tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44821285462191482024-03-13T01:10:25.273-07:00Throwing Pennies at the Bridges Down Below Throwing Pennies at the Bridges Down Below (an Astral Weeks blog)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-21372031096805565692015-10-30T17:03:00.001-07:002015-10-30T17:10:11.470-07:00"No one then following Van expected such a statement."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcjv007Oay-i4f0VN0IJDBD2Jy32_cn3k-3uMey1u5jDwao6KqLaft83kwjea4Sfx0mO-cuUA_6Gd-RJFzxN4qbrzGyoyfBDphLoJS9chMiohcYhYIsVAYWy2YI4QD9zxNXiY_4HRwzY/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcjv007Oay-i4f0VN0IJDBD2Jy32_cn3k-3uMey1u5jDwao6KqLaft83kwjea4Sfx0mO-cuUA_6Gd-RJFzxN4qbrzGyoyfBDphLoJS9chMiohcYhYIsVAYWy2YI4QD9zxNXiY_4HRwzY/s640/FullSizeRender+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-67384821061085749962015-10-28T18:08:00.000-07:002015-10-28T18:11:45.762-07:00Let down and hanging around<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H66PEecCo9g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
</br>
Late last month, <i>Rolling Stone</i> premiered one of the four bonus tracks—<a href="http://throwingpenniesbridges.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-little-taste.html">the first take of "Beside You"</a>—that will be featured on the upcoming reissue of <i>Astral Weeks</i>. Yesterday, <i>Uncut</i> offered an exclusive peek of <a href="http://throwingpenniesbridges.blogspot.com/2015/08/it-had-just-blown-them-away.html">the much-anticipated extended version of "Slim Slow Slider."</a></br>
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And my is it underwhelming. There's aimless instrumentation, Van flatly singing a few words from what may or may not be an old Protestant church ditty, and absolutely zero of the beautiful solemnity for which the original is renowned. Thank you, but no.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-28152142189830212972015-10-25T17:55:00.001-07:002015-10-25T17:55:06.197-07:00A first step<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xdaNz5APlh4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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No future can be charted without a starting point. For <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison</a>, it was a song recorded in the spring of 1967. It was done in just two takes; even so, upon completion, the artist—the exile—abruptly collapsed in on himself. "He was just torn apart," said the session's sound engineer. "He was sitting on the floor in a heap like a wrung-out dishcloth, completely spent emotionally."</br>
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The song is a labyrinthine journey into the heart of what moves us, what sustains us, what remains with us, and, perhaps most crucial of all, what dies with us. There's an unparalleled desperation, a need to convey these feelings and emotions before they lose their purity and vitality, before they fade like a photograph left out in the sun. At nearly 10 minutes in length, the song conflates old genres and births new ones: Belfast Blues, Ginger-Haired Soul, Deathbed Folk. "T.B. Sheets" is the first step on the tangled path to <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-33274900265946242242015-10-19T17:36:00.003-07:002015-10-19T17:38:11.329-07:00Strange days indeed<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7rkHBPUfVdM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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I listened to Quintet's <i>Astral Weeks ~Strange Days From Another Star~</i>. It delivered the same feeling I get when watching my children spend 10 hours climbing on furniture, cartwheeling down stairs, doing somersaults on the ceiling, swan-diving off top bunks, and perfecting the skill of sprinting full throttle while screaming at top volume: I was simultaneously jealous of and fatigued by their inexhaustible energy.</br>
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Upon the album's completion, I was overcome with this urge to complete an act both audacious and liberating. Like if it was a weekday afternoon and I was driving home from my place of employment, I would have taken off my socks and work shoes, flung them out the car window, and joyfully worked the pedals with my bare feet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-44751108480571782142015-09-30T18:27:00.001-07:002015-09-30T18:27:23.102-07:00Unrefined poetry<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luV3gEzu2TM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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The phrases, the words, the repetition, the coarse blend of English and Irish—it all reads like unrefined poetry, like a timeworn incantation that when fervently chanted, rouses the ghosts of far-removed, long-forgotten places.</br>
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<i>Beal Feirsde</i> ... The mouth of, or approach to, the sandbank or crossing ...</br>
</br>
<i>Bealafarsad</i> ... Hurdleford town or the mouth of the pool ...</br>
</br>
<i>Bela Fearsad</i> ... A town at the mouth of a river ...</br>
</br>
