(Them guitarist Jim Armstrong has also suggested Them started marijuana-aficionado Jim Morrison down his path of heavy drinking.) It was an impactful experience for Jim, as he picked up a lot of Van's stagecraft and gritty disposition. Each night, The Doors and Them jammed together. In June 1966, Van and his band Them started a three-week residency at the Whiskey. The Doors were unsigned but were a regular act at the Whiskey A Go Go, one of the hottest clubs in Los Angeles. Australian blues and root band The Revelators covered the song on their 2000 album, The Adventures of The Amazing Revelators.In his book Riders On The Storm, Doors drummer John Densmore recounts hearing Van Morrison work through 'Astral Weeks' in 1966, two years before the song was released.An electric guitar version of this song also appears on The Authorized Bang Collection (released in 2017), listed as 'Beside You (Take 5).' 'Beside You' was featured on Morrison's album Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl, released in 2009 to celebrate forty years since Astral Weeks was first released.Īn alternate version of 'Beside You' (6:05) appears on the album Bang Masters (recorded in 1967, released in 1991), featuring Van Morrison on electric guitar rather than an acoustic. Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame, when asked in an interview what his favourite song was, replied that it was 'Beside You'. Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has identified this song as one of his favourites, featuring on one of his 500 favourite albums. Broken Arrow, possibly his fantasy figure, beckons – innocence led by imagination on the road to experience. The opening image of Little Jimmy shows a child sneaking out of his home, escaping to adventure and a childlike ritual rendezvous. It is sung with a 'hushed wonder' and in it the singer transfers the visions of his own childhood to his son. It's basically a love song, just a song about being spiritually beside somebody.' The child that would have inspired the song was his adopted son by Janet, his wife at that time. Van Morrison remarked on this song: ''Beside You' is the kind of song that you'd sing to a kid or somebody you love. The song was recorded during the first Astral Weeks recording session at Century Sound Studios in New York City on 25 September 1968 with Lewis Merenstein as producer. ' Beside You' is the second track on Astral Weeks, the 1968 album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released by Warner Bros.

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