A great many Southern rock bands sure know how to rock, The Allman Brothers Band was unique in that they didn’t just rock, they actually made magic and in the years leading up to their 2014 split that magic was never more apparent than when we got the privilege to see them, no longer the long haired young men that began this journey . In 2011, the boys converged on Boston’s Orpheum Theater where in addition to their own impressive song catalog, they dusted off a cover of Van Morrison’s dreamy, ethereal “Into The Mystic” and to the crowd’s delight delivered it with that gorgeous, swampy feel that makes their own music so special.
Written in 1970 and featured on Van Morrison’s album “Moondance”, “Into The Mystic” becomes a swirling, sweeping extended jam as Warren Haynes pulls double duty on guitar and vocals, supported by the ever talented Derek Trucks on slide guitar as he makes this classic sing in a way we’ve never heard before. The real magic happens at 4:48 when Haynes and Trucks team up for a twin guitar solo attack that can only be described as spellbinding, making for an explosive ending that you’ve got to experience for yourselves.
In 2015, Legacy Recordings acquired (most of) the catalogue of Van Morrison, releasing his library digitally and introducing a volume of the long-running Essential series. But the most exciting release from the Morrison/Legacy union so far is this this 3-CD, 79-track anthology dedicated to Morrison’s first band, Them. The Belfast-formed garage rockers’ complete discography was compiled along with a full disc of demos, session material and rarities, adding up to the first look at Them that can be considered truly exhaustive. The icing on the cake? Van the Man himself supplied the detailed liner notes, expressing a sometimes-surprising fondness for his earliest musical endeavors.
The new 69-track, 3-CD set from Legacy contains all of the group’s released recordings together with a disc of rarities and unreleased material. Much of this material has been anthologized in the past, including on Deram’s 1997 compilation The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison (although that release had some mono tracks rechanneled into stereo and did not have the complete recordings.) We’ve got Legacy’s press release below together with the full tracklisting and discographical information. If you’d like to explore some of Van Morrison’s earliest work,
‘Cahoots’ celebrates its 45th Anniversary!, This whole album is a masterpiece. Seems to be much more appreciated now than the initial fan reactions. Cahoots is the fourth studio album release by the American/Canadian rock group The Band . It was released in 1971 to mixed reviews, and was their last album of original material for four years. The album’s front cover was painted by New York artist/illustrator Gilbert Stone,
“Run away Run away” it’s the restless age, sings the Band at the beginning of Cahoots (Capitol SMAS 651) and they mean it. They also mean it when they sing of the endlessness of the river, admonishing the listener that “You can ride on it or drink it,/Poison it or dam it,/Fish in it and wash in it,/Swim in it and you can die in it, run you river run …” Cahoots is about finding a place for yourself in the restless age.
The mood of the album is filled with a “tinge of extinction.” As the chaos of the carnival is played off against the timelessness of the river, the Band mourns, always more in sorrow than in anger, the passing away of the things they have grown old with and the failure of anything of consequence to rise up in their place. “How you gonna replace human hands?” they ask us in “Last of the Blacksmiths.” And, “How can you sleep when the whistle don’t moan?” in “Where Do We Go From Here.” “Your neighborhood isn’t there anymore,” they jeer in “SmokeSignal.” “Run away Run away — it’s the restless age,” but, “the car broke down when we had just begun.”
Very complex song structures and features some of The Bands best vocals.
Allen Toussaint and Van Morrison. Where on The Band we were made to experience a mythical view of the past as a present reality, Cahoots is merely sometimes about the past, and then only insofar as the past can be made to comment in a direct way on the present. Unlike The Band, Cahoots endistances us from the past, constantly reminding us of what was then and what is now.
In Cahoots, the notion of the commentator is stressed over that of the participant. The narrator of these songs is most often observing others and in the process drawing explicit contrasts, comparisons, and morals. Instead of seeing phenomenon in motion, as they were being experienced, we see them as fixed entities to be described or dealt with: the process is now less important than the conclusions to be drawn about the process. At the same time, the orientation and musical texture is constantly changing so that we are left with the feeling of experiencing things through a stylistic kaleidoscope.
