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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Clarkophile, Nov 26, 2007.

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  1. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    and the lyrics to Coney Island for those who are not familiar with this tune or album...

    Coming down from Downpatrick
    Stopping off at St. John's Point
    Out all day birdwatching
    And the craic was good
    Stopped off at Strangford Lough
    Early in the morning
    Drove through Shrigley taking pictures
    And on to Killyleagh
    Stopped off for Sunday papers at the
    Lecale District, just before Coney Island

    On and on, over the hill to Ardglass
    In the jamjar, autumn sunshine, magnificent
    And all shining through

    Stop off at Ardglass for a couple of jars of
    Mussels and some potted herrings in case
    We get famished before dinner

    On and on, over the hill and the craic is good
    Heading towards Coney Island

    I look at the side of your face as the sunlight comes
    Streaming through the window in the autumn sunshine
    And all the time going to Coney Island I'm thinking,
    Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time?
     
  2. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    :laugh: It is, but I'm still uncertain if I'm qualified. That thread is a real head-scratcher and it grew too fast for me to bother reading all of it. But I am wondering exactly what sort of complaints prompted the new rule? Who takes anyone else's opinion so seriously, particularly internet strangers, and more particularly on a subject as hard to pin down as SQ, that they need to complain to gorts about an opinion they disagree with?

    On a related note, I was thinking about my re-evaluation of the sound of the Inarticulate Speech remaster. When I did my initial evaluation way back when, I was in a different house where my stereo was in a much larger room with wall-to-wall carpeting. I am now in a smaller room with concrete floors (partially covered with an area rug). I'm beginning to think it's entirely possible the remaster sounded much better in my old room than it does in my current room given the acoustic differences. (As a further sidenote, in the old room I listened with grills off, in the new room I find the sound is better with the grills on.) Yet another reason to be non-plussed at the new profile rule--the equipment is only part of the story.

    Sorry, don't want to derail the thread. There's enough discussion in the thread Tim referenced without rehashing it here. . . and I will continue to post my impressions of the SQ on Van's cds for whatever they may be worth :angel:
     
  3. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    I agree there are moments to come and the next album has more than it's share, but albums I enjoy all the way through. . . here's hoping some of the later albums reveal themselves to me as we go. (And I must confess to having a few holes in my collection once we get past the mid-90s, but I'm sure you guys can motivate me to fill them in :cool:)
     
  4. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    huh? what is this thread you and Tim speak of?...please put link here or someone pm me, i'm intrigued....
     
  5. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    some Van on tv today...


    The best of the 2003 Montreux Jazz Festival featuring: Radiohead, The Pretenders, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison and more.

    this is on an HD channel I have via optonline channel 785 called RAVE.

    this also repeats several times this week but starts airing at 1pm today that I notice...so not much warning as we're 15 minutes away....anyway this repeats a lot as I saw it before....some good stuff

    repeats 8pm eastern and 2am wednesday morning eastern...
     
  6. albert_m

    albert_m Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atl., Ga, USA
    To me there are 4 standouts in Avalon:

    Whenever God shines his Light... is an excellent pop single. When I went some mild upbeat Van, this is up there with Cleaning Windows etc.

    It's really great, simple song.

    When will I ever learn... I love his vocals on this one and it's not quite a pop-like song like the opener, but very catchy in its own way.
    Have I told you lately - of course, a modern day standard of sorts.

    I too had or heard Van discuss the song as a more spiritual one than a love song - not that it can't be both.

    These are the Days - a wonderful conclusion. The fact that this one never made the cut for a compliation is beyond me.

    I enjoy some of the others, but I neve cared for Contacting My Angel and I really don't care the tracks where Van, just talks or mumbles, so Coney Island is always skipped (and yet that made best of Volume 2????)

    I will say after giving the album some fresh listens, Daring Night has impressed me more. I can take or leave Orangefield, but Joey Boy and I'd love to write another song are nice non-essential album cuts.
     
  7. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Well, Mr. DJ, I was going to post a link, but it seems the thread has disappeared. Not too surprising given how contentious it became. Our host was attempting to make it a rule that you cannot comment on SQ without including the details of your system in your profile, apparently because some members were complaining about bogus recommendations from people with no system information in their profile :confused: I imagine someone will post an explanation/clarification soon. . .
     
  8. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    ah hah, a missing thread is it? thanks for clearing that secret handshake up....
     
  9. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    Just as well. It was pretty naive, IMO, to think such an action would not lead to people checking other people's equipment as a means of dismissing opinions they disagreed with, leading to...well, the usual audiophile elephant walk nonesense.

    I'll make a confession. I don't really like audiophile forums. The displays of elitism and self-validation through dismissal of others are just too much for me after a very short time. I'm hanging over at head-fi right now, just to make sure I've done my due dilligence before I put something between my Mac and my Senns, but then I'll move on pretty quickly. I stay here for discussions like this one, which is wonderful. The which pressing of which master of what mix stuff really doesn't appeal.

    Nothing personal against audiophiles, mind you. I got to the same place with acoustic guitar boards, where too often the guys with the $8,000 handmades just couldn't let the guys with the $2,000 Gibsons and Martins get away with enjoying their instruments too much, for fear that $6,000 worth of their hard-earned money wouldn't be sufficiently validated.

    Life is too short to deliberately hang around that kind of pain and insecurity.

    Tim
     
  10. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night Thread Starter

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
  11. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Bully for you, Tom. I really couldn't find it and couldn't come up with any search engine terms that worked either. . . Plus I was certain that if it still existed it would remain at the top of the thread list.
     
