Van Morrison enjoys creative longevity

Mercury News ^ | 8/2006 | John Eberhart

[pissant]

Beside the garden walls, We walk in haunts of ancient peace. At night we rest and go to sleep In haunts of ancient peace ... The holy grail we seek On down by haunts of ancient peace. We seek the new Jerusalem In haunts of ancient peace."

They could be the words of a bard of yore, but they are lyrics from Van Morrison's "Haunts of Ancient Peace," from his 1980 album, "Common One."

They are an example of how Morrison, across a four-decade career, has mined English literature for the ideas that elevate his music to elegant meditations on life.

Morrison's "Haunts" sprang from Alfred Austin, an English poet laureate who died in 1913. "The Penguin Companion to Literature" takes a dim view of Austin, declaring that he wrote "20 volumes of bad verse." With Austin's prose, though, Morrison separated wheat from chaff. In 1901, Austin, disturbed by development, roamed his country seeking "Old England, or so much of it as is left." According to "Martin J. Wiener's English Culture," Austin yearned for "washing days, homemade jams ... morning and evening prayers."

Morrison, an avid reader, discovered "Haunts of Ancient Peace" and, 78 years later, turned the 1902 travelogue into one of the most evocative songs in the Van canon.

On Aug. 31, Morrison will celebrate his 61st birthday. Some of his peers are dead, such as Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison. Others are in retirement (Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick).

But Morrison carries on. One imagines him writing and performing well into his 70s or even 80s, much like John Lee Hooker, the late bluesman he admired and with whom he collaborated.

Bob Dylan and Neil Young may get more attention, but Morrison is one of pop music's greats because he, too, does it all.

[pissant]

Unlike most artists who put it in neutral and rely on their hits of yesteryear, Van has put out consitently great music all his career thru all his phases.

From the rocking sessions with Them to Astral Weeks (first solo album) to St. Dominics Preview to the Common One to Hymns to the Silence to his latest, Magic Time. Though he has some filler songs, each album has genuine gems to add to his repetoire.

[pissant]

van PING

[JennysCool]

Yup. some of his latest have been some of his best. Long live Van!

[scott says]

His latest album was " Pay the Devil" , a country album. Some pretty good stuff on it but a lot of yawners. Van still is going strong- always willing to try new genres and band line ups. Van is fantastic, one of my all time favorites!

[pissant]

I love his latest!

[Heyworth]

Saw him at the Hollywood Bowl last year doing a straight up jazz/blues show. Great stuff.

[mozarky2]

My MOONDANCE cd is one of my "desert island" recordings...Into the Mystic sends chills down my spine.

[scott says]

Dude...you are so last year! LOL

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7022841/a/Pay+The+Devil.htm

[pissant]

I missed that one. But I'm not too interested in him trying country. Now his album with the Chieftains about a dozen years ago is FANTASTIC. (then again, it's Irish music)

[pissant]

Nice. I've seen him only once, but vow to do so again soon. Even if I have to fly somewhere to do it.

[pissant]

I get mesmerized by some of his songs. Into the Mystic is one. Try Listen to the Lion or Almost Independence day from St. Dominic's preview. It's something else.

[pissant]

Hey, not EVERYONE can be a total music junkie like you. LOL

[scott says]

The country cd is not one of his best.
He does a couple of good things on it-
Big Blue Diamonds is probably the best song on it.
He played at the Grand Old Opry on March 27, 2006 and 5 songs were broadcast on a cable country channel.
I think the whole show is going to be released on DVD at some point.
I'm still kicking myself. He played at a tiny bar 15 minutes from my house and I missed it.
I wasn't checking the net for news and he played right down the road at a 300 capacity bar!
http://vanmorrisonnews.blogspot.com/2006/03/marin-independent-review-of-rancho.html
I have A+ cd of the show however! : )

[Darkwolf377]

Van is a true MUSICIAN. He hasn't charted much in 20+ years, but I love every CD, some more than others but each one is listenable. He's had a lot of lousy luck businesswise--managers stealing from him and screwing him over. Some of this stuff is so bitter it's a turnoff. But many of his CDs never go out of rotation here, even such "minor" works as Inarticulate Speech of the Heart. A few years ago on What's Wrong With This Picture? he created one of the catchiest tunes he's ever come up with, with a cha-cha beat, believe it or not, called "Once In A Blue Moon"--that's what I mean about him being a musician--his music isn't just the beats and the notes, it's MUSIC.

Very little coming out these days measures up to that seemingly obvious standard.

[pissant]

You IDIOT!!!!! LOL

[pissant]

I may have to bum another CD off ya though. ;o)

[cardinal4]

Listen to the Lion and Saint Dominics Preview from "Too Late to Stop now" are my favorites. "Cleaning Windows", "Bright Side of the Road", "Did Ye get healed" and "Wavelength" are favorites, too..

[kanawa]

Two of my favorites...

[pissant]

I use Once in a Blue Moon to dance my daughter to sleep for a nap. It's our song and will be for life I'm thinking.

From Magic Time; The Lion Again and Celtic New Year and Evening Train are as good as anything he's done.

[scott says]

I'll send ya the cd...it is AWESOME!
Because the bar was so small the recording came out great.
I was sick to my stomach when I found at that he played that show.
I was sitting at home and he was playing a 4 pm show in a bar-
literally 15 minutes from my house!
I will never make that mistake again-
Scroll down to March 2, 2006 to see artwork-
http://john-donne.easytree.org/