Are there any Van Morrison fans out there? I am thinking about getting "Astral Weeks" soon but I wanted to know what are his best albums - is "Astral Weeks" his best? What other artists is he similar to? I know that he was on The Band's album, "Cahoots" and he also appeared with them at "The Last Waltz" - so is his music similar to theirs? Or someone else like Dylan or Neil Young or someone else? Any information on Van and his best albums would be appreciated. Thanks.
nothing else comes remotely close to Astral Weeks, but everything up to and include Veedon Fleece is good. this is the perfect time of the year to listen to Astral Weeks. best fall album ever.
I also suggest chekcing out Them, Van's pre-solo Rolling Stones-esque band. Everyone knows "Gloria", whic is always credited to Van, but it's actually a Them cut. They also did the incredible "I Can Only Give You Everything" that the MC5 later covered. Such a great riff.
sorry for the multiple posts! i can;t edit my posts... on a lighter note, check out Van's "Bang Records Sessions" disc. funny stuff. Basically Van had issues with his first record label, so he sat down and recorded 30+ stream of conciousness tracks in order to fulfill his contractual obligation. Songs about ringworm and hating his record label are highlights.
Astral Weeks is great as are: Tupelo Honey Moondance Wavelength Saint Dominics Preview the one with domino All of his early 70's releases were my favorites.
Allmusic is you friend Astral Weeks Review by William Ruhlmann Astral Weeks is generally considered one of the best albums in pop music history. For all that renown, Astral Weeks is anything but an archetypal rock & roll album: in fact, it isn't a rock & roll album at all. Employing a mixture of folk, blues, jazz, and classical music, Van Morrison spins out a series of extended ruminations on his Belfast upbringing, including the remarkable character "Madame George" and the climactic epiphany experienced on "Cyprus Avenue." Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Morrison sings in his elastic, bluesy voice, accompanied by a jazz rhythm section (Jay Berliner, guitar, Richard Davis, bass, Connie Kay, drums), plus reeds (John Payne) and vibes (Warren Smith, Jr.), with a string quartet overdubbed. An emotional outpouring cast in delicate musical structures, Astral Weeks has a unique musical power. Unlike any record before or since, it nevertheless encompasses the passion and tenderness that have always mixed in the best postwar popular music, easily justifying the critics' raves. I prefer Moondance and Tupelo Honey. What you need to do is download a Best of Van: Gloria Gloria Duet with John Lee Hooker Moondance Tupelo Honey St. Dominics Preview Domino Blue Money Into the Mystic Wavelenght Sense Of Wonder Have I Told You Lately Bright Side Of The Road Too Long In Exile Lonley Avenue How Long Has this Been Going On The Heailing Game Let's talk about US (with Linda Gale Williams) And I haven't heard Pay the Devil yet. Van can be THE BEST or sometimes pretentiously boring. But the CD above would be a killer.
astral weeks is my favorite - if you are into nick drake you will probably like this stuff. was never a big van morrison fan till he played austin city limits a couple years ago - even though i only knew about 25% of the songs, i was blown away.
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Thanks for the responses so far, especially dullknife. Would like to hear more on favorite songs and albums and what other artists that he is similar to.
