1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis, a story about 2 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: Van Morrison's time spent in Cambridge, Massachusetts is kind of crazy. 3 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: He was hiding out from the New York City mafia, 4 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese 5 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: crime family member, and starving and desperately trying to keep 6 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: his career together. He was playing in a band with 7 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: a young, talented Emerson College student who would wind up 8 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: beaten to death in a Beacon Street apartment in a 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: matter of months. Van Morrison was ornery, broke, and reclusive. 10 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: Despite early success, first with a seminal rhythm and blues 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: inspired garage rock Outfit Them, and later with his smash 12 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: solo hit Brown Eyed Girl. For Van though it wasn't enough. 13 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: He wanted more, more great music. That music you heard 14 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,279 Speaker 1: at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 15 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Church 16 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: Organ Low MK one. I played you that loop because 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: I can't afford the license for Hey Jude by the Beatles. 18 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: anthemic maca Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 20 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on November one, nineteen 21 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: sixty eight, and that was the day that George Ivan 22 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: Morrison aka Van Morrison aka Van the Man would release 23 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: Astra Weeks, his second solo album, an album that defined 24 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: grace and beauty but is underpinned by desperation and murder. 25 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: On this episode, Low Church organs anthemic maca Cheese, Astra Weeks, 26 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: Van Morrison's time in case, a ridge mass and a 27 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: dead guitar player. I'm Jake Brennan, and this, this dis graceland. 28 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: Finding a musician is easy. Holding onto one is a 29 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: different story Entirely. Musicians are transient. They come and they go. 30 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: We move through our daily lives, and every couple of 31 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: months or so, one of our favorite musical artists blows 32 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: through town for a show. We fork over our hard 33 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: earned cash, and if we're lucky, the artist is worth it, 34 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: and the show is transcendent and we get swept away 35 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: and are given a respite from our otherwise very unrock 36 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: star lives. Then, after the obligatory encore or two puff, 37 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: they're gone. A small army of hard working roadies and 38 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: fast talking handlers are thrust into motion to quickly move 39 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: the musician from our town to someone else's, and musicians 40 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: not only move from town to town, they move from 41 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: gig to gig, from band to band, from opportunity to opportunity, 42 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: in and out of people's lives, from one lover to another, 43 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: from party to party, drug to drug in and then 44 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: out of rehab there then gone again. Us civilians, our 45 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: lives are sedentary by comparison, but for musicians, the rest 46 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: of the world comes and goes, as do all of 47 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: the people in it. Few albums convey this sense of 48 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: transience with as much grace as Van Morrison's landmark long 49 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: player Asked Weeks. The lyrics are poetic, mournful, melancholic, and 50 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: in constant struggle with an unwelcome inertia. Astro Weeks is 51 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: about coming and going about being stuck and with any luck, 52 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: maybe being reborn. In every note, from the sweeping strings 53 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: to the chugging acoustic guitars and heavy hearted flutes, you 54 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: feel a sense of trying to get somewhere, a sense 55 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: of movement, and Van Morrison, who wrote the record, was 56 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: at the time anything but moving. He was stuck. A 57 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: five foot five inch chubby sullen, wildly talented and inspired 58 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: immovable object, hiding out from the New York City mafia 59 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: in Cambridge, Massachusetts, starving and desperately trying to piece together 60 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: the makings of a band to get astro Weeks out 61 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: of his head and onto tape and yes, to get 62 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: his career moving again. New York City was tough on 63 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: Van Morrison. Despite the success of his first band, Them 64 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: and their anthemic hit Glria. Gloria, the blue eyed Irish 65 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: soul singer was broke but bursting at the seams with 66 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: talent and vision. Van's plan was to bust through the 67 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: silly haze of the Summer of Love as a serious 68 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: solo artist. His old school producer Burt Burns, mobbed up 69 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: in Money Hungry, had other plans and miscast Van as 70 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: a psychedelic novelty act, a move that, in Van's eyes, 71 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: threatened to derail the second act of his career before 72 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: it even got started. So Van attempted to negotiate a 73 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: release from the draconian contract that bound him. He wound 74 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: up having his guitar smashed over his head by a 75 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: Genevese family thug. New York City was dead to him, 76 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: or if he stayed, would likely be the reason he 77 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: would wind up. New digs were in demand, so it 78 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: was off to Cambridge with its flourishing folk scene, rich 79 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 