VAN MORRISON Album by Album Discussion: Part 2 (Wavelength 1978 - Enlightenment 1990)

I took a quick glimpse at the Common One-era entries in Heylin last night, and discovered two neat things:
1) "When Heart is Open" was largely improvisational in nature; the musicians had no idea before recording it what Van had in mind;
2) The studio where the album was recorded used to be a monastery and had some relationship with the Knights Templar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar
Many of the musicians talk of strange, otherworldly happenings which occurred during their time there.

That's all I've got so far.

 

from Can You Feel the Silence:

Common One
recorded 11-19 February 1980, Super Bear Studios, France
Produced by Henry Lewy
"Street Theory" and "Real Real Gone" are outtakes from these sessions; "Spirit" was a reject from Into the Music

...there was an almost unprecedented degree of preparation before the album sessions themselves, which occupied nine days in February 1980.

Mick Cox: In '79 I went out to the States with a friend of mine and I rang Van, who was in Sausalito, and [he] invited me up to his place. I stayed a couple of weeks and we mucked about playing bits and pieces, and working on the early stages of Common One. He was doing little club gigs like Inn of the Beginning -- as Mechanical Bliss [Plus One]...At those shows at the Warfield and the Great American Music Hall [in January 1980] we started doing 'Haunts' and 'Summertime in England' in 4/4 time...Van brought it right down at the ened to nothing, so he's just saying, 'Can you feel the silence?' but he's still keeping the beat, and then Pee Wee takes his mouthpiece off and Mark Isham takes his mouthpiece off, and they're both making quiet percussive noises in time to the rhythm...I still think some of these performances at the rehearsals were far better than the final recordings.

Morrison: ["Haunts of Ancient Peace"] was the title of a book I bought in a second-hand bookstall in Cornwall one time. [the book was published in 1908, written by Alfred Alexander.]

Morrison: ["Summertime in England"] was actually part of a poem I was writing, and the poem and the song sorta merged...I'd read several articles about this particular group of poets who were writing about this particular thing, which I couldn't find in the framework I was in.

Heylin says "the poem was apparently about a literary pilgrimage to the Lake District, where Wordsworth and Coleridge had worked on poems that made up their joint literary landmark, Lyrical Ballads."

Mick Cox: We were all ensconced in a very, very, intense, highly charged situation for those eleven days, but it did bring out that album. The studio was a very strange place. It was a monastery up in the French Alps, and it used to be a monastery-cum-safe house [for] the Knights Templar. They caught a whole bunch of them hiding out at this place and massacred the lot of them. It's obviously haunted...I [certainly] believe in ghosts after staying there. It was most atmospheric, in a slightly malevolent way..."

Peter Van Hooke: I think the guy who engineered it was the tape op, because Henry Lewy didn't have a clue [how to handle Morrison]. It was a bit of a disaster, that side of things...[But] Mark Isham was very much [into] recording modern kinds of sound. There was a feeling of exploring the music...That particular album, we just got into the mood of playing, and the tapes kept rolling.

Pee Wee Ellis: I remember with that song, 'When the Heart Is Open,' we were just taking a break from recording and sitting in this café and we just decided to go straight back into the studio and put the song down straight away...Van told them to turn on the tape recorder -- and that was it -- we hadn't worked it out beforehand or anything -- we just played. He just stood there in the middle and we followed him.

Mick Cox: The five of us are standing there, and Van says, "Off you go, Mick!" I say, 'What key is it in?' 'It's not in any key.' I say, 'Right, what's the tempo?' 'There's no tempo -- I don't want normal stuff, I want something different.'

 

Just to recap for any weekenders, we're currently discussing 1980's Common One. Feel free to add any further comments, opinions or gripes about this album. We will not be moving on to Beautiful Vision until the New Year, so, while not exactly in drydock, the forward motion of the thread has temporarily ceased and we've lowered the port-side anchor.
Before you all get seasick from my sunken treasure chest-full of post-cruise seafaring analogies, I'll end it there. Arr, mateys.

 

This explains quite well why this album is what it is- a disaster in commercial terms, all Van earned in reputition as a respectabe, well established and (moderate, but steady) succesful performer and song writer was shattered with that album. It sounds to me a lot like Exile On Mainstret, which took forever to be recorded also in Southern France and in a very strange Building. That Ville Necotte was the headquarter of the Nazis in Southern France with swastikas still hanging around. Just imagine how Exile might have sounded when it was finished after 11 days with no real producer and an untalented engineer. Nobody to tell Van, when to stop and where the damn songs and melodies are...LOL... Sure this always brings some true artistic merits along and when you are open enough and a true fan of this guy and like everything he does, you might even enjoy this record. Fact is : the mainstream didn't and even most critics didn't say they like it. as they did with that other rushed album, that was recorded on 2 afternoons with Session Musicians and that is regarded today by many as the peak in Van's carreer.. I know that Van is a grumpy little (now old) man, that has a god given talent and a vision. But he does fail too often for my money or walks into musical territories that i have no interest in. Luckily the next album was much better again. The Boot he got from the record company sure helped a lot in focussing on his strength, which is = Song writing and singing + arranging melodies.
Many musicians couldn't believe that Van Morrison actually got fired by his Label, i remember Eric Clapton was so shocked, he feared for his own future.

