Not just this but life in general.

floydoftherocks wrote:
i definitely feel like a dick saying this but if you ignore VM's singing this is pretty good..

edit: actually, i feel more like people will think i'm a dick for saying this.. i actually feel just fine with that statement.


 


 ziakut wrote:
This is song is far more fun to play than to listen to. I was once in a cover band and we played this song. I played bass and sang backup vocals. The lead singer  misspelled the name while singing at one point sang the part G.O.R.L.I.A. So we followed suit and sang Gorlia. Quite fun. I suppose it's one of those instances where 'you had to be there'.
 
Yeah, dyslexic "Gloria", G-R-O-L-I-A!  It's hard to understand how anyone could dislike the combo of Morrison, Hooker and "Gloria" (or "Grolia" or "Gorlia", or whatever).
Love this version. 
My sentiments as well. No me gusta.
Lots of fun.  Love this.
This is song is far more fun to play than to listen to. I was once in a cover band and we played this song. I played bass and sang backup vocals. The lead singer  misspelled the name while singing at one point sang the part G.O.R.L.I.A. So we followed suit and sang Gorlia. Quite fun. I suppose it's one of those instances where 'you had to be there'.
Not a fan of songs that include the spelling out of words.
I love peanut butter.

And I love sauerkraut.

But I would not want to eat them at the same time.

I feel exactly the same way about listening to Van Morrison and Hooker in this song. :(
Nothing wrong with John Lee Hooker or Van Morisson, but IMNSHO it's the big group of real live actual human musicians, manually playing real physical instruments, that make this version good.
And that's because they're not playing it perfectly.
She's a soul sender!
This is a train wreck. Just adding a blues legend to a performance doesn't necessarily make for a great performance. This is a perfect case in point.
I must not be in the "gets it" crowd.  This is one of those songs that could not be anything more than an "eh" for me.  It isn't bad, there's nothing really wrong with it that I can find, but it isn't really all that catchy to me either.  I get what they are trying to do, but vocal acrobatics is annoying when it's a woman with a great voice, but when it's a dude with an ok (but distinctive) voice, it just doesn't do it for me.


Top#3 three chord song... {#Bananajam}

Hooked
lovin' this
 mesiegfried wrote:
I love Van Morrison, but this is not one of my favorite tunes of his. However, I am lovin' this version with John Lee Hooker. Awesome!! I've never heard it before today. Thanks, RP! Perfect way to start my weekend.

 
Ditto!! :)), except the weekend part. Unfortunately, it's Tuesday today.


I love Van Morrison, but this is not one of my favorite tunes of his. However, I am lovin' this version with John Lee Hooker. Awesome!! I've never heard it before today. Thanks, RP! Perfect way to start my weekend.

Bouges ton corps !!!
{#Dancingbanana}G - L - O - R - I - A

i definitely feel like a dick saying this but if you ignore VM's singing this is pretty good..

edit: actually, i feel more like people will think i'm a dick for saying this.. i actually feel just fine with that statement.

Oooooh, never heard this version, gots to get!{#Bananajam}
 twitterpated wrote:
This is really good but I think Patti Smith's version is a hard act to follow (or precede?)  Unless this is a different song?  Can't really tell...

 
Patti's is a real good version also.  I think she based her take on the Van Morrison/Them tune.
I'd have to dig it out (have it on a 45) and listen.


 budaloco wrote:
Was this song sampled for one of Saint Germain´s songs? The voice is familiar to me...Could anyone confirm this?
 
Good call. It is Hooker, but not this track.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_%28Saint_Germain_album%29


 MojoJojo wrote:
Hey! You got chocolate in my peanut butter!  
 
...and you got peanut butter in my chocolate! Hey!

Well, I feel alright...{#Bananajam}{#Cowboy}
... and that's how's done, son! {#Notworthy}
The Hook has more soul than he can contain and he just overflows in moans...some here are embarassed by a man letting his feelings show, it seems. The Hook recorded more sides in his career than Elvis...he rules the blues!
WOW!   What a treat!!!   Never heard this version before but as a big John Lee fan....   LOVE IT!!!!!    Jammin' at work ......