The Irish maintain an intimate connection with the natural features of their environment, a devotion that engenders a unique charitableness when it comes to place-naming. "They lavished names on the land," writes Kerby A. Miller in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emigrants-Exiles-Ireland-America-Paperbacks/dp/0195051874"><i>Emigrants and Exiles</i></a>. "Every field, cleft, and hollow had a distinctive appellation which recalled some ancient owner or legendary occurrence." This rich appreciation for nature, this power to give even the most ordinary aspects of the landscape a certain permanence is present in the name of Northern Ireland's capital and most historically important city: <a href="http://visit-belfast.com/">Belfast</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-69694045320669558572015-09-30T18:15:00.000-07:002015-10-28T17:32:25.268-07:00A little taste<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KxIfaU8kp9Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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Last week, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/"><i>Rolling Stone</i></a> whet the appetites of us <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> zealots when it premiered one of the four bonus tracks that will be featured on <a href="http://throwingpenniesbridges.blogspot.com/2015/08/it-had-just-blown-them-away.html">the album's upcoming reissue</a>. <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-a-stirring-alternate-take-from-van-morrisons-astral-weeks-reissue-20150924">The publication debuted the first take of "Beside You."</a> The reissue will feature three other previously unreleased tracks: the fourth take of "Madame George" and longer versions of both "Ballerina" and "Slim Slow Slider." This new edition of <i>Astral Weeks</i> will be released Oct. 30.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-36488202342132128432015-09-30T17:40:00.001-07:002015-09-30T17:40:04.771-07:00Workspaces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpecDZ-fL7IYjhmp3hCC7AfZi2Babn6rq7-KA-_NOY9-vJ3AGGQG6T7fGI6itzEsN-LGOXVj5DKR_L_ysp0xJasWXIa-3qDi3o3cn0INv1PNvP0VpYEJq74xewipc-Nyvs0RC-FxBeqk4/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpecDZ-fL7IYjhmp3hCC7AfZi2Babn6rq7-KA-_NOY9-vJ3AGGQG6T7fGI6itzEsN-LGOXVj5DKR_L_ysp0xJasWXIa-3qDi3o3cn0INv1PNvP0VpYEJq74xewipc-Nyvs0RC-FxBeqk4/s400/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="420" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-59413980498810750372015-09-24T17:25:00.002-07:002015-09-25T05:54:18.970-07:00The city of superlatives<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fd8bavVPQTs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<a href="http://visit-belfast.com/">Belfast</a> ... A large city in a little country—a place where no task is ever small, where determination is never modest and the triumphs are imposingly grand. "As Belfast-people, we proclaim a belief in big ideas," explains Belfast-born architect and urban designer <a href="https://www.ulster.ac.uk/staff/c.mackel.html">Ciaran Mackel</a> in his essay "Impact of the Conflict on Public Spaces and Architecture." "We are accustomed, perhaps even addicted to, a big sense of our place in the world." The city's history is laden with superlatives. Three times <a href="http://www.harland-wolff.com/">Harland & Wolff</a> built a ship that was bestowed with the title of "largest ever": the Teutonic, the Oceanic, and the Titanic. Additionally, the shipyard possessed the world's biggest floating crane and graving dock. <a href="http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/heritage/industrial-heritage-york-street">York Street Mill</a> was the king of all linen manufactories (helping Belfast earn the moniker "Linenopolis"). <a href="http://www.libraryireland.com/Belfast-History/Ropemaking.php">The Belfast Rope Work Company</a> and <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/gallahers-cigarette-factory-closure-sad-chapter-in-the-history-of-an-industrial-giant-that-sprang-from-humble-origins-30647112.html">Gallaher's tobacco factory</a> were titans of their prospective industries.</br>
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In the words of still another architect, Dennis O'D. Hanna, the city's numerous feats of wonder are attributable to a certain shared trait: "What Belfast sets its hand to it will ultimately do well, for we are an ambitious people." A restless desire to succeed, a civic embrace of the idea that everything can be done better—and again. <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison</a> articulated it with two plain and irrevocable words. Back in the mid-1960s, Morrison and fellow members of <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/them-mn0000925181">Them</a> were profiled in Belfast's <i>City Week</i>; asked to list his ambitions, the singer/songwriter stated just one: "Make it."</br>
