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. JohnB

    JohnB Senior Member

    Same here. It's been said this was supposed to be a triple LP but was pared down to two discs. I've heard the other songs that were originally to have been included, and they make what is already a great album even better. These were left on the cutting room floor:

    Young Lovers Do
    Purple Heather
    Come Running
    Sweet Thing
    Blue Money
    Green
    Wild Night

    GREAT versions of the first four, and the rest ain't too shabby either.

    But on to what WAS released...

    It's Too Late to Stop Now is one of the greatest live albums ever, I can't imagine anyone disputing that. Just about every performance on this is full of passion and energy and many songs eclipse the studio versions by a pretty good margin. I regret not really discovering Van until a few years after this, so never was able to see one of the shows from this period. Luckily however we have this treasure to enjoy for all time, and it's an album I never get tired of. Essential!

    Edit: Lol Tom, looks like you beat me to it :)
     
  2. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    LOL. That cover is the reason I bought the album.
     
  3. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Yep, that's why I get the big money!:laugh: :thumbsup:
     
  4. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    Did Van really perform "Send In the Clowns" and "Satisfied" in 1973?
     
  5. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Not sure--I'm thinking no. I got that from the Van site and did a cut and paste job.

    Just checked---oops, in my haste to get the info, I added some tracks that shouldn't be there. Ignore those two!
    Thanks for keepin' me honest, Mike.
     
  6. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Me too. Some transcendent moments in that performance, and neat dynamic between audience and artist.
     
  7. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I agree. Love the cover art/photo.
     
  8. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Intriguing!!
     
  9. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Ted Templeman might know the answer. :)
     
  10. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I'll be doing the same this week with itunes. Had it first, and only, on vinyl, in the late 80's. Cheers.
     
  11. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    This is one great live album, up there with James Brown Live at the Apollo, Otis Live in Europe, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Greatest Live Shows on Earth. The hot sauce on the album are all those great blues covers of everyone from Sonny Boy Williamson to Sam Cooke. I think Van was still feeling the pain from his divorce when he sang lines like "take your hand out of my pocket and I'll ask the judge to set you free." His reworking of Bring it On Home to Me, makes it into a raw blues rather than a gospel style call and response.
    The band is on fire and Van's feeling for the material shines through as he pays tribute to his musical inspirations.

    The real magic happens though on tracks like Listen To The Lion, St. Dominic's Preview, and the closers Gloria, Caravan, and Cypress Avenue. I love when Van chants "East Bay Grease" (the title of the first album by Tower of Power, out of Oakland). I like Wild Children better on this album than the studio take on HNTH. The whole album builds like a fantastic live show. The sound is great on vinyl and very good on my original Warner's CD. The entire band is outstanding but for my money Jack Schroer on saxophone is the over achiever. This is what double live albums should be, it does not seem bloated or overblown, at the end you still want more.

    As for tfarney's ex, that woman needs some listening lessons.;)
     
  12. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Tieing up the Hard Nose loose ends, all from Heylin:

    Here's what was recorded (all at Van's Caledonia Studio in Fairfax, CA):

    Aug 1972
    * Album versions of "Being Green", "Purple Heather", "Wild Children", "Snow In San Anselmo", and "The Great Deception"
    * "Madame Joy", "Laughing In The Wind", "There There Child" that appeared on Philosopher's Stone
    * Additional outtakes "Take This Hammer", "Goodnight Irene", "Beyond Words", "Streamline Cannonball", "Hey Good Lookin'", "Bulbs", "Feedback Out On Highway 101", "Spare Me A Little", "Bring It On Home", "Dead Or Alive", and "Hard Nose The Highway"

    Oct 1972
    * Album versions of "Warm Love", "Hard Nose The Highway", and "Autumn Song"

    Nov 1972 - Early 1973
    * "Don't Worry About Tomorrow", "Lover's Prayer", "Contemplation Rose", "Not Supposed To Break Down", "Try For Sleep", "Drumshambo Hustle" that appeard on Philosopher's Stone
    * Additional outtakes "Tell Me About Your Love", "When I Begin To Realize", "Sit There", "Country Fair", "Talking Harp"

