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Home , Astral Weeks, Bert Berns, Madame George, Van Morrison

Classic VA N MORRISON

ASTRAL WEEKS ASTRAL WEEKS 64 65

After the feisty of Them and pop success of , ’s quantum leap with his second studio album Astral Weeks CLASSIC ALBUM would leave critics and fans grasping CLASSIC ALBUM at its meaning for the next half-century. Steve Harnell charts the sound of an artist in the grip of radical creative upheaval 66 CLASSIC ALBUM ASTRAL WEEKS C This is a soloThis is a record in name only ­ of assembled the team of session seasoned pros. His vocal during his with time Them the on club circuit,equal the was generations.the Morrison’s flair for improvisation, honed a handful of studio hours that have now reverberated down musicians collaborating on an telepathic level; wasthis instinctive recorded art, in double-quick by time a creative that Van peak would arguably never reach again. of greatest the marriages of convenience of –and time all absolutely key to its success. Weeks Astral team of session men played who on album the were means singular the vision of Morrison. Instead, crack the influencesthese intothe bigger picture Weeksof Astral and , Morrison wove of all included , , , extraordinarily large and diverse record that collection textures. Growing up surrounded inBelfast by his father’s mélangea seamless of folk, jazz, , and country classical of that term.Instead, Van Morrison’s second studio LPis that is this not aclassic rock album by any regular definition iconic records remains wonderfully unknowable. release inNovember most 1968,this elusive of It’s though, that jazz, had greatest the impact on album. the Kind Of Blue lauded equally the Like Of Kind What we can say though, with total assurance, is continual since its dissection After 50 years almost of masterpiece of time? all most enigmatic musical ould Astral WeekAstral s be s be Astral Weeks– Astral by Miles Davis, is quite simply one is by no against the political seem likeseem areaction maelstrom of 1968 of maelstrom

themes of mystical .

transcendence transcendence Astral Weeks’ and societaland

circa 1967 in NewYork, and Van Morrison boss BertBerns Above: Banglabel

Getty Getty one of upheaval, personal professionalan difficulties and far away from Stones’ the Street Fighting Man as you can get. maelstromsocietal of album 1968the was recorded in.It’s as liketranscendence areaction against seem and political the over preceding the , butthemestheir of mystical Morrison’s Weeks Astral for songs MUSICAL DIFFERENCES on record to say meanings the tracks of elude several him. difficult to pin down. himselfthe Even has gone Slider title track) and concluding Slow with death Slim bleak (the song with theme cycle, the of beginning opening (the birth intoto see future. the It’s often interpretedbeen as a mystical overwhelming joy, for and anostalgia ayearning childhood loneliness and companionship, heaven andpain and earth, meaning, their almost lose is groundbreakingly audacious. with an obsessionallied with repeating words until they phrasing, stretching vowels and consonants to breaking point, Its creation, though, came at time adifficult for Morrison, Astral WeeksAstral awareness his muse himinadirection was taking that ), although Van’s impressionistic are lyrics at times would elicit vigorous opposition from his paymasters. is an album that inmany deals dualities –

had been compiled had been Morrison that precipitated his demise. his widow Ilene thought it was stress the of his fall-outs with damaged hadheart been by rheumatic fever as achild, but followingdead failure heart inaNew York hotel room. Berns’ wasturn found label boss the on 1967,when 30December sown, Morrison different had very ideas. direction. But of Weeks Astral with seeds the was Van determined and Berns should pushed be inapop Top 10hit USBillboard inthe charts summer inthe of 1967, would complications cause further Girl Eyed –Brown wouldwhich eventually turn vicious.album’s The track lead of start the to arancourous be relationship two, the between Your Mind!, without singer-songwriter’s the knowledge. It was together and put out them as Van’s debut album, solo Blowin’ for release as four singles. Instead, cobbled tracks the Berns recording session, Morrison laid down eight songs, intended label . Shortly afterwards, two-dayduring a Van to travel to New York, putting to paper pen for his new of band’s the hit persuaded . Berns writer the and Berns, producer with Bert deal asolo signed behindThem in1966, Morrison struck out on his own and As relationship their deteriorated, proceedings took afatal After leavingthe tough R&B-influenced garageof rock already being already being was a was a portrait from1965 from right),ina Morrison (second Them withVan to aferocious,dynamic conclusion. , wherethe singerandhisbandwouldbuildup became aregular setcloserforVan’s liveshows in the down theroadinahorse-drawncarriage. Thesong future with“rainbowribbonsinher hair” beingtaken tongue-tied ataprettyschoolgirl,imagining herinthe of thesong’s title.Theinnocentnarratorisaspirational, excursions tothewell-to-doresidential streetinBelfast lyrics revolvearoundreminiscences ofchildhood flourishes. more country-tinged ofanoverdubbedharpsichordalongside styles courtesy its expansivearrangementtakesinjazzandbaroque One ofthemostbeautifulgenremash-upsonrecord, 4 anybody inparticular, butaboutafeeling.” Van prosaicallydescribesitas:“Aloveballad.Notabout it’s me,I’mdynamite!’andIdon’t knowwhy”.Typically, ‘Hey,I shalldrivemychariotdownyourstreetsandcry/ ode tohislove. be JanetPlanet,thisisapastoral-fleckedopen-hearted Written fromhiswife-to- forwards. inBelfastwhileparted song onAstralWeeks thatlooksbackwardsratherthan Van’s brisklystrummedguitar, SweetThingistheonly RichardDavisbasslineand Propelled byawonderful 3 a previousrelationship. by Van’s wifeJanetPlanet,whohadason,Peter, from beside somebody.” It’s beensuggestedJimmywasinspired basically alovesong,justsongaboutbeingspiritually kind ofsongyou’dsingtoakidorsomebodyyoulove.It’s Morrisonhassinceexplained: “BesideYouyearning. isthe spirit guide,BrownArrow, thisisataleofyoungloveand Through thefallin’rain”.Marshalledbywhatcouldbea adventure: “Way outofthebackstreet/Outwindow/ explanation. ‘LittleJimmy’embarksonachildhood impressionistic lyricsfromVan thatdefyadefinitive and JohnPayne’s light,breathy understatedfluteback Wonderfully fluidclassicalguitarfillsfromJayBerliner YOU 2 BESIDE Belly, whereverhelived,keepingitwithhimforcomfort. picture ofLedbetter, betterknownasblueslegendLead “talkin’ toHuddieLedbetter”–Morrisonoftencarrieda stop/ Couldyoufindme?”Note,too, Van’s referenceto immobile steelrimscrack/Andtheditchinbackroads slipstream/ Betweentheviaductsofyourdream/Where from thetautthree-minutepoppyR&BofBrownEyedGirl. makes usimmediatelyawarethatwearefarremoved at thehomeofhispainterfriendCecilMcCartney. in1966afterseeingdrawingsaboutastralprojection Morrison firsthadtheideaforalbum’s titletrackbackin 1 Side One In The Beginning The songs The

