Van Morrison on Guitar

[Laughingboy68]

I do Into the Mystic, Astral Weeks, Domino, And It Stoned Me...

Hmmm, think I might need some more Van songs.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Kindnes

This is not a very good version of "into the mystic" the emotion is lacking. The original was in Eb to accommodate the saxophone, and the rhythm was very different.
The thing about Van is, like Dylan, he gets tired of playing the same old favourites and consequently changes them around a bit. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Funny. I think it's a great alternate version. The guy is truly touched by God.

[drive-south]

I love Van and cover several of his tunes. Really love "When that evening sun goes down". Also love Natalia from Wavelength.

[psychojohn]

Was a HUGE VM fan. Crazy love was my wedding song and we also played Brown eyed girl on the set list. Then I went to see him in Birmingham, AL. Balcony seats. Knew he is SERVERLY performance phobic (keeps a 90 minute countdown clock in each wing of the stage and is almost always off stage when it clicks down from one to zero). Knew he often puts his back to the audience and can be tempramental with the audience. Knew he didn't interact with the audience much. Knew when he scatted or really got into a tune, he gets lost in free form vocals that are often incomprehensible. Unfortunately he did all of these things (no temperamental behavior towards the audience but toward his band) but virtually every one of his tunes were sooooooooo modified and re-arranged from the original version and sang so loosely and sloppily that they were literally incomprehensible and unrecognizable. One of the biggest concert mistakes I've ever paid for.

On another VM note and his famous cantankerously bad attitude toward people (both fans and non-fans): My wife's best friend, her husband and their infant child went vacationed in Ireland vs Scotland (forget which). They went out on a informal drive into the surrounding country side and stopped for lunch at a little, non-descript local pub. As they ordered their meal, they noticed a guy talking to himself in an agitated fashion in the corner of the pub. They asked the waitress: Is that Van Morrison ? Yes it is. My best friend and husband are such big fans of his, they played his music at their wedding; do you think he'd mind giving us an autograph for them ? Well mam, I don't think that would be a very good idea. Ever since you arrived with your baby, he gotten irritable and agitated because of the noise the baby has been making. He complained to me about it, so I don't think it would be a good idea. So that how I almost got Van Morrison's autograph.

Having complained and bad mouthed him, I have seen him play and sing on tv more recently (since releasing his last album) an the entire show was stellar. Maybe just caught him on low ebb or bad day when I saw him.

John

[Malcolm Kindnes]

About twenty years ago, I was walking through Dublin with my 14 year old daughter who was then and still is a big Van Morrison fan.
Van is a little older than me, but we had both played in the "Maritime Hotel" in Belfast in the sixties, although he was in a much more famous band than me! I said to my daughter casually, "there's Van Morrison across the road, would you like to meet him". Of course she was thrilled and amazed and we crossed over to him, but he walked away ignoring us.
He was accompanied by his then wife Michelle, and we spoke to her briefly, whereupon she called him back saying "Van, come and say hello to Emily". Politely he turned around, walked back, shook her hand and said "pleased to meet you, Emily". Needless to say she was delighted, he is an unusual genius.

[Borderdon]

Ah, “Van the Man”.
I’ve been a fan since the 60’s, probably got the majority of his albums.
It’s no surprise some of his Celtic/ traditional Irish ballads are sublime, IMHO.
“Star of the County Down” being but one.
The whole of “Poetic Champions Compose” is masterful.
Don

[FrankHudson]

Astral Weeks is my desert island disk for sure, though I don't associate it much with Van on guitar, though Richard Davis' bass and Van's vocals dampen my eyes every time I listen to it.

The story on that record's basic tracks: very little prep, maybe just a run through of the basic chords sequence, and with songs where the changes and repeats might vary too as Morrison "felt it." Davis and Connie Kay (drummer), skilled as they were, had to have been trying to feel along as the tape rolled. Bob Dylan and I are probably the only folks alive who think that is not just an low-cost expedient, but valuable way to make a record. To me the results are evidence for my case.

Of course, Morrison's made many other wonderful recordings, many mentioned already.

[Logdy]

Originally Posted by Laughingboy68

I do Into the Mystic, Astral Weeks, Domino, And It Stoned Me...

Hmmm, think I might need some more Van songs.

What rhythm do you use for “into the mystic”?

[Laughingboy68]

I do Into the Mystic, Domino, And It Stoned Me and Astral Weeks.

Hmmm, gotta learn some more VM songs.