 

I think it would take far more than one critical panning to destroy Van Morrison's reputation. Time is often the great leveller, and I think time has been very kind to Common One, an album which--to me, anyway--continues to provide a rewarding listening experience, whereas a more commercially successful outing like Wavelength was refiled on my CD shelf even before we were finished discussing it.
Truth is, I'd much rather see a commercial failure occur when an artist is taking chances, bending rules, challenging me to figure out where he's going--generally serving his muse-- before catering to the whims of the radio-listening public.
Van was, from here on in, making music for the ages, not the Top 40--a pretty idealistic thing to say, I know, and one which wouldn't pass muster with a record exec, for sure.

 

I think Common One's nearest counterpart in Van's catalogue is St. Dominic's Preview: both albums can be separated into two distinct parts, the regular song catagory and the mystical workout category.
Taking into consideration the outtakes that Jason noted above, I thought it would be interesting to sequence the album thusly, making it a double LP:

Common One LP1

Side 1
Real Real Gone 3:45
Wild Honey 5:50
Satisfied 6:04

Side 2
Street Theory 5:54
Haunts of Ancient Peace 7:11
Spirit 5:11

Common One LP2

Side 1
Summertime in England 15:39

Side 2
When Heart is Open 15:04


In doing this, the mystical workouts are set apart from the more traditional songs, creating two separate listening experiences.
I've made this sequence on my iPod and it works well (the only difference being I added Haunts of Ancient Peace to the mystical workout collection since the time constraints of the LP format were not a concern).
If the running time of the second LP seems brief, consider this: those two songs put together are longer than the entire album which serves as my avatar.

 

Van Morrison (left), wishes Santa Claus (centre) a safe trip this evening.

 

So who's the elf?

Tim

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the Van fans out there...all right [cue sax solo].

 

That is the inimitable Lonnie Donegan.

 

The bearded gentleman is the Santa Clause of Tippo, if I'm not mistaken. But my "mind may be on vacation and my mouth may be working overtime" (as usual).

Merry Christmas Vanatics!

 

@ Mr. Tomborine . Interesting that you compare Common One to St. Dominick's Preview; i don't see those similarities that clear. I've actually been listening to St. Dominick's Preview yesterday and i am digging that more and more. The strange thing is that i prefer the more adventurous, soul searching ballads to the Covers and Radio friendly songs on that one. There are 2 monsters of Tunes on that album, both made famous on the Live DoLP Listen To The Lion and the Title Song. The only long song i am not so keen on is the last one Almost Independence Day. It's as often with the last song on VM albums, they are often just far too long stretched. And that's the prtoblem i have with Common One, too. Like a marmelade stretched out on a far too big Toast, the ingredients just don't last for the slice. Sure that's more healthy.....
I like those short albums a lot . I stashed 7 or 8 songs of Veedon Fleece behind a CD-R i burned for the Car of SDP and that stuff (VF) is even stronger. I used to listen mainly to Side 1 of Veedon Fleeve, but lately i dig that River Tune most.. Van is the man !!! If i would love everything he did about the same it would be boring.
Merry Christmas everybody..

 

I didn't mean outright musical similarities; I meant that both albums feature a sometimes awkward combination of traditional R&B-inspired songs (i.e. "Jackie Wilson Said"/"Satisfied") set alongside Mystical Workouts like "Almost Independence Day"/"Summertime in England").

 

What I've been hinting at with the above post and #256 is that while I find Common One daring and audacious, sometimes I wish he had gone whole hog and taken the extra step of making an entire album in the Mystical Workout style. Perhaps if he had, he wouldn't have alienated those fans who prefer traditional song structures.
I, for one, would love an extended work done purely as an experiment in the Mystical Workout/mood piece style. Trouble is, I don't think Van works in this way anymore; the time for a piece like this may be long gone.

 

well, didn't he match that aspect (Soul Searching / Sprirituality) with great song writing on his next album Avalon Sunset ?

 

Do you mean Beautiful Vision? That's the one we're tackling in early January.
That album retreats to the traditional songwriting approach (verse/chorus/verse/bridge/chorus-outro) while incorporating spiritual ideas. What I'm speaking of is the elongated, meditative approach, wherein the soul searching is reflected in the wandering parts of the music itself (like "When Heart is Open"). For sure Van would pursue this style again in later albums, but my point is he never actually recorded an entire work in this vein.

