Van Morrison Album by Album

imo THE version of Caravan.

I read somewhere the Van used to show up at the Bands door in Woodstock when they both lived around there, they weren't really that familiar with him, he was a funny little Irishmen they didn't really understand, lol but he hung around soaking up the music

 

Whereas Astral Weeks is a lush, dense, sprawling, and mystical experience that hovers between a dream and real time--"Mystic Van," if you will--its sibling Moondance is that same thing albeit in slightly less mystical/shaman packaging. Instead, on this outing, Van goes into the studio with a crew whom will come to serve him well through the first half of the 70s--in particular, guitarist John Plantania and pianist Jef Labes--and serves up a dish of classically intense Morrison numbers, but marinaded in rich 50s/60s style R&B. I always read from a variety of places that this is considered a "fun album;" while it's certainly a fun experience to rip through the album, I don't consider it a "fun" album; Van, per his norm, is still delivering highly personal lyrics ("confessional") that bring about an intense emotional response in the astute listener--only instead of delivering the goods in a tight, jazz-oriented quartet, Van rips the proscenium wide open with his inclusion of electric guitar, a horn section, and baroque finishes ("Everyone"), laying the template for a future pattern: that the Van Morrison sound isn't always a tight-as-a-Colt Python cylinder like AW--sometimes, Van likes to stretch his wings and kick in the afterburners with an overpowering R&B arrangement--think "Caravan."

Interestingly, Mystic Van makes an appearance here in what might be the most compelling tune on the entire album: "Into The Mystic." I can understand if AW stumps and bewilders upon first introduction; Moondance doesn't suffer the same malady--it's a bit more "accessible" (I hate that word) because of the R&B hues affixed by Van to the compositions. It tends to allay any doubts--usually, this is the trigger for most on what becomes a rewarding relationship with Van's body of work. If you've ripped through these two, and you're chompin' at the bit for a bit of the Street Choir, then you know it's finally true: "It's too late to stop now."

-siyt

 

Moondance was how I found Van, early 70s. Side one is really incredible. After hearing Moondance I explored more of the catalog. In order of preference at the time, Tupelo Honey, St. Dominic’s and Astral Weeks.

Now those ratings are inverted. Astral Weeks has grown to be one of my favorites by anyone at anytime. It is a grower, and you will hear that from people over and over. Tupelo feels more slight than the others to me now. Van has been a great ride, I have almost everything he has ever done.

 

Tough to write anything new about this and Astral Weeks because so much already has been written - they're basically the two albums that get most of the attention.

Robert Christgau bestowing a coveted A+ (and not one of the A+'s he would rescind today either):

An album worthy of an Irish r&b singer who wrote a teen hit called "Mystic Eyes" (not to mention a Brill Building smash called "Brown Eyed Girl"), adding punchy brass (including pennywhistles and foghorn) and a solid backbeat (including congas) to his folk-jazz swing, and a popwise formal control to his Gaelic poetry. Morrison's soul, like that of the black music he loves, is mortal and immortal simultaneously: this is a man who gets stoned on a drink of water and urges us to turn up our radios all the way into (that word again) the mystic. Visionary hooks his specialty. A+

 

An album with which I have never quite fallen in love. The quality of songs is undeniable. Again maybe it is the non-chronological order of my exposure to Van but for me it lacks the consistent depth of his greatest works. Maybe, like it's predecessor something will come along and reveal to me what I have so far failed to see/hear. The first five songs are all brilliant and there are touches of the connection to the natural/spiritual world which draw me to Van's work in And It Stoned Me, Into The Mystic and Brand New Day. However much of side two passes me by.

 

Most songwriters would cut off an arm for the talent to produce an album of such consistency, depth and passion as Moondance.
The only problem is it gets a bit samey in a full listening, like each part is bigger than the sum,
That said I don't think there's one even average song on it. The opinion that side B is weak is silly to me.

 

Interesting to note that Van was actually in the process of recording Astral Weeks exactly fifty years ago, recorded in three sessions on 25th September, 1st and 15th October 1968.

 

What you describe is exactly the same factor at play on Van's next LP, His Band And The Street Choir: for those two albums cut immediately after AW, Van decided to run with the lush R&B studio mercenaries and a more opulent presentation--namely saxophone arrangements and wicked background vocal arrangements. As a result, all of the songs sound almost "the same," but I think a better way to describe this phenomenon is that Van happened to have written (for those two LPs) high quality songs--consistent in quality, and consistent in scope, giving both albums a tight, organized structure--not "Mystic Van" as displayed to full effect on AW, but more like "Gypsy Troubadour Van" soon to be seeing "the boats in the harbor (way across the harbor)..."

