Music Banter - View Single Post - The Complete Discography thread Van Morrison

Son of JayJamJah · 07-07-2008, 12:48 PM

In between Hard Nose and Veedon Fleece Van released his first live album, the 1973 summer tour compilation entitled “It’s too late to stop now”. If you don’t own this album and like this thread, you need to change the first statement. I could tell you about how not a single track on this album was altered from its original live recording. I could tell you how Van declared which performance would be included prior to the performances based on how he was feeling leading into the song. I could tell you how it was supposed to be a 20 track album, but a glitch in the tape on one track and a single missed guitar note on Moondance led Van to exclude those tracks. However, you need to know little else then the simple fact that this is among the greatest live albums ever recorded. Please listen while you read, I’ll send you a copy on request if you promise to buy or delete within one month. Scouts honor I suppose for the Americans at least.

It’s too late to Stop Now (1974)

I had the great fortune of attending one of the shows on this tour; not sure if any of the tracks made the cut but I can tell you what didn’t. In addition to the dismissal of Moondance and what is believed to have been T.B Sheets Van intentionally did not include the never released song “I Paid the Price” the most direct nod to the divorce he ever put into music or otherwise for that matter. But most notably excluded were the performances from the upcoming Veedon Fleece album. At our show it was the highlight of the evening. Van played Cypress Avenue went into a rough version of the opening verse of Streets of Arklow, the music went quiet he started chanting “searching for the Veedon Fleece” the plays what is clearly a young version of “Bulbs” with maybe the same lyrics maybe not and I thin an extra verse. Anyway it was amazing and the band played a 5 minute instrumental of Domino with improvised solos over the melody while Van recovered off stage…

Set List

1. "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do"
2. "Warm Love"
3. "Into the Mystic"
4. "These Dreams of You"
5. "I Believe to My Soul"
6. "I've Been Working"
7. "Help Me"
8. "Wild Children"
9. "Domino"
10. "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
11. "Bring It On Home to Me"
12. "Saint Dominic's Preview"
13. "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket"
14. "Listen to the Lion"
15. "Here Comes the Night"
16. "Gloria"
17. "Caravan"
18. "Cyprus Avenue"

This funky promenade begins with stirring rendition of the Joe Scott and Deadric Malone’s “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do” originally pressed by Bobby “Blue” Bland the Blue Band in the late 50’s. Horns blare in between robust shouts of the helplessness of heartache. “Electric Lights go out” as Van exposes another of his early 50’s R&B\Soul influences. “Warm Love” the quintessential hit from “Hard Nose the Highway” is next as it’s picked up from the same show. Delivered in punchy fashion throughout the verses as Van follows the rhythm exact before faded comfortably back into the typically melody for the chorus. “The Sky is crying and it’s time to go home” as Van rains down the chorus in improvised fashion the last time around slurring his way through the performance for emphasis. “Into the Mystic” is next, as always Van interprets the song in a new way for the performance. A lighter horn section the studio version plays the part admirably as keys and strings fill in the cracks. “I just want to rock your soul baby” It’s almost impossible to screw this song up. Another Moondance number is next with “These Dreams of You” an interesting number as it was originally a dedication of Love and happiness despite the flaws to his now ex-wife Janet. Van kicks it up a number and focuses on the surreal imagery of dreams that frames the song beyond the more personal meaning. “Go to sleep don’t even say one word” as the song falls into a jazzy instrumental with even more soul then the album version. A surprise and welcome addition to his foremost Live compilation. “I Believe to My soul” is a Ray Charles song, and Van does it justice as few others could in such a large shadow. Staying almost completely true to the original with a more well rounded sound incorporating more instruments in the background. The first number included from “…Street Choir” is “I’ve been Working” which doesn’t carry the same weight outside the context of the album typically but gets a funked up makeover for it’s Live appearance as keys and bass guitar slide and bend their way through the music. This performance among the whole stands out as one of the most all-inclusive elemental performances fusing jazz\soul\rhythm&blues\funk into a thrashing rock number.

