NoJ Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Was reading an article about Van's "Astral Weeks" recently and in it was mentioned a live album he put out back in '74 called "Its too Late to Stop Now". I've been listening to it this week and am stunned that I've never heard of this before. His band is amazing and Van is in top form. He blends so many genres of music into something quite beautiful and unique. My hat is off to Van and his band. Run and listen to this asap, you wont regret it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 I love this album, was just listening to it last week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Was reading an article about Van's "Astral Weeks" recently and in it was mentioned a live album he put out back in '74 called "Its too Late to Stop Now". I've been listening to it this week and am stunned that I've never heard of this before. His band is amazing and Van is in top form. He blends so many genres of music into something quite beautiful and unique. My hat is off to Van and his band. Run and listen to this asap, you wont regret it.Holy cow, I've never heard this, either! Looks amazing. Thanks. As to Astral Weeks, yeah, a great album. I really like Enlightenment and St. Dominic's Preview as close seconds, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 They released an expanded edition of It's to Late Now to Stop Now recently. Definitely a classic. Last week, I listened to Wavelength and Into the Music - both great records. Also just picked up the below from the library, yesterday. Astral Weeks : A Secret History of 1968 - by Ryan H. Walsh A mind-expanding dive into a lost chapter of 1968, featuring the famous and forgotten: Van Morrison, folkie-turned-cult-leader Mel Lyman, Timothy Leary, James Brown, and many more Van Morrison's Astral Weeks is an iconic rock album shrouded in legend, a masterpiece that has touched generations of listeners and influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Martin Scorsese. In his first book, acclaimed musician and journalist Ryan H. Walsh unearths the album's fascinating backstory--along with the untold secrets of the time and place that birthed it: Boston 1968.On the 50th anniversary of that tumultuous year, Walsh's book follows a criss-crossing cast of musicians and visionaries, artists and hippie entrepreneurs, from a young Tufts English professor who walks into a job as a host for TV's wildest show (one episode required two sets, each tuned to a different channel) to the mystically inclined owner of radio station WBCN, who believed he was the reincarnation of a scientist from Atlantis. Most penetratingly powerful of all is Mel Lyman, the folk-music star who decided he was God, then controlled the lives of his many followers via acid, astrology, and an underground newspaper called Avatar.A mesmerizing group of boldface names pops to life in Astral Weeks: James Brown quells tensions the night after Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated; the real-life crimes of the Boston Strangler come to the movie screen via Tony Curtis; Howard Zinn testifies for Avatar in the courtroom. From life-changing concerts and chilling crimes, to acid experiments and film shoots, Astral Weeks is the secret, wild history of a unique time and place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Thanks for the tip, NOJ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Also just picked up the below from the library, yesterday. Astral Weeks : A Secret History of 1968 - by Ryan H. Walsh I just finished reading that and thought it was great. I'm from Cambridge/Boston so a lot of the history was fascinating. I definitely learned a lot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 I saw this record last week in the record store. Haven't seen it in years. I almost bought it, but I had already had the new Breeders album and Neil Young Time Fades Away, another one you rarely see, in my hands and that was alI I wanted to spend that day. Kind of kicking myself over that, but I guess everything is easy to find online. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 I just finished reading that and thought it was great. I'm from Cambridge/Boston so a lot of the history was fascinating. I definitely learned a lot. Good to know - my librarian put it in my hold pile - she figured it would be a book I would enjoy. I probably never would have came across it if she hadn't. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Calvino, you have a librarian picking books for you? That's awesome.I saw that expanded version of the Van Morrison album. Sorta pricey.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Yeah it is great - an awesome librarian is a great asset to any community. She is always picking great books for my kids, too. And yeah that expanded version is pricey -- that's why I always check it out from the library. I have had the original release for long while, but hearing the complete (at least I think they are complete) shows that the original are culled from is nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 On a side note, I have a super hot friend who is a librarian. I know she drives the folks in her library to distraction; not sure how much studying gets done when she's working. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 We don't have that problem at our library -- not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing, though - anything to get kids to a library is a good thing - I say. Anyway, just put on the 73 show from the Rainbow in London. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 On a side note, I have a super hot friend who is a librarian. I know she drives the folks in her library to distraction; not sure how much studying gets done when she's working.Pix? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
opsopcopolis Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Early 70s live VM is amazing. Have a great '71 show I grabbed on dime at one point Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Muzzle of Dan Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 If you can find this show.... Van Morrison - 1970/04/26 Fillmore West; San Francisco I highly recommend it. I think I found this show as a flac soundboard bootleg on Pirate Bay at least 10 years ago. I have since heard Too Late To Stop Now and it's great but I always go back to this miraculous bootleg that I found. Amazing show and a great quality soundboard recording. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 If you can find this show.... Van Morrison - 1970/04/26 Fillmore West; San Francisco I highly recommend it. I think I found this show as a flac soundboard bootleg on Pirate Bay at least 10 years ago. I have since heard Too Late To Stop Now and it's great but I always go back to this miraculous bootleg that I found. Amazing show and a great quality soundboard recording. Is this the one that's on Youtube? I was having a Van deep-dive some months back, and I found a video of him from one of the Fillmores. May have been Fillmore East, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Is this the one that's on Youtube? I was having a Van deep-dive some months back, and I found a video of him from one of the Fillmores. May have been Fillmore East, though. Below is a SugerMegs' Stream link. Soundhttp://ia802706.us.archive.org/13/items/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA.mp3?cnt=0 Setlisthttp://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Below is a SugerMegs' Stream link. Soundhttp://ia802706.us.archive.org/13/items/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA.mp3?cnt=0 Setlisthttp://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/VanMorrison1970-04-26FillmoreWestSanFranciscoCA.html Thanks! I think that's different than the video I was referring to. Different setlist. Found it! This is the video. Same year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Dih6JdwpM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Nice piece in the Atlantic. Only about 60 pages into Astral Weeks : A Secret History of 1968 - great read, thus far. Pretty heady times in Boston in '68. Behind the Masterpiece: Van Morrison's Astral Weeks at 50The album was conceived in the milieu of Timothy Leary, recorded with session musicians fresh off commercial-jingle gigs, and only gradually recognized as something like magic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/04/behind-the-masterpiece-van-morrisons-astral-weeks-at-50/556472/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ditty Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 On a side note, I have a super hot friend who is a librarian. I know she drives the folks in her library to distraction; not sure how much studying gets done when she's working.If you haven't already, tell her to listen to My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges song, Librarian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
opsopcopolis Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 If you haven't already, tell her to listen to My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges song, Librarian Love that song Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 AXS TV aired a Van Morrison performance last night. He has a new record with jazz organist Joey DeFancesco and his band backing him up. Sounded pretty solid. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 AXS TV aired a Van Morrison performance last night. He has a new record with jazz organist Joey DeFancesco and his band backing him up. Sounded pretty solid. Caught some of it. Definitely a solid band, but it really didn't engage me to keep watching it. Will give it another shot, though. I did enjoy when he teamed up with Georgie Fame in the 90's. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shug Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Another great Van collaboration album, in my view, is the killer rollicking rockabilly/boogie record he did with Jerry Lee Lewis' sister, Linda Gail Lewis, on piano called You Win Again. She kicks ass and what a great fun collection of songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn-f9LnfrBY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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