Van Morrison Album by Album Discussion: Part 1 (1968-1977)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DJ WILBUR, Sep 25, 2007.

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  1. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Great photo of Mr. Morrison. He looks super.
     
  2. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Wow. Snow In San Anselmo. Anytime a pancake house is mentioned in a song, man, I'm there! Original Pancake House...The Mandarin Crepes:righton:
    Now I understand that "madman looking for a fight" post :) as well. Van's got the post-Preview and pre-Veedon Fleece thang goin' on in parts of that song. :thumbsup: .
    "It hadn't happenned in almost thirty years...but it was laying on the ground!"
     
  3. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I agree it's a well-crafted tune. :thumbsup: .
     
  4. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Heh, heh, to me he looks like he's read and willing to kick Jason's a$$.:laugh:
    Don't give Van no lip.
     
  5. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Sounds a little Tupelo-Honey-ish era to me. And a little Previewy as well. I Like it. "It may not be today...may be tomorrow." :)
     
  6. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    :p
     
  7. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Wonder if it was an intentional sequencing idea to couple "Great Deception with Bein' Green?" I'm not goo-goo about either song, but Bein' Green is a lot more fun, and I confess I've never heard the Sesame Street version!

    I do like Wild Children though! I remember Warm Love from It's Too Late, and I think I prefer it a little bit more than the HNTH performance, yet I'm pretty sure I like Wild Children from HNTH quite a bit more than the version form It's Too Late.
     
  8. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I'm trying this advice right now, but I confess, I actually had a rather negative reaction to this the first time through, rather than just a neutral one. Oh well. I tried. :( .

    I do like the final minute of music and vocalizing though.
     
  9. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    I'm glad you gave Purple Heather another shot. Many miss it as its buried at the end of the album.

    one of the great things about any artist of his calibre is the viceral reactions, both good and bad they can conjure up for their audiences with everything they do. All of us in this thread love this guys work for the most part and yet pieces of it make each of us feel so many different things. incredible really.
     
  10. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    I really dig Hard Nose The Highway.

    Most especially the lead track, Snow In San Anselmo. That song is, to me, a powerhouse. I just love the tempo changes and how it gets up and swings.

    I love all the other songs on the album, but, I must admit, occasionally I find myself a little annoyed with The Great Deception. Something about the repetition of the song bugs me. Besides that, I've completely enjoyed it every time I've spun the vinyl. Plus, the artwork is fantastic.

    Funny thing. My Mom really digs Van. So I put a few of his vinyls onto a cd for her (should I be admitting that in public?). I had reservations about giving her HNTH but did anyway. I thought it might be a little heavy for her. Oddly enough, of all the ones she got, she said she liked that one the best. Who'da thunk it?
     
  11. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    another hard nosed fan o van, with Mom thrown in.

    and give this man a cigar, he's even needledropped it. Never fear about talking of needledrops in here, its some members favorite topic of conversation.

    and i'm so pleased to see someone else "get" Snow in San Anselmo. I think its a powerhouse and a worthy addition to all the album opening songs thus far. deemed to impress or annoy with not much middle ground me thinks.
     
  12. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    I agree. There really is nothing else quite like it in Van's catalogue, is there? I guess it can be looked upon as a bit of an experiment, but sometimes I wish he had followed up and continued to produce things in this spookier vein. When this song connects with me, it really connects, and unfortunately, the rest of the album seems a bit anticlimactic as a result.
     
  13. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    i know what you mean, but its been thirty years since the snows came to San Anselmo, so time to sit back and relax...its the beginning of the opera I love some of the imagery in this one...for me, its time to just chill out for the rest of the ride...thats how this road is for me. I put it on EXPECTING the anticlimax...its the languid and relaxing waves of this one that pulls me in....
     
  14. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Yes. Right you are. And I do think that the song seems to fit on HNTH, even though I'm only lukewarm in my liking of the song. I didn't quite "get" Autumn Song either, although "the feeling" and "sound" of it has somehow stayed with me many hours later, and I've been thinking about that particular recording/performance, even though, as I've only just yesterday heard the song for the first time, I have no memory of the melody or the lyrics. I am looking forward to listening to that one a few more times!