1: pool of talented young musicians, and its underground radio station 80 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: and alternative weekly newspaper across the river in Boston. Yeah, 81 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: Cambridge would do just fine for a time anyway. The 82 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: move was about getting his career moving again, not just 83 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: stucking the mob and one of the people who would 84 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: help him find his way, a young, gifted, handsome guitar 85 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: player would mysteriously disappear from Van's life just as quickly 86 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: as he derived. But it wasn't career opportunities or drugs 87 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: or alcohol that would move the musician out of Van's 88 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: world with shockingly quick transience. It was a violent beating 89 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: inflicted upon him via savage blows to the head with 90 00:06:50,720 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: the wooden spindle from a broken banister. All I know 91 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: is that his name was Rick, he had worked at 92 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: the Monkeys, and a few weeks after our first show 93 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: after Astra Weeks was released, he was murdered. That's Van 94 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: Morrison's Boston based bass player at the time. Tom Kilbania 95 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: talking about Rick Philp, the guitar player in the first 96 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: band Van had put together to wood shed the songs 97 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: that would eventually become Astra Weeks. In nineteen sixty seven, 98 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: when Rick Philp arrived in Boston to attend Emerson College, 99 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: the music industry had already chewed him up and spit 100 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: him out, but Rick, apparently a glutton for punishment, made 101 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: himself available for gigs. Nonetheless, Rick's previous band, Middle Class, 102 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: from his hometown of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, was a 103 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: pet project of songwriting power couple Carol King and Jerry Goffin, 104 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: who had taken the band under their tutelage and signed 105 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: them to their record label, Tomorrow Records. That's how the 106 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: Monkey's gig happened. But otherwise the band went nowhere. They 107 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: had a regional following and some good press, but in 108 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: the grand scheme of things, Rick Phillips band Middle Class 109 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: was a bust. I mean, they were good, for sure, 110 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: but you know the drill when your parents are up 111 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: your butt about how the whole quote unquote music thing 112 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: is going. How many times could Rick answer with something 113 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: like pretty good, you know, we just had a great gig. 114 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: Gets some at high school. Last month, this crazy band 115 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: called Velvet Underground opened up for us. I know they're 116 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: really going places, and how you know, Carol is going 117 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: to get this new distribution deal for the label, and 118 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: even though her and Jerry are on the outside, feel 119 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: like there's some strong material coming up our way. Blah 120 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah blah blah. What your parents heard 121 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: was my son is on a fast track to nowhere 122 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: with this music thing. So the band broke up, but 123 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: to keep his old man off of his back, Rick 124 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: decided to head off to Boston to go to school. 125 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: He quickly hooked up with Van Morrison, another young, kind 126 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: of sort of casualty of the music industry, but one 127 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: who wasn't equipped for or interested in resigning himself to 128 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: study groups and campus sit ins. For Van Morrison, school 129 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: was out, no more teachers, no more books. Van was 130 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: searching off on some other trip entirely. Playing with Van 131 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: Morrison was no doubt a boost for Rick philt Van, 132 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: his current situation, notwithstanding, was a known quantity. Brown Eyed 133 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: Girl wasn't quite the ubiquitous classic we know it as today, 134 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: but it was still a hit, and Rick knew he 135 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: was potentially into some thing good, and he and Van 136 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: hit it off personally. Van seemed to like him, which 137 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: was saying something because the guy didn't really like anyone, 138 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: or at least he seemed to not dislike him. They 139 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: bonded the night Doctor Martin Luther King Junior was shot 140 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: watching the fallout in disbelief from Van's Cambridgeport apartment, glued 141 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: to the television. Van knew it then Rick could hang 142 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: and play. Rick was a good musical match for Van. Instinctually, 143 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: Rick knew that, as Van was hunting for a sound 144 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: to pin down, he'd be wise to not paint the 145 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: surly troubadour into a musical corner with his guitar playing. 