Backstreet JellyPOLL: ILM Van Morrison Poll Discussion Thread

"van is a saxophone" theory falls apart on "Almost Independence Day" where he is a guitar and "When Heart is Open" where he is a harmonica

Can't see cleaning windows on my copy of /enlightenment/ but man is it a ropey album

also really regret not voting for "dweller on the threshold," specifically the faster live version from 1984

Will probably make my ballot because of the Glastonbury recording. Such a great set. Most of my post 74 picks will be as a result of that gig

rave on

holy shit that glastonbury 87 setlist is incredible

Sorry summertime in England. The vocal interplay with one of the backing singers towards the end is phenomenal. And the line about Avalon strikes a local chord...

It was a revelatory experience.

I was trying to find time at the weekend to put the tracks somewhere for you all to hear but I ran out of time

i found a bootleg and i'm def gonna listen to it after i finish live at the grand opera house

btw is there a definitive Van Morrison biography/history book?

It's weird for how much I love him I don't really KNOW that much about him.

One thing that I'm curious about as I work through his discography is what occurs from 1974 (Veedon Fleece) to 1977 (A Period of Transition)...like from 68 to 74 he's basically dropping a classic to really good album a year, and while they all have a differences, they all seem of a piece somehow...then there's an uncharacteristic (esp for those days in the industry) gap of 3 years between albums, and then A Period of Transition definitely feels like we're in a different place now, the "classic" era is done or we're evolving into some other era, I guess an aptly named album (if pretty mediocre itself)

does anyone know what was going on w/Van at that point? Or was it just like coming off a historic run like that and being out of gas/worn out?

he became a scientologist for a while in the early 80s: i have a friend who saw him proselytising outside their shopfront in tottenham court road, offering personality tests to passersby

(so he has worked a day in his life)

maybe when he says "136" in "cleaning windows" he's referencing axiom 136 of dianetics: "the mind is plastically capable of recording all efforts and counter-efforts"

There was a scrapped post-Veedon Fleece album that would have used the cover that became The Royal Scam.

this unreleased 75 session popped up a little while ago -- though I don't think any of it has leaked. if you've got 10 grand to spare ...
https://recordmecca.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_3379.jpg
https://recordmecca.com/products-page/museum-quality-collectibles/van-morrison-master-tape-of-unreleased-1975-studio-album-9-completely-uncirculated-studio-tracks/
would love to hear "Grits Ain't Groceries" lol

well that explains some of the '75 recordings on philosopher's stone

i found a bootleg and i'm def gonna listen to it after i finish /live at the grand opera house/

Cool. It was fm quality so should sound good. Would be interested in your verdict.

maybe when he says "136" in "cleaning windows" he's referencing axiom 136 of dianetics: "the mind is plastically capable of recording all efforts and counter-efforts"

You're probably right. Nothing is off the table with van.

i'll def need to download a new bootleg bc there's a lot of weird problems with this one, but the audio quality itself is still v good. his band sounds so buoyant in this era, or maybe i'm projecting onto how fun "dweller" and "cleaning windows" sound to play xp

fair amount of van boots yonder: http://www.ousterhout.net/mp3/vm.html

Speaking of unreleased Van, would be nice if he signed off on the live 1968 Astral Weeks tape currently collecting dust at Peter Wolf's house.

the version I knew of "Grits Ain't Groceries" was an ooooold country tune but I'm guessing this was Van's jam in '75

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vel5wqOURMo

Update: Tomorrow is the last day to vote. Right now this thing is a tossup, there is a handful of songs that could easily win, and albums is wide open as well.

XP Also a career-making hit (under the title "All Around The World") for Little Willie John in the mid-'50s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XHC-qZXOyI

working my way through the discography

Wavelength is pretty bad

i disagree!!!

i couldn't find room for it on my ballot but i really love "take it where you find it" and how it slowly loosens into this enormous gospel song

I'm to the title track now and it's my fav so far. It's funny I was like "Is Garth Hudson on this?" and it turns out he was, he's so distinctive, esp once he gets into synths, in fact this is a good song

Venice USA was such a pastiche of late period Band it turned me off tho

Wavelength album is uneven but utterly key imo.

Checkin' It Out > Kingdom Hall > Wavelength > Natalia > Hungry for Your Love

kornrulez is there a time cut-off tomorrow (2nd Aug)? I'm on GMT.

holy crap at the opening...

https://youtu.be/Ndt3bVNcug0

on to Into the Music, really good so far...I love "Full Force Gale", seems like he's trying to get back to the Caledonia Soul Orchestra sound here but a bit more modern

"rave on john donne" merging into "did ye get healed" at the end of the '87 glastonbury show = a+

into the music is def a return to form in composition and production, it makes a lot more sense as a follow-up to veedon fleece than a period of transition does, and it sounds so crisp

Van is going to kill you if you meet him by those pylons, i think. or maybe love you forever? but also maybe kill you?

kornrulez is there a time cut-off tomorrow (2nd Aug)? I'm on GMT.

Officially the cutoff 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, August 3. That's 6 hours behind GMT. But I'm not going to be able to check the ballots until around 9am August 3.

How many people still have to vote?

me, will send this evening

Speaking of cleaning windows, I never took in that the first line in St Dominic's Preview was about just that: "shammy cleaning all the windows..."

St Dominic's is very high on my ballot. Here's a lovely mellow version from his Belfast 1979 show, I believe the first time he's back in Belfast in many many years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igK2ME-0jh4

Into the Music is a top three Van album

"Bright side of the road" is the go-to Van song for Irish radio even more than "Brown Eyed Girl". I'm kinda sick of it esp the Dairylea girl backing vox. It put me off listening to "into the music" tbh

In the USA radio it's either Domino or Wild Night. Brown Eyed Girl is easily his biggest hit here but it's been relegated to oldies status.

...and/or "Moondance"--I was amazed to discover it wasn't a single since it was such a radio staple.

/kornrulez is there a time cut-off tomorrow (2nd Aug)? I'm on GMT./

Officially the cutoff 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, August 3. That's 6 hours behind GMT. But I'm not going to be able to check the ballots until around 9am August 3.

Great thanks i will be sending my ballot tonight.

I'm almost done!

I'm being lazy but does someone have a link to the Glastonbury set?

will send at noon PST

sent

Holy mackerel, this thing is going to be close. If you haven't voted, please do so. Your ballot will decide the winner fer sure.

Sent.

Holy mackerel, this thing is going to be close. If you haven't voted, please do so. Your ballot will decide the winner fer sure.

Coming soon. With a coat so old. In the garden. With the leaves all wet with rain.