  12. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night Thread Starter

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: The above post does not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of DJWILBUR, Mr. Tombourine, Van Morrison, Exile Productions, their affiliates, associates, agents, sponsors, organizers, subcontractors, successors, heirs, dogs, cats, manatees, and any other creature which may in some way be linked to the above-noted persons and/or corporate entities. :laugh:
     
  13. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    LOL. Kinda like talking religion or politics, huh?

    Tim
     
  14. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night Thread Starter

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    :tsk: :laugh:
     
  15. tfarney

    tfarney Active Member

    Location:
    Charlotte,NC
    I'll be good. Back to Van...I'm just not sure how to avoid religion there, though.

    Tim
     
  16. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    I really hope we don't need to avoid religion for Van Morrison discussion purposes. We're all adults here. . . (I think). Despite my admission at the top of my Avalon Sunset comments, I am perfectly comfortable with whatever anyone wants to discuss related to Van's music. Discussion of the religious aspects of his music has been somewhat muted to this point. I hope no one's holding back.
     
    ghostjmf likes this.
  17. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    Van certainly isnt!
     
  18. laughingboy

    laughingboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bucks, UK
    Avalon Sunset

    For me, Avalon Sunset is a solid work, but like a lot of local restaurants, while it's nice to know it's there, I don't find myself going back too often.

    I admit with a certain amount of sadness that it is the start of the 'later' Van Morrison albums. Later, in the sense that if I want to listen to Van, I'll start somewhere else.

    The album is consistent, and has its highlights - 'Orangefield', being perhaps the pick of the bunch - but the rest of the album doesn't light any fires for me. 'Coney Island' apart - the second moment that sounds like inspiration (albeit sullied by a slightly syrupy arrangement) - it sounds like Van has put the hours in, but failed to find anything unique.

    In Van's defence, this long into the game there are vanishingly few artists that manage to field an effort as strong as this.
     
  19. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
  20. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    Van Morrison - The Concert Recorded November 30th, 1989

    Recorded during his touring for Avalon Sunset, this was the first released on Videotape full concert by Van Morrison that I'm aware of. I had it on VHS and dumped it once I got the laser disc, but now my Laser player is dead :sigh: so I cant revisit this listen....I'd digitized the Summertime in England tune from this so I listen to that all the time, by far my favorite version of that song. I'm sure tapes of this show float around. a Stellar road band and shows he was doing during the Avalon Sunset period....

    I was also lucky enough to have seen this very show at the Beacon, it was my first Van show and it was quite something!

    tracks include:
    I Will Be There (2:04)
    Whenever God Shines His Light (5:30)
    Cleaning Windows (3:27)
    Orangefield (2:59)
    When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God (4:16)]
    Thank God for Self Love (3:12)
    Raglan Road (3:44)]
    Carrickfergus (3:21)
    Summertime in England (11:47)
    Caravan (7:18)
    Moondance/Fever (10:40)
    Star of the County Down (2:12)
    In the Garden (7:32)]
    Have I Told You Lately
    It Serves Me Right to Suffer (5:21)
    Boom Boom (3:54)
    She Moved Through the Fair (4:32)]





    Mose Allison ... keyboards, vocals
    Richie Buckley ... - saxophone
    Neil Drinkwater ... keyboards
    Dave Early ... drum
    Georgie Fame ... keyboards, vocals
    Steve Gregory ... saxophone
    Bernie Holland ... lead guitar
    John Lee Hooker - guitar, vocals
    Brian Odgers - Bass
     

    Attached Files:

  21. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night Thread Starter

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Wow, never knew about this, William. Could you get it transferred from Laser to DVD--and SOON?
     
  22. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I have had Avalon Sunset on heavy rotation recently. I must admit I never warmed up to this album. However since last weekend I've listened to it more than I had the entire time since it was released. :)

    Unltimately, I think it may be all the strings that are putting me off. I also think Van was looking for Brian Kennedy when he settled for Ciff Richard. ;)
    At least Cliff has an audience. I applaud Van's independence to put Cliff on one of his albums, although the result leaves me cold.

    The highlights for me are pretty strong, Orangefield, When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God, and Contacting My Angel. The organ solo on When Will I Ever Learn is particularly satisfying. And Contacting My Angel just made the cut after reading Tom's review and revisiting the song with open ears. I like the Coney Island recitation but I don't want to hear it ever time I listen to the music. The rest of the album is not offensive or "bad" it just feels a little workman-like to me.

    The notion that Have I Told You Lately could be a prayer is plausable to me, I have that feeling about If I Ever Needed Someone, on His Band The Street Choir. Van frequently conflates romantic and spititual love, and they arguably are related. In the same vein I have wondered if some might be offended by the magician metaphor on the album. Could it be interpreted as comparing an actual miracle with a parlor trick?:shh:

    For my tastes a solid album not a great one. Maybe it is the successful sibling of that black sheep Inarticulate Speech of the Heart.:laugh:
     
  23. albert_m

    albert_m Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atl., Ga, USA
    I have the videotape from way back. One of these days I need to put it onto DVD and CD. Good stuff.
     
  24. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA



    YOU LUCKY DOG! I wasn't able to get a ticket and did not feel like scalping. I wish I had seen that concert.:righton:

    I don't think that show is on DVD but I know the videotape. I waited too long to pick one up and they dried up. :shake:
     
  25. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    its not on DVD that I've ever seen, i'm sure its grey area available though.

    cool show with Mose on Thank God For Self Love and John Lee Hooker on It Serves Me Right to Suffer and Boom Boom....
     
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