Astral Weeks is the best, Moondance is pretty similar, and also excellent. Those are the main ones I give my attention. Astral Weeks is almost perfect to me...the bassist was ON during those sessions
Okay, I now have 6 Van CDs: Astral Weeks Moondance His Band and the Street Choir Tupelo Honey Saint Dominic's Preview Veedon Fleece I got lucky that a buddy of mine had burned a copy of "Tupelo Honey" and put it on a shared music drive that we own. That album along with Saint Dominic's Preview and Veedon Fleece have been out of print for sometime. I did read that Tupelo Honey is coming back out with extra tracks and remastered (again) next week. Yet, 2 of Van's best albums still remain out of print in Veedon Fleece and Saint Dominic's Preview (I had to get both off eBay and I paid around 28 bucks for Veedon Fleece). I don't understand how these 2 albums (or really any album by Van) is out of print - to me, this is an unconsciouable (sp?) thing. I just recently ordered "Into the Music" as I have read that is another great album by him. He has had so many albums (and several are still out of print) that it is going to be close to impossible for me to get each one. But I would like to get Irish Heartbeat (the one with the Chieftains) and Hard Nose the Highway (mainly because he does a version of "It's Not Easy Being Green", lol) along with a couple of others. Favorite songs (so far): "Beside You" "Cyprus Avenue" "And It Stoned Me" "Caravan" "Wild Night" "Old Old Woodstock" "Tupelo Honey" "Jackie Wilson Said" "Saint Dominic's Preview" "Almost Independence Day" "Domino" "Street Choir" "Blue Money" "Fair Play" "Streets of Arklow" "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River" Tough to say what is my favorite album by him but it is between Moondance and Saint Dominic's Preview.
What's Going On from Marvin Gaye and Astral Weeks from Van Morrison are the two albums that, to me, flow better than any other albums ever made. Astral Weeks has been one of my 3 favorite recordings since the 1st week I listened to it over 15 years ago, and it's still top 3: 1. Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle 2. Marvin Gaye- What's Going On 3. Van Morrison- Astral Weeks 4. U2- Achtung Baby 5. REM- Murmur 6. The Who- The Who By Numbers 7. Derek and the Dominoes- Layla 8. Prince- Purple Rain 9. Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited 10. The Clash- London Calling And hey, if you're into Van Morrison, you really need to check out Love's Forever Changes- man, that album just grows on you.
I don't know who he is really similar to- he's a mix of jazz, R&B, and rock. I suppose if you like Van the Man you'd probably like the following: 1. Neil Young- After the Gold Rush 2. Bruce Springsteen- The E Street Shuffle (very influenced by Wild Night, particularly the title song) 3. The Band- The Band 4. CCR- Green River 5. Stevie Wonder- Innervisions (similar jazz and R&B [of course]) 6. Sly and the Family Stone- There's a Riot Going on (though this takes some getting used to- he sounds stoned throughout every song). 7. Bob Seger- Night Moves 8. Jackson Browne- Late For the Sky 9. Dexy's Midnight Runners- whatever you can find from them 10 U2- The Unforgettable Fire (quotes Van Morrison in the song "Promenade") Again, the closest in sound and spirit would probably be The E Street Shuffle, The Band, and Forever Changes from Love
Oh, and one last thing- if you go to Amazon.com, look up Van Morrison and a CD called Blowin Your Mind or something like that- that's actually his first solo CD (before Astral Weeks) and contains the song "Brown Eyed Girl."
I think the most underrated (and my favorite, save Moondance) Van Morrison Album is "Beautiful Vision." As an album, it's very thematically tight. The vocals are fantastic, not surprisingly, and the sound is really smooth. You can't really go wrong with Van, but this is just my recommendation.
"No Guru. No Method, No Teacher" is one of his better later LPs. "A Sense of Wonder" is also very strong.
This thread got me to browsing YouTube for a bit. Found this version of "And It Stoned Me" with accompaniment by Bob Dylan, I believe. It's old and grainy but I think it is him; where's Batman when you need him? http://youtube.com/watch?v=CAADN83gmVM&feature=related
I like your taste in music! I own most of the albums you mentioned. I have that album, too and you are exactly right. Love's first 3 albums are all great but Forever Changes is the best.
Have #1, #3, #5, and #10 albums on your list (#1 and #3 especially are two of my favorite albums of all-time). Have a greatest hits album for both CCR and Sly and the Family Stone. Never cared much for Jackson Browne and Bob Seger; loved "Come On, Eileen" and that is about it for Dexy's. Don't own The E Street Shuffle but do have Born to Run as well as The Essential Bruce Springsteen as well as Forever Changes. We need to hang out sometime, dude!