SWEET THING SWEET

An albumcentrepiece,Van’s stream-of-consciousness There’s alsoararedashofhumourfromVan: “And The openinglinesareastonishing:“IfIventuredinthe Captured inonetake,thisseven-minuteopeningtrack ASTRAL WEEKS ASTRAL CYPRESS AVENUE

67

CLASSIC ALBUM 67 XXXXX CLASSIC ALBUM ASTRAL WEEKS In the eyes of Ilene, Morrison had to pay the price. After Below: Van Enter Lewis Merenstein. Astral Weeks’ eventual producer inheriting the Bang Records company from her husband, Morrison recording was also asked by Warner Bros to check out what the The songs continued for a Bang Records she slapped a ban on the songwriter recording new material session in New songwriter was cooking up. When Merenstein heard the for other labels, or even playing live in his adopted home of York, in March 1967 singer play the title song from the album for the first time: Side Two Afterwards New York. She then attempted to have Morrison deported, “I started crying. It just vibrated in my soul and I knew although the singer swerved the potential crisis by marrying I wanted to work with that sound,” he explained. his then-girlfriend, Janet ‘Planet’ Rigsbee. 5 THE WAY YOUNG The pair moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where SESSION STARS LOVERS DO Morrison worked local clubs with a small electric group After Morrison extricated himself from his Bang Records The one song on the album that divides fans and critics playing cuts from Blowin’ Your Mind! and his Them back deal via 36 nonsense recordings to fulfil his outstanding alike. Morrison biographer dismisses catalogue, before moving on to the coffee-house contractual obligation with Berns’ publishing company Web it as “lounge jazz… that sticks out like Spumante at circuit with Tom Kielbania. The duo, with Morrison on guitar IV Music, the way was clear for him to sign with Warners and a champagne buffet”. Likewise, ’s Greil and Kielbania on upright bass, began exploring an acoustic start work on what would become Astral Weeks. Marcus says this is “a poor jazz-flavoured cut that is folk-based direction and the first ideas for the Merenstein’s background as a jazz producer would have uncomfortably out of place.” on Astral Weeks began to evolve. Soon to join them was a profound effect on the sessions, and the personnel invited But the swinging jazz of …Young Lovers does at least flautist John Payne, who made the cut for the final recording to collaborate. After working with Van at a Warners-owned inject much-needed impetus to get Side Two underway. This is the assembled players at their most invigorated, with sessions of the LP. publishing studio for two weeks to hone the songs and sketch a superb horn by Larry Fallon. Check out a Although Morrison’s stock as a chart-friendly songwriter out basic arrangements, Merenstein assembled a crack set of typically radical electrified solo reinvention by was still high, it didn’t translate to personal financial security jazz players at Century Sound Studios on with the on his album Live At Sin-é. – Van has said he was starving and virtually penniless as experience and imagination to fully put flesh on the bones Astral Weeks gestated. Warner Bros began sniffing of Van’s new set of songs. Key to the collaborative sessions around Van with a view to signing him, but was bassist – Kielbania was jettisoned at the 6 were shocked when they heard back recording stage, despite helping to shape the original feel of Set once again in Cypress Avenue, this is another Belfast- from envoys sent to see his live show the tracks. But Davis was in a different league as a player, inspired track that forms the centrepiece of Astral Weeks’ that his new musical direction was with form working with Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan second side. His hometown is alluded to throughout, diametrically opposed to his biggest and . Also signed up was guitarist Jay including the working-class neighbourhood, “I started crying. a staunch Protestant and Unionist stronghold (“Throwing

ASTRAL WEEKS hit single. At just 23, he was already Berliner, who boasted an equally impressive CV, ASTRAL WEEKS pennies at the bridges down below” was a practice of done with the pop business. Astