Bob Dylan and Van Morrison through the years - Part four (including my meeting with Van the Man).

In early 1998, Dylan and Morrison toured North America. While sharing a bill at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, Dylan joined Morrison's band for a duet of the Webb Pierce/Merle Kilgore song, "More and More" on January 18th, and Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes three nights later (Perkins had died on the 19th). While playing in Boston on the 24th, Dylan again joined Morrison for "Blue Suede Shoes" while Van joined Dylan during his set for "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".

In May of 1998, Dylan and Morrison toured again, this time with Joni Mitchell. On the 16th, in Gorge, Washington, Van and Joni reprised their roles in The Last Waltz by joining Bob for "I Shall Be Released". In June, during Dylan's summer European tour, Dylan and Morrison shared the bill for a handful of shows, with Morrison singing "Heaven's Door" with Dylan in Birmingham, England. In September, Dylan and Morrison hit the road again, but did not perform together. Dylan and Morrison were scheduled to tour Europe together in 1997, but Dylan had to cancel while he was recovering from histoplasmosis.

Dylan played numerous Morrison songs on his Theme Time Radio Hour program, including "Brown Eyed Girl "(1967), "One Irish Rover"(1986), "Youth of 1000 Summers"(1990), and "The Last Laugh" with Mark Knopfler (2000).

Both Dylan and Morrison have each hired The Web Sheriff to protect their material from being exploited on the web.

I was fortunate enough to meed Van Morrison in January, 1998. I was invited to a lunch-time meeting with employees of Sony Records in Harvard Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dylan and Morrison were scheduled to play the Fleet Center (the old Boston Garden) that evening. I looked to my right and saw Morrison arriving alone, and was seating by a window at the opposite side of the dining hall. I do not know what he ordered, but I did see a couple of large glasses filled with what looked like orange juice. The Sony meeting coincidently ended at the same time as Morrison ended his meal. As we all headed for the exit, someone I knew from one of the record companies was arriving. It turned out that she was there to meet Van for lunch, but was late. She knew I was a fan, and introduced me to the Belfast Cowboy. I said something like, "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Morrison".

Van the Man grumbled something, then disappeared behind a partition.

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