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Perhaps then, it's no accident of fortune that the rock canon's crowning achievement can trace its roots back to Belfast. After all, this is the city of superlatives.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-54320392107519971542015-09-16T18:30:00.001-07:002015-09-16T18:30:41.324-07:00Timberrr!<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PI-yk-IwS7Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> possesses the solid foundation that Belfast lacks. It's a juxtaposition that's altogether coincidental and at the same time, fun to tease out: The album that is constructed on the firm bedrock of Richard Davis' upright bass and <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison's</a> vocals and acoustic guitar pays homage to a city that is built on a soft, dense mixture of sand, gravel, and boulder clay. Locals call this mixture <a href="http://www.nce.co.uk/stabilising-the-sleech/536915.article">"sleech."</a> (Engineers have coined a less colorful term: "reinforced water.") It lies underneath the central part of the city in varying thicknesses and is notorious for its poor weight-bearing capabilities. <a href="http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Albert-Memorial-Clock-Belfast-P3434">The Albert Memorial Clock</a>, one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, subsided into the sleech and as result, developed a well-known tilt.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-59142189719248792992015-09-12T16:23:00.000-07:002015-09-12T16:23:11.414-07:00A brief poetic interlude<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ws67nUZI7mo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<b>Van Morrison: Astral Weeks</br>
<a href="http://www.paulmuldoon.net/">By Paul Muldoon</a></b></br>
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Not only had I lived on Fitzroy Avenue,</br>
I'd lived there with Madame George Hyde Lees,</br>
to whom I would rather shortly be wed.</br>
</br>
Georgie would lose out to The George and El Vino's</br>
when I "ran away to the BBC"</br>
as poets did, so Dylan Thomas said.</br>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-87322731890028829582015-08-31T17:29:00.002-07:002015-09-03T12:18:17.084-07:00The countdown continues<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O0DJ8hWgNes" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
</br>
Last Friday, Ralph McLean wrapped up his countdown of the top 70 Van Morrison tunes. The tracks were selected by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster">BBC Radio Ulster</a> listeners.</br>
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Here's what made the top ten:
<blockquote>
10. "Angelou" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/into-the-music-mw0000190976"><i>Into the Music</i></a>)</br>
9. "Have I Told You Lately" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/avalon-sunset-mw0000200177"><i>Avalon Sunset</i></a>)</br>
8. "Crazy Love" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/moondance-mw0000191087"><i>Moondance</i></a>)</br>
7. "Listen to the Lion" <i> (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/saint-dominics-preview-mw0000651366">Saint Dominic's Preview</i></a>)</br>
6. "Saint Dominic's Preview” (<i>Saint Dominic's Preview</i>)</br>
5. "Madame George" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a>)</br>
4. "Bright Side of the Road" (<i>Into the Music</i>)</br>
3. "In the Garden" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-guru-no-method-no-teacher-mw0000194958"><i>No Guru, No Method, No Teacher</i></a>)</br>
2. "Tupelo Honey" (<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/tupelo-honey-mw0000193615"><i>Tupelo Honey</i></a>)</br>
1. "Into the Mystic" (<i>Moondance</i>)</br>
</blockquote>
Overall, seven of <i>Astral Weeks'</i> eight tracks made the list (sorry, "Slim Slow Slider"). Of Morrison's 41 studio and live albums, <i>Astral Weeks</i> was the most well represented. In the runner-up spot was <i>Moondance</i> with six selections. (Though that album managed to place more tracks in the top 20; four to <i>Astral Weeks'</i> three. "Ballerina" and "Sweet Thing" ranked 11th and 13th respectively.) Three albums tied for third place with four tracks each: <i>Saint Dominic's Preview</i>, <i>Avalon Sunset</i>, and the U.S. edition of <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/them-mn0000925181">Them's</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angry_Young_Them"><i>The Angry Young Them</i></a>.</br>
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All three episodes of McLean's countdown can be listened to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b067087j#play">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-39964698909497588542015-08-31T17:18:00.003-07:002015-08-31T18:01:48.059-07:00"It had just blown them away"<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zN14cvbC8CY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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When I spoke with John Payne last August, here is what he had to say regarding the legendary extended ending of "Slim Slow Slider"—and ending we will now apparently get to hear thanks to <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/van-morrison-preps-expanded-reissues-of-astral-weeks-his-band-20150827"><i>Astral Weeks</i> finally, finally, finally! getting the reissue treatment.</a>
<blockquote>