    Apr 1973(w/Jackie DeShannon)
    * Single "Sweet Sixteen"
    * Additional outtakes "Flamingoes Fly", "Santa Fe", "Wonder Of You"

    Morrison did intend to release a double lp, but Warners nixed the idea. Unfortunately, Heylin does not provide a projected tracklisting. Quoth Van:
    "What can you say on 40 minutes of wax? . . . If I could put out a triple album without being hassled about it, I would put it out. It would be a lot more of an honest representation."
     
  13. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    From Brian Hinton's book: Van refused to allow any studio overdubs. For this reason "Moondance" was left out due to a wrong guitar note. Per Van's then manager Steven Pillster "Van has a sense of black and white about things like this. So it really was an absolutely honest live album, perhaps the first ever."
     
  14. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Van-tastic info above! So, using that info, it seems accurate to assume that HN really was intended (in 1973) as 2 lp's? And that at the very least, the August 1972 sessions - which include the material not on HN, but on PS - can, at one's discretion, be included on anyone's revamped version of HN, and still be true to the timeframe of the recordings, even keeping it in mind as just a single lp worth of performances.
     
  15. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Keep in mind that Hard Nose did not come out until later in 1973. Heylin makes it pretty clear that all of the tracks up until the recordings with DeShannon would have been considered for inclusion. The DeShannon stuff was intended for a DeShannon album that never materialized. . .
     
  16. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

    Van The Man at his peak, captured live.

    Priceless... (and that's what the double CD is selling for on Ebay - at least until the remaster comes out ;)).
     
  17. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    The amazing thing is, even as an mp3 it sounds good. It doesn't have the dynamics it has on disc or vinyl, of course, but it has air...space...room for the music to breathe. Which is pretty remarkable, given the size of the band. A lot of great musicians spend a lot of time NOT playing on ITLTSN, to great effect.

    Tim
     
  18. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    I was wonderin' if I was gonna get a witness. Thank you.

    Tim
     
  19. mfp

    mfp Senior Member

    Location:
    Paris, France
    It's too late to stop now... Many label it the best live album ever. I say it's definitely up there in the top five or ten. If you thought these studio cuts could not be bettered, check out the strings arrangement on Into the Mystic! The passion on Caravan! And of course, that Ray Charles cover... Oh how I love this album!
     
  20. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    Rain a bo-Rain a bo-Rain a bo-Rain a bo!

    I was on an eliptical machine at the gym early this morning listening to ITLTSN. As I was winding down my workout, Van was in the early minutes of Cypress Avenue. He was rapping and mumbling...stretching it out. Stuff that might be a bit more interesting if you were there watching. I'm walking back to the locker room thinking, yeah, this is a pretty good place to stop. Then, as I'm opening my locker, Van turns away from the mic, it's like he's talking to the guitar player or something, and mutters "Railroad." I knew what was coming. I dropped onto a bench in the locker room and sat there, listening and grinning like an idiot, until he hollered "It's too late to stop now!"

    You just gotta know when to go to the shower and when to hang.

    Tim
     
  21. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Thanks!
    That early version of "Country Fair" looks pretty enticing.
     
  22. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Yes, it does. "Bulbs", too. I always felt it was a bit of an odd duck on Veedon Fleece. It would be interesting to hear it in another time, another place. . .
     
  23. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    I know what you mean.

    The 1971/'72-era Van would have made that a peppy chart-topper in the tradition of "Wild Night," but on Veedon it feels deliberately undersold--which I really like--but still darn catchy compared to the contemplative nature of the rest of the album.
     
  24. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    "Bulbs" fits in nicely with the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival concert. I like that version better :thumbsup:
     
  25. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Good call. I thought of that right after I posted. I haven't watched that DVD in awhile--it's a goody.
     
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