“4% Pantomime,” another song about performing, is named after the fact that the difference between Johnny Walker Black and Johnny Walker Red is 4%. It is also for the 4% of Mr. Van Morrison’s performance which had to be seen, not heard. Unlike “Stage Fright,” which analyzed the artist’s dilemma, “4% Pantomime” is simply about being a working artist. Many of the Band’s songs have been in the first person but none of them literal representations of themselves. This one even uses real names on the choruses, as two old fashioned juicers VanMorrison and Richard Manuel — coax as much feeling as they can out of each other.
“Last of the Blacksmiths” is a crucial song embodying more than any other the definition of the “tinge of extinction” and “isolated artist” themes of the album. Sung and played in a desperate style, the lyrics parallel the question of the blacksmith (“how can you replace human hands”) with the question of the musician: “frozen fingers at the keyboard, could this be the reward?” Unfortunately, the acuity of perception then trails off in a typical bit of over-writing and the rest of the song is sustained more by the excellence of the performance than by its lyrical content.
“Where Do We Go From Here” comes dangerously close to being merely topical. Cute rhymes like “Just one more victim of fate/Like California state” do nothing to add to what the song has. The music, while brilliantly put together, has a stiffness which makes it once again forbidding. Like every cut on the album there is something to recommend it: in this case, the opening lines of Rick Danko’s beautiful vocal.
“Shoot Out In Chinatown” is a fairly grim story that makes the point that things cannot be shoved under the rug, to wit: “Buddha has lost his smile/But swears that we will meet again/In just a little while.” The music has more momentum and freshness than most things on the album and the cut is sustained exceptionally well. One of the most enjoyable things on the record.
“Smoke Signal” is a light play on the extinction theme. In “Chinatown” Robertson is talking about deliberate actions of the state while on “Smoke Signal” the humorous allusions seem to be to the process by which people merely lose control, instead of being actively forced to surrender it. Musically, it is a powerful song with some brilliant lines that stick in the mind, especially: “When they’re torn out by the roots/Young brothers join in cahoots.”
If “Life In A Carnival” is an overture, The song features a lively Dixieland horn chart courtesy of AllenToussaint then “The River Hymn” was surely intended as a finale, a sort of ceremonial piece, and on it one’s ultimate impression of Cahoots must rest. It is surely the most ambitious thing the group has ever attempted. Lyrically, it is the culmination of Robertson’s growing style. It is so cinematic, that as it is heard the movie possibilities flash in front of you uncontrollably. Everything described is not only easy to visualize but is, in the listener’s mind, inevitably visualized.
“When I Paint My Masterpiece,” a Bob Dylan song making its recorded debut here as the second selection, is another welcome track, buoyed by mandolin and accordion in a charming arrangement appropriate to its tale of an odd trip to Europe.
Several of the songs’ lyrics come across as half-baked film scenarios, but they fail to be evocative, and they are paired to music lacking in structure. The failure is solely in the writing The Band sounds as good as ever playing the songs, with singers Richard Manuel Levon Helm and Rick Danko all performing effectively and primary instrumentalist Garth Hudson filling in the arrangements cleverly.
Rick Danko – bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, upright bass, vocals
Garth Hudson – organ, piano, accordion, tenor and baritone saxophones
Richard Manuel – piano, drums, organ, slide guitar, vocals
Robbie Robertson – guitars, piano
Additional personnel
Allen Toussaint – brass arrangements on “Life Is a Carnival”
Van Morrison – vocals on “4% Pantomime”
Libby Titus – backing vocals on “The River Hymn”[6]
Mark Harman – engineer
At 71, Van Morrison says he makes records to please one person: himself. “If it’s not interesting, then I don’t do it,” he says. His first LP of new songs in four years includes a swing instrumental, a tribute to hero Bobby “Blue” Bland, who died in 2013, and “Too Late,” a doo-wop tune about making the most of one’s limited time (“It’s too late to start over again/Can’t complain,” Morrison howls). It’s the perfect mission statement of a rock star in twilight, though the song was written years ago. “I came across it in a notebook and thought, ‘What happened to this one?'” he says.
After spending the past few years revisiting and reissuing his storied catalog, Van Morrison will release “Keep MeSinging”, his first collection of new music in four years, this September.
Keep Me Singing, is due out September 30th, it follows Morrison’s 2015 LP Duets and is the singer’s first album of original songs since 2012’s Born to Sing: No Plan B. In the past year, Morrison has also digitally reissued much of his discography and released an extended version of his classic live album with Its Too Late To Stop Now Volumes II, III, IV & DVD.
Van Morrison has released a new video for his song, “Every Time I See A River“.