146 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: So Rick hung back and played around Van's phrasing and 147 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: afforded the singer the space to evolve the songs organically 148 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: while he sorted astor weeks out in his head, in 149 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: rehearsal and on stage. For a time, it was all good. 150 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: Then in a flash, it was Rick's apartment mysteriously caught 151 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:08,479 Speaker 1: fire twice. Rick was fine, and so was his roommate. Impossibly, 152 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: just as important, Rix's guitars were not damaged. All that 153 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: was lost were some of Rick's clothes and books. But 154 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: two fires weird right, Rick found it odd but brushed 155 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: it off. His roommate, Harvey Alter, didn't seem bothered in 156 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: the least. Then Rick's guitars went missing, stolen right out 157 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: from under him. Rick was devastated. Having his guitars stolen, 158 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: effectively losing extensions of himself was crushing, as it would 159 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: be for any serious guitar player. His roommate had no 160 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: idea where they went. Nobody did. Rick's roommate, Harvey, was 161 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: an odd dude. He and Rick had hooked up somehow 162 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: at Emerson and lived in a little basement apartment on 163 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: Beacon Street, just across the street from Boston Common, surrounded 164 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: by gas lit Street Lane entrance with its beautiful public 165 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: garden and picturesque frog pond. The entire neighborhood at the 166 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: time screamed old school romance, and romance was what Harvey 167 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: had in mind, not for his girlfriend, who was more 168 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: of a beard, but for his good looking guitar slinging roommate, 169 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: Rick Philp. Harvey Alter was obsessed with Rick, and for 170 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: whatever reason, Rick was blind to it. Harvey had a 171 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: weird control over him, or at least he tried to 172 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: exert some sort of control over him. He repeatedly attempted 173 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: to sabotage Rick's relationship with his girlfriend, Kathy, who was 174 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: out of state away at school, but frequently visited Rick 175 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: at the apartment, and he insisted that when Kathy spent 176 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: the night that she and Rick leave the bedroom door 177 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: open so Harvey would not feel left out controlling. Sure, 178 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: but dude was just fucking weird. We'll be right back 179 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: after this word word word. Driving home after work one night, 180 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:07,719 Speaker 1: Harvey couldn't get his head around the issue of Rick 181 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: and Kathy. Fucking Kathy always around. Was she moving to 182 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,719 Speaker 1: Boston to be with Rick or not? Couldn't she take 183 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 1: a hint? She wasn't welcome. Harvey hated her, and deep 184 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: down he knew Rick did too. Rick was just too 185 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: nice to bring himself to admit it. Rick. Rick was 186 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: gorgeous and sweet and kind and talented. He loved Rick, 187 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: and he knew Rick loved him back, even if Rick 188 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: didn't know it yet. Rick was going places. Carol King 189 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: thought so. And this new gig Rick had with the 190 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: angry little Irish guy with that song about the girl 191 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: with the brown eyes. Shalatti dah shalatti. Damn, this gig 192 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: had real potential. Yeah, Rick was going places. He was 193 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: a mover, and he'd take Harvey with him. Harvey just 194 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: knew it. Once upon a time, not so long ago, 195 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: Harvey hadn't always been so convinced. That's why he took 196 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: Rick's guitars. Fucking Rick. Did he really think he was 197 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: going to travel the world playing guitar without Harvey? Nah? 198 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: If Harvey couldn't come, then Rick couldn't go either. Musicians 199 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 1: always coming and going. Who did they think they were? Anyway? 200 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: But Harvey now knew that Rick wouldn't leave without him. 201 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: Things were starting to come apart with Kathy, but still 202 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: Kathy kept coming back around, making a last ditch effort 203 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: to pin Rick down and boxing Harvey out. Fucking Kathy, 204 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: Harvey had an idea. Scare her away, but do it 205 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: carefully in a way that wouldn't come back on him 206 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: and piss off Rick. Harvey couldn't just threaten her. That 207 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: wouldn't work. He needed to be subtle. That's when the 208 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: idea hit him. Earlier that night at work, the deli 209 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: boy in the kitchen nearly cut his finger off on 210 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: the meat slicer he'd been bumped into by a bus boy. 211 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: Lost his footing slipped and his finger ventured into the 212 00:14:54,360 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: area where the big rotating blades spun mercilessly. Blood splurted everywhere. 213 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: Harvey couldn't help but wonder what if the slip the 214 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: deli boy took was a little more drastic. What if 215 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: the bus boy knocked into the deli boy hard, causing 216 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: him to buckle over. And what if the screw cap 217 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: on that old rickety slicer's feed screw knocked loose? Well, 218 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: then at that point the rotating blade would surely spin 219 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: itself off its axle with the power of a tornado 220 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: and hurl straight toward Kathy's neck. I mean, the buckled 221 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: over deli boy's neck and then Kathy's head, I mean 222 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: the deli boy's head. Would well, you get the picture. 