“You gotta help me, I can’t do it all by myself” The second section of the album opens with “Help Me” a cover of another 1950’s Blues standard this one penned by Sonny Boy Williamson and Willie Dixon. Van has always made a habit of covering the music he feels he owes a debt of gratitude to at his live performances and it is about the only time other then when introducing the band he’ll address the audience. With a fun finish it’s an essential to the album for the experienced listener. “Wild Children” is an often forgotten song from “Hard Nose the Highway” noted mostly for the references to Actors and Playwright influences like James Dean and Tennessee Williams. Van’s voice is flawless with all the elegance of a studio recording packed into a single take Live. Van ups the ante and the pulse of the performance with the ironically reclusive “Domino” the top hit of the “Street Choir” album. Several altered lyrics hint at an untold story as Van continues to battle his stage fright and generally private nature to find true happiness within the music that runs through his mind. Still “Don’t want to discuss it” and still “time for a change” but now Van breaks into a light accompanied bridge building toward a final frenetic crescendo to the Live version of his ode to the Fat Man. Willie Dixon’s often covered “I just want to make Love to you” is the next number on the docket as Morrison first shyly then more confidently always interpreting every note, every word as a piece of the story. Sam Cooke lends his music to the next number as Van covers the heart wrenching “Bring it on Home to Me” with a sputtering slur and a heart full of soul behind music so raw you can reach out and feel it. A brilliantly written song, perfectly interpreted and executed to fit the artist. As close to being as good as the original as you can get. Finally the second section of my review ends with another personal favorite. The nostalgic “St. Dominic’s Preview” serves as the canvas for Van’s next exploit as his incorporation of viola and violin leads along with more deliberate lyrical delivery pays tribute to the folk inspired esplanade through memory lane without losing the necessary reverence for the seriousness of his homeland conflict that inspires this somehow hopeful song of apocalypse. “That’s the way it all should happen when your in the fairytale state your in” Maybe more then ever the message of this song is clear…an end is just a new beginning.

(To be Continued)