The track – co-written with Don Black – is taken from Morrison’s new studio album, Keep Me Singing. Its Morrison’s 36th studio album,
“Into the Mystic” is a song written by Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album Moondance. Also included on Morrison’s 1974 live album, It’s Too Late To Stop Now.
According to a BBC survey, because of this song’s cooling, soothing vibe, this is one of the most popular songs for surgeons to listen to while performing operations. Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has identified this song as one of his favourite songs on Moondance, one of his 500 essential albums.
“Into the Mystic” was recorded during the Moondance sessions at A&R Recording Studios in New York City in September to November 1969. Elliott Scheiner was the engineer. The lyrics are about a spiritual quest, typical of Morrison’s work. “Bass thrums like a boat in motion, and the song comes back to water as a means of magical transformation.” At the very end Van sings: too late to stop now, suggesting that the song also describes an act of love.” Compared to “Yesterday” by The Beatles, it has been described as “another song where the music and the words seem to have been born together, at the same time, to make one perfectly formed, complete artistic element.“ Morrison remarked on the song: “‘Into the Mystic’ is another one like ‘Madame Joy’ and ‘Brown Skinned Girl’. Originally I wrote it as ‘Into the Misty’. But later I thought that it had something of an ethereal feeling to it so I called it ‘Into the Mystic’. That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics in WB Music, I couldn’t figure out what to send them. Because really the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there’s ‘I was born before the wind’ and ‘I was borne before the wind’, and also ‘Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one’ and ‘All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won’ … I guess the song is just about being part of the universe.”
From my perspective, there are better sound-quality boots out there (Live In Montreux, for example), but no Van boot I have — and I have more than a few ,so integrates solid sound with a stunning performance: Live InMontreux comes close, at 150+ minutes, But Pagan Streams is the complete winner. This boot is so good, so valued, that much like the ancestral heir loom one only wears on special occasions, I listen to “Pagan Streams” infrequently. If I listened to it too often, I would quit my job, leave my wife and dog, and sell my soul to attend every one of the Van the Man’s concerts. I know it took me a while to track this boot down, and all I can say is: if you can find it, buy it.
The sound quality of this double CD is a very good audience recording. In fact it sounds a lot like a soundboard recording. There is some distortion in a few tracks but it isn’t a huge problem and is very listenable. Van Morrison actually “booted” some tracks from this boot for his Gloria CD single.
-Russell Parkinson (oocities.org)
Van Morrison – vocal
Hajih Ahkba – flugelhorn & trumpet
Dave Early – drums
Georgie Fame – keyboards
Howard Francis – keyboards
Steve Gregory – saxophone
Ronnie Johnson – guitar
Nicky Scott – base
Candy Dulfer – alto saxophone
Out of Sight (2:43)
The Girl Can’t Help It (l. Richard) (2:53)
Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby (Otis/Hunter) (2:43)
Satisfied (2:32)
Who Do You Love (G. Fame) (5:14)
And The Healing Has Begun 8:46)
See Me Through (8:39)
Moondance (10:31)
Some Peace Of Mind (4:36)
It´s All In The Game / Make it Real One More Time (5:45)
Enlightenment (2:36)
Whenever God Shiones [sic] His Light On Me (4:32)
It Must Be You (3:19)
Help Me (6:20)
Northern Muse (Solid Ground) -> When Heart is Open (6:07)
It Fill You Up (4:37)
So Complicated (3:22)
The Fayre Of County Down (2:25)
Orangefield (3:05)
Summertime In England 18:28)
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (3:29)
Caravan (9:07)
In The Garden (8:27)
Send In The Clowns (4:42)
Gloria/Shakin All Over (9:28)
I Can’t Stop Loving You (R. Charles) (3:51)
Baby Please Don’t Go (Williams) / Who Do You Love (F. McDanials) / What D’I Say (R. Charles) (7:38)
As Colvin & Earle, longtime friends and admirers Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle have united to record their self-titled debut, a true standout in careers already filled with pinnacles and masterpieces. Produced by the masterful Buddy Miller and recorded in his living room studio, Colvin & Earle contains six co-written originals plus some truly inspired covers, including The Beatles’ “Baby’s In Black,” the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” and Emmylou Harris’ “Raise the Dead.” Few things can touch the magic of artists so in tune that they seem to be able to read each other’s minds, and Colvin & Earle is a prime showcase for the duo’s inimitable vocals and mesmerizing guitar playing – a flawless example of the creative process gelling into a gorgeous, cohesive whole. For this pair, both considered to be among America’s greatest living songwriters, Colvin & Earle showcase one of the finest records of these hardcore troubadours’ storied careers.