He's thumping and I'm playing weird outside jazz stuff. He fades it out. What actually happened—I don't know how long it was; I'd say three or five minutes—of instrumental improvisation went on with Richard and me, and Van was improvising single string on his guitar, which he never does. But he can apparently, because he did. Now we even got baroque for a little while. It was wild.</br>
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What happened with that tune ... We were all playing with the drums and this and that and the other thing. Then the producer said, "Okay, I want everyone in the control room except for Richard and John and Van." He just got the idea it should be sparse. It was a brilliant idea because everything else was dense with lots of stuff. And they put all this echo on the soprano sax so it doesn't even almost sound like a saxophone. It sounds like sort of a flute—or who in the hell knows. It sounds like it's coming over the mountains. I don't know whose idea that was. And at the end, we just keep playing, instrumentally playing. We go into this whole thing—it's about three or five minutes long. Just something at the end where we started going crazy.</br>
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And then I can remember we walked back into the session, to the control room, the three of us, and there was dead silence, like no one said a word. Because it just had blown them away ... The ones who knew Van, probably because they didn't know Van could do that. He listened to jazz his whole life. But it was just this moment—just something happened.
</blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-81833762286362106752015-08-31T17:12:00.002-07:002015-08-31T17:12:36.310-07:00The countdown begins<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PKBao_-FJU8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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On August 26, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster">BBC Radio Ulster</a> began its countdown of the top 70 songs in <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison's</a> catalog. (The station also kicked off its week-long celebration of the singer-songwriter's birthday; check out my post <a href="http://throwingpenniesbridges.blogspot.com/2015/08/happy-birthday-van-man.html">here</a>.) The 70 tracks were selected by the station's listeners.</br>
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So far, only one track from <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> has made an appearance: "Beside You." However, host Ralph McLean did tease listeners with the promise that more would be coming in the following days.</br>
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A good chunk of the 20-something tracks played consisted of Morrison's most popular downtempo numbers: "A Sense of Wonder," "Brand New Day," "Warm Love," and "Hymns to the Silence." Also, a trio of <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/them-mn0000925181">Them</a> ditties made an appearance: "Don't Look Back," "One Two Brown Eyes," and "Here Comes the Night."</br>
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In between, McLean shared touching tweets and emails and missives from Morrison's fans. There was a widow who remembered his first dance with his new bride and how the song they spun and stepped to was "These Are the Days." There was a grieving parent who lost a teenage daughter and found solace in "Reminds Me of You." But perhaps my favorite share was from Maurice Kinkead, chief executive of the <a href="http://www.eastbelfastpartnership.org/">East Belfast Partnership</a>, who said that the opening line to "Orangefield"—and I'm paraphrasing here—always makes him feel good about Belfast.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-28756722230095254072015-08-19T16:46:00.002-07:002015-08-19T16:52:24.870-07:00Happy Birthday, Van the Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJMejgdIAHM8K4tN-ha3WD5YSjTrjzxeQlkw7Zj1xvio6ZbOBU1VTQhsTwsgG_z8YOpN8w_Wwqblefg68e7Nr7zWBA6dS3X6aHAgz6muSwAVTPnNweCEN_V7ZYnQmNHQKYgZTh0-suKU/s1600/Cyprus+Avenue+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJMejgdIAHM8K4tN-ha3WD5YSjTrjzxeQlkw7Zj1xvio6ZbOBU1VTQhsTwsgG_z8YOpN8w_Wwqblefg68e7Nr7zWBA6dS3X6aHAgz6muSwAVTPnNweCEN_V7ZYnQmNHQKYgZTh0-suKU/s640/Cyprus+Avenue+6.jpg" width="470" /></a></div>
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On Aug. 26, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster">BBC Radio Ulster</a> will kick off its week-long celebration of <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison's</a> 70th birthday. The numerous programs, features, and events are certain to leave the average Van enthusiast properly satiated. A full schedule can be found <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/happy-birthday-van">right here</a>.</br>
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A few of the events yours truly is eagerly anticipating:</br>
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<b>Ralph's Top 70 Van Tracks Countdown</b></br>
Over the course of three days (Aug. 26-28, from 8 to 10 p.m.), Ralph McLean will count down the top songs from Morrison's five-decade-long career. The tracks were chosen by BBC Radio Ulster listeners.</br>
