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Van Morrison Astral Weeks live in Hollywood


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Van finally doing something interesting (has to go back 40 years to do it...).

 

LouieB

 

yeah, isn't this the same guy who has spent the last 30 years saying that all his old stuff is irrelevant, blasting fans and critics who request it and ask him about it, and saying that he has no interest in performing it or even discussing it?

 

hypocritical bullshit

 

incredible record but van's been telling me for years not to bother with it, so why is he?

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van's been telling me for years not to bother with it, so why is he?

 

Probably because he's no longer relevant, and he wants to make some cash. He should also consider doing Moondance in its entirity. That would be pretty badass.

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Probably because he's no longer relevant, and he wants to make some cash. He should also consider doing Moondance in its entirity. That would be pretty badass.

i would be up for "his band and street choir!!" :dancing

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I bet this show will be filmed and/or recorded and sold as a dvd/cd.

I could see that being included with a deluxe edition of Astral Weeks. The Morrison remastered & expanded CDs have been coming pretty frequently over the past year. There's only a few not on the release schedule, Astral Weeks and Moondance being two of them.

 

f_vanmorrisonm_355fa26.jpg

f_vanmorrisonm_065868d.jpg

 

I imagine they'll be pulling out all the stops for those 2 records.

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I could see that being included with a deluxe edition of Astral Weeks. The Morrison remastered & expanded CDs have been coming pretty frequently over the past year. There's only a few not on the release schedule, Astral Weeks and Moondance being two of them.

 

I imagine they'll be pulling out all the stops for those 2 records.

 

That is the only two I own - I bought them used many years ago.

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I'd love to see this show. I also love Van and like what he has been doing the last 20 years. For me, he is an incredible artist and is one of the few from the 60s-70s that has remained relevant. There are some amazing songs on his albums from the mid 80s on.

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Actually the idea of Van doing Astral Weeks is a heck of a good idea. I find Van's more recent work pedestrian to say the least and maybe this will get his creative juices flowing again. (That country album is just barely tolerable....)

 

LouieB

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Wow, a lot of Van hate here. I would give a lot to see this. I wish I had a lot.

No kidding! Our good friends (and Wilco lovers) Ray and Juliette are flying out to LA from Ohio to see this. VERY jealous.

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  • 4 weeks later...

"None of the authors have ever had the courtesy of asking me to elaborate on my own music--500-page books and not one word did they want from me--on anything, ever. I have tried to offer up help and am refused. They have flat out refused all insight from me. :-)"

 

Just the thought of Van typing a ":-)" changes everything I thought I knew about him.

 

Conversely, if the ":-)" was added by the author, that would confirm every assumption I've ever held about music writers.

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No kidding! Our good friends (and Wilco lovers) Ray and Juliette are flying out to LA from Ohio to see this. VERY jealous.

Michelle and I hung out with R&J over the weekend. They were happy to see the show to be sure, but they did mention 1) it seemed short, time wise, and 2) it needed some VOLUME. Ray said folks were yelling to turn it up a number of times.

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  • 1 month later...

Star Pulse.com

 

Van Morrison To Release 'Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl' Feb. 10 2009

January 8th, 2009 6:00pm EST

 

Van Morrison, multi-award winning soul singer and musical legend Van Morrison is set to release "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl," an in-concert reworking of his historic 1968 gold-certified solo album. Recorded live over two nights at the Hollywood Bowl this past Nov. 7 and 8, the album marks the premiere release on Mr. Morrison's new EMI-distributed label, Listen to the Lion Records. "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl" arrives in stores Feb. 10, 2009. A double-vinyl edition with three bonus tracks (including a live version of "Gloria") arrives in stores the same day.

 

The concerts marked the first time Mr. Morrison ever performed "Astral Weeks" in one complete concert set. Joining him was an orchestral string section and a band composed of world-class musicians, some of whom played with Van on the original Astral Weeks sessions 40 years ago. Tracks on the CD include: "Astral Weeks/I Believe I've Transcended," "Beside You," "Slim Slow Slider/ I Start Breaking Down," "Sweet Thing," "The Way Young Lovers Do," "Cyprus Avenue / You Came Walking Down," "Ballerina," "Madame George" and two bonus tracks, "Listen to the Lion / The Lion Speaks" and "Common One."

 

The Hollywood Bowl concerts gave me a welcome opportunity to perform these songs the way I originally intended them to be," says Mr. Morrison, who amazingly held only one rehearsal prior to the concerts. "There are certain dynamics you can get in live recordings that you just cannot get in a studio recording. I love listening to live recordings. You get the whole thing right there, unabridged, raw and in the moment. There was a distinct alchemy happening on that stage in Hollywood. I felt it."

 

To rework "Astral Weeks," Mr. Morrison added his signature stretching of songs in a manner unlike any before by creating new sections of songs live on stage. As producer of the record, Morrison insisted there be no post-production engineering. It is straight up raw from the Hollywood Bowl stage - pure resonant sound.

 

"These songs are timeless and as fresh today as the day they were written, actually even more so," Mr. Morrison added . "I was happy to perform them at the Hollywood Bowl and delighted to release a live album which really captures the essence of the original for today's audiences with every taste in music. It's got it all, jazz, blues, folk, classic. You name it."

 

Van Morrison

 

Fans and critics present at the Hollywood Bowl those two nights grasped the momentous nature of the concerts. Rolling Stone Magazine noted that Mr. Morrison "took charge of the music with the authority that comes with four decades of performing. It seemed that once he breathed in the perfume of these eight songs, he didn't want them to end - and looking at the enraptured crowd, he wasn't the only one." Added the Los Angeles Times, "Transcendence is what Morrison has been after with his music from the beginning

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I was thinking - this is a pretty powerful song:

 

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.

Oh, sweet thing, sweet thing. My, my, my, my, my sweet thing.

 

And I shall drive my chariot down your streets and cry-

'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite and I don't know why.'

And you shall take me strongly in your arms again

and I will not remember that I even felt the pain.

We shall walk and talk in gardens all misty and wet with rain

and I will never, never, never grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing. My, my, my, my, my sweet thing.

 

And I will raise my hand up into the nighttime sky and count the stars that's shining in your eye.

Just to dig it all and not to wonder, that's just fine

and I'll be satisfied not to read in between the lines.

And I will walk and talk in gardens all wet, all misty wet with rain

and I will never, ever, ever, ever grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing. Sugar baby.

Sugar-baby with your champagne eyes and your saint-like smile.

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