I hear that Van and Bob are taking their show on the road, and will be playing arenas in Vancouver, the Gorge, Oakland Coliseum, San Jose, Anaheim Pond, Las Vegas, and maybe elsewhere. Second half of May. Stay tuned as more details become available. That's Bob as in Dylan.

This topic is going to overlap with the Dylan topic some since they're touring together, so check Dylan's topic for more Van Morrison news. More tour details and reports to follow.

arto on Van the Man (someone high up on the food chain): It was the August 95 Mojo. Astral Weeks was recorded in New York on September 25 and October 15, 1968. His managers were Lewis Merenstein and Robert Schwaid. Schwaid was interviewed for the article, said he was a jazz nut and recruited the jazz quartet (including MJQ's Richard Davis and Connie Kay). At the 9/25 session (4 hours) they did Cyprus Avenue, Madame George, Astral Weeks and Beside You "with Van isolated in a vocal booth and apparently lost in his own thoughts". Three weeks later, the same musicians came back and recorded the rest of the album. String overdubs and the harpsichord on Cyprus Ave. were added in a mixing session by arranger Larry Fallon. The finished tracks "were essentially live takes", but all concerned remember the material being much longer during recording, including 5 minutes of improvisational sax playing during Slim Slow Slider. Schwaid sent the taped jams to WB during the 70's, but no new mixes or material has ever been released from the sessions.

read a bit in "rolling stone" a few years back, regarding this topic... with commentary by davis and kay, i believe... simply amazing that such sound could be recorded in that manner... if i remember correctly, in the same issue "RS" named top 100 lps of all time (by consensus of critics throughout country), and "astral weeks" ranked third (?), behind "sgt. pepper" and "blonde on blonde"... "moondance" was ranked tenth (and van was the only artist with 2 lps in the top ten)... the vocals on "astral weeks" are easily the most gourgeous i've ever heard... one of my favorite five lps, for sure...

What are the other four, just out of curiosity?

prob. "abbey road" (beatles); "blood on the tracks" (dylan); "live '76-'86" (springsteen); "tapestry" (carole king); and (since i am totally undisciplined and cannot choose only four) "pet sounds" (brian wilson)...

I want to get the Tapestry reminiscence album that a bunch of artists made a year or two ago. Do you know which one I mean?

no, don't remember hearing about that... who played on it?

A whole bunch of big names, I don't remember exactly who though.

Tapestry Revisted

You have that don't you Stacey? Who's on it?

Those Van Morrison tunes bring me back...to the bars and clubs in the early-70's when hippies were still cool. All the clubs played Van and Hendrix constantly on the juke. And The Band, and the Allman Brothers. Those were the big juke box songs, and "Positively 4th St" by Dylan. I never owned a Van album or single, don't even know what album is what, but those songs are so etched in my brain, every brain cell knows them. Moon Dance, Wild Life, Brown Eyed Girl.

Van was on tv last night giving a concert. He was with an Irish band and Liam Neeson was interviewed singing their praises. Damn, why didn't I hit record on my vcr!

Bob Dylan/Van Morrison dates! These are the only confirmed dates so far: May 14: GM Place, Vancouver, BC May 16: The Gorge in George, Washington May 18: San Jose Arena May 19: New Oakland Coliseum Arena May 21 & 22: Pauley Pavilion, U.C.L.A. May 23: Arrowhead Pond Arena in Anaheim, Ca. May 24: To Be Determined(or not) Mail Order ticket prices and mail in dates will be announced some time this week so keep checking http://www.bobdylan.com Stay tuned to http://www.bobdylan.com for South American dates in April and United Kingdom and Europe in June & July.

wouldn't austin, tx., be a nice fit for that tba date?

whoever was asking for the Sarah Maclaughin album title: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Great album.

Just have to add I am a big Van fan. He has a way with words. I love when he sings "Crazy Love." He melts my heart. I stole my ex-boyfriends CD and I will never return it, it is too good to let go of!

i agree... "crazy love" is my favorite morrison song, too... followed by "st. dominic's preview", "tupelo honey", "cyprus avenue", "afterwards: the way young lover's do", "call me up into dreamland" maybe "whenever god shines his light"... (in no particular order)... but "crazy love" is a very special tune... (to me)...

They played a van song just as we drove up 101 to meet fig in Mill Valley the other day. It's on the current spring slide show / realaudio deal on our website.

