Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece - what a great album!

There is little I can add except to say I love this album too. It is among his top 4 albums in my book. He definitely makes the magic on this one.

 

Great album

I have a UK vinyl and also the original CD version. I did see it had been reissued/remastered with an extra track but never got around to purchasing. If indeed the sound quality is any better than the old cd version??

 

My first VM album as well, and it's my all time favorite of his. I was lucky enough to see him play shortly after its release (Auditorium Theater, Chicago).

My first and only time I've seen him play, come to think of it. He put on a great show.

 

Much love for Veedon Fleece, especially "Bulbs" and "Linden Arden." I have a vinyl copy I got new as a cut-out in the late 80s, and I shall play it today. God, remember when record stores started seriously offloading vinyl and had bin after bin after bin of new LPs for 2 or 3 bucks (which are now all on eBay for $20)? It was like a yearlong record fair. [sigh]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwVW1yC2xrE


"linden arden stole the highlights"....other worldly(imho)....

 

Van is one of my favorite individual artists. I would put Veedon Fleece in my top five of his releases. It's on par with Astral Weeks and St. Dominic's Preview and I might place it above Moondance and Into the Music.

It's a deep and mysterious album to me that never fails to offer up something new somehow.

And "Linden Arden..." is one of Van's more interesting songs that really pushes the envelople, seemingly both gentle and savage.

 

I'm glad I'm not alone. I've tried 4 different copies on lp and only one rates as playable albeit still noisier than I'd like. I have seen reports on this forum of quiet playing copies, so they must be out there. I think this album is a good argument for the cd format

 

I never see this album at record stores or fairs.. must have sold very poorly.

 

I'm sure it did. Nothing radio-friendly here like "Domino" or "Jackie Wilson Said". "Bulbs" comes closest, but it's hard to imagine that as a hit single. . .

 

Definitely one of my favorite Van albums. Astral Weeks is my fave so I love the whole vibe. You may be interested in my interview with Greil Marcus who recently wrote a book on Van and Veedon came up briefly at the end (if yoiu want to move past the Doors and Dylan discussion).

www.highandlowpodcast.blogspot.com

 

True, I have collected three olive label originals - all NM, including the cover which is very prone to wear. Probably my fave VM record - just magical.

 

It took me a few tries before I got a good sounding copy of this. Definitely not the easiest to find.

 

It got a mid-80s reissue anyway -- my copy has a barcode and says "Also available on cassette and compact disc" on the back.

 

Thanks for that. I've seen a few of these late 80's Van lp reissues over the years, but not Veedon Fleece. I started a thread about them awhile back hoping others could confirm which titles were reissued at that time, but didn't get much help. . .

I'll be looking for this because the reissue of Hard Nose The Highway from that series is the only quiet playing copy of that album I've ever been able to find (and I've gone through a lot more copies than Veedon Fleece since it's a lot more common in the bins).

 

While I, too, have several 1974-era LPs that were pressed on melted-down vinyl, often mixing the records' paper labels in with the plastic (as was customary at the time - really) (!), my original-issue VEEDON FLEECE LP sounds damn good to this day. Guess I got lucky.

 

Can anyone tell me, are there any outtakes from VF on the Philosophers Stone?

 

Holy moly, it's been way too long since I listened to this -- so long that I completely did not notice that one of my favorite recent songs, Shearwater's "The Home Life," quotes the first line and much of the melody of "You Don't Pull No Punches." D'oh!

 

Definitely better than moon dance, which Is kind of his led zep IV (radio overplay overkill). Up there with astral for me too.

 

gotta give Van credit. He really followed the muse on this one, and pretty much disregarded any commercial considerations.

Top 5 Van album, hovering somewhere below Astral Weeks and SDP. I only listen to it in the Autumn though.

 

I must be fortunate (or maybe my hearing isn't sensitive enough) because my US 1C/1C copies (including my favorite a promo copy) do not sound to me like they have too much surface noise and certainly not to the point of annyoance others have expressed. I think vinyl is the way to hear this album.

For many years, this was my favorite Van album and so when I started buying vinyl again a few years back, I bought UK, Japanese, and Canadian copies to see which one sounded the best. My conclusion after buying quite a few US copies and the foreign copies, was that my US 1C/1C copies sound the best.

Putting surface noise aside, to me, the US vinyl has better sonics than the UK or the Japanese pressing I have and definitely sound better than either of the CD's. My UK emphasizes the high ends more. The Canadian pressing is just a US pressing with a jacket that makes clear it is a record sold in Canada. My Japanese vinyl is really quiet, but not as warm sounding as the US. FWIW, both Japanese and UK pressings are machine stamped.

I've A/B'd the UK pressing to the US 1C/1C with friends because they are close in their sonics. The majority opinion when I've done that is that the US is superior to the UK pressing and the US CD. The US pressing is warmer. One of my friends did prefer the UK pressing, so some of you may like the UK better.

To me, the reissue CD does not sound as good as the original US CD, but I do like its inclusion of one of my favorite VM songs, Twilight Zone. I think the first CD sounds better. And the CD does sound great and so I tend to leave it in my car.

Like others, I have loved this album since I first heard it back in the mid-70's. For a while after seeing the Astral Weeks tour, I begrudgingly elevated Astral Weeks above my longtime favorite, Veedon Fleece. But with a few years passing since the tour, I am feeling more ambiguous. Madame George and Ballerina vs. Fair Play and Linden Arlen. That's a tough choice.

 

I like Veedon Fleece best of Van's albums.. I think its a shame its so little known....I guess I find it harder to get through Astral Weeks- a bit more of a slog- whereas Veedon Fleece is much smoother..if that makes any sense.

 

Another great 70's album by Van The Man!

 

I believe these are as they're recorded during 1974.

12."Twilight Zone" – 8:23 (recorded in 1974)
13."Foggy Mountain Top" – 5:27 (recorded in 1974)

And these are the extra tracks on the 2008 VF cd reissue:

1."Twilight Zone" – 5:48 (alternative take)
2."Cul de Sac" – 2:54 (alternative take)

I might just have to make up my own VF Deluxe Edition playlist today.

 

great album but for me its like another version of st dominic's preview only 2 yrs down the road. comparison's to astral weeks don't work for me since AW is so different sounding than this one. since this came right after st dominics preview it works better to compare those two with SDP being slightly better overall.

i really like Van's stuff especially the hypnotic grrooves of astral weeks and st dominic's preview.

 

I agree; great album and probably my fav next to Astral Weeks; what a roll Van was on then, especially with Astral Weeks, Tueplo Honey, Moondance, Street Choir, Saint Dominics Preview and Veedon Fleece.