Thursday, January 8, 2009

Van Morrison- Astral Weeks 1968


What happened? How'd it get to be Thursday? God, that is what day it is, right? I lost a couple of days to the Pogues. Once I got started with those knuckleheads I couldn't stop.
 I've been wondering about Van Morrison. He recently revisited "Astral Weeks" at the Hollywood Bowl a full FORTY years after it was first recorded  (I'll be reviewing that for caughtinthecarousel.com) and I was thinking about the original. Recorded in 1968 when Van was in his twenties, this album showcases all that he was and, for the most part, still is. His voice has clarity and unflinching direction and he's over-confident and richly gospelly/bluesy and you can lay back and listen to this record for as long as it takes to ge there. My top cut is The Way Young Lovers Do. It makes me miss the sixties even though I was far from being born. Next best is Madame George and then Cyprus Avenue. A lot of people like Moondance but I think that's because it's more tuneful, more of a sing-along in the car kind of record. Astral Weeks is like you get in the car but you gotta let Van drive, because he knows every curve in the road.

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