223 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: Harvey came home from work at the restaurant with a 224 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: manic look in his eyes, barged into Rick and Kathy's 225 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: bedroom and told them what he'd just witnessed. Kathy, you 226 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: won't believe what I just saw this deli boy at work. 227 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: Such a shit really always up in everybody's business. It's 228 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: no wonder this happened. I mean, karma right. Anyway, he 229 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: was slicing meat on the meat cutter, you know the 230 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: kind right with the sharp rotating blade. He slipped while 231 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: using it because he wasn't careful, probably minding someone else's 232 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: business or something. Anyway, he slipped, buckled over toward the machine, 233 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: and at that same exact moment you won't believe this, 234 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: a screw from the machine came off, and the blade 235 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 1: rocketed off its axle and flew right through his neck. 236 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: His head came clean off, crazy right. The blood, My god, 237 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: the blood. You wouldn't believe it. Poor guy. I mean, 238 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: he maybe had to come and no one liked him anyway, 239 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: no one wanted around, you know what I mean. Right, 240 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: he just couldn't take a hint. And now he's gone, 241 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: for real, real gone. Rick and Kathy were in shock, 242 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: Kathy especially. They both knew Harvey was bullshitting them, and 243 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: they both knew the story was meant to intimidate Kathy. 244 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: Rick wondered why Kathy didn't. She'd picked up on Harvey's 245 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: fascination with Rick before and tried warning Rick off, but Rick, 246 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: to this point anyway, was in denial. But this little 247 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: tall tale changed things. Rick now thought that maybe those 248 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: fires weren't an accident. All of a sudden, Harvey seemed 249 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: to Rick to be well off his rocker, And what 250 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: about his missing guitars? Did Harvey, the devious little prick, 251 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: have something to do with that too? Rick didn't know, 252 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: But what he did know was that he needed to 253 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: get away from this dude. Shortly after, Rick moved out 254 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: of his apartment with Harvey and into a place in 255 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,360 Speaker 1: Brighton with a couple of friends from back home. Harvey 256 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: was just too weird. Safely ensconced in his new digs, 257 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: Rick busied himself with his music. He was always writing, 258 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: sending demos out to Carol king in l a recording 259 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: with a new band he was pulling together, picking up 260 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: side gigs with Tony Kiniglierro's band Outfielder for the Boston 261 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: Red Sox and legendary nightclub Prowler, and of course, still 262 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: lending his considerable talent to whatever it was that Van 263 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: Morrison was cooking up in his head. Their new combo 264 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: had a name, the Van Morrison Controversy. Rehearsals at the 265 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:19,160 Speaker 1: National Express Recording Studio at three oh four Columbus Avenue 266 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: in Boston's South End were where the band would begin 267 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: to hone the musical identity for astral Weeks. The neighborhood 268 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: at the time was a mix of beauty and grit. 269 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: Expansive brownstones and back alley cobblestones rubbed up against trash strewn, 270 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,679 Speaker 1: crime ridden streets that in the daytime bustled with working 271 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: class Bostonians moving through their daily routines. Beauty grit, movement 272 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: sentiments that would come to dominate the sound of astral Weeks. 273 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,360 Speaker 1: The Van Morrison controversy brought that sound to the stage 274 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: on April twentieth, nineteen sixty eight. The show was held 275 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: on Boston con just across from the apartment Rick Philip 276 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: had shared with Harvey Alter, as part of a festival 277 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: called Spring Sing, with a bunch of other bands whose 278 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: names sounded like they were invented inside a hippie Dippy 279 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,160 Speaker 1: mad Libs, Cliche Machine, Third World Raspberry, the Tangerine Zoo. 280 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: You get the picture. There's a photo from that day 281 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: of Rick on stage with Van looking at it. You 282 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: get the vibe of the two men who are standing 283 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: exactly where they're supposed to be for a moment. Anyway. 284 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,120 Speaker 1: Van would keep searching for that sound, and Rick would 285 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: keep searching for those lost guitars. He'd all but given 286 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,360 Speaker 1: up until one day he got a call from Harvey. 287 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: Harvey had told him that he had quote unquote found 288 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: Rick's guitars. Rick just needed to come by Harvey's apartment 289 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: to get them. So on May nineteenth, nineteen sixty nine, 290 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: Rick Philp descended the stairs to Harvey Alter's basement apartment 291 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: at two thirty three Beacon Street and knocked on the door. 292 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: Harvey answered, excitedly, happy to see his old friend. Rick 293 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: was in no mood. He was polite but blunt. He 294 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: wanted his guitars. He didn't even care how Harvey had 295 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: come upon them. He just wanted them back. Harvey dodged. 296 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: He was making small talk, acting as if nothing had 297 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: changed between them since Rick moved out. How are things going, 298 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: What's new with your music? How's school? That sort of thing. 299 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: Rick kept to the point, where are my guitars? Harvey? 300 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: Harvey lit a joint, clearly stalling fine. Rick thought, I'll 301 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: humor him. Things are good, Harvey. I'm thinking of leaving 302 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 1: Boston overbreak. Kathy is going to be home from school, 303 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,159 Speaker 1: and it'd be good to be with her for a while. 