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<b>Into the Music</b></br>
On Aug. 29 at 6 p.m., McLean will host a special concert just one mile from where Morrison grew up. "Into the Music" will take place at the Park Avenue Hotel in East Belfast and will feature a number of local artists, including <a href="http://the4ofus.com/">The 4 Of Us</a>, <a href="http://www.breakingtunes.com/theclameens">The Clameens</a>, <a href="http://anthonytoner.net/">Anthony Toner</a>, <a href="http://www.bandmix.co.uk/wookalily/">Wookalilly</a>, and <a href="http://ronniegreer.com/">Ronnie Greer</a>.</br>
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<b>The Story of Them</b></br>
On Aug. 30 at 2 p.m., Dan Gordon presents "The Story of Them," a documentary tells the story of Morrison and his rhythm & blues band. The program will feature interviews with members and the group's most well-known songs.</br>
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<b>Van Morrison: Live on Cyprus Avenue</b></br>
And finally, on Aug. 31 at 2:45 p.m. (Morrison's birthday), BBC Radio Ulster will exclusively broadcast the artist's 70th birthday concert. The show will take place on Cyprus Avenue, the East Belfast thoroughfare he immortalized on <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-25485821511335527032015-08-19T16:38:00.001-07:002015-08-25T12:03:01.160-07:00Two thumbs up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FWdbaoz9JKGOOvtV5cpbA2Six6dkW6RmveQDmsWRO1K2KgW3aVSd0H94y-u2ZCadGxA5YNZBurqJ4X4LFsspvBCNkvTk223AkRE-VWRrGS_u6fBgZBx918OfoXurSuPceSP0Vf0zqGU/s1600/Astral+Weeks+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="440" width="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FWdbaoz9JKGOOvtV5cpbA2Six6dkW6RmveQDmsWRO1K2KgW3aVSd0H94y-u2ZCadGxA5YNZBurqJ4X4LFsspvBCNkvTk223AkRE-VWRrGS_u6fBgZBx918OfoXurSuPceSP0Vf0zqGU/s400/Astral+Weeks+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slipstream-Luke-Askew/dp/B000B8LCQC">For sale right now on Amazon (price: $11.49; format: VHS cassette)</a>: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072181/"><i>Slipstream,</i></a> a 1973 Canadian drama that not only takes its title from "Astral Weeks," but also includes the song in its soundtrack. Starring Luke Askew (of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/"><i>Cool Hand Luke</i></a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064276/"><i>Easy Rider</i></a> fame; not too shabby), the movie won the Canadian Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1973.</br>
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Unsurprisingly, <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison</a> gave it two thumbs up—way up. From Ritchie Yorke's biography <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Van-Morrison-Music-Ritchie-Yorke/dp/085947013X"><i>Van Morrison: Into the Music</i></a>: "I think it's a great film. And I think that 'Astral Weeks' is in context with the film." Morrison also travelled to Toronto to be on hand for its official premiere.</br>
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The movie's plot, courtesy of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/">IMDB</a>: "A reclusive Albertan DJ runs his popular pirate radio station in a remote farmhouse, but begins to feel pressure from his romantic relationship with a fan and his producer, who wants more mainstream content.” In Yorke's biography, Morrison goes on to say that the flick was "banned in a lot of places" on account of it exposing "a lot of the corruption in the music business." Hmmm ... Sounds a little dubious.</br>
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At any rate, I believe this is the first instance of a song from <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> being featured in a movie. And other than the inclusion of "Sweet Thing" in a few motion pictures, I struggle to think of subsequent instances. I suppose that's the reason not a single track from <i>Astral Weeks</i> was included on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Morrison_at_the_Movies_%E2%80%93_Soundtrack_Hits">this compilation</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-91770209423902330002015-08-12T18:50:00.000-07:002015-09-25T05:57:00.325-07:00Place/Person/Album (thank you, Tim Robinson)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The opening words to something grand, something bold ...</br>
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<b><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison's</a> <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a></b></br>
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It begins: like a sudden gust from the sea, a melodious rush of upright bass and acoustic guitar, an opening lyric—"If I ventured in the slipstream"—touched with echo and distance, as if the artist's words are drifting through the narrow backstreets of his native <a href="http://visit-belfast.com/">Belfast</a>, drifting down from the soft, heathery hills that horse-shoe this lonely, obstinate city. And it ends: a chaotic din not unlike the throb and stammer of Belfast's once great shipyards, a din that casually evokes Northern Irish poet <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/seamus-heaney">Seamus Heaney's</a> assertion that "our island is full of comfortless noises"— shrieks of soprano saxophone, the heavy hammer of that upright bass, the dull thwack of human flesh pounding a hard surface.</br>