I think you named all the good ones, I have to say the traditional "moondance" is a good one also and "and it stoned me." He is the best guy to listen to when you are lying around doing nothing.

or even if you're doing something like driving up the coast of Northern California.

yeah, those are both excellent songs... (and the combination- on the lp, i mean- of "and it stoned me", "moondance", "crazy love", "caravan", and "into the mystic" is one of the best sides of music i've ever heard... the closest morrison's ever come to really marketable pop (sustained beyond a single tune), because the hooks are undeniably there... and the result, i think, is some of the best (caledonian soul) pop ever made)... have you heard any early morrison? referring to Them, his band in belfast back in the day... some of that stuff is simply astonishing- they're best known for his first masterpiece, of course ("gloria", as good a rocking blues tune- when van performs it- as any you'll hear, i think), but there's lots to choose from that's very worthwhile (esp. "mystic eyes", "here comes the night", and morrison's unbelieveable cover of dylan's "it's all over now, baby blue")... extremely raw, at times, but that's part of it's appeal, really...

Bob Van Joni on tour (no, *not* Bon Van Jovi) Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison: May 14: Vancouver, BC May 16: The Gorge in George, WA May 17: The Gorge in George, WA May 19: San Jose Arena, San Jose, CA. May 21: Pauley Pavilion, U.C.L.A. May 22: Pauley Pavilion, U.C.L.A. May 23: Arrowhead Pond Arena, Anaheim, CA.

(lol... "bob van joni"... very nice, terry)...

I hope they gig elsewhere, like Texas! Now, that is a gig I would shell out some serious bucks for (I hear $75 and $45 or thereabouts on the West Coast). But seeing these three would be awesome!

$75 would be cheap, to hear those three... dylan did houston, in '86, i think... (with tom petty, the heartbreakers, and stevie nicks... don't remember the venue, but i had tickets and wasn't able to go... what a DRAG... still not over that)

Bob Dylan leads excellent triple bill By MIKE ROSS -- For Jam! Music VANCOUVER - Whats more culturally relevant - the Seinfeld finale or a Bob Dylan concert? For the 15,000 baby boomers who filled Vancouver's General Motors Place last night, the answer was as obvious as the hair on Kramer's head. Throw in Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell and it was no contest. It was the triple bill of the decade, the first stop of a seven-city tour winding down the west coast. It could've been a case of loving them for who they are rather then what they did, but this trio of rock legends - together for the first time since The Last Waltz - delivered a stellar show that lasted nearly four hours. All three 75 minute sets couldve been complete concerts in their own right - Van the Man with his blue-eyed soul, Joni with her provocative songs you need an English degree to fully appreciate and Bob rocking out the hits till midnight, warts and all. All three were brilliant. Jerry who? Dylan was a pleasant surprise. He displayed real passion last night, from the opening country rocker "Absolutely Sweet Marie" to the last encore, the famous "Rainy Day Women", which brought the crowd to its feet shouting "everybody must get stoned"! Given the amount of fragrant blue smoke in the arena, the sentiment went over well. It's a remarkable transformation. Dylan had been in an apathetic fog for years, not seeming to care that he'd written some of the most vital songs in pop history - and then he mysteriously bounced back. Maybe it was his near-death experience last year. Maybe it was the gig playing for the Pope. Or maybe it was winning three Grammy awards. Who knows? Dylan is not one to explain himself. As he said introducing "Tangled Up In Blue", "There's a story behind this song, but I'm not going to tell it." With a solid country-rock-flavored band behind him, the highlights were many: The loose groove of "Cold Irons Bound", a boogie-woogie blast of "Silvio", the swampy back-porch feel of "Cocaine Blues", a strange, folky take on "Mr. Tambourine Man" and many more. The crowd ate it up. Dylan may be a terrible singer who can't play a guitar solo to save his life, but he proved last night that he's still a powerful performer, a true original and utterly free of pretention. He is untouchable. Joni Mitchell lost some of the crowd with her pensive, self-indulgent set, but for those willing to pay attention, she was mezmerising. With a beautiful, smoky voice in fine form, Mitchell showcased many of the songs from her upcoming album, Taming the Tiger, and obscure material from her past. She played only one hit, "Big Yellow Taxi", which she did solo and introduced as if she was doing everybody a huge favor. "I'll just give this one to you", she said. Impersonating Dylan during the third verse was a nice touch. As for Van Morrison, the man has to be the best white soul shouter in the business. With a tasty set of 50s-style soul that spanned Astral Weeks to his latest album, The Healing Game, he made the Blues Brothers (which he happened to dress like) look lame. He had help, of course, from a killer eight-piece band that grooved like nobody's business. Overall, it was an exhaustingly glorious trio of shows that will surely go down in history as the best package tour of the 90s. Condolences to those who decided to watch Seinfeld instead - not that there's anything wrong with it. BOB DYLAN SET LIST: Absolutely Sweet Marie Senor Cold Irons Bound Positively 4th Street Silvio Cocaine Blues Mr. Tambourine Man Tangled Up In Blue Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again I Shall Be Released Highway 61 Revisited ENCORE: Forever Young Love Sick Rainy Day Women JONI MITCHELL SET LIST: Night Ride Home Crazy Cries of Love Harrys House Slouching Toward Bethlehem Just Like This Train Black Crow Amelia Hejila Facelift Sex Kills The Magdalene Laundries Moon at the Window ENCORE: Refuge Big Yellow Taxi (solo) VAN MORRISON SET LIST: Burning Ground It Once Was My Life Raincheck Fire In The Belly Vanlose Stairway Fool For You Domino Jackie Wilson Said In The Afternoon Ain't That Loving You Baby? Days Like This Tupelo Honey / Crazy Love Not Feeling It Anywmore Cleaning Windows I'll Take Care Of You / It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World Cyprus Avenue (encore)

