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B y recent accounts Van Morrison isn't
quite as grumpy as he once was. It's
relative of course; when sent to
interview him in the late 80s, Spike Milligan
surprised Morrison by wearing a large pink
penis nose and managed to get a laugh.
But the subsequent interview was a
monosyllabic affair for the most part with
Milligan trying his best to draw out the
notoriously grumpy Irishman.
No artist is obliged to be chatty
and affable, but you do wonder
what Morrison has had to be so
bitter about all these decades.
Most biographies show
him as a sullen boy who
grew into an angry young
man, especially when he
discovered he was being
financially ripped off
when his solo career
after his Belfast
rhythm'n'blues band
Them began in
earnest.
He still sings about
cheating managers
and bastard record
companies (check
Going Down to
Graham Reid looks at the two new expanded
Van Morrison reissues.
30 NOVEMBER 2015
Monte Carlo on his Born
to Sing/No Plan B album
of three years ago) but in
interviews he seems a little more forthcoming.
But as we say, he's a musician and that's
where we should turn our attention. And
now — after the expanded edition of his ever-
popular Moondance album from 1970 – comes
the expanded editions of two more from that
period, the classic Astral Weeks (of 1968) and
His Band and the Street Choir (released just
eight months after Moondance).
That excellent expanded Moondance
whet the appetite for these two new
releases because this was a period
where Morrison was at peak: On Astral
Weeks he had a band of mostly jazz
musicians (including drummer
Connie Kay from the Modern
Jazz Quartet) and Morrison
delivered some of his
finest soul vocals in a song
cycle which is not just
enjoyable but rewards
close analysis.
His unique jazz-folk
sound on the 10 minute
Madame George
remains a delightful
mystery to this day.
Often “classic” albums undergo some
critical drubbing by subsequent generations
(note how the Beatles' Sgt Peppers has
slipped well down any best-of list these
days) but Astral Weeks remains a glorious
cornerstone of any sensible music collection.
Even when Melody Maker did a 30 years of
pop edition in 1997, Astral Weeks was there,
the writer describing it as “an attempt to reach
into the banks of memory, an evocation of the
people and the atmosphere of another time,
another place. Its songs, drifting reflections on
blues phrases, folk melodies, fragrant jazz and
orchestral settings . . .”
For Moondance he brought in more horns
to punch up the soul end even more, and that
spilled over onto His Band and The Street
Choir, even though his original intention had
been to record with just a guitar and choir.
When that didn't work out he loosened up,
took his eyes off the mystical and presented
some thoroughly enjoyable songs like Domino,
the Elton-like ballad Crazy Face, the swinging
Give Me a Kiss and the energetic I've Been
Working. That's a powerful
start to an album which
later included the heartfelt
I'll Be Your Lover Too and
the soul-infused If I Ever
Needed Someone.
There's a touch more
blues in the mix also, and
Morrison let go some
spontaneous whoops and
shouts to propel things. The
expanded edition includes
different takes of various
songs including a stripped
down Give Me A Kiss.
When you hear something as moving as that
— and the alternate takes on Astral Weeks –
you realise Morrison could discard what others
would consider a career highpoint.
These two remastered Morrison albums
— expanded or not, they are available in their
original versions — deserve a place in your
listening.
But if Morrison is new to you then also
check out the new double CD Essential Van
Morrison . It scoops up 37 songs from across
his long career (it opens with the garageband
classic Gloria by Them). It doesn't include too
many from Astral Weeks or Street Choir so
those pleasure still await if you want to go
further.
During this period Van Morrison was
exploring the mystical and his dancing soul
with equal ease and accomplishment. These
albums will make you feel good even today . . .
you just wish the music had made Van feel that
way too.
For more interviews, overviews and reviews
by Graham Reid see:
Back
Mystic
Into
The