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Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

drewnicedrewnice 5,465 Posts
edited November 2005 in Music Talk


Dip passed me a dollar bin copy of this over a year ago and I flexed it off like, "oh cool, but that's probably not my style."


Saw another copy yesterday and picked it up to see if I was missing anything...




YES I WAS.

Damn, this record sounds like it could have come out on Cadet with all the heavy orchestration, but without the trademark drums. A completely lovely album that I can't believe I never took the time to check out. Playing it real loud with the windows open right now!

What do you appreciate about Astral Weeks?
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  Comments

  • TheMackTheMack 3,414 Posts
    one of the greatest albums ever made. beautiful throughout
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    i had lent my mom the cd a year or so ago, and never heard much feedback. then, at dinner a month ago, we (mom, gf, roommate, and i) were laughing, drinking wine, so i put it on. now, my mom's a lush, and gets really excited about pretty insignificant, mundane things, but two minutes into it, she's saying "who is this!?.... i've heard it before, etc." when i told her, she thought i had given her a morrissey[/b] cd, and that's why she never listened to it. no joke.
  • On_the_Red_ClayOn_the_Red_Clay 1,728 Posts

    YES YOU WERE



    Essential gutwrenching sounds. Especially if you realize that this was only his second solo record after his work with Them (his first contains the lovely "brown eyed girl")

    I love the range of emotions and the rawness in the delivery + the overall sound. His third album is even better imho:

    Attached files
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts

    YES YOU WERE



    Essential gutwrenching sounds. Especially if you realize that this was only his second solo record after his work with Them (his first contains the lovely "brown eyed girl")

    I love the range of emotions and the rawness in the delivery + the overall sound. His third album is even better imho:


    Moondance is my favorite Morrison LP, Astral Weeks, Tupelo Honey.

    I know I am often hatting on rock music here. Terrible singing, and either lack of emotion or theatrical emotion are the main reason for me not liking a lot of rock music.

    Van is a great singer, with meaningful and emotional songs.

    Dan

  • ShingalingShingaling 877 Posts
    one of the greatest albums ever made. beautiful throughout
    Also my favorites..



    This is hot! You can get it on a 3 LP set. One LP is just Van jamming and writing in the studio.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Love this record. Also someone who slept on it for too long. I can't keep it in stock here at the shop, it's a title that always sells, to everyone.

    Drewn you should check out Them. That was Van's group. There is so much rock music out there that breaks/hip-hop/soul/etc heads have previously dismissed or are sleeping on.
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    I appreciate that it was recorded in one night, that Richard Davis plays the same note cluster in every song, that I remember distinctly the first time I ever listened to it sixteen years ago, that it's almost sad, but isn't sad, that there aren't any pop songs on it to ruin it.

    drinkin' clear clean water for to quench my thirst...
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    that it's almost sad, but isn't sad,

    YEah man, it's *hopeful*. That's the sound I am into these days.
  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts




    What do you appreciate about Astral Weeks?



    perfect record all the way through.



    Connie Kay







    Richard Davis









    We strolled through fields all wet with rain

    And back along the lane again

    There in the sunshine

    In the sweet summertime

    The way that young lovers do



    I kissed you on the lips once more

    And we said goodbye just adoring the nighttime

    Yeah, that???s the right time

    To feel the way that young lovers do



    Then we sat on our own star and dreamed of the way that we were

    And the way that we were meant to be

    Then we sat on our own star and dreamed of the way that I was for you

    And you were for me

    And then we danced the night away

    And turned to each other, say, ???i love you, I love you???

    The way that young lovers do



    Do, do, do, do...



    Then we sat on our star and dreamed of the way that we were and the way

    That we wanted to be

    Then we sat on our own star and dreamed of the way that I was for you

    And you were for me

    I went on to dance the night away

    And turned to each other, say, ???i love you, baby, I love you???

    The way that young lovers do, lovers do, lovers do



    Do, do, do, do....
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    you should check out Them. That was Van's group. There is so much rock music out there that breaks/hip-hop/soul/etc heads have previously dismissed or are sleeping on.

    Thier 2ns album "Them Again" is a white whale of mine. Their cover of It's All Over Now Baby Blue" is one of those tracks that makes me feel incredibly deep even at the most shallow moments.

    Van Morrisson has one of the most emotional wraught voices I have had the pleasure to experience. So much pain, joy, love, and soul all at the same time.
  • jazzercismjazzercism 838 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read. Richard Davis's playing on the album is incredible. Incidentally, I was reading an interview with Richard Davis where he was very dismissive about Astral Weeks, saying he barely remembered the sessions and it was just another gig for him.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Typical jazz guy bullshit - I'm sure he was off making "real music" with "serious players".

    Reminds me of the way George Benson was dissing James Brown on the inside cover of "Good King Bad"...
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    Reminds me of the way George Benson was dissing James Brown on the inside cover of "Good King Bad"...

    whats the story there?
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Reminds me of the way George Benson was dissing James Brown on the inside cover of "Good King Bad"...

    whats the story there?

