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Tag: Van Morrison

  • Van Morrison does duets

    Van Morrison does duets

    Van Morrison does duets on his latest album Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue.

    It doesn’t take much to get me to purchase an album by Van Morrison. When my friend Barbara let me know on Facebook that Van Morrison had a new album for sale, I was quick to purchase it. I didn’t need to hear it first, either. Morrison’s latest effort, Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue was released on March 23, 2015. He joins a long list of popular singers who have released duets albums. Van Morrison and his guests have redone sixteen of Morrison’s songs, deliberately staying away from his best known hits and retooling some of his deeper cuts. They have come up with new arrangements, breathing new life into old classics.

    I really like Van Morrison’s music, though I’m not as passionate about it as some people are. I own a number of his albums and go through phases where I’m in the mood to overdose, but I don’t listen to him all the time like I do, say, James Taylor. Now, as I listen to these duets, I feel like listening to the old versions and comparing them.

    I was glad to see that Van Morrison also includes a broad range of guests, too… everyone from George Benson to Steve Winwood have a turn on this latest release. One thing I like about Re-Working the Catalogue is the fact that it offers a taste of some artists who have aroused my curiosity, yet haven’t yet made it into my music collection. Case in point, as I write this, I’m listening to Van Morrison sing with Joss Stone. I have heard Joss Stone sing on a number of collaborations and I enjoy her music. I just haven’t had the chance to buy an album yet… but I’m going to get there soon! There are other duet partners on here that I hadn’t heard of until I listened to this album. I’m grateful to be exposed to them, just as I’m happy to hear Van Morrison sing with well known people with long, established careers in music.

    I think most of these duets are well-crafted and considered. I particularly enjoyed what Van Morrison did with George Benson on the song, “Higher Than The World”. I think his turn with Joss Stone on “Wild Honey” is also very ethereal and elegant, while his work with P.J. Proby on “Whatever Happened to P.J. Proby” is playful and bluesy. It’s definitely fun! Kind of reminds me of “Moondance”, minus the sexy mood. Clare Teal sings with Van Morrison on “Carrying a Torch” and reminds me a little of classic Linda Ronstadt, while Van Morrison and Gregory Porter make a jazzy and fun rework of “The Eternal Kansas City”. I think my favorite song is “Irish Heartbeat”, which Morrison performed with Mark Knopfler, who sings a little higher here. Daughter Shana Morrison also impresses as she sings “Rough God Goes Riding”; that’s another strong effort.


    Van Morrison and Mark Knopfler team up…

    In my humble opinion, Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue is absolutely worth the price of admission. These are sixteen well-made re-works. Of course, whether or not they are better than the originals depends on your taste. I like these new duets and I think most of them sound refreshingly authentic, not over-produced or slickly made over. If you like Van Morrison’s music, I recommend picking up this latest effort.

  • Another day, another Van Morrison album…

    Another day, another Van Morrison album…

    I’ve been on another musician kick. This week, it’s Van Morrison.

    I’m not sure what got into me the other day. I was listening to a Van Morrison album and one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, I was ordering two more of his albums from Amazon.com. This is no easy feat, since Van Morrison has been pretty prolific over the years and some of his best albums are not available as MP3s. I made a concerted effort not to bring CDs to Germany with me, but sure enough, I ordered a few of Van Morrison’s. A couple of them arrived this week and I’ve spent a couple of evenings this week listening to them. Then I found myself making a Van Morrison playlist. I wondered how, growing up in the 70s and 80s, I only knew him for songs like “Moondance” and “Brown Eyed Girl”.


    Van Morrison singing “Moondance” live back in 1996.


    Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”.

    I mean, the man has been making music for decades and putting out albums by the dozen. But my interests in his music have come in slow waves. The first one was back in the 90s, when I bought several CDs. I think it was because I heard his song, “Tupelo Honey” on a made for TV movie and thought it was lovely and moving. I bought the album it came from, along with a few others.


    “Tupelo Honey” is such a beautiful love song…

    As I listened to the albums I bought, I was introduced to some more of his pretty ballads, as well as some of the more upbeat numbers like “Wild Night”. At the time, John Mellencamp and Me’Shell Mdegeocello had a duet cover out and I had also heard a funky version on the soundtrack to Thelma & Louise. Neither of these covers held up to Van Morrison’s version.


    Yes, it sounds retro, but in a very cool way.

