The stories about the recording of Astral Weeks are well known and I don't need to add a lengthy analysis to the numerous reviews and articles already out there about Van Morrison's seminal album suffice to say it is, and has been for many years, my favourite record of all time and one that has truly enriched my life.
The gentle jazz tinged music ebbs and flows and meanders like a mountain stream, the lyrics are simultaneously fantastic and down to earth recalling places and feelings many of us have experienced.
I can't listen to this album as background music, it demands my full attention and it makes me feel things very few other records do... think green, earthy, organic, wet, lush, celtic, spring, sunshine, dewdrops, rain, rainbows, walks in the woods, trees, stone circles, nature, rivers, childhood, family, the past, the future, in the beginning and afterwards... and ultimately life and death.
And I will stroll the merry way
And jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear
Clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats
And they'll get high
On a bluer ocean
Against tomorrow's sky
And I will never grow so old again
And I will walk and talk
In gardens all wet with rain
Is there a more evocative lyric than the oft quoted "gardens wet with rain" from Sweet Thing. Look at the cover too, it's all perfect.
Van produced a lot of great music in the late 60s and early 70s and several albums do approach this greatness. For many Moondance is it's equal although it has quite a different flavour being more brass based than string backed. Personally I think Saint Dominic's Review and Veedon Fleece come closest to Astral Weeks but just don't quite capture it's atmosphere.
Greil Marcus's Listening to Van Morrison is a personal account about how he feels when err... listening to Van Morrison. As such it does exactly as it says on the tin and in leaning heavily on Astral Weeks does not pretend to offer another autobiography or comprehensive review of the whole of Morrison's output. I thoroughly enjoyed this short book and find such accounts enhance my enjoyment of the music.
1. Midlake - The Courage of Others
2. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
3. Rokia Traore - Beautiful Africa
4. Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed The Fish
5. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
6. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
And this week Astral Weeks is in good company with 5 excellent albums including the gorgeous americana folk rock of Midlake, the bluesy afro rock of Rokia Traore, the perfect pop of Badly Drawn Boy at his peak, and a classic Floyd which was also once my favourite album before I moved on. What a great week!
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