Felice Brothers Favorite Waitress
Van Morrison Astral Weeks
Van Morrison Days Like This
Van Morrison Irish Heartbeat
Van Morrison Enlightenment
Van Morrison Enlightenment
Felice Brothers Celebration, Florida
4 more Van Morrison albums this week book-ended by a couple of new Felice Brothers albums.
3 of the VM albums are from his "mid-period" if you like -
Days Like This 1995 (his 23rd)
Irish Heartbeat 1988 (his 18th)
Enlightenment 1990 (his 20th)
Oddly I remember Enlightenment was either the first or second CD I ever bought after acquiring my first CD player around about the time this CD was issued - a NAD I think it was (always recommended at Richer Sounds!). I do remember a friend having the first CD player I had seen when I was a student in about 1983, and another friend who owned a music shop in my hometown of Chichester demonstrating Dark Side Of The Moon on one probably slightly before that (actually I read they were introduced in 1982).
The other album I had on CD was Without A Net by The Grateful Dead (not a band who have appeared much at the blog yet, if at all - actually let's see... actually 3 times #22, #23 and #49 all back in 2017).
Enlightenment is easily the best of these 3 Morrison albums with some super smooth tracks including the single Real Real Gone, the title track, In The Days Before Rock N Roll, and the gorgeous So Quiet In Here:
The Irish Heartbeat one was made with the Chieftains and is obviously more fiddly twiddly traditional, and the other one is more easy listening bluesy, neither exceptional (Astral Weeks is of course exceptional and essential for anyone's collection).
When The Felice Brothers released Celebration, Florida (actually a real town developed by the Walt Disney company) the reviews were mixed. Some commentators thought the band had strayed too far from their Dylan/Band ramshackle americana with a more driving rock based format and even some synthesizers. I actually think it's a storming album - the heavier instrumentation underpinned by a driving bass and honky piano may be different but Ian Felice's vocals and lyrics are the same, and the melodies are as strong as ever. Two standouts are the opening track which I love with it's shouted kids' chorus -
12456789 Thousand
Fire, fire at the pageant
Would everybody calm down please stop shouting
Go on the run call 911Calm down, calm down, calm down
and the single Ponzi:
This must be what paradise is like
The Irish Heartbeat one was made with the Chieftains and is obviously more fiddly twiddly traditional, and the other one is more easy listening bluesy, neither exceptional (Astral Weeks is of course exceptional and essential for anyone's collection).
When The Felice Brothers released Celebration, Florida (actually a real town developed by the Walt Disney company) the reviews were mixed. Some commentators thought the band had strayed too far from their Dylan/Band ramshackle americana with a more driving rock based format and even some synthesizers. I actually think it's a storming album - the heavier instrumentation underpinned by a driving bass and honky piano may be different but Ian Felice's vocals and lyrics are the same, and the melodies are as strong as ever. Two standouts are the opening track which I love with it's shouted kids' chorus -
12456789 Thousand
Fire, fire at the pageant
Would everybody calm down please stop shouting
Go on the run call 911Calm down, calm down, calm down
Please stop shouting!
and the single Ponzi:
He's the chair of the company
Such a great band, who always surprise.
Yet to get into Favorite Waitress so far but anyone who can write lines like "all I want to eat is Cherry Licorice, I don't care if it sounds ridiculous" is alright in my songbook:
Yet to get into Favorite Waitress so far but anyone who can write lines like "all I want to eat is Cherry Licorice, I don't care if it sounds ridiculous" is alright in my songbook:
Even the birds and bees
Eat how they damn well please
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