“Our principal weapons are introspection, a curmudgeonly demeanour, and an almost fanatical devotion to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee!”
What do you do when you’ve exhausted all the Van Morrison in the world? All the albums, obviously. And then all the deep cuts, bootlegs, collaborations and live sets on YouTube. Well, if you’re like me you embark on the fool’s errand of compiling a playlist of songs that sound a bit like Van the Man.
Bear with me. My attempts to do the same for Pink Floyd, Neil Young and most recently Fleetwood Mac turned out OK. However, most acts have a psychedelic wigout or a Young-like grungy thrash in their locker. And the Heroes Are Hard to Find hitmakers have been ridiculously influential on the musicians of today, making an erstaz Mac comp not much of a challenge at all.
But Van the Man? In spite of the fact that his Caledonia Soul Orchestra period is, to my mind, the pinnacle of western artistic endeavour, very few artists actually sound like him. Bob Dylan has albums with similar orchestration; Jackie DeShannon covered some of his tunes and sounded like she used some of the same musicians; and the first couple of Bruce albums are definitely under his spell. But no one quite mixes the soul snap, the swing, the metaphysical pondering and the reliably petulant like Van.
So, see if you enjoy these 60 or songs that almost hit the mark, and please do suggest any more you think might fit in.
I heard this track recently on one of the Mark Lamarr’s God’s Jukebox Spotify playlists and thought it was pure Van, in a good way. It’s definitely quite chirpy considering the subject matter…
Early Bruce Springsteen (according to Van)
Belfast troubadour Brian Houston (who by chance has JUST put out a new album called ‘Belfast Troubadour’) has periodically homaged Van – he’s a brilliant pasticheur and wearer of influences on his sleeve. You’ll find works akin to Springsteen, Bob, Elvis, Hank Williams et al in his substantial oeuvre (1994-Now). I’ll post a couple of the most Van-ish top save you a long time searching.
First, ‘Childish Things’ from a 1997 album (he re-recorded it in less Van-esque / more US rock vein on 2006’s ‘Sugar Queen’ album):
Second, ‘These Days’ from ‘Sugar Queen’ – which is Van-ish AND mentions buying a second-hand copy of ‘St Dominic’s Preview’:
Third, ‘We Don’t Need Religion’ from ’35 Summers’ (1999 or thereabouts):
Here’s Houston live on UTV in 1996 at the peak of his just-discovering-Van phase with the mighty ‘Simple Now’, which was never properly released in this ‘Van-ish version’ (it was the B-side of a withdrawn Irish CD single – long story…) – but it turned up in stadium rock form on his 1998 album ‘Good News Junkie’, produced by various people associated with Mike & the Mechanics:
The Van-ish version live on TV:
The US stadium rock revamp on 1998 album:
No-one pastiches Van as well as you, Colin.
Why thank you, Tigs.
Why thank you, Tiggs.
A couple of contenders, one obvious and one less so:
Thank you. Those are all mostly new to me. The Black Sorrows were on there but slipped off for some reason. Got to admit I struggle with Counting Crows, although they redeemed themselves by being one of the few bands to cover Teenage Fanclub.
Personal opinion and all that, but a lot of the 80 songs in the OP sound nothing at all like Van the Man to me
I did say it was hard thing to pull off. But the Decemberists, Steve Forbert, Bruce and Antony & the Johnsons songs all contain more than trace elements of Van.
The late Ron Kavana and the current Blue Rose Code would fit the bill:
@retropath2 I was about to suggest Blue Rose Code too.
Also some Waterboys particularly the Universal Hall album.
Me too.
This always makes me think of Van’s “Coney Island”
Another Belfast troubadour with a Celtic soul vibe – Joby Fox. His latest album ‘I Once Was A Hawk…’ is mellow Celtic soul superbity.
The Joby Fox above triggered a memory of a track I haven’t heard since the 80s I’d say. A very unlikely candidate to be touched by the hand of Van – John Foxx. Yes the former moody Ultravox front man and early android synth poster boy was totally on a Van trip with this track in particular..
“Touched by the hand of Van”! What a wonderful turn of phrase, Bamber!
But I don’t think we are too likely to get any New Order tracks on this thread.
As mentioned above in the playlist above – early Thin Lizzy were very influenced by Mr. Morrison.
Indeed the more they moved away from this the less I liked them.
Yeah, She Knows is on there. I knew this aspect of Thin Lizzy’s work existed but never found many examples. But on She Knows, Phil mirrors the guitar with a bit of “dweeb-dweeb-dip-dip” vocalising, which is very much adjacent to The Man’s metaphyhisical pondering, (although the lyric largely appears to be on the very un-Van like subject of finding some smack). Of course, the Lizzy also covered Rosalie by Bob Seger, someone else who is often posited as being in the same ballpark as Van, although I don’t really hear it myself.
Much of Nightlife is Van like. And Philomena is quite Un-Thin Lizzy.
Glen Hansard is getting increasingly Vanny.
See also Mick Flannery, Damien Dempsey.
The singer in this song sounds a LOT like Van Morrison
It wouldn’t be the first time. “Old Van Morrison’s moaning / Something about a copycat”. I bloody love Mike Scott but have only really liked Where the Action Is of his most recent records. Like Van the Man, he should perhaps exercise some quality control and stop knocking out quite so many.
Adding to the how much Mike is too much Mike conundrum is the fact that a fair few of the WBs’ recent releases are triple CDs – effectively lavish anniversary box sets before there’s even an an anniversary to mark.
They’re still the dog’s bollocks live though
That’s four of the above I’ve added now, plus a firm note to self to check out Blue Rose Code. I especially liked that and Satan Is on the Loose.
Glad you liked my suggestion @Martin-Horsfield I heard it first only a few weeks ago and one immediate response was considering how I might crowbar it into this site somehow so you have provided me with the perfect opportunity. Thanks. I’m really enjoying the playlist – perfect late night listening and I’m hearing so much unfamiliar stuff that’s great, the Thin Lizzy and the Terry Callier tracks in particular.
There is a relatively unspotted Van tribute called Vathology, where a stable of r’n’b (old money) groaners rip thru the jolly Ulstermans repertoire. I think Van tried to get it withdrawn, then curating his own, No Prima Donna, sort of proving he was. Each have their moments.
There’s a separate comp to be made of Van covers. I like Art Neville’s version of Warm Love.
Dusty Springfield does a great take on Tupelo Honey on. 1973’s Cameo