{#Dancingbanana}
As an ardent blues hater, I gotta' say. this is REALLY good.
 twitterpated wrote:
This is really good but I think Patti Smith's version is a hard act to follow (or precede?)  Unless this is a different song?  Can't really tell...

 
This is an updated version of "Gloria" that Van Morrison (with Them) originally recorded sometime in the mid-sixties (not sure of the exact). I would say, rather, that Van (both versions) is a hard act to follow.


This is really good but I think Patti Smith's version is a hard act to follow (or precede?)  Unless this is a different song?  Can't really tell...

 budaloco wrote:
Was this song sampled for one of Saint Germain´s songs? The voice is familiar to me...Could anyone confirm this?
 
same feeling, couldn't find anything on this...So if someone knows, I'dl like to have a share

My understanding is that JLH got to "feel good" every day. Every day. Every day now. Every day.
Not heard this before!  Real good....
 Stefen wrote:
Whatever happened to Them?
  Them,,Who,,Oh,,Those guys,,donno !
  Doing Gloria in some cellar club maybe.{#Stupid}


Hey! You got chocolate in my peanut butter!  


sooooo goood,  dig the hooker and morrison ——yes!
WOW !! this is the ultimate ...
This is killer!
 lmic wrote:

Well, give it a listen, then - Patti's version really is like, uh, finished sex!


 
this exchange was too funny

I like the JHL addition to this song.  A very cool layer I think

wicked good! {#Jump}
Was this song sampled for one of Saint Germain´s songs? The voice is familiar to me...Could anyone confirm this?
Whatever happened to Them?
 Limpopoking wrote:


I love Patti's version, but this is also very stunning. I find that a cover works best if it differs enough from the original but is still recognisable. Anyone know who did the original of this?
 
well van Morrison wrote it.... I'd give his group Them the nod for original

 dunno wrote:
sorry, like Patti's version more.

 

I love Patti's version, but this is also very stunning. I find that a cover works best if it differs enough from the original but is still recognisable. Anyone know who did the original of this?
sorry, like Patti's version more.