BAND OF HORSES – WHY ARE YOU OK
Very Limited copies come with a A3 Band Of Horses print. Everyone’s favourite American indie export, Band of Horses, are finally Back and bigger and better than ever! Releasing their fifth studio album on the 10th year anniversary of the incredible ‘Everything All The Time’ is fitting as it hearkens back to the vulnerability present on the first album but this time is shaped by the experience of writing at home in between caring for his four daughters. The album was produced by Jason Lytle from alt-rock icons Grandaddy and spurred on by Rick Rubin. ‘Why Are You Ok’ combines universal sentiments with expertly crafted storytelling wrapped in lush melodic textures that have long been the bedrock of Band of Horses‘ sound.
LP – Heavyweight vinyl with download code.
THE FIREWORKS – BLACK AND BLUE EP
Shelflife Records is proud to bring you the Limited Blue vinyl 10″ ‘Black and Blue EP’, the first release by London and Brighton-based group The Fireworks since their debut LP, 2015’s ‘Switch Me On’. Following a handful of fantastic 7″ singles and a self-titled EP, the quartet exceeded already high expectations on their debut album. ‘Switch Me On’s 13 tracks soar by in a blur of warm, fuzzed-out feedback, infectious hooks and pure unadulterated energy. Fans old and new of The Fireworks will not be let down by their new ‘Black and Blue EP’. The release may only be four tracks long, but you’ll be needing to take a breather after it’s done. These songs mark the most rocking we’ve heard The Fireworks thus far, while still keeping the catchy melodies and pop sensibility we’ve come to expect from them. The driving opener ‘All the Time’ is an instant favourite, and the dynamic track tells listeners right off the bat that this is no mellow, passive listen. ‘The Ghost Of You’ features jangly guitar work and fantastic dual vocals from Matthew Rimell and Emma Hall, making the track a shimmering pop gem. Of course, the distortion that smattered ‘Switch Me On’ is still present, and tracks like ‘BuryMe’ will have you jumping around in a fit of uncontrollable vigor (perhaps why they chose to name this the ‘Black and Blue EP’). The band touches down on all bases on this new release, making it an essential listen whether or not you’ve been a fan in the past. For fans of: Razorcuts, Buzzcocks, Girls At Our Best!, Revolving Paint Dream, The Shop Assistants, Meat Whiplash, Bubblegum Splash. Vinyl with Download.
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Whipping up a frenetic, fun-filled brew of surf pop and garage rock, this Manchester quartet have been creating quite a stir with a handful of great 7″ singles and high octane live shows over the last few months.
“Tell Me If You Like To”, is their debut album and it’s choc full of garage-punk gems (including their three 7″ single tracks) as you’d expect – think The Ramones covering The Beach Boys, OD-ing on Haribo’s!
“the most promising band of 2016”
Christine And The Queens is Nantes-born Héloïse Letissier. Moving to London to study in 2010, Letissier instead found herself drawn to the art and theatre underworld of Soho, where she met the drag queens of MadameJoJo’s who inadvertently helped birth Christine And The Queens. The following year she released the first of a series of three EPs, each one building praise and demand for her utterly individual brand of pop. Chaleur Humaine, her French-language debut album produced by Ash Workman (Metronomy) with multi-instrumentalist brothers Michael Lovett and Gabriel Stebbing, arrived in 2014 and has already gone more than five-times platinum to propel Letissier – named Female Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique earlier this year – to phenomenon status in her homeland.
Already coveted by those in the know, last year Christine And The Queens took a step further into the international spotlight with a number of high profile European shows and scene-stealing performances at SXSW, a major 16-date North American run with Marina and The Diamonds and a solo sold-out headline show at New York’s Webster Hall. She capped a stunning year by joining one of her all time heroes Madonna on stage in Paris last week. She released her debut, self-titled UK EP in November and now ‘Chaleur Humaine’ makes its long-awaited UK debut. The album features EP tracks ‘Jonathan’ (feat. Perfume Genius) and ‘No Harm Is Done’ (feat. TunjiIge), and has been completely reworked for its UK release, featuring all-new English versions of French runaway hits ‘Saint Claude’ and ‘Christine’, amongst others.
