Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey - Hi-Res?

Most of the 2007/2008 Van Morrison remasters ended up finding their way onto 7Digital, Qubuz, of Acoustic Sounds (and some eventually disappeared from one or more of those sites), but I don't think I ever saw Tupelo Honey among them. Does anyone know if Tupelo Honey was ever released in 24/96 anywhere?

 

Probably not since Van seems to want to erase that album from existence for some reason.

 

Isn't there some kind of legal issue with that album? I know the first 3 Warner albums got reissued to vinyl by Warner in 2008. But Polydor somehow got the vinyl reissue for Tupelo Honey that year, even though it was originally released by Warner. This leaves me with the impression that Warner isn't likely to hand over the master recording tapes if they don't have rights to publish.

 

I believe Van has secured the rights to the majority of his catalog (including Tupelo Honey) at this point. Tupelo Honey was pointedly not included in the reissue campaign announced by Sony a few years back, allegedly because Van does not want it reissued. This was discussed in a thread here at the time.

 

I’m waiting. My fave Van.

 

It’s very strange, since seemingly all of the 07/08 remasters, even ones that never appeared on CD, were quietly released in hi-res. Tupelo was released on CD, but apparently not in hi-res.

 

Tupelo Honey wasn't even part of the Sony deal, so it seems he wants to bury it.

It's not shown on the list of albums on his website either even though the first three albums on Warner Bros (that Van doesn't control) are shown.

Seems he has a problem with albums that have pictures of past lady friends on the cover, too. (Tupelo Honey, Days Like This, You Win Again). I am surprised that Days Like This appeared as a download without the alternate cover design.

 

The WB CD is thankfully/mercifully great sounding IMO so I don’t sweat it much. I’m baffled what is going on in his head about this one, it’s a stone cold classic in my book.

 

Agree.

Any WB cd copy of his albums (up to Inarticulate...) remains my go-to version to this day. Some titles might be either hard or expensive to find, though (Veedon Fleece, Hard Nose and Period of Transition come to mind)

And even in case somebody found the early WB discs too "thin sounding" or too expensive, the first Polydor issues are also a great digital alternative.

 

Wow, I never realized just HOW much van hates Tupelo Honey until now. I mean, not on the website for his discography? lol thats so weird to me..

 

Van is pretty weird in general.

 

The price of genius.

 

Those Van Morrison High-res downloads are excessively compressed. The original cds have full dynamic range and most titles, including Tupelo Honey, sound great.

 

TUPELO HONEY is his love letter to Janet Planet, and as someone upthread mentioned, he seems to want to bury any of the albums in which either an amorous pursuit appears on the cover, or if said pursuit figures in a large lyrical/thematic role in the music.

One of Life’s greatest tragedies is that album remaining out of print and buried by Van—it’s part of that great run he had from 67 (BANG MASTERS) to 74 (the magnificent VEEDON FLEECE), though an argument can be made that the run extended up to 80 with COMMON ONE—including that c.75/79 “period of transition” which was nowhere near as bad as what some claim. He was one of the very few who ruled the 70s.

Concur with comments praising the original WB CDs—smooth, crisp, clear, and very open to being cranked to maximum volume.

“Come to me softly;
Come to me quiet.
Know what I’m aftah—
I’m gon’ try it!”—Van @ Wally Heider S.F., Summer 71

- siyt

 

I like Common One but consider it inferior to Van's next album, Beautiful Vision. Of the 6 songs on Common One, at least 2; Satisfied and Spirit, are lesser Van. Summertime in England is 15 minutes but doesn't really go anywhere. By the time I saw Van play Summertime in England at the Dominion in London 1985, the song had become fully realised. More than that, it was the single greatest live performance of a song I'd ever witnessed... the hair on my neck was standing up. The studio version by comparison is kind of meh.

Beautiful Vision returns Van to basic song structures and I think is better because of it. Cleaning Windows, Dweller on the Threshold, Celtic Ray, Aryan Mist, Across the Bridge, etc are all top shelf. As always, YMMV.

 

There's a brilliant live version of 'Summertime' from Belfast's Ulster Hall in 1982 on the 'b' side of the 'Cry For Home' single. Van and the band are on fire, they almost blow the roof off the old place. It was available on 7" & 12", so if you don't already have it, the 12" is the way to go. I've often wondered how much of that concert was recorded?

 

@garyt - thanks, I actually have that! It's better than the album but it still doesn't quite reach the version I heard in 1985.

Here's an audience recording from the same series of 1985 London shows I mention. Summertime in England starts at 1:07.00. The call and response with Pee Wee Ellis starts at 1:10.00. It's a bit low-fi but provides a sense of the performance.

 

I was actually JUST looking to buy this same 12" single about 2 weeks ago. Now I'll go back and buy it asap!

Summertime in England was my theme song when I was 18 and living in Auckland (even tho it has nothing to do with nz the slightest lol). But I would walk to work early every day down rainy streets, see the ocean and just meditate to this song over and over. Not sure how it became one of my go to songs from that time in my life but I love those memories.

 

Not available in the UK on HD Tracks but on Acoustic Sounds

Hymns To The Silence [$17.98]
How Long Has This Been Going On?
Hard Nose The Highway [$12.98]
Enlightenment
Down The Road
Days Like This
Avalon Sunset
A Sense of Wonder
A Period of Transition [$10.98]

 

Has this version been released digitally?

 

Vans a peculiar one. I wish he would allow a DE of Tupelo Honey, and it sounds like we need a comprehensive b-sides collection of live rarities.

 

You'll hardly be surprised to find the answer is no. There is at least one needledrop on YT, but the one I listened to was of very poor quality.

 

I'm glad I got it when it first came out on cd because I really love the album. I appreciate the warning digital availability because I've started deleting a lot of albums from my iTunes collection to get more room on my hard drive.

I'm going to listen to Tupelo Honey next.

 

Two of the songs from Tupelo Honey are in Van’s official lyrics book Lit Up Inside and another two in the follow up Keep Er Lit. So it’s likely that it’s the album covers he struggles with rather than the songs.

 

I really don't think the problem Van has with Tupelo Honey is the cover. He and Janet have been divorced for almost half a century. And he is obviously pretty close to Shana who accompanies him at all of his public/celebratory events as well as playing with him and singing on his albums.

The problem is more likely that Tupelo is one of the VERY few albums Van controls that he didn't produce himself. And he probably doesn't like the production. It has a macho "rock" sound that none of his later work does and he probably just thinks it sucks. I sort of do too.