 zubietag wrote:
This Version is Glorius
 

Correction, this version is G-L-O-R-I-A/U-S, and we are much the better for it  {#Devil_pimp}
WAY KEWL.........WHOOOOSAH !   {#Propeller}
Powerful. 
How cool is this? Yowsuh! {#Propeller}
no comment   -   9.
This Version is Glorius
Best version of this song period. Weird thing of note BB King "Let the Good Times Roll" was played 13 songs ago. About 5 years ago I made a CD mix with my favorite blues songs on it. This was song 13, and Let the Good Times Roll was song #1. Kinda odd; by the way they both get 10's in my book.
never heard this version before....i LOVE it!....kinda coming around full circle for Van
ya get it! love this!
justin4kick wrote:
Van stick to your own Gloria, you don't need no Hooker.
Har! But yea it's not too bad. I love me my Van.
justin4kick wrote:
Van stick to your own Gloria, you don't need no Hooker.
Very punny. (Just had to go there.)
justin4kick wrote:
Van stick to your own Gloria, you don't need no Hooker.
Wrong, this version is amazing! The enthusiasm is unparalleled (save maybe a live version running around somewhere). This song flat out rocks.
Van stick to your own Gloria, you don't need no Hooker.
RobK wrote:
I'm surprised to read a couple of comments saying that this recording fails to deliver somehow. I love the original, and to a certain extent I agree it has an electricity that this one lacks. But to compare this version to the original as if it were simply a cover is to miss the point entirely, I think. It's helpful to know the 'backstory', as it were, to appreciate what you're hearing on this track. For starters you have to be aware of just how much Van admired the American blues masters as a kid growing up in Belfast. They were some of his biggest influences as a young musician (still are, in fact) and you hear that influence on the original recording of Gloria. Thanks to his own success, Van has been able to actually play music with several of these living legends over the years. Many of them have come to admire him just as much, and that must be a real thrill. So you start in late '60s Belfast, then fast forward 25 years later and Van is sitting in a studio with John Lee Hooker, and they're playing one of Van's old songs. John is playing the music and singing the lyrics that Van wrote when he was just a kid, idolizing guys like him. I can only imagine how great that must have been. In fact I can hear in Van's singing just how much he was enjoying the moment. Having all of that in mind makes the listening experience all that more enjoyable for me. Without that it would be just another song.
YES, that's right
I'm surprised to read a couple of comments saying that this recording fails to deliver somehow. I love the original, and to a certain extent I agree it has an electricity that this one lacks. But to compare this version to the original as if it were simply a cover is to miss the point entirely, I think. It's helpful to know the 'backstory', as it were, to appreciate what you're hearing on this track. For starters you have to be aware of just how much Van admired the American blues masters as a kid growing up in Belfast. They were some of his biggest influences as a young musician (still are, in fact) and you hear that influence on the original recording of Gloria. Thanks to his own success, Van has been able to actually play music with several of these living legends over the years. Many of them have come to admire him just as much, and that must be a real thrill. Fast forward 25 years later and Van is sitting in a studio with John Lee Hooker, and they're playing one of Van's old songs. John is playing the music and singing the lyrics that Van wrote when he was just a kid, idolizing guys like him. I can only imagine how great that must have been. So having all of that in mind makes the listening experience all that more enjoyable for me. That's my own personal take on it.
Let's get this starty parted!
YEAH! 2 biggies here, without whom music might have been much less exciting in its possibilties to ROCK OUTSIDE THE BOX. One, a black American man who showed us all how it could be done, and the other, a white Irish man who showed us all that HE could sure go and do it! Rock on with THESE TWO KINGLY DUDES any old time, Bill!
Wow, loving this version.
sorry... but this is soooo boring!
A controversial song for the RP listeners!....I don't see the problem...2 legends 1 great song...how can you go wrong?
Two great voices, 1 great song=10!
written by Van..... I like his original version best....
biologenius wrote:
...It is like unfinished sex, though. You wait for the climax, for the chorus to break through, so prevalent in other versions of "Gloria", but they don't give it to you. You want.. more.. lmic wrote:
but IMHO Patti Smith owns this song.
That I find hard to believe, everything I heard from her som far is below acceptable in rating..
Well, give it a listen, then - Patti's version really is like, uh, finished sex!
Hearing this for the very first time, I am absolutely flabbergasted. how did I overlook this before? This song is all over music culture, I never found it very good in any version, but this... I like VM, but here I don't want him, it is all about JLH. It is like unfinished sex, though. You wait for the climax, for the chorus to break through, so prevalent in other versions of "Gloria", but they don't give it to you. You want.. more.. lmic wrote:
but IMHO Patti Smith owns this song.
That I find hard to believe, everything I heard from her som far is below acceptable in rating..
what a Kick Ass collaboration!
This still has a raw intensity and builds to a power not often matched. Two of the greats here, for sure... And it makes me want to put on Jimi's version! This album didn't get much coverage, but I still like it -- Good Morning Little Schoolgirl is delightful, and one of Van's all time best! It would be AWESOME to hear it on RP one of these days...
It's amazing how this simple little song is so powerful, it's been done by so many.
Love Van, and of course JLH is without parallel, but IMHO Patti Smith owns this song.
