Exploring Van Morrison

[Guitarzan]

I recently watched The Last Waltz again after many years. For some reason, Van Morrison's performance of Caravan hooked me. What a powerful, soulful voice! I am kinda on a VM kick now exploring his work to see what I've missed because I've never known that much of his work besides the usual--Brown Eyed Girl, Gloria, etc.

Remarkably, VM recorded Astral Weeks when he was around 21-22 years old.

The performance that renewed my interest and is well worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYr60DVzehg

[Groovey Records]

Flip Flop and Fly don't care if I die

[DMace]

Van the Man! Make sure you get:
St. Dominic's Preview
Into the Music
Tupelo Honey
and at least a dozen other lesser known gems.

[Guitarzan]

Originally Posted by DMace

Van the Man! Make sure you get:
St. Dominic's Preview
Into the Music
Tupelo Honey
and at least a dozen other lesser known gems.

Exactly the sort of thing that I want to know.

[morroben]

Into the Mystic is one of the best songs every written.

[ROADMAN]

Originally Posted by DMace

Van the Man! Make sure you get:
St. Dominic's Preview
Into the Music
Tupelo Honey
and at least a dozen other lesser known gems.

don't you mean "Into the Mystic" ?

[DMace]

Originally Posted by Guitarzan

Exactly the sort of thing that I want to know.

I assume you already have the obligatory (and magnificent) 'Moondance' and 'Astral Weeks', as you referenced both. Another overlooked gem is 'Back on Top'.

[DMace]

Originally Posted by ROADMAN

don't you mean "Into the Mystic" ?

lol. No. 'Into the Mystic' is a classic Van song off of 'Moondance'. 'Into the Music' is a classic Van album from 1980.
http://www.amazon.com/Into-Music-Van.../dp/B000002LLR

[JosephB]

his music moves me...+1 on Into the Mystic.

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by DMace

Van the Man! Make sure you get:
St. Dominic's Preview
Into the Music
Tupelo Honey
and at least a dozen other lesser known gems.

Make absolutely sure you get this:

Unplugged In The Studio


Astral Weeks 1968
1. The Way Young Lovers Do (3:33) acoustic guitar
2. Ballerina (4:45) acoustic guitar

Moondance 1969
3. And It Stoned Me (4:22) acoustic guitar & harmony vocals
4. Caravan (4:35) acoustic guitar & electric bass
5. Come Running (1:45) acoustic guitar
6. These Dreams Of You (2:24) acoustic guitar & tambourine
7. Brand New Day (5:56) acoustic guitar, electric bass & drums

His Band And The Street Choir 1970
8. Domino (3:56) acoustic guitar, percussion & harmony vocals
9. If I Ever Needed Someone (3:42) acoustic guitar

Tupelo Honey 1971
10. Wild Night (5:18) acoustic guitar & acoustic bass
11. When That Evening Sun Goes Down (2:14) acoustic guitar

Unissued Songs 1968 - 1971
12. Nobody Really Knows (6:04) acoustic guitar & acoustic bass
13. Bit By Bit (4:58) acoustic guitar & acoustic bass
14. Hey Where Are You (6:23) acoustic guitar, acoustic bass & flute
15. I Need Your Kind Of Loving (3:29) acoustic guitar, acoustic bass & flute
16. Lorna (2:35) acoustic guitar
17. Rock And Roll Band (5:02) acoustic guitar
18. Funny Face (2:22) acoustic guitar
Total time: (74:18)


Notes:
This CD contains a compilation of acoustic studio demo material stretching from the Astral Weeks period through to the early 1970s. It is, in fact, a straight copy of a hard to find title called Gypsy Soul. Some very nice material from a great era.

[urizen]

Personally, I've never tired of Veedon Fleece (nor most of the classic Them catalogue---TB Sheets, Mystic Eyes, Here Comes the Night and so forth).