    In the mid 90s, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia, an Irish friend sent me a mix tape. He included a couple of Van Morrison songs on it, including this one…


    Such a pretty and peaceful song… It always takes me to a peaceful place, “In The Garden” of my mind, which is always fertile with ideas and ripe with inspiration.

    I got over my Van Morrison obsession for awhile, then was reintroduced to it when I was planning my wedding in 2002. I wanted to incorporate hymns in the service and found Van Morrison’s version of “Be Thou My Vision” on his album, Hymns To The Silence.


    Van Morrison’s “Be Thou My Vision”.

    I really got into the rest of the album, which had some very interesting songs on it. I particularly liked the ones that featured organ, since I have an uncle who plays a Hammond like nobody’s business.

    Then for my 33rd birthday in 2005, my husband, Bill, surprised me with a copy of Magic Time, which I ended up loving. In fact, as awesome as many of Van Morrison’s albums truly are, Magic Time is probably one of my all time favorites. I love it as much for the music as I do the memories it inspires.


    I love Van Morrison’s version of “Stranded”… so romantic and inspiring.

    Time went on and I started finding myself introduced to Van Morrison’s older and more obscure albums, as well as the ones that are considered classics but aren’t as easy to find nowadays.


    Van Morrison sings “Beautiful Vision” on German TV in 1984.

    This week, I’ve been getting to know his 1972 album, Saint Dominic’s Preview, and his 1997 album, The Healing Game. I mentioned on Facebook that I had picked up these albums and a friend of mine– I’ve never met her offline, but have known her for years online– expressed admiration and appreciation. We are the same age and have some similar tastes in music. She has more Van Morrison albums than I do, though at 28 and counting, I am catching up to her fast.


    Van Morrison sings “The Healing Game” live in 1999.

    Van Morrison is not above doing the occasional children’s song, either. I love what he did with “Bein’ Green”.


    Van Morrison’s 1973 take on “Bein’ Green”, from his album Hard Nose The Highway. How can you not smile listening to this?

    I should be getting more Van Morrison soon… and the obsession will continue apace. Happy Friday, everyone. Hope your weekend is full of high quality music from someone like Van Morrison.

  • Playlists…

    Playlists…

    I love a good playlist. This morning, I’m enjoying one I started months ago…

    One thing I love about having most of my music collection on my computer is the ability to make my own playlists. Growing up, I listened to the radio and that meant hearing music chosen by a disc jockey or whatever the music business wanted to make popular. As I got older, I got away from listening to radio. I would listen to Pandora sometimes, but got out of the habit the last time we were in Germany because it didn’t work here due to licensing issues. So I would just listen to whatever I had on my computer. Then I started organizing my music. I’d make a disco mix for when I felt like hearing some catchy dance tunes from the 70s. I’d make a bluegrass mix for when I wanted to hear stuff by Alison Krauss or Ricky Skaggs. I’d make a classical mix for times when I wanted classical music… and 70s and 80s mixes. I even made a “Maneater” mix of songs about women who were up to no good. Naturally, Hall & Oates’ famous song, “Maneater” is on that playlist.

    This morning, I’m listening to a playlist I call “Cool music.” It has over 1700 songs on it. I like it because it’s a mix of old and new songs. Since I don’t often sit down and turn it on, I’m rediscovering some pretty awesome music, a lot of which I found while playing on the Internet. I have a habit of downloading stuff on a whim, especially if I’ve been drinking beer. One song I found on YouTube came from a video about a water hole in Texas. I liked the background music the channel owner used so much that I found it on iTunes and downloaded the whole album.


    The song is “Mth” by Wiretree. The video is about Jacob’s Well, a very cool place in Texas that I never got to visit when we lived there.

    Then there are songs from old Van Morrison albums like Veedon Fleece, which I managed to get a copy of when we were in Texas. It’s a pretty rare CD, but it has some great music on it.


    “You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push The River”, a great Van Morrison song.

    And this playlist has Ray Charles on it, The Pogues, Chicago, and Eddi Reader, a lovely Scottish singer I discovered some time ago.


    Eddi Reader sings “Ae Fond Kiss”… makes me want to go back to Scotland.

    It’s fun to make playlists, especially when you have so much music that you don’t know what all is in your collection. It’s a great mix of old favorites and undiscovered gems. Unfortunately for my wallet, it usually leads me to download more music as I think of other songs I want to add!