    Just read the liner notes... dude basically bragging about taking some of the members of JB's band away to play "serious music"....
  • Tuff_GongTuff_Gong 627 Posts
    Love this album, but then I love pretty much everything Van Morrison did in the late 60's and all the 70's. I picked up "The Philosopher's Stone" a while back and even his rejects and leftovers are incredible stuff. His string of early solo albums is one of the most impressive periods of any musician in rock. Hell, he's in his 60's and even his newer albums are pretty good, which is more than can be said of a lot of other people of his era.
  • jazzercismjazzercism 838 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read.

    Link to aforementioned Bangs article...

    https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/murray.wood/astral.html

  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read. Richard Davis's playing on the album is incredible. Incidentally, I was reading an interview with Richard Davis where he was very dismissive about Astral Weeks, saying he barely remembered the sessions and it was just another gig for him.



    Astral Weeks was layered. The base rhythm section spent a few hours riffing in a studio and then they left. That's all they knew. So it's no wonder doing blue note sessions face to face with Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Williams etc. have been more memorable for Mr. Davis



    Typical jazz guy bullshit -



    hi



  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Tony Williams etc. have been more memorable for Mr. Davis

    Typical jazz guy bullshit -

    hi


    HI FRANK!!!!

  • jazzercismjazzercism 838 Posts

    Astral Weeks was layered. The base rhythm section spent a few hours riffing in a studio and then they left. That's all they knew. So it's no wonder doing blue note sessions face to face with Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Williams etc. have been more memorable for Mr. Davis


    Are you saying that playing backup for an Irish singer-songwriter is less memorable than playing bass on a Charles Mingus album?
  • ariel_calmerariel_calmer 3,762 Posts
    Reminds me of the way George Benson was dissing James Brown on the inside cover of "Good King Bad"...

    whats the story there?

    Just read the liner notes... dude basically bragging about taking some of the members of JB's band away to play "serious music"....

    No further punchline needed!
  • parsecparsec 5,087 Posts
    Astral weeks is one of those records you always go back to. Definitly one of the most soulful, beautiful records in my collection. And huge cosign on those Them records, love em both.
  • LazerLazer 796 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read. Richard Davis's playing on the album is incredible. Incidentally, I was reading an interview with Richard Davis where he was very dismissive about Astral Weeks, saying he barely remembered the sessions and it was just another gig for him.

    Co-sign, Richard dosen't have much to say about those recordings, when I asked him about them it seemed to me that he didn't enjoy recording it. He seemed really indifferent about it and quickly changed the conversation back to Eric Dolphy and Ben Webster. Which were some crazy tales.
  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read.

    Link to aforementioned Bangs article...

    https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/murray.wood/astral.html


    Thank you, sir. I was just about to look that up. I read Bangs biography, written by a local Chicago newspaper guy; it was an OK read; dude sipped a lot of sizzurp.
  • jazzercismjazzercism 838 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read.

    Link to aforementioned Bangs article...

    https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/murray.wood/astral.html


    Thank you, sir. I was just about to look that up. I read Bangs biography, written by a local Chicago newspaper guy; it was an OK read; dude sipped a lot of sizzurp.

    Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung is the Greil Marcus-edited collection that has all of his really gonzo stuff (comparing Jethro Tull to Vietnamese folk music and mocking bloated Chicago albums) but they just released a new anthology of his writing that is supposed to be more representative of his work over the years.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    The istrumental tracks were recorded in one room while, Van was in another singing. The instrumental versions reportedly are all over 10 minutes in length. They were edited down for the record. I'd love to her the extended versions of that LP. File under lost holy grails.
  • awallawall 673 Posts
    astral weeks is my favorite album of all time
  • loudwizardloudwizard 358 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read.

    Link to aforementioned Bangs article...

    https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/murray.wood/astral.html


    wonderful wonderful.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    that it's almost sad, but isn't sad,

    YEah man, it's *hopeful*. That's the sound I am into these days.

    so so dope. i listened to this a thousand times driving through anonymous parts of the country. once i was hitchhiking and i was sitting on a carpet in the back of this van that this real quiet couple was driving. they drove me through the mountains of new mexico listening. when they started playing a van morrison album, i mentioned that i loved astral weeks. "we'll play that next" the guy said. the three of us barely spoke for the hours that we drove, but we had some shared bond of *hopefulness*

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    cosign X infinity
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Lester Bangs on Astral Weeks is some of the most passionate music writing I've ever read.

    Link to aforementioned Bangs article...

    https://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/murray.wood/astral.html


    Thank you, sir. I was just about to look that up. I read Bangs biography, written by a local Chicago newspaper guy; it was an OK read; dude sipped a lot of sizzurp.

    Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung is the Greil Marcus-edited collection that has all of his really gonzo stuff (comparing Jethro Tull to Vietnamese folk music and mocking bloated Chicago albums) but they just released a new anthology of his writing that is supposed to be more representative of his work over the years.

    Check out the Bangs bio that came out a few years ago (written by an old friend of mine).

    Cosign on Van...
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