304 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: Then after that who knows, La maybe probably maybe New York. 305 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,959 Speaker 1: All Harvey heard was I'm leaving Boston. Harvey started whining 306 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: to Rick. He couldn't leave, he just had to stay 307 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: in Boston. They had so much to do together. They 308 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: were just getting started, Rick, I'm in love with you, 309 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: you know. Rick of course knew that despite the girlfriends, 310 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: Harvey was gay, but Rick didn't care so long as 311 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: he didn't come on to him. He politely let Harvey 312 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: down gently. What all Harvey heard was I'm leaving Boston. 313 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: I don't love you. I never loved you. Harvey moved 314 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: closer to Rick and tried to pull him in. Forget 315 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: the proclamations, show him how much you love him. Rick 316 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: pulled away. This just wasn't his thing, he protested. All 317 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: Harvey heard was I'm leaving Boston. I don't love you, 318 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: I never loved you. You're gay, I'm not. Harvey wasn't 319 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: taking over an answer. Rick just needed to be shown 320 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: how good it could be between them. Now. Rick up 321 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: pissed and angrily pushed Harvey away, told him to leave 322 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,199 Speaker 1: him the hell alone and give him his guitars and 323 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 1: he'd be out of there. What all Harvey heard was 324 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: I'm leaving Boston. I don't love you, I never loved you. 325 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: You're gay, I'm not fuck off. Harvey snapped, fucking Rick. 326 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: Who did he think he was? Did he think he 327 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: could just leave, just go and be with someone else, 328 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 1: move away? No, If Harvey couldn't have Rick, then nobody 329 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: could have Rick. Harvey grabbed him. A struggle ensued. Harvey 330 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: threw Rick back into the short staircase leading out of 331 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: the apartment. His fall broke the banister. On his way down. 332 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: Rick clumsily tried getting to his feet. Harvey grabbed one 333 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: of the banister's spindles that had broken off. It was 334 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: perfect fit perfectly into his hand. Rick was moving for 335 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: the door. Harvey was blind with rage outside of himself, 336 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: off on some other trip entirely. Fear, shame, loneliness, and 337 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: sexual excitement all banged violently together inside Harvey's head, while 338 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,160 Speaker 1: Harvey violently brought the banister's spindle, banging down under Rick's 339 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: head with boote force. When it was over, Harvey came 340 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: too what had he done? Rick was hurt badly. Harvey 341 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: had it together enough to pull Rick into his bed 342 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: and put him under the covers, but that was about it. 343 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: For three and a half days, while Rick lay mortally 344 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: wounded in his bed, Harvey slowly lost his mind, pacing 345 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: the apartment, taking turns, mumbling to himself and screaming in horror. Finally, 346 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: Rick's head wounds, left untreated, proved to be too much, 347 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: and the young musician with the bright future died dead 348 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: or not. Harvey finally had his man. He'd stopped the 349 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: young musician, Rick Philp, the object of his obsession, from moving, 350 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: no small feat, given that musicians are like sharks. They 351 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: stopped moving and they die. Van Morrison knew this. You 352 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: can hear it in every note of astra Weeks. Van 353 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: was searching on a quest, figuratively and literally, moving on 354 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: from the first phase of his moving on from one 355 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: sound to the next, moving on from the musician he 356 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,479 Speaker 1: was to the musician he was to become, from the 357 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: man he was to the man he was to become. 358 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: Movement equals life, which is why astral Weeks sounds so vibrant. 359 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: There's transience and grace in every note. The album is alive, 360 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: Rick Philp is dead. When police finally showed up at 361 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: Harvey Alter's apartment, responding to a neighbor calling in what 362 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: was described as disturbing sounds coming from the basement. Harvey 363 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: answered the door and immediately told the police he's dead. 364 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 1: I killed him. I killed Rick. Rick. Philp moved in 365 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: and then out of Van Morrison's life with the quickness, 366 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: just as many people before and since have done, and 367 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: Van Morrison keeps moving just as musicians do, making more records, 368 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: playing more shows, doing what a musician does. Astra Weeks 369 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: would become Van Morrison's landmark creative statement. It is a masterpiece. 370 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,880 Speaker 1: Sure it doesn't have the hits of some Evan's other works, 371 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:13,919 Speaker 1: but ask any musician about it and they'll like you 372 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: tell you that it's his best album. That is, if 373 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 1: you can get one of them to stop moving long 374 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: enough to talk to you. I'm Jake Brennan and this 375 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is 376 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode 377 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: can be found on the show notes page at disgracelamdpod 378 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: dot com. 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