New one of standards, called Versatile. Just in time for Christmas.
https://www.vanmorrison.com/news/2017/van-morrison-announces-new-album-versatile
Oh god another Van Morrison album
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Skiddly-bop —>
Didn’t get his most recent one but I do like the sound of this one. No doubt the naysayers will all be on here saying he ain’t what he used to be. Maybe so but I saw him do a joyous show last year.
Fair Play to you
I believe buying it is not obligatory. I like that some of the old guys are speeding up their releases as they hit the home straight. Leonard Cohen did it, Dylan is doing it (albeit with covers), David Crosby also and Neil Young keeps on at his usual breakneck pace.
That’s true. Jackie Leven was also releasing albums with amazing regularity in the final years of his life.
The late great Jackie Leven. Much missed around these parts.
Oh my God !
13. ‘Affirmation’ featuring Sir James Galway (Van Morrison)
My worst nightmare – Galway.
I think you may be turned off by how he’s sometimes been presented on the telly. His choice of promotional vehicle has often been poor. As a musician he’s right up there with the best. His career as a flautist has been nothing short of stellar.
Yeah but the Skye Boat song appeals to me.
For a moment i thought this would be his own tilt at the (godspareus) great american songbook, bits of which it may be. So we have to wait for Seal to deliver that dubious pleasure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standards_(Seal_album)
Christ! I just ventured a listen of the ‘I Get A Kick…’ stream – it’s truly, truly horrible.
We saw that kick in the Last Waltz.
I “auditioned” that track, too. The band’s good, swinging away back there, but the vocal sounds like that homeless bloke who thinks a beer can is a mic.
They are called The Sleaford Mods.
I assumed it was M.E.S.
He’s no Vic Reeves, is he?
Oh no, please stop. He’s clearly been watching what Dylan is up to. I saw my copy of Triplicate yesterday and realised I hadn’t played it since the week I bought it. Decided to give it a go again. Lasted four tracks.
I see Versatile follows the ‘massive success’ of Roll With The Punches….
Massive success?
His chart positions last 10 years (non compilations):
Keep it Simple 15
Born to Sing 10
Duets 5
Keep Me Singing 4
Roll With the Punches 4
Massive success?
Those chart positions look good to me.
I`m in for this album and the next. By the way, not you @dai, it`s 50% covers, 50% originals although some of these are new versions. You can cover your old songs without calling them `covers`, can`t you?
Re-imagining…
The only one of those I have is Born to Sing which is actually pretty good.
You’d probably like Keep Me Singing then – it’s a decent record, and like Born to Sing has a couple of great tracks.
Looking at those titles in sequence like that – he hasn’t given them a great deal of thought has he? Looking forward to Born to be Simple….
Shouldn’t the next one be Stop Me Singing?
Stop Me And Buy One.
I Missed Me Stop!
(Shoulda got off around 1990)
I won’t buy it, but I’m very happy for the maungy old bastit to reap as much as he can after all those years if barely scraping into the top 50 with masterpieces like Veedon Fleece.
If the only good thing he’d ever done had been, say, Starting A New Life, he’d still have the right to make as many crap records as he wants.
Yep. That’s the perspective required. From my angle, as a music collector and “fan”, I’d much prefer it if Kevin Rowland retired from making music after Don’t Stand Me Down, so that he could be – as the blurb on the back back of the James Joyce books used to go – someone who only produced masterpieces. But from the point of view of the career musician a large part of the music making is related to the getting food into your mouth part. (Obvs this argument appears weak in relation to multi-millionaire Van, but the principle holds that they’re entitled to keep bashing stuff out and you’re under no obligation to buy).
(Waitaminnit! – thinking about it, there are parallels between JJ and Kev’s early trilogy
Finnegans Wake – just for the fans
Ulysses – the one even drunks at weddings have heard of
Portrait – Once every twenty pages someone exclaims “Big Jimmy!”*)
(*Not read them in a while – should have my P.A. check this..)
Er, I’m not aware that James Joyce at any time types ‘Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
…. yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I don’t believe you really like Frank Sinatra.
If anything merited the neologism “scrotumtightening”, it’s Kev’s undercrackers on the cover of “My Beauty”.
Brilliant, Moose, just brilliant
Pass the toothbrush…
Just listened on Spotify.
They are both joyless.
Surely the whole point of both these songs – and especially Makin’ Whoopee – is that they’re happy; celebratory; joyful etc etc.
He’s forgotten how to have fun.
Those bonus track Anythin’ Goes lyrics in full:
In olden days a glimpse of stockin’
Today the record company bastids
Suck yer blood till yer puke yer guts
Heaven knows, Anything Goes!
(etc.)