The energy of this song - its progression from a boppy little blues into a driving machine makes me shiver. Van and J.L. use their voices like percussion instruments to put this over the top. 10.
well this is a heavy piece of rock and roll history guys!!
this is rock & roll.
I don't feel that JLH's vocal mumblings add anything to the song.
gillespp wrote:
...That's why I listen to this damn radio station; I mostly hear things I really like. In the universe of music, there are many, many, many songs that I would rate in the 1-5 range...and I hear very few of them here. RP rocks!
Hear Hear!
Helchat wrote:
A relatively new term! The word was derived from the name of General Hooker, of the Confederate Army during the Civil War in the U.S. He provided ...... um, female "companionship" for his troops. They were known as "Hooker's girls".... thus, the term.
That's more than likely just a myth, from wikipedia:
Despite Hooker's reputation as a hard-drinking ladies' man, there is no basis for the popular legend that the slang term for prostitutes came from his last name, due to parties and a lack of military discipline at his headquarters. The term "hooker" was used in print as early as 1845, years before Hooker was a public figure.
Other civil war history sources state more or less the same.
These two mix like oil and water. What a shame!!
Man it would have great to be in the studio when they cut this.
freeone1 wrote:
Note to self: Come back to this page, posts are varied and interesting....
Yes, some are extremely irritating, extremely pompous or ignorant. Some are insightful (or inciteful). Others are fun. Some really dumb. Others just ramble like this. The ratings guy is a 1 himself
mfassett wrote:
Looking at some people's ratings (lots of below 5's, etc), then looking at mine... I really don't have all that many that low. What it means to me is that RP doesn't play much of the music I would rate very low... which is, of course, why I listen. However, there are those who have more below 5's then 6 and above... which begs the question... why don't they listen to a different station? On the other side are those with a large number of 8-10s and few 5 - 7s... doesn't make sense. A "10" is only a "10" in relation to a "5" and/or a "1." Anyway, that's a long way of saying... this song is a "2" for me, one of the rare moments where RP plays something that I find not worth playing, ever.
Wow! All that for the wrong conclusion! Actually, I completely disagree that it makes no sense to have a disproportionate number of 8-10s. That's why I listen to this damn radio station; I mostly hear things I really like. In the universe of music, there are many, many, many songs that I would rate in the 1-5 range, or even in the 5-7 range -- and I hear very few of them here. RP rocks!
Note to self: Come back to this page, posts are varied and interesting....
Looking at some people's ratings (lots of below 5's, etc), then looking at mine... I really don't have all that many that low. What it means to me is that RP doesn't play much of the music I would rate very low... which is, of course, why I listen. However, there are those who have more below 5's then 6 and above... which begs the question... why don't they listen to a different station? On the other side are those with a large number of 8-10s and few 5 - 7s... doesn't make sense. A "10" is only a "10" in relation to a "5" and/or a "1." Anyway, that's a long way of saying... this song is a "2" for me, one of the rare moments where RP plays something that I find not worth playing, ever.
Stes wrote:
Isn't "HOOKER" a rude word in English?
A relatively new term! The word was derived from the name of General Hooker, of the Confederate Army during the Civil War in the U.S. He provided ...... um, female "companionship" for his troops. They were known as "Hooker's girls".... thus, the term.
Holy Crap...earlier I spoke of a version of "Let the Good Times Roll", and I put on the CD...one of the other 16 songs was this one. Great song, Great version, Great artists. 10
Stes wrote:
Isn't "HOOKER" a rude word in English?
More polite than kurwa in Polish, I believe, but boils down to the same thing
pianocomposer wrote:
I can't believe how great these two sound together! = 9
I can't believe how boring these two sound together! = 2 Sorry, doesn't do much for me at all.
Isn't "HOOKER" a rude word in English?
I can't believe how great these two sound together! = 9
what an awesome complement to each other on this!
radiojunkie wrote:
Kinda blah? A disappointment? Why don't you guys go into the studio together and show Van and John Lee how it's done?
I was about to take you to task for a faulty reading of my post, but looking again at the scant little I wrote, I see the problem is with me and my articulation. What I should have said (and what timandjuliet may have been thinking to say) was that, prior to any listening, a glance at the two names in the title line made our mouths water -- you know, to think of what was to follow with these two! And then, while acknowledging the true talent of each artist -- and though the result was, for me at least, very good -- the high expectations had led to something of a let down. Consider also: when there is greatness throughout an artist's repertoire, would a tracking of the value of every performance give a perfectly flat line of appreciation? or would the line fluctuate? I think John Lee Hooker was as great as they come. But what if an anticipation of, say, a 99 percentile rating, netted only a 95? or a 90? Or is even eight of ten a poor showing? What does constitute a "disappointment"? On another note, why is this not labeled "John Lee Hooker - Gloria (w/ Van Morrison)"? Just wondering, since a smidgen less Van Morrison here might have been nice.
radiojunkie wrote:
Kinda blah? A disappointment? Why don't you guys go into the studio together and show Van and John Lee how it's done?
Well put- anyone that thinks either of these guys aren't authentic needs to first hear Van in THEM...the band that is, and listen then to "Healer" by JLH. You know it is interesting that to be a music critic one needs no real qualifications, only an opinion, but to be a musician takes years of practice and then very few ever get far beyond playing for and with themselves.