    I do like the sound of Van's voice through much of the album, and the musical accompaniment as well. What I like about Wild Children is the way Van delivers his vocal and interprets the lyric. When I listen to it, I have this sense he's communicating melancholy in an elegant manner and sadness or regret with a deeper understanding and perspective. Anyway, the "feel" of that performance really worked for me. I'll have to listen to these songs a little more. In the meantime, Philosopher's Stone is in the mail to me, so I can't wait to hear the HNTH "outtakes!" From the samples alone, it seems the 4 songs Mr. Tom B highlighted in one of his posts, are the same that got my attention as well.
     
  15. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    I just meant that when I'm in the mood for this track, when it really takes me into the strastosphere, that the other tracks don't always fit that same mood, that's all. I wasn't trying to knock the rest of the album (except for those tunes I knocked in my review:D ), I just wanted to accentuate my enjoyment of that song.
     
  16. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    This album came up at the right time. Here in NYC are just getting the first chill of Autumn. Tonight as the sun was setting I was walking the dog. There was a cold wind and the leaves were swirling around me. On the ipod I was listening to Autumn Song and Purple Heather and it was a "perfect moment." I'm might not have had that experience if not for this thread.

    (Tom, I've been reading the Byrds thread but I am not well versed enough in their catalog to contribute. maybe I'll expand the Byrds albums in my collection.)
     
  17. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    Out of over 40 years worth of recorded material, Van's recording of "Purple Heather" on Hard Nose The Highway moves me like no other song in his catalog.

    The rest of the album is ok. I like the title song very much. I think "Warm Love" and "Wild Children" are better on ITLTSN but they are fine enough here. Side 2 is fun to hear this time of year. The only song I really do not care for at all is "The Great Deception". It might have worked better in the hands of someone like John Fogerty, but it doesn't work here, especially with the surrounding songs on this album.

    Jackie DeShannon is one of my favorite artists, so if I may digress a bit...Of course she sings on "Warm Love" an "Hard Nose the Highway", but they recorded nearly a whole album's worth of material in 1973. Aside from the two songs on Hard Nose the Highway, there was one single released on Atlantic in 1973 - "Sweet Sixteen", written by Van. Other songs from these sessions have since been released on either The Philosopher's Stone ("Laughing In the Wind") or the expanded edition of Jackie's 1972 album Jackie, released on Rhino Handmade a few years ago. You get early versions of "Flamingos Fly" and "Santa Fe", plus another Van original "The Wonder of You", and the aforementioned "Sweet Sixteen". The original Jackie album also contained her cover of "I Wanna Roo You".

    At least one song from the Morrison/DeShannon sessions still hasn't seen official release, and that's their lovely take on Fleetwood Mac's "Spare Me A Little Of Your Love". I hope it makes it out someday as my copy is pretty lo-fi :shh:
     
  18. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I thought I was the only person that bought the Rhino Handmade Jackie. I really like it; but they still had copies last time I looked and it has been out for ages. Jackie is somewhat overlooked these days, its too bad.
     
  19. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    Yep, it came out in 2003 and was limited to 2500 copies. I got #357.

    I agree she is definitely overlooked. RPM in the UK gave most of her 60's albums a deluxe reissue treatment, though the sound leaves a bit much to be desired.
     
  20. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    PM'd you on this.
     
  21. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I like this one too. Y'know, I think it could be one of those Van "epics," and yet the length of the song seems perfectly fine to me as it is. I like how the choir is used right at the start of the track - foreshadowing what is to come. Still, when the voices come in at full force - with the instruments - it's still a surprise to me. I try to think of the music and voices separartely, in these two sections, when they are both happening. To hear one without the other, to try to understand why together, they do sound a bit jarring, in the context of the performance and song. But somehow, I think their presence together works for me, and I really like this track. Maybe this is something that a singer/musician like Tim Buckley may have been experimenting with around this time? I wonder if Van listened to his work? Anyway, Snow really prefaces the "feel" of Fair Play, and some of the Veedon Fleece vibe, imo, and this, is a good thing! :)
     
  22. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Me too. I love that "further on up" bit as well. Like the song...love the performance. :thumbsup:
     
  23. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
     
  24. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    bump....we've got the live record coming up next....all you weekenders, nows the time to join the Autumn musings on HNTH.
     
  25. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Coming soon:

    Fan to Van: Turn it on!

    Van to Fan: It's turned on already.
     
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