The Eternal Kansas City

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"The Eternal Kansas City"
TheEKC.VM.jpg
Single by Van Morrison
from the album A Period of Transition
A-side"The Eternal Kansas City"
B-side"Joyous Sound"
Released1977
RecordedAutumn 1976/early winter 1977
GenreFolk rock, R&B, gospel
Length5:26
LabelWarner Brothers
Songwriter(s)Van Morrison
Producer(s)Van Morrison
Van Morrison singles chronology
"Gloria"
(1974) 		"The Eternal Kansas City"
(1977) 		"Joyous Sound"
(1977)

"The Eternal Kansas City" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was the key song on the 1977 album, A Period of Transition,[1] and was his first single released since "Gloria", in 1974.

Biographer Howard DeWitt believes that the song makes the listener feel as if in a church, because of the "mystical choir", featured at the beginning of the song: "Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?". "Then an almost jump arrangement makes 'The Eternal Kansas City' an excellent rhythm and blues influenced song."[2]

Johnny Rogan describes the song as "The only song on the album where there was evidence of Morrison's mysterious majesty, it blended the lily-white sound of Anita Kerr Singers with strong gospel overtones."[3]

Dr John on the song[]

Dr John, arranger and musician on A Period of Transition, describes the song as being:

The song that Van got the whole album hooked up around. It was a real deep thing for him to focus on. It goes from a real ethereal voice sound to a jazz introduction and then into a kind of chunky R&B.[1]

Personnel[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Hinton. Celtic Crossroads. p. 198.
  2. ^ DeWitt. The Mystic's Music. p.103
  3. ^ Rogan. No Surrender. p.309

References[]

  • Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074-169-X
  • DeWitt, Howard A. (1983). Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music, Horizon Books, ISBN 0-938840-02-9
  • Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1
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