 

I suspect he mixed it up simply because that's the way it happened, the way the work unfolded, and he just didn't adjust the flow to meet commercial demands. Had he, during this period of exploration, pandered to the record executives and fans who would rather have heard "Moondance II," and "More Wavelengths, The Sequel," and given them albums full of traditional song structures separated from other albums full of workouts (on, perhaps, a small independent label?) he would have simply been someone other than Van Morrison. And many, once they were exposed, found they did have the ears to embrace something other than verse/chorus/verse would never have been exposed to it.

He did many of us a favor. For those who never developed a taste for Morrison's more challenging work, there is a simple solution: Listen to the more accessible work of lesser artists, buy Van's Greatest Hits collections.

Tim

 

The above statements confirm my feeling that there is a "live" quality to this album. The sense of communication between the players and pure spontaniety is palpable. This is one reason I say the record is very brave. Besides taking risks vocally and with the song structure Van took a big financial risk. He laid it on the line, between recording studio costs, rehearsals, and putting up all the players in the south of France this was an expensive album.

Instead of trying to recoup the costs by putting a safe commercial record in the can, Van chose to push the limits artistically. Economic and artistic risk assumed for the sake of the music is rare. There is a fine line between artistic integrity and self-indulgence. Where this work falls is in the ear of the behearer. Naturally this album is not for everyone.

The record company did not fire Van in the US after this album. He made two more records for WB. As Van tells it he switched in Europe first and was much happier with Polygram. When he told WB he was not going to renew his US deal with them they reacted badly. Van says WB then put out an immediate press release, saying they dropped Van. Moreover, he says they concocted the tale of him pitching a fit in the office of an executive, throwing a paperweight. Van had not bothered to announce his plans in advance therefore WB got the chance to spin the PR in their favor. Only the two parties involved know the truth; but from what I know of the entertainment business Van's version is believable.

If the company "invests" in the artist's "brand" they do not want another company to capitalize on it. If the artist is going to jump ship there is often and attempt to discredit him or her. Not unlike warfare, scorched earth tactics exist in business.

 

I don't know if WB dropped Van or if Van dropped WB. I do know that legend has it that management at WB "cleaned house" around that period, dropping quite a few who were not big hit makers. They dropped Bonnie Raitt in the mid eighties, after a couple of critically-acclaimed but slow-selling albums. Then she put out "Nick of Time" for Capitol. I'd say I'll bet that made some record company exec look like an ***, but that would be redundant.

When Van strode into the 80s with Into The Music and Common One under his belt, his days of albums full of hits, like Nick of Time, were over. He just wasn't making those kinds of records. But that's no excuse for WB not understanding their responsibility to music. This is Van Morrison we're talking about, not some twinkie with a hit record, Record companies should be required to make it easy for guys like Van Morrison to make records for as long as they want to bother. It should be written into the rules of life. Guys like Van should have the right to make records, any records they want, any time they want, any way they want. The record companies should pay for it and stay the hell out of the way. They should be glad to do it.

Tim

 

This may be true but at that time labels the size of Warners kept some "Prestige" artists like Van. He had a reputation more in line with someone like Dylan over at Columbia, than stable mates like Bonnie. As Van has said he has a loyal base that consistently buy his music. There is money to be made there, especially with occasional hits like, Have I Told You Lately That I love You.

 

Great points, all.

Am I alone in wishing Van would release a full-length, decidedly uncommercial side project consisting of unorthodox music--call it experimental, call it extended pieces, New Age mood music, Mystical Workouts---whatever? In the past, many name artists have released side/vanity projects, sometimes on smaller labels, as a means of channeling their flights of fancy. It's not unheard of.

 

I'd love to hear it, particularly now that Van seems to have abandoned that approach that I like so much. But please don't call it "New Age mood muisc." Ever. Again.

Tim

 

In the interests of representing all POV's, I was just trying to give it a name the Baron might approve of.

 

The way I remember the story, Van Morrison wasn't part of the "cleaning house" at WB. It was a mutual decision. His contract expired. Whether he was offered another contract, I don't know. For certain, the accountants were taking over the business, including WB, which had been an "artist-friendly label," and, as Sneaky Pete says in post #270, the labels had "prestige" artists, but except for Dylan at Columbia, that concept also faded unless sales were rewarding. Columbia and WB exchanged several prestige acts at around the time Van Morrison left WB: Miles Davis went from Columbia to WB, and James Taylor went the other direction.

I've never really noticed how or if Van Morrison's music changed after leaving WB. Did he experience freedom? To me, he has always followed the muse.

Dr. Weber

 

That was very fair-minded of you, sir.

Tim