[tiktok]

Here's what you need:

Astral Weeks (1968)
Moondance (1970)
His Band and the Street Choir (1970)
Tupelo Honey (1971)
Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)
Veedon Fleece (1974)

Those are all top-notch albums.
Everything after that is (usually) competent reworking.

[TheDev01dOne]

I like Van Morrison's lyrics and usually his music but his horrible forced growl, incoherent mumbling and non-sensical random repetition of lines for no reason just seriously annoys me so bad.

[garytelecastor]

I know some of you may have never heard this, but this song was written by Van Morrison and was a MEGA SMASH HIT when it came out. I like his later versions a little better, but it was one of the first songs I learned and played in a band.

[markothefish]

The Van Morrison song Cleaning Windows from the album Beautiful Vision has always been one of my favorite tunes. Sometimes I hear a song and the lyrics and music just click with me on a deep down metaphysical level . Now I believe but I can't remember (I lost the album years ago) that Mark Knopfler plays guitar on the recording ...

I heard Leadbelly and Blind Lemon
On the street where I was born
Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee,
Muddy Waters sing "I'm a Rolling Stone"
I went home and read my Christmas Humphreys' book on Zen
Curiosity killed the cat
Kerouac's "Dharma Bums" and "On The Road".


that one verse sums up several years in my twenties ...

[mudshark]

His '74 It's Too Late to Stop Now is a wonderful live album. I think my favorite of his more recent albums is Down the Road.

[telepath]

His style varied so much, but the core vibe, and the quintesential Van-ness of it remains

For example, around the ' Orangefield ' period (I saw him on that tour) the music was quite contemporary sounding ( I saw him on that tour and it was spellbinding).
He did some great work on his Tele in that show by the way!
St.Davids Hall, Cardiff, Wales , UK -
Chatty with the crowd - 3 Encores too - he was well 'in to the music' - Couldn't keep him off the stage! - thats not always been the case with Van live shows ..
Truly a great night

And then a few years later, it had become more rootsy / bluesy again.
I saw him around that time too and it was slightly dissapointing - a bit like a Blues Brothers pastiche at times.
But still good stuff.

Over the years, I've liked many different Van albums 'best' , but one of my enduring favourites is 'Poetic Champions Compose'.
Its a relatively gentle offering, and sometimes overlooked - that one very much reccomended also.

Fairly regularly for a few years, Van used to turn up at a local Hotel bar near 'here' (at a hotel in Newport, South Wales) and do imprompu low-key gigs, also occasionally the same deal in a few places in Cardiff, where he has one of his homes - or, at least he used to have a home here.

Imagine .. turning up at a pub for a drink, and spotting that the guy setting up in the corner is .. Van Morrison .. !
Well .. it used to happen!
Georgie Fame sometimes came along and joined him I heard, though i never saw that myself.

I often 'forget' about Van for a while, then come back to listening to loads of his stuff again.
'coz Van .. is the Man.

[Tonetele]

Ah yes, Van The Man. Don't we all love his music? Suggest you get "The Best of Van Morrison." Has ALL the great songs from Gloria to The Bright Side of the Road" and everything in between.Can't decide which I like the most, Wild Night or Cleaning Windows. Great compilation on CD (Polydor 841 970-2). Tonetele, Australia.

[ne4tt]

"Jackie Wilson Said", on Saint Dominic's Preview.

Like the horns on this un.

jamie

[mickeydean]

learn Brown Eyed Girl and you will know at least one song for every fill in gig you ever do as long as you live.

[telepath]

Originally Posted by ne4tt

"Jackie Wilson Said", on Saint Dominic's Preview.

Like the horns on this un.

jamie

true story -
A British band popular in the 80's ' Dexy's Midnight Runners ' had a hit with a cover of 'Jackie Wilson Said' .

They appeared on the long-running (now ceased) British 'pop' programme 'Top of the Pops'.

