So without any warning, Van the Man releases then deletes the “Catacombs Tapes”. This is a recording from August 1968 in Boston, when Van was working out the songs prior to the recording of Astral Weeks.
I wasn’t quick enough to acquire it from iTunes but have since obtained them by, errrr, unofficial means. It’s astonishing how much of the sound of Astral Weeks was worked out by the trio before the jazz sessioners went into the studio to record it with Van.
Presumably it was released to extend the copyright on the recording, so hopefully there will be a proper release in due course (maybe as part of that reissue campaign that was supposed to be happening).
Is there a more frustrating artist to follow than Van?
How ironic that this “copyright dump” will send people all over the world scurrying to the eel market.
Just listened to this. It’s really very good indeed. And yes, that bass player deserves some royalties for the arrangements!
@Artery and @Moose-the-Mooche a more specific location to find these recordings would be appreciated. Asking for a close friend 😉
Hmmmmmmmm, if only there was a bog about Albums That Should Exist.
Cheers. If only …
Well, what a fab blog. That was my evening gone!
There’s a few of these on t’interwebs @paul-wad, but the gold standard as far as I’m concerned is the Albums That Never Were blog.
Ooh, I wonder if my album is mentioned.
Well they haven’t got round to Moose the Mooche Hurrrs But Gently yet.
The site looks very interesting, but it directs you to a horrendous one that is going to infect your computer with malware it would seem. Am going to stay away @Mr__Hump
Really? I must apologise if that’s the case @Dai. I use uBlock Origin and AVG Free and it’s OK for me.
No probs here either.
Which browser are you using? I get about 3 or 4 different “download” options and all want to install something on my computer
Managed to download on my tablet and transferred it to PC. Thanks!
Opera with ad-blocker switched on.
@dai – I’ve grabbed it using a PC running off a generator in an isolation tank inside a Farady Cage via a VPN that I access through a TOR connection that exits on Jupiter.
If you like, I can send you a link to the zip file on my Dropbox – just PM me with your email address andI’ll send you a link.
Thanks, but see above. I managed to dl to my tablet (I mean my friend did)
Cool
🙂