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Between these two moments the pop music medium is crushed and expanded. A new future is brought about through the past. The statement made by this groundbreaking collaboration of form and sound and feeling is immediate and irrevocable. Never before has a popular music artist examined with such power and grace all that being alive can mean.</br>
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The album is a space where contrasting elements—the old and the new, the conscious and the unconscious, reflection and action, individuality and collectivity, adolescence and maturity—land on common ground. The album, released in the fall of 1968, is the greatest ever recorded. It's a singular voice going out into the world, a voice that close to five decades later remains unanswered, unchallenged—<i>unequalled</i>. The album speaks its own language.</br>
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This self-sufficiency demands reverence and to present additional information on the album's subject matter and on its creator is not an attempt to buttress it, but to assemble a base on which to display its paramountcy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-70336404068119668442015-07-30T20:45:00.000-07:002015-07-31T06:37:19.310-07:00A yawning gap<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1TBr8hafwRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> confounded many upon its release. There is no better evidence of this than where the album topped out on the U.K. album charts: #140. No, that extra zero is not a typo. Yes, 140 on the album charts is blushingly low.</br>
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Some context: Today, the bottom quarter or so of the <a href="http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200">Billboard 200</a> is generally reserved for well-curated greatest hits packages, the original soundtracks to blockbuster films, and those classic albums with enduring cross-generational appeal. For example, at #140 in this week's Billboard charts is the two-year-old soundtrack to the movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)"><i>Frozen</i></a>. It's three spots below Michael Jackson's <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/bad-mw0000650293"><i>Bad</i></a> (release date: Aug. 31, 1987) and 10 spots above AC/DC's <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-in-black-mw0000188862"><i>Back in Black</i></a> (which turned 35 this past July). This area of the charts is like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Interstellar_space">interstellar space</a>, a cosmic vastness well beyond the starry influence of those artists and albums nestled in the top 10.</br>
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And so I've long wondered ... Is <i>Astral Weeks</i>'s yawning gap between critical acclaim and pure units moved (33 years passed before it went <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_certification">Gold</a>) wider than any other iconic album's?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-28336991594210702972015-07-30T16:01:00.000-07:002015-07-30T19:16:32.259-07:00"He allowed us to stretch out"<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JOjYkVg00EU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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A few fairly pertinent quotes I unearthed in my ever-growing Word document of <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a>-related detritus. (This thing is massive; time to do some paring.) This one is from Bob Schwaid, <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison's</a> manager at the time of the album's recording. It's his reaction to <i>Astral Weeks'</i> overall sound.
<blockquote>
At the time, I thought it was an avant-garde marriage of jazz and rock. Really it was a combination of Van's approach to what he thought to be jazz with folk, blues, gospel, and rock levels. At the time none of the us thought that it fitted into any category.
</blockquote>
And this one is from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Berliner">Jay Berliner</a>, the guitarist who appeared on half of <i>Astral Weeks'</i> eight tracks. Berliner discusses the album's much-discussed recording sessions.
<blockquote>
In those days I was so busy that I had no idea what I was playing on. On the first session session I wasn't booked until 9 p.m. and so didn't play on "Cyprus Avenue" and "Madame George," which had been recorded earlier in the evening. I played a lot of classical guitar on those sessions and it was very unusual to play classical guitar in that context. What stood out in my mind was the fact that he allowed us to stretch out. We were used to playing to charts, but Van just played us the songs on his guitar and then told us to go ahead and play exactly what we felt.
</blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-36032182132288273732015-07-30T15:46:00.001-07:002015-07-30T19:27:11.615-07:00"Right back to the bards"<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zN14cvbC8CY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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You discover them in sleeveless albums, forgotten songs, dusty tomes, dog-eared novels, late-night films. <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks'</i></a> genes are scattered all over the cultural genome, in both anticipated and unexpected places, waiting to be uncovered by fervent, obsessed (and helpless?) listeners.</br>
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The following text was lifted from the preface (written by Anthony Burgess) to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Irish-Short-Stories-Various/dp/0140246991"><i>Modern Irish Short Stories</i></a>, a 1980 anthology edited by Ben Forkner. This first passage helps listeners understand why <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison</a> was so skilled at world-building, how he could deftly construct a factual/fictitious <a href="http://visit-belfast.com/">Belfast</a> from the bottom up.
<blockquote>
It is the poetical element in the Irish which enables their writers to set up atmospheres in a few words ... Any of these stories you are about to read establishes places, season, historical moment with the minimum of words.
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This second passage touches upon the Irish race's acute awareness of verbal tradition—a tradition Morrison carried on through his music.
<blockquote>
When a word is used it carries not only its present meaning but a haze of harmonics derived from the long sounding of that word in the literature of the past ... Irish writers try to add to the literature they already know. They are serious craftsmen aware of the devotion to craft of their own predecessors, right back to the bards.
</blockquote>
The third and final passage doesn't quite address the album's origins, but I included it anyway since it wonderfully speaks to the <i>Astral Weeks</i> listening experience. At least for me, anyway.
<blockquote>
Each time you enter it you will be in the presence of Ireland, the most fantastic country in the world and perhaps the only country that can be regarded as a custodian of unchanging human truth.
</blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-33567306015921770702015-07-20T19:14:00.001-07:002015-07-20T19:14:56.754-07:00"Purity comes from that"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"The best education comes from knowing only one book," writes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Salter">James Salter</a> in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Years-James-Salter/dp/0679740732"><i>Light Years</i></a>. "Purity comes from that, and proportion, and the comfort of always having an example close at hand."</br>
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So what comes from knowing only one album? Repletion? Harmony? Vitality, maybe? Or perhaps ... Insanity?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-4776314852074050392015-07-18T16:34:00.001-07:002015-07-18T17:01:18.387-07:00The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GhUgboFYFlc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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Growing up, <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van</a> was a constant companion. In the car during trips to the White Mountains, in a beach chair by the ocean, at the picnic table on camping trips, in the backyard, on the front porch, in the living room. When I was there, Van was often there, too. There were no instances in which a rather unconventional pop moment caught my attention—say, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLvBpnaVHE8">the shout-spelling of a woman's name</a> or a string of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfmkgQRmmeE">ebullient sha-la-la's followed by an aloof la-dee-da</a>—and prompted me to ask <i>Who is this?</i> I knew who it was; I had always known. It was Van.</br>
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When I began to learn that Van was more than just <i>Van</i>—that he was, among other things, a Belfast native, a one-time Boston-area resident, an avid listener of American black music, a dabbler in Scientology, a saxophonist, a window washer, a husband, a father, etc., I began to work my way backward, from the present to the past, going album by album through his vast catalog.</br>
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I downloaded <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> on either IRC or Napster (the "old" Napster)—it's been so long I don't remember which. What I can recall is that the MP3s were tagged incorrectly, so when I spun the album on my beat-up Gateway, the tracks played in alphabetical order. Some songs were in their correct spots, such as the title track and "Cyprus Avenue"; the rest were woefully out of place; oh-so-perfect album closer "Slim Slow Slider," for example, was third from the end.</br>
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The final song on my jumbled track list was "The Way Young Lovers Do." For me, this was the only song on the album that made sense on initial listen, the only one that had immediate and familiar signifiers (jazz!), that communicated in a language I partially comprehended. It became an entry point of sorts, my passageway to deciphering the album's sonic and lyrical complexity. So I played it first, and often—and then I worked my way backward, always going backward, moving through the track list in reverse, arriving at "Astral Weeks" having taken the long way.</br>