“This is Your Life”, the new album from anthemic rock trio, Augustines, is an urgent, resonant wakeup call, taking stock of where we are now and what the future holds… an open road ahead.
YUNG – A YOUTHFUL DREAM ‘A Youthful Dream’ the debut album from Yung is a revelation. Angst makes space for wisdom, youthful exuberance begins channelling road-tested experience, and a blur of basement shows and self-produced bromides becomes something more. Where the previous releases such as ‘These Thoughts Are Like Mandatory Chores’ found Silkjær masterfully running through buzzsaw riffs, recalling The Replacements and Jay Reatard, ‘A Youthful Dream’ finds Silkjær reshaping his DIY vocabulary and experimenting with a larger sonic palette, in ways that may make fans do a double take. Richer melodies, pianos, and even trumpets made their way into the recording sessions at Sound Studio in Sweden, where Silkjær, Frederik Nybo Veile (drums) and TobiasGuldborg Tarp (bass) decamped with a handful of guest musicians. Consider the airy, self-referential ‘The Child,‘ a reverie or languid guitar lines punctuated by a horn line; the mid-tempo swagger of ‘Uncombed Hair,’ suddenly amping up without losing control; or the slow build of ‘The Hatch,’ its anthemic scope and chugging drums lines showing a new compositional mastery without losing the immediacy and energy of past efforts.
LP – Black Vinyl with Download.
LP+ – Limited Clear Coloured Vinyl with Download.
VAN MORRISON – IT’S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW (LIVE) – VOLUME 1
Remastered reissue of the original ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’. The three-month tour, which launched just months before Morrison released his 1973 LP ‘Hard Nose the Highway’, featured the singer backed by the 11-piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra, Morrison’s tight knit backing band. ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’ is a live album that was originally released in 1974. Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever recorded, ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’ was recorded during what has often been said to be Morrison’s greatest phase as a live performer. The double album is composed of performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in LosAngeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and at the Rainbow in London from a three-month tour with his eleven-piece band, the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, from May to July 1973.
VAN MORRISON – IT’S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW (LIVE) – VOLUME 2, 3, 4 AND DVD Van Morrison’s 1973 tour that spawned the singer’s classic live album ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’ is the focus of an 3CD / 1DVD archival release. Titled ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now… Volumes II, III, IV and DVD’, the collection boasts three previously unreleased concerts from Morrison’s trek – recorded at Los Angeles‘ the Troubadour, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and London’s Rainbow Theatre – along with a July 24th London gig that was filmed for a BBC Sight and Sound special but never commercially released.
Following last year’s releases of The Essential Van MorrisonandThe Complete Them 1964-1967, Legacy Recordings continues to mine the Van Morrison back catalogue with the June 10th releases of the remastered 2-CD or 2-LP It’s Too Late to Stop Now and the 3-CD/1-DVD box set It’s Too Late to Stop Now…Volumes II, III, IV& DVD.
It’s Too Late to Stop Now, of course, is Van Morrison’s 1974 double live album with his Caledonia SoulOrchestra, capturing concert recordings from his May to July 1973 tour at Los Angeles’ famed Troubadour, the Santa Monica Civic Center, and London’s Rainbow Theatre. The remastered original album will be available on both CD and vinyl, while the CDs of Volumes II-IV collect previously unreleased concert recordings from those three venues. The DVD included in the 3-CD set contains professionally-shot footage from the Rainbow Theatre stand which originally aired on the BBC in the U.K. but has never before been commercially available.
The original It’s Too Late was compiled by Morrison and co-producer Ted Templeman from eight sets of live performances and was famously free of any subsequent studio overdubs. Volumes II-IV returns to those original performances, first captured on two-inch 16-track analog tapes, as newly remastered by Guy Massey. None of the tracks on this set are duplicated from the performances on the original album.
“I am getting more into performing,” Morrison commented in 1973. “It’s incredible…. All of a sudden I felt like ‘you’re back into performing’ and it just happened like that…. A lot of times in the past I’ve done gigs and it was rough to get through them. But now the combination seems to be right and it’s been clicking a lot.” Supported by his 11-piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra (containing two horns and four strings among its players), Morrison revisited his greatest classics to that point including “Gloria,” “Domino,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “Into the Mystic,” “Warm Love,” “The Way Young Lovers Do,” “Moondance,” and many more. He also paid tribute to his own musical heroes with well-selected covers of Sam Cooke, Hank Williams, Ray Charles, and even Sesame Street‘s Joe Raposo.