"The opinion that side B is weak is silly to me."

Agreed. What most people call "filler" I call fat. There ain't ANY fat on the bones of Moondance--or the Street Choir for that matter.

-siyt

 

Great description of the issue.
It's easy to forget now, but Astral Weeks wasn't a big seller, and Van was kind of struggling commercially. So he likely did a conscious decision to go more commercial, and succeeded both commercially and artistically, but perhaps overdid the polish at times...

 

You could be well right about "overdoing the polish" on those two albums--the problem is that I've become emotionally attached to that polish! Fortunately for us, Van would be bringing back that tight, stripped down Caledonian Mysticism--to a small extent on Tupelo Honey ("Old Old Woodstock;" "Moonshine Whiskey"), and to a massive extent on a personal favorite of mine, Saint Dominic's Preview ("Listen To The Lion;" "Almost Independence Day;" "Eponymous" track).

Overall, it was the right move at the right time--that sound that Van and his crew honed during the Dance and Street Choir sessions was the nucleus for what would become his riproaring Caledonian Soul Orchestra a few years later. I tend towards "Mystic Van" just a bit more than "Gypsy Troubadour Van" but there's no denying the quality of the latter's sound--and the quality and poetic nature of the lyrics (always guaranteed with an artist like Van).

-siyt

 

I better get listening to Street Choir, one of my most overlooked Van albums. Will also give Moondance a few run throughs before hand.

 

Enjoyed some of the alt takes and mixes from the 4 disc set, plus the bluray stereo from surround downmix, as well as the Alternative Moondance LP which is top shelf quality.

 

I have the Expanded Edition--two discs to your four in that Deluxe Edition. Those alternate takes are mostly all excellent--the real jewel is that ten plus minute "I've Been Working" (Early Version) jam. Thinking about it now, I should just do it and get that big four disc box.

-siyt

 

Mid-90's, I bought a used car CD player from my girlfriend's cousin. I installed it and to my surprise there was already a CD in there, which was Moondance. Turns out the CD player was hot, though I guess technically it was also used. Anyway, I gave the album a shot but I was not ready for it as a young twenty-something whose tastes were more in the post-punk direction.

I only came back to Moondance years later after falling for Astral Weeks, and now I love Moondance as well.

 

I've been enjoying this Van Morrison thread, and it just popped into my mind that the very first record I ever bought was by Van..."Domino" on 45, on November 2 1970. I can still remember the exact date after all these years. Been a huge fan ever since, although I still haven't heard a lot of his huge back catalogue. "Astral Weeks" was the 3rd LP I ever bought, I think it was in March of 1971 (at age 14, with my allowance money). I knew virtually nothing about Van at the time, but the song that really got my attention even before I bought Astral Weeks was "Sweet Thing"...I discovered it when I purchased my second Van Morrison 45, Blue Money in February 1971 and Sweet Thing was the B-side. I just could not get enough of that gorgeous (and unique) song.
Astral Weeks is still one of my top ten favorite LPs.

 

The sonic fidelity of the mixes for the blu ray as part of that set in surround/downmix/ and stereo mix sounds good to my ears too.

 

RTÉ Radio One: Documentary on One: The Summer of Astral Weeks: Saturday October 13 @2:00pm Western European Summer Time
Link: The Summer of Astral Weeks

 

The Irish Sun had article about this yesterday. Janet Planet interview sounds interesting, their early days in Boston & NYC, the mob connection
that WB was willing to pay off Bang Records.

 

Just downloaded that RTE podcast for tomorrow’s commute.

And Street Choir is so much better than I remember!

 

Excellent album
Why should/Don’t care what Christgau rates it.
Be your own best critic.

 

Van’s band is great on this album.

 

That's pretty asinine. These threads are basically a collection of opinions, that's like saying why should I care what anyone else says here.

 

It's definitely an album that slips through the cracks--sans "Domino," of course. It shares that "sound" with Moondance, but like the rest of Van's 70s albums: it's a world unto itself. For that reason alone, it's high up on the list of Van's most underappreciated 70s albums: the other two being Hard Nose The Highway and A Period Of Transition--can't wait until we hit the latter; those opening two numbers ("You've Gotta Make It In The World" and "It Fill You Up" are slick 'n sexy blues numbers!). Right now, my favorite SC subsection is that minisuite that stretches from "Gypsy Queen" up through "Street Choir" itself. It's like Van just pops off knockout punch after knockout punch. One thing's for damn sure--he must've really been head over heels for Janet Planet in those days. Of course, that album that follows Street Choir is essentially a love letter to Janet Planet...

-siyt

 

Who wouldn't?

 

There is a ‘looseness’ to the album which I hadn’t previously appreciated.