HERE COMES THE NIGHT BY VAN MORRISON & THEM. Story by John McDonald.

Belfast, 1965. Crymbles Music Store, Wellington Place.

Seemed to me no famous bands ever came from Northern Ireland; The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, they all hailed from across the water. (England)

Davey, Marcus and me after school, ride a bus into town to check out the guitar shops. My aunt Frances worked in Crymbles Music Store, maybe she will let us have a fiddle with some of those Fenders and Gibsons hanging on the wall inside the store, but Aunt Frances worked in the accounts department so that’s probably not going to happen.

As we enter the store three guys are just leaving, one of them looks somewhat familiar, short in stature, a mop of reddish hair.

“That’s yer man, Van,” says Davey. “And those other two fellas, that’s ‘Them’.”

Seems we just had a brief brush with some up-and-coming Belfast musicians.

When I first heard the opening five note riff to Here Comes The Night played by Them with Van on vocals I was hooked.

Rumour had it Them, a Belfast R&B band with lead singer Van Morrison, chose the name Them as most other bands or groups of that era were called “The” somethings, e.g. The Kinks, The Mamas and The Papas, The Animals.

I recall at my school there was a kid whose parents were the caretakers of The Maritime Hotel Belfast, a Seaman’s hostel in the city centre.  Them played and rehearsed there. This kid told me I should come down and watch them play. I decided that at the age of 15 I might get into trouble if I sneaked out to this somewhat shady establishment. So, I never did get to see or hear Them or Van play live.

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In June 1966, our family left Belfast.  We immigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand, in search of a better future. It was a wise decision as in 1969 Belfast erupted into decades of sectarian violence. I didn’t hear much of Van in New Zealand; apparently, he went to the US leaving behind Them and Belfast.

Van has recollected that Them lived and died as a band on stage at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast.

Wangaratta, Australia, 1973

Jenny’s boyfriend Tony says: “So you came from Belfast.  You must be a big Van Morrison fan then?”

Slightly embarrassed, I had to admit that I knew of Van Morrison, but I had sort of lost touch with his music. He didn’t seem to be big in New Zealand in the 1960s, or perhaps I was just tuned into Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel.

Tony put on a Van Morrison album, St Dominic’s Preview. “Brilliant, isn’t it?” says Tony.

So, from then on, I began to reconnect with Van the Man. He came from Belfast after all, so he must be good. I think I bought nearly every Van Morrison album that he released.

I connected with the subtle references to Belfast culture in the lyrics of his songs, though some of the lyrics could possibly only be recognised by a Belfast native.

From A Sense of Wonder:

Pastie suppers down at Davey’s chipper

Gravy rings, Barmbracks, Wagon Wheels, Snowballs.

Translated from the Belfast vernacular, Pastie Supper = Fish and Chips, Gravy rings = doughnuts, Barnbrack = a fruity loaf best eaten with a nice cup of tea, Snowball = a spherical shaped Belfast version of a lamington.

References to places in Belfast also appear in the lyrics, Hyndford St, Cypress Avenue. Locations around Northern Ireland, Newtownards, Comber, Coney Island.

Van was nailing it for me. I knew the places he was weaving into his lyrics. Belfast was becoming famous through his songs.

Van played with many big names in the rock, jazz and blues genres — Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson and The Band, John Lee Hooker, Dr. John, Eric Clapton.

Belfast 1994

I visit my elderly Aunt Frances, now retired from Crymbles Music Store and living in a pensioner flat in a working-class area of Belfast. Aunt Frances takes me outside and shows me around the tiny community garden. Her elderly neighbour joins us on the lawn. I get introduced.

“Mrs Branagh, this is my nephew, John. He is visiting from Australia, so he is.”

I can see through the open door into Mrs Branagh’s flat, there atop the television set is a large, framed colour photo. The face in the photo looks familiar.

Aunt Frances says: “That’s Mrs Branagh’s wee grandson Kenneth, he’s in the fillums you know.”

 I have heard of him, I reply politely.

Several Van songs were featured in the 2021 Kenneth Branagh film Belfast.

Seems that there were at least two famous blokes who came from Belfast.

Stereo Story #801.

John McDonald says of his writing:

“This my first attempt at creative writing, inspired by attending the Write Around the Murray Stereo Stories concerts in Albury. Never had anything published before, only a couple of letters to the editor.”

Stereo Stories will be performing at Albury this Saturday evening, 14 September. Guest writers are Rijn Collins, Danny Katz, Ellen Van Neerven and Siang Lu. Some tickets still available.