Here's a band and setlist from last night's televised concert from Dusseldorf, courtesy of www.rockpalast.de: VAN MORRISON Van Morrison, vocals, harmonica, guitar, alto sax Johnny Scott, guitar, backing vocals Liam Bradley, percussion, backing vocals Ralph Salmins, drums Geoff Dunn, drums, percussion John Savannah, hammond organ, piano, backing vocals Nicky Scott, bass, backing vocals Katie Kissoon, backing vocals Pee Wee Ellis, tenor, soprano & baritone sax, flute Matt Holland, trumpet & flugelhorn Special guests Fred Wesley, trombone Candy Dulfer, alto sax 0) INTRO "Chicken" 1) Jackie Wilson said (I'm in heaven when you smile) 2) These Dreams (of you) 3) Raincheck 4) Moondance / My funny Valentine 5) Rough God goes riding 6) Give me a kiss 7) That's life 8) Naked in the jungle 9) In the afternoon 10) Satisfied 11) Georgia on my mind 12) Call me up in dreamland 13) Summertime in England 14) Medley: See me through The burning ground Soldier of fortune The burning ground 15) Have I told you lately

My song for Juliette is "Brown-Eyed Girl", and for Lydia, it's "Tupelo Honey." They go wild when I sing them or if they happen to come on the radio or when we're out in public somewhere.

excellent choices (and very discerning kids) with my daughter it's dylan songs... 'knockin' on heaven's door', 'don't think twice, it's alright', and 'tangled up in blue'... and, the band ('the weight','up on cripple creek', and 'the night they drove ol dixie down')... used to sing those to her when she was a baby

I wonder what our kids will sing to our grandkids? Who will stand the test of time? (Spice Girls?--I think not!)

Probably someone that you have not even heard of yet.

I was thinking in terms of who is popular now--just as Van Morrison's music was well known when I was a child.

they'll wanna stick exclusively to Butthole Surfers songs. and the grandkids will wonder why the grandparents are acting so "huh?...."

I think I'll agree with Jim on that one, especially since I can't get Zoe interested in Shoulders...

I used to see Shoulders at the Hole in the Wall when I lived in that neighborhood. They were a blast. Sounded like Tom Waits yet not trying to -- they were original, but reminded you of him, you know? Listened to Van the Man all last week. Years ago I made a tape with selections from Moondance, Tupelo Honey, Wavelength (underrated LP from the late '70s) and Live at the Belfast Opera House (check that one out if you haven't yet). I didn't listen to anything but that tape for a week. Last year I dated a woman from Northern Ireland. Van is revered there as a local boy who made it big. If you can't seduce someone with Van Morrison, it just ain't gonna happen.

lol (very true)

maybe that's my problem with...