At the time there was a succesful British (Scottish) Darts player called Jockie Wilson.
Like many 80's darts players Jocky Wilson was far from being lean nor good looking. (no offence to Jocky)

When Dexys came on stage to perform their hit, a giant picture was projected behind them ..
of Jockie Wilson .. the darts player!
Someone in Production had just .. assumed .. ;)


And the band played on .. in front of the rather grotesque and surreal specatacle ...;)

[ne4tt]

Unbelievable.

[Groovey Records]

[DMace]

The great thing about Van's catalogue is that once you've absorbed the big landmark records from the 70s, you move on and find that he has loads of excellent records. I've never heard a Van record that didn't have a few gems, and most are very consistent in quality.

[stephent2]

tonewoods, thanks for the heads up on Unplugged In The Studio. DLing it now.

[woodman]

i absolutely obsessed over Astral Weeks — for several weeks in the '70s, i played it constantly. it tuned me into jazz in a whole new way.

[fezz parka]

I love Tupelo Honey. And Ronnie Montrose plays guitar and mandolin!

[rand z]

Originally Posted by tiktok

Here's what you need:

Astral Weeks (1968)
Moondance (1970)
His Band and the Street Choir (1970)
Tupelo Honey (1971)
Saint Dominic's Preview (1972)
Veedon Fleece (1974)

Those are all top-notch albums.
Everything after that is (usually) competent reworking.

yup!

there are isolated cuts from all of his albums since these 6 that are great. but, these 6 albums are THE BEST. he was in love with janet planet...they where living in woodstock, ny. they just had their daughter, van was VERY INSPIRED and it shows in the music!!!

these 6 are MUST HAVES to understand van morrison.


rand z

[DMace]

I'll say it again, you have to check out 'Into The Music'. Read the reviews if you don't believe me. It's one of the best records of his career.

[bowman]

A new, live version of Astral Weeks came out earlier this year. I haven't heard it myself, but I've been told it's great. It was recorded at the Hollywood Bowl I think.

[Shidoin]

As a long time Van fan and one who has most of his CD's, I have to add my personal favorite: 'Hard Nose the Highway.' The folky Van and the jazzy Van colide with the soulful Van in a magnificent album. 'Snow in San Anselmo' does it for me everytime.
Every cut is money.

[DMace]

Originally Posted by Shidoin

As a long time Van fan and one who has most of his CD's, I have to add my personal favorite: 'Hard Nose the Highway.' The folky Van and the jazzy Van colide with the soulful Van in a magnificent album. 'Snow in San Anselmo' does it for me everytime.
Every cut is money.

I love that album too. Another semi-favorite of mine is 'A Period of Transition'.

[Dan R]

I'll chime in here. I am such a big VM fan, I will buy anything he releases. A couple of Live gems from him are "Too Late To Stop Now" and "Live at the Grand Opera House - Belfast." "Van Morrison with the Chieftains" and "Pay the Devil" are some interesting recordings. Pay the Devil is a album of Country standards he released a few years ago. Have fun exploring his music.

Dan R

[Dave Hicks]

The Live at Montreux DVD is pretty good, too. I prefer the material and band on the 1980 set. Van seems less emotionally involved in it, but he sang well.

D.H.

[rand z]

the late jazz critic ralph gleason said that van morrison had the "arrrghhh" in his voice. a quality that very few singers possess. this, gleason said, harkened back to the ancient tribal celts and the mysterious music they made. some think it resembled the blues in that it came from the soul...

celtic soul.

personally, van always reminded me of a male etta james.

rand z

[teleflyer]

"The New York Sessions '67", pretty rare & very good also ( Recall - snappermusic)

plus, some of you may know it, he sings a real great version of "Send In The Clowns" on Chet Baker's "Love For Sale" (Live At Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club..)

and naturally all the albums mentioned by all above..

somehow also, "Cleaning Windows" is one of my favorites, quintessential Van Morrison