I don't get Astral Weeks

Yep. That's real musicians playing live (strings were overdubbed later). I guess the band were just following Van's erratic rhythm playing.

Definitely wouldn't categorize them as blemishes.

 

I'd always heard that Van cut his sections solo and that everything besides his voice and guitar was overdubbed after the fact. Bangs mentions it in his essay (I don't have the book in front of me, but I seem to recall that he heard it from John Cale, who was in another studio in the same building at the time) and it's also mentioned in at least one Van Morrison bio that I've read.

If they ever reissue this, I'd love to hear the solo versions as a bonus, though I'm sure it'll never happen.

 

According to a lengthy article in the December 2001 issue of Mojo, the band recorded together:

"Convening on the evening of Septemeber 25 at Brooks Arthur's Century Sound studio on West 52nd Street... the ensemble put down the basic tracks for Cyprus Avenue, Madame George, Beside You and what would become the title track..."

Acording to the article, Van played his acoustic guitar and sang the songs, then the musos improvised their parts, recording competed songs in one or two takes. Strings and the harpsicord in Cyprus Avenue were added later.

"On the evening of October 15, Van and the band regrouped to cut Sweet Thing, Ballerina, The Way Young Lovers Do and Slim Slow Slider", says the article.

"On it's release in late 1968, Astral Weeks bombed, barely selling 15,000 copies in the first year, despite strong support from the new underground FM radio stations... By 1975, Astral Weeks - having sold over half a million copies - was an official Classic."

 

Yeah, that's what I was curious about; the harpsichord sounds like it's being played to a slightly different beat.

John.

 

VM did a Rolling Stone interview in 1970 where he talked about AW among other topics. He said that it was originally conceived as an opera with a distinct story line, and the sound of the music was going to be more distinct from song to song. It ended up with a flow that wasn't what he was going for. In part, he said it came down to the playing style of the musicians. He said Richard Davis and Jay Berliner have a distinct style, and its great, but there should have been a change in mood after a couple of songs.

 

A friend of mine said "If you like Pet Sounds, you'll probably like Astral Weeks". And so, one night he played it for me in his car and it bored me out of my mind. The same chords over and over, I saw zero connection with my precious Pet Sounds. I turned on my acting skills and told my friend "I could really get into this", because I didnt want to hurt his feelings.

That being said, I am willing to give the album another listen (with an open mind), at some future date. I'm in no hurry though.

 

I finally got my copy of ASTRAL WEEKS. I've played it through once. I don't have any particular opinion of it yet. A couple of the songs are familiar, but Van Morrison has one of those voices whereby anything he sings sounds instantly familiar. It's a voice I've always liked, incidentally. I never bought this record for some reason, though I once had the four or five that came after it.

I'll post some more if this becomes a Must Play CD for me. Thanks to DaveD64 for starting this thread, as I would not have bought this CD if I hadn't read all the passionate opinions people have about this album.

 

Not really what I'd choose as one of the great "cruisin'" albums!

Give it a more serious listen...for a few days...after that, if there's still nothing there...move on and don't sweat it.

 

Might be nice at high volume on a country road at about 3am

 

Neither do I. I love Astral Weeks but I've never really been into Pet Sounds.

 

Is this known as the Burbank label?

 

Listen To This! is a collection of interviews with musicians where they name their favorite albums.

 

I think the "Burbank" label is the "Fleetwood Mac" era multi colored (soft greens, tans, blues . . .) skyline of Burbank.

 

Astral Weeks doesn't do much for me either. I would prefer "Tuelo Honey" or "His Bad & The E Street Choir" or maybe "Moondance" to this release. I guess I should maybe give it a listen again though. Maybe it will move me this time around as a few other's here stated .

 

To me it sounds like someone gargling to an out of tune acoustic guitar. I simply cannot appreciate it, but loads can so so be it....

 

What makes you think the guitar is out of tune? Sounds in perfect tune to me.

 

You can find some reviews of Astral Weeks here: http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/van.html. What I find interesting is that no two reviewers can agree on what it means. Everyone, including VM himself, agrees that the album is about VM's youth and the Belfast neighborhoods in which he grew up. It's also clear that the songs tell stories. VM says the album is one long story. The story is about growing up, about young love, loss, and moving on. But as far as the chapters told by the individual songs, everyone seems to interpret them differently. Is "Cypress Avenue" about pedophilia? Is "Madame George" about an aging transvestite? (Van has denied it, but I don't see what else it could mean.) One thing is for sure: Van isn't telling. Nevertheless, the songs seem to provide an uncanny, atmospheric backdrop onto which each listener projects his own unique meaning. What one listener considers an artistic flaw, another sees pointing to some profound truth.

I think the best thing written about the album is Lester Bangs' 1978 appreciation. Not coincidentally, I interpret the album much as he does.

 

ASTRAL WEEKS pretty much defies analysis the way Dali and Picasso defy analysis...and to do so only, in the end, comes off as pretentious and speculative. Yes, some of Van's childhood memories may be heard in the lyrics; but like as not, he was influenced by various poets he had read up to that time, not to mention Ray Charles, among other R&B titans. The unique mix of jazz & R&B stylings is certainly singular in music annals--like FOREVER CHANGES and "I Am The Walrus," there is nothing else quite like these sounds, at least not on this earth--but it's also a dreamy meditation of repeated phrasings and sounds.

Of all the aspects of the album, one might wish to focus on Richard Davis' acoustic bass work, which tends to punctuate or stay slightly behind the cadence, prodding the music while providing a rich foundation for everything else to flourish.

I think Lester came as close as anyone to understanding what was behind AW, but even then, note that he was hesitant to offer any definitive opinions, not least because, as he rightly knew, what a work means is in the ears of the listener...and the artist, but as you say, Van never discusses that aspect of his work, just as Kubrick would never get suckered into explaining his--he felt that whoever views his work can come to their own conclusions.

 

Prefer MoonDance to Astral Weeks .. could never get the latter .. my loss

 

I bought another copy of ASTRAL WEEKS a few weeks back, and have listened to it nearly every day, some days more than once, and while I don't dislike it, I have yet to fall in love with it.

Whoever compared it to PET SOUNDS, naaaaah!

But I'm not dismissing it; nor do I plan to sell it. I'm waiting for my true test of a song: when I hear something I don't recognize from AW on tv, will I drop everything to look it up on the internet?

 

OK -- snagged a copy with the solid olive green label. What's the W7 logo?

LATER: Found a picture of the W7 logo. My copy of AS doesn't have it -- just the WB shield logo. Anyone have an opinion of how this compares to the W7 pressing?

STILL LATER: The label of my copy doesn't sport the W7 logo, but the jacket does. Does that count?

 

Probably not much different, you might even have a quieter pressing, who knows.....the W7 green label is the 1st in the US(in Canada and Mexico, the old gold label's the 1st), followed by the regular(1970)WB, then by Burbank(73), large logo(78), and there's at least one(maybe two)'80s pressings with a white label, also. Fun, huh? For an album that never sold very much from month to month, has remained in print since day of release, which is fairly amazing!

 

Thanks, Ed. So I have a second pressing ca. 1970. The only other copy I have is one of the '80s pressings with the white label, so this one ought to be an improvement. If I get the chance I'll post a quick comparison.

 

Astral Weeks is sublime. It is my very favorite Van Morrison album, with Moondance a distant second.