Both the remastered edition of It’s Too Late to Stop Now and the new box set It’s Too Late to Stop Now… Volumes II, III, IV & DVD will be available from Legacy on June 10th.
VOLUME II (Recorded live at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, May 23, 1973)
Come Running (Van Morrison)
These Dreams Of You (Van Morrison)
The Way Young Lovers Do (Van Morrison)
Snow In San Anselmo (Van Morrison)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
Purple Heather (Van Morrison)
Hey, Good Lookin’ (Hank Williams)
Bein’ Green (Joseph G. Raposo)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Listen To The Lion (Van Morrison)
Hard Nose The Highway (Van Morrison)
Moondance (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)
VOLUME III (Recorded live at the Santa Monica Civic, California, June 29. 1973)
I’ve Been Working (Van Morrison)
There There Child (Van Morrison, John Platania)
No Way (Jeff Labes)
Since I Fell For You (Woodrow Buddy Johnson)
Wild Night (Van Morrison)
I Paid The Price (Van Morrison, John Platania)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Gloria (Van Morrison)
Buona Sera (Carl Sigman, Peter De Rose)
Moonshine Whiskey (Van Morrison)
Ain’t Nothing You Can Do (Don D. Robey, Joseph Wade Scott)
Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket (Sonny Boy Williamson)
Sweet Thing (Van Morrison)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles)
VOLUME IV (Recorded live at The Rainbow, London, July 23 & 24, 1973)
Listen To The Lion (Van Morrison)
I Paid The Price (Van Morrison, John Platania)
Bein’ Green (Joseph G. Raposo)
Since I Fell For You(Woodrow Buddy Johnson)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
Everyone (Van Morrison)
I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles)
Sweet Thing (Van Morrison)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Wild Children (Van Morrison)
Here Comes The Night (Bert Berns)
Buona Sera (Carl Sigman, Peter De Rose)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)
DVD (Recorded live at The Rainbow, London, July 24, 1973)
Here Comes The Night (Bert Berns)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Moonshine Whiskey (Van Morrison)
Moondance (Van Morrison)
Help Me (Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)
THE CALEDONIA SOUL ORCHESTRA:
Jeff Labes – piano & organ
Dave Shaw – drums
John Platania – guitar
David Hayes – bass guitar
Jack Schroer – alto, tenor, baritone saxophones
Bill Atwood – trumpet
Nathan Rubin, Tim Kovatch & Tom Halpin – violin
Nancy Ellis – viola
Terry Adams – cello
As with most Decca releases of the period, the name of the group was conspicuously absent from the front cover and on the back of the LP they were introduced as The Angry Young Them with an essay on this theme declaring: “These five young rebels are outrageously true to themselves. Defiant! Angry! Sad! They are honest to the point of insult!”
The Angry Young Them is the first album from the Northern Irish rock and roll group Them. The album was released in the UK in June 1965. The band’s lead singer and songwriter was Van Morrison. In the U.S., the album was released as Them with partly different tracks.This is the first UK album for Them.
And for me, the best of Van are the early Them recordings.
I know most people don’t agree, saying this is apprenticeship stuff, the real genius was around the corner. Mystic Eyes is the perfect album opener, and the rest that follows is terrific. You Just Can’t Win is a classic, and should be better known.
Two tracks, Little Girl, and I Gave My Love a Diamond, are available in two different versions, the album versions here I prefer to the versions on The Story of Them compilation, also known as Them Gold (double album).
Single hits like Here Comes the Night, and Baby Please Don’t Go, don’t appear here. But Gloria does.
The album that followed , Them Again, is also impressive.