07-07-2008, 12:48 PM	#35 (permalink)
Son of JayJamJah Occams Razor Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: End of the Earth Posts: 2,472	Part One: It's Too Late To Stop Now (1974) In between Hard Nose and Veedon Fleece Van released his first live album, the 1973 summer tour compilation entitled “It’s too late to stop now”. If you don’t own this album and like this thread, you need to change the first statement. I could tell you about how not a single track on this album was altered from its original live recording. I could tell you how Van declared which performance would be included prior to the performances based on how he was feeling leading into the song. I could tell you how it was supposed to be a 20 track album, but a glitch in the tape on one track and a single missed guitar note on Moondance led Van to exclude those tracks. However, you need to know little else then the simple fact that this is among the greatest live albums ever recorded. Please listen while you read, I’ll send you a copy on request if you promise to buy or delete within one month. Scouts honor I suppose for the Americans at least. It’s too late to Stop Now (1974) I had the great fortune of attending one of the shows on this tour; not sure if any of the tracks made the cut but I can tell you what didn’t. In addition to the dismissal of Moondance and what is believed to have been T.B Sheets Van intentionally did not include the never released song “I Paid the Price” the most direct nod to the divorce he ever put into music or otherwise for that matter. But most notably excluded were the performances from the upcoming Veedon Fleece album. At our show it was the highlight of the evening. Van played Cypress Avenue went into a rough version of the opening verse of Streets of Arklow, the music went quiet he started chanting “searching for the Veedon Fleece” the plays what is clearly a young version of “Bulbs” with maybe the same lyrics maybe not and I thin an extra verse. Anyway it was amazing and the band played a 5 minute instrumental of Domino with improvised solos over the melody while Van recovered off stage… Set List 1. "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" 2. "Warm Love" 3. "Into the Mystic" 4. "These Dreams of You" 5. "I Believe to My Soul" 6. "I've Been Working" 7. "Help Me" 8. "Wild Children" 9. "Domino" 10. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" 11. "Bring It On Home to Me" 12. "Saint Dominic's Preview" 13. "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket" 14. "Listen to the Lion" 15. "Here Comes the Night" 16. "Gloria" 17. "Caravan" 18. "Cyprus Avenue" This funky promenade begins with stirring rendition of the Joe Scott and Deadric Malone’s “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do” originally pressed by Bobby “Blue” Bland the Blue Band in the late 50’s. Horns blare in between robust shouts of the helplessness of heartache. “Electric Lights go out” as Van exposes another of his early 50’s R&B\Soul influences. “Warm Love” the quintessential hit from “Hard Nose the Highway” is next as it’s picked up from the same show. Delivered in punchy fashion throughout the verses as Van follows the rhythm exact before faded comfortably back into the typically melody for the chorus. “The Sky is crying and it’s time to go home” as Van rains down the chorus in improvised fashion the last time around slurring his way through the performance for emphasis. “Into the Mystic” is next, as always Van interprets the song in a new way for the performance. A lighter horn section the studio version plays the part admirably as keys and strings fill in the cracks. “I just want to rock your soul baby” It’s almost impossible to screw this song up. Another Moondance number is next with “These Dreams of You” an interesting number as it was originally a dedication of Love and happiness despite the flaws to his now ex-wife Janet. Van kicks it up a number and focuses on the surreal imagery of dreams that frames the song beyond the more personal meaning. “Go to sleep don’t even say one word” as the song falls into a jazzy instrumental with even more soul then the album version. A surprise and welcome addition to his foremost Live compilation. “I Believe to My soul” is a Ray Charles song, and Van does it justice as few others could in such a large shadow. Staying almost completely true to the original with a more well rounded sound incorporating more instruments in the background. The first number included from “…Street Choir” is “I’ve been Working” which doesn’t carry the same weight outside the context of the album typically but gets a funked up makeover for it’s Live appearance as keys and bass guitar slide and bend their way through the music. This performance among the whole stands out as one of the most all-inclusive elemental performances fusing jazz\soul\rhythm&blues\funk into a thrashing rock number. “You gotta help me, I can’t do it all by myself” The second section of the album opens with “Help Me” a cover of another 1950’s Blues standard this one penned by Sonny Boy Williamson and Willie Dixon. Van has always made a habit of covering the music he feels he owes a debt of gratitude to at his live performances and it is about the only time other then when introducing the band he’ll address the audience. With a fun finish it’s an essential to the album for the experienced listener. “Wild Children” is an often forgotten song from “Hard Nose the Highway” noted mostly for the references to Actors and Playwright influences like James Dean and Tennessee Williams. Van’s voice is flawless with all the elegance of a studio recording packed into a single take Live. Van ups the ante and the pulse of the performance with the ironically reclusive “Domino” the top hit of the “Street Choir” album. Several altered lyrics hint at an untold story as Van continues to battle his stage fright and generally private nature to find true happiness within the music that runs through his mind. Still “Don’t want to discuss it” and still “time for a change” but now Van breaks into a light accompanied bridge building toward a final frenetic crescendo to the Live version of his ode to the Fat Man. Willie Dixon’s often covered “I just want to make Love to you” is the next number on the docket as Morrison first shyly then more confidently always interpreting every note, every word as a piece of the story. Sam Cooke lends his music to the next number as Van covers the heart wrenching “Bring it on Home to Me” with a sputtering slur and a heart full of soul behind music so raw you can reach out and feel it. A brilliantly written song, perfectly interpreted and executed to fit the artist. As close to being as good as the original as you can get. Finally the second section of my review ends with another personal favorite. The nostalgic “St. Dominic’s Preview” serves as the canvas for Van’s next exploit as his incorporation of viola and violin leads along with more deliberate lyrical delivery pays tribute to the folk inspired esplanade through memory lane without losing the necessary reverence for the seriousness of his homeland conflict that inspires this somehow hopeful song of apocalypse. “That’s the way it all should happen when your in the fairytale state your in” Maybe more then ever the message of this song is clear…an end is just a new beginning. (To be Continued)