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Today, many years and countless listens later, <i>Astral Weeks</i> has withstood my most intense scrutiny; each layer that's been peeled away has revealed even more extraordinary layers. Today, that backward approach feels like it was the correct one. <i>Astral Weeks</i> is a backward-looking album: in bringing bygone days to life, Morrison evokes the past to illuminate the present. He's capturing memories, the delicate and free-floating memories of his adolescence, with his pen and scratchpad, his voice and acoustic guitar. Looking backward often reveals something exhilarating and essential and unrealized. If the <i>Astral Weeks</i> listening experience has taught me anything, it's this.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-21064256739777345172015-07-09T20:32:00.000-07:002015-07-10T06:58:15.991-07:00The Van is mightier than the sword<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WAoYVc3F_9o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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Van Morrison was recently <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/honours-list/11671979/Queens-Birthday-Honours-Van-Morrison-knighted.html">knighted</a>. Scanning the online coverage from Ireland and the U.K., I couldn't help but notice how the honor produced a bevy of poorly constructed puns. With each wince I lost more faith in creativity. "Sir Grumpyalot gets his due." "Van the Man now Van the Knight." And my favorite: "Here comes the knight." Which isn't a play on this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bES7Z8kR7PQ">eternal classic by Them</a>, but instead, directly references a Morrison ditty from 1986's <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-guru-no-method-no-teacher-mw0000194958"><i>No Guru, No Method, No Teacher</i></a>. "On the road with my sword," our hero sings. "And my shield in my hand / Pressing on to the new day." It's a song that sees Morrison at his most calamitous. Let's borrow the Queen's knighting sword; off with his head.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-27778032145261487092015-06-30T19:12:00.001-07:002015-06-30T19:13:10.836-07:00How many bridges do we have to cross before we get to meet the boss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Pride of place is given to the graffiti that snaked between <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMEExDZEgoo">Ladbroke Grove</a> and Westbourne Park tube stations: 'SAME THING DAY AFTER DAY – TUBE – WORK – DINER [sic] – WORK – TUBE – ARMCHAIR – TUBE – WORK – HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU TAKE – ONE IN FIVE CRACKS UP.'</br>
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"The messages themselves are not so much the territorial markers or the frantic assertion of self that we have become used to, but are anonymous, allusive, and cryptic, a window into the world of the culturally or socially dispossessed."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-51246998457531411432015-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:002015-06-23T07:05:54.345-07:00Double bass crimes<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nx0IL_QawJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<i>"It made such a pumping, breathing body sound, like running or hard work, like screwing, and he missing somebody so bad, yeah, made a sound like what a human being would make if it got turned into an instrument, that after a while he couldn't stand it."</i></br>
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Nicked this from <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5901/the-art-of-fiction-no-199-annie-proulx">Annie Proulx's</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Accordion-Crimes-Annie-Proulx/dp/0684831546"><i>Accordion Crimes</i></a>. She was describing a Sicilian-crafted, green button accordion, the novel's protagonist. But shit, it could be about Richard Davis' bass on <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a>. His bass playing is a wonderful reminder that the finest songs, the finest albums, the best <i>music</i> not only gives you something that you never expected to hear, but something you never had. Something you always wanted, but never realized you wanted until it was breathlessly presented to you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4482128546219148.post-11806780243771421362015-06-19T18:10:00.003-07:002015-06-19T18:15:40.508-07:00Creative thresholds<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2QzDWIOUnM0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>
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<i>"I am into a completely different thing now. Now there is no limit to what I can do. I plan to use the type of instrumentation I like and be completely free. This is only the beginning for me."</i></br>
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I really dig this <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/van-morrison-mn0000307461">Van Morrison</a> quote. It was allegedly uttered during an interview with a New York radio station. Morrison was in Belfast at the time, mired in a creative stasis of sorts, fresh off his <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/blowin-your-mind%21-mw0000044748">debut album</a>, disappointed with the overall results, eager to give it another go. There's all sorts of wonderful contradictions at work here. His words are vague and yet full of conviction. You get the sense he has possibly talked himself into believing a creative threshold has been crossed. At the same time, it all sounds so heartfelt, so authentic, so rabid.</br>
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I can pictures it now ... If <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/astral-weeks-mw0000190975"><i>Astral Weeks</i></a> came packaged with <a href="http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/favorite-stickers-from-lp-cd-shrink-wrap-and-covers.320924/">a decorative promotional sticker on the shrink wrap</a>, bearing campy words of praise for the album inside, it would include a snippet from the above quote: "This is Van's 'be-completely-free' album! Tune in—and get completely free with him!"
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17202056520353857565noreply@blogger.com0