Six of the songs on the album were Morrison originals, including the famous garage band anthem “Gloria“. Another song on the album, “Mystic Eyes“, was a spontaneous creation that came out of the band just “busking around” in Morrison’s words and after seven minutes of instrumental playing he impulsively threw in the words of a song he had been working on. The lengthy versions of “Gloria” that the band performed at the Maritime and the ten-minute recording of “Mystic Eyes” have never surfaced. All that is left of the “Mystic Eyes” performance is the little over 21⁄2 minutes on the album that remained after splicing out from the beginning and ending. “You Just Can’t Win” was a Dylan inspired song about a gold digger, set in specific places in London such as Camden Town. “Little Girl” was about a boy’s obsession with a fourteen-year-old school girl (an earlier take on Lord’s Taverners charity album had been deleted when a four-letter word was heard in the fade out at the end). “If You And I Could Be As Two” starts with a spoken introduction by Morrison with an aggressive Irish accent. Three Bert Berns originals were included and a cover of John Lee Hooker‘s “Don’t Look Back” was considered by Morrison to be his finest vocal to date
00:00 1) Mystic Eyes 02:47 2) If You and I Could Be As Two 05:47 3) Little Girl 08:18 4) Just a Little Bit 10:44 5) I Gave My Love a Diamond 13:37 6) Gloria 16:20 7) You Just Can’t Win 18:48 8) Go On Home Baby 21:30 9) Don’t Look Back 24:56 10) I Like It Like That 28:18 11) I’m Gonna Dress in Black 31:57 12) Bright Lights, Big City 34:33 13) My Little Baby 36:48 14) (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
There’s even more coming from Van Morrison! Legacy Recordings, a catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, just landed a deal that gave them the rights to the largest Van Morrison discography under one label. Many of Van Morrison’s tracks have been out of print for years, never been available through iTunes, and even less available via streaming sites. Legacy plans to begin a “digital rollout” of the entire Morrison discography, starting with 33 album titles to be released . They will also be releasing a series of compilation albums, the first of which, Essential Van Morrison, will also be available It will be a 37-track anthology that has classics from Morrison’s early days up to his latest works. Legacy stated that fans can expect songs from Morrison’s Them years available through the company later this year.
Following up on2013’s multi-disc deluxe edition of the Northern Irish soul man’s 1970 classic “Moondance” and on the heels of Legacy Recordings’ announcement earlier this week that the Sony imprint has acquired the majority of Van Morrison’s post-1971 catalogue, Rhino has just announced two new deluxe editions drawn from Morrison’s seminal early Warner Bros. discography. Both 1968’s label debut “Astral Weeks” and 1970’s jubilant His Band and the Street Choir will get remastered and expanded editions on October 30th.
Astral Weeks failed to dent the charts when it was released in the fall of 1968, but the hypnotic song cycle’s singular fusion of folk, jazz, soul, blues and beyond has earned Astral Weeks its status as an ahead-of-its-time classic. The upcoming deluxe edition presents four previously unreleased recordings offering a fly-on-the-wall view of the interplay between Van Morrison and the quartet that joined him in the studio: bassist Richard Davis, guitarist Jay Berliner, percussionist Warren Smith, Jr., and Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Connie Kay. These bonus tracks include the first take of “Beside You,” extended versions of “Slim Slow Slider” and “Ballerina,” and a stripped-back alternate take of “Madame George” that emphasizes the vibraphone.
Van Morrison, of course, followed up the mystical Astral Weeks with the much more commercial Moondance. How to follow Moondance? He returned a few months later in 1970 with His Band and the Street Choir, featuring some of his most loose and fresh songs like the hit “Domino” and “Blue Money.” This remastered version of the album is expanded with five previously unreleased bonus tracks, including an early, raw take of “Give Me a Kiss” without piano, horns or backing vocals. Morrison’s falsetto shines on Take 3 of “Gypsy Queen,” while the alternate version of “I’ve Been Working” ratchets up the funk quotient. Take 10 of “Call Me Up in Dreamland” and an alternate of “I’ll Be Your Lover Too” round out the reissue.
Both single-disc titles are due from Warner Bros. Records and Rhino on October 30th at which time they will also be available digitally. Pre-order links are not yet active, but watch this space!
Van Morrison, Astral Weeks (Warner Bros. WS 1768, 1968 – reissued Rhino, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Links TBD)
“Astral Weeks”
“Beside You”
“Sweet Thing”
“Cyprus Avenue”
“The Way Young Lovers Do”
“Madame George”
“Ballerina”
“Slim Slow Slider”
“Beside You” (Take 1)
“Madame George” (Take 4)
“Ballerina” (Long Version)
“Slim Slow Slider” (Long Version)
Tracks 9-12 are previously unreleased.
Van Morrison, His Band and the Street Choir (Warner Bros. WS 1884, 1970 – reissued Rhino, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Links TBD)
The Fat Angel Sings 