The Essential (2015) – The first CD is more or less very obvious, but the second CD unearths some real gems. keep your ear out for “Wonderful Remark” and “Precious Time” to name two- A-
For those of you unaware of his 90s masterpieces, let me recommend the 1997 The Healing Game, and for completists The Philosopher’s Stone and for everybody else, call in sick and go Morrison crazy loveish!
Never before has a press release both spoken for itself so well or been so damn exciting… Van Morrison fans have been decrying the state of the catalog for years and years (hey, me too) and this is incredibly great news. Legacy are the guys behind all those great Elvis Presley re-releases and they will do a brilliant job on Morrison. Read on and cheer loudly!
“Cleaning Windows,” Van Morrison. “Cleaning Windows” is a utopian vision of a perfectly fulfilled life, where the pursuit of money is less important than the physical and soul nourishing activities such as reading Kerouac, listening to Muddy Waters, and eating Paris buns. Van was a working man in his prime when he developed this beautiful vision.
With a handful of early releases, here is some before the early review reviews, two are retreads three are new reviews, all are pretty good without changing the world.
Morrison sounds great as he sings everything from Irish lullabies to the purest of blues, with soul, pop and everything else there as well; no longer young, he never really sounded all that young any way and now he sounds timeless. Morrison recently decried the state of rhythm and blues (no rhythm, no blues was his assessment) and here you hear wh
I’ve been listening to the Laura Marling album all week and it is excellent, if not as great as her 2013 effort, Courtney is well hyped but a little samey for my tastes… Earl Sweatshirt? He would be my choice for most anticipated of the year except… VAN MORRISON… If there are any more songs as great as “Irish Heartbeat” or “Some Peace Of Mind”, it will be immediately one of the top ten albums of 2015
I’ve written before about the impermanence of what feels like it will last forever. The way the Ramones were always playing around town in the late 1970s, early 1980s, we just assumed it and now it felts like a dream. In the 1990s, Morrison recorded album after album in the 1990s -TWELVE! We thought it would never end but in the 2010s he has recorded exactly one album of new material
This was a great song when Van sang it with the Chieftains and who knows, this may be as good –his singing is warmer and Mark is tapping his Local Hero. Next, “All Day” is the return of Kanye at full power, every sound on this track will make you stop and listen. Finally, “Joan Of Arc” is the most emotionally naked song Madonna has ever written.
the Van-Womack duet is here now and it is wonderful, everything the terrible Michael Buble couldn’t begin to bring to “Real Real Gone”, Womack brings to “Peace Of Mind” -a punchy, upbeat r&b workout with Van and Bobby trading off on lines before bringing it home together.
I thought let’s pass on the Knopfler track but then noticed which song it was and Knopfler channelling the Chieftains might be excellent but even if it isn’t, surely a Bobby Womack duet alone is worth the price of admission, plus Mavis Staples, Gregory Porter, Georgie Fame, Taj Mahal… these are good singers, these are guys we can imagine giving Van a little bit of competition.
This record gets the Best Supporting Cast award for 1970. Motown legends Holland/Dozier/Holland wrote the tune under a lawsuit avoiding pseudonym and The Funk Brothers played on the track. Ray Parker, Jr., who was still attending classes at Detroit’s Northwestern High School, played lead guitar.
How bad was it? I’d go again today if I could. How good was it? I won’t be mentioning it five years from. Well, maybe I will remember it five years from now but it is Jon Hendricks I’ll be remembering.
Though he was so great that time, performing Astral Weeks, performing a “Slim Slow Slider” for the ages that it might very well keep you satiated for years. Just not five years. So his show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Monday is more than a giving thanks, it is a benediction. Rumor has it, this may be his farewell tour. You have to hope not.
Glad Tidings Take 9 – Van Morrison – Now available on Spotify, this version, a slower, sweeter, more powerful than the version on Moondance, is, alone, worth the time it took to piss off Van and archive the studio sessions – A+
Nights Of Cinnamon – John Mendelssohn – The quality sarcasm of the great Kinks Kronikler comes wrapped in melody and charm, days of sulphur seems to be the operative the word but the mood is (you know we’d get their eventually, is rather Victoria-ish – A
Van Morrison sent a message that this 50 song deluxe version of The Celtic Cowboys follow up to “Astral Week” and one of the most beloved albums in rock history “Moondance” was being released without his participation or approval, I did what any vaguely intelligent person would do I ignored him.
So the news that he is playing the Theater at MSG on November 25th, 2013, couldn’t be bigger for us Vanheads. His daughter Shana is opening but let’s not hold that against her and wonder just want he will be bringing to the table
Just out of the army, back in the charts, this is Presley, not an album artist, best album: it has the breadth of masterpiece, blues, pop, rock and roll, hits and deep cuts, It sprawls its way on to the charts and Presley, in an alternative universe, was using this as a gate to a future and not a goal post.
