There is really nothing better than a Van Morrison album on a lazy Saturday morning. Smoothie done, coffee on, Brighton Festival brochure open across a sunny kitchen table, blooming orchids left by a dear friend. Almost any album that is, but the vibe is particularly enhanced by these easy going bluesy mid Van period outtakes compiled on the brilliant The Philosopher's Stone double album. Outtakes I say! These previously unreleased tracks demonstrate the quality of Morrison's general output, being of a standard most artists could only dream of! The album contains new tracks, rarities and alternative versions, spanning his whole career to date - 1968 to 1988. Infamous for the strict demands he placed on his bands it is no surprise that the music is perfectly played and recorded as demonstrated on Naked in the Jungle.
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| Stenness standing stones, Orkney - a suitably Celtic location |
I've seen Van a few times live and his difficult reputation precedes him and can lead to some fairly bad tempered appearances. Often a musician in his band will feel the force of his displeasure where a cue for a solo is missed. At a gig at Brighton Dome a few years ago he turned to cue his choir of backing singers who had actually exited the stage -
Where's the f*****' choir?!
Sitting to the side of the stage I also had view of his countdown timer displayed in huge red LED lights. Van was not going to play a minute longer than agreed, and never does encores. Having said all that his voice remains as strong as ever and there was a period from the late 60s through to the mid 70s where he produced six or seven of the greatest albums ever made. The first of these Astral Weeks is my favourite album of all time. He can also still turn it on live when he wants to; headlining the Love Supreme Festival in 2015 he turned in a storming set of 70s classics finishing with an extended Gloria.
1. Crosby Stills and Nash - CSN
2. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
3. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
4. Bob Dylan - New Morning
5. Van Morrison - The Philospher's Stone CD 1
6. Grateful Dead - From the Mars Hotel
Tom Waits was the subject of a BBC retrospective last weekend. This naturally drew me to select a couple of his CDs. Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs were consecutive albums recorded in the early 80s. Although he always had his famous gravel and whiskey voice these albums represented quite a departure from the sound of his 70s output which was more conventionally song based. Here he employed a much more aggressive "industrial" sound of clanky rhythms, marimbas, brass and double bass, with cabaret like narratives recalling the songwriting of Kurt Weill.
The captain is a one-armed dwarf
He's throwing dice along the wharf
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King
So take this ring
We sail tonight for Singapore
We're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny moor
took off to the Land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen
Walked the sewers of Paris
I danced along a colored wind
Dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me
Tom Waits from Singapore
I really like Dylan's New Morning album. It's very understated with gentle piano based songs. I enjoy hearing the less celebrated songs of such an artist like Father of Night.
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| Dapper Dylan from the New Morning shoot |
Grateful Dead were famous for their extended live performances captured on many bootlegs which the band, unlike most, actually encouraged and sanctioned. Their studio albums don't always capture the full atmosphere of the live experience although I think From the Mars Hotel is the best I have heard and contains my favourite Dead track Unbroken Chain which showcases Jerry Garcia's fluid jazz twinged soloing pretty well.
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| Liquid gold - the acid fretwork of Dead legend Jerry Garcia 1942 - 1995 |
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