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. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    :whistle: Didn't Jason mention something about posting more from the Heylin book? :whistle:
     
  2. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    :whistle:

    Jason take a much needed break from all that needledropping....
     
  3. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Unless, of course, he's making copies for all of us. That would be a different story.
     
  4. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
  5. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Whoops!
     
  6. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Ok here goes. From Can You Feel the Silence:

    Recorded late spring/early summer 1971, Columbia Studios, San Francisco
    Listen to the Lion

    Recorded late winter/early spring 1972, Wally Heider and Pacific High Studios, San Francisco; and The Church, San Anselmo
    Redwood Tree, Almost Independence Day, Gypsy, Jackie Wilson Said, St Dominic's Preview, I Will Be There, You've Got the Power, Wonderful Remark
    Outtakes: Wild Side of Life, Down by the Riverside, Boogie Chillun, Drown in My Own Tears, Hunnel Funnel, I Came Out of the Blue, Don't Let Up, Let It Be Me, Give It To Me.

    "St Dominic's Preview seems to have been the first album since Astral Weeks to have been recorded in a single stint of sessions, although at two studios. However, there was a change of producer at the half-way stage – actually the removal of co-producer, Ted Templeman. Though at the time Templeman said little about what led to the termination of their association, a decade later he portrayed himself as one in a long line of victims of the man’s short fuse.”

    "Templeman's disappearance left Morrison without a more objective voice to suggest a sequence, or to separate songs that were fun to record – like 'Almost Independence Day' – from those that might warrant release."

    "…the sessions with Templeman had been quite productive, the title track probably being the last song Morrison recorded with him….Morrison would later insist that he hadn't written the song 'with anything in mind…[it] is just a stream of consciousness. It doesn't mean any particular thing. It's a sketch…the words, the syllables, just came out of my mouth and I wrote them down.' At the time of its composition, though, he informed a Boston journalist that it was definitely 'influenced by my childhood in Belfast.' He was even more specific to Rolling Stone reporter John Morthland, describing it as 'about the scene going down in Belfast…The central image seemed to be this church called St Dominic's where people were gathering to pray, or hear a mass, for peace in Northern Irleand.'

    Regarding the line 'It's a long way to Buffalo/it's a long way to Belfast City too,' Gary Malabar, whose hometown was Buffalo, would mention wanting to go home to "hang out with the guys for the weekend and play…and [then Morrison] wrote that line…that was him crying out, saying, 'Well, you know what, I would like to return to my place too, 'cause I miss it.'"

    Recorded at the same location as "Almost Independence Day," was "Wonderful Remark" (apparently a composition of Astral Weeks vintage, ultimately released on Philosopher's Stone), what Heylin calls "eight engaging minutes, complete with fluttering flute."

    Looks like I need a copy of Philosopher's Stone. :agree:
     
  7. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    you truly do my friend. You're gonna freak you waited this long.
     
  8. Craig

    Craig (unspecified) Staff

    Location:
    North of Seattle
    Madame Joy :love:
     
  9. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    i know, foggy mountain top :love:
     
  10. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Thanks, Jason!:thumbsup:
    I had no idea there were that many outtakes.
     
  11. elborak

    elborak Forum Resident

    Really makes you drool for The Philosopher's Stone: The Unreleased Tapes Volume Two, not that I'm holding my breath...

    I Have Finally Come To Realize that all Ordinary People need it. An absolute must.

    And it will be a very interesting one to examine when we reach that point, given the very diverse times/places/contexts in which the songs were recorded.

    But it's late. Time to Try For Sleep.
     
  12. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    bump. for you weekend Hoffmanites, we'll about to wrap up Saint Dominic's Preview....Hard Nose is next....its a perfect day for Van Morrison listening...:D
     
  13. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    Hi guys...I'm new here and I just found this thread. I read the first couple of pages of Astral Weeks, looked at the number of pages in the thread, and figured I'd missed about everything. Then for giggles I just clicked on the last page and went to the last post and realized you'd only gotten up to St. Dominc's Preview! Now that's a testament to the depth of Van's work.

    Not to revert, I'll jump in in place after I establish context: Back when the earth was a mass of gasses and I was in high school, a good friend and bandmate of mine was a big Van fan. He was really into Them, and Van's straight-up R&B stuff. I didn't quite get it. I mean I understood that "Here Comes The Night" was a great song, and that Van's recording of "Gloria" vaporized the thin cover by The Shadows of Knight, but to Chris, Van was a thing above and beyond even The Beatles and The Stones. I trudged happily, cluelessly along for a few more years, then one day I heard "Astral Weeks." My perspective completely changed, and now there are more Van discs in my collection than any other artist.

    Tim
     
  14. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Welcome, Tim. :wave:
    Never too late to join in. Looking forward to reading regular contributions from you!
     
  15. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid Thread Starter

    :laughup:

    so nice to have another Van fan among us and one with a clever sense of humor! Welcome Tim, I'll be PMing you the make up test for the first portion of our discussion....:D
     
  16. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    :shh: Psst, Tim, the answer to questions 4 through 11 is "Janet Planet."

    The answer to #13 is "Gardens all wet with rain."

    Question #24 is "The music business."

    Question #25 is "Ring Worm."

    Good luck!
     
  17. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    I was wondering why Ronnie Montrose plays guitar and Connie Kay plays drums on this track and not the others - Van uses four different drummers on this one. Bill Church, who also plays on "Tupelo Honey," is on bass again and Jack Schroer is back on sax.

    I don't know who the musicians are on the next album, but maybe someone will mention it next week.

    Bill Church and Ronnie Montose would debut with "Montrose" a year later on Warners. Did Ted Templeton produce this one? Kind of hard to believe the guy playing guitar on "Listen To The Lion" and the "Tupelo Honey" album came out with this hard rock classic (the gold disc is remastered by Steve).
     
  18. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    copycats ripped off my songs
    copycats ripped off my words
    copycats ripped off my melody
     
  19. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I'm hoping to pick up Hard Nose this weekend - used or new. Wish me Luck! It's one I haven't heard in its entirety before - just samples. The sample of San Anselmo sounds like a bonafide precursor to the whole of Veedon Fleece, and Purple Heather a continuation of Preview. :thumbsup:
     
  20. Craig

    Craig (unspecified) Staff

    Location:
    North of Seattle
    A madman looking for a fight. :sigh:
     
  21. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Van?

    Or the pig whisperer? :D

    And from that same tune: "It doesn't matter what they say...it doesn't matter what they do...all that matters is...my relationship with (to) you!"
    A Town Called Paradise!
     
  22. Craig

    Craig (unspecified) Staff

    Location:
    North of Seattle
    I can't see a pig whisperer looking for a fight. :)
     
  23. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    Oh my! :)
     
  24. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Since I first heard the song I've wondered who he thought has ripped him off. He uses "copycats" (plural).

    I'll have to compare "Wish You Were Here" and "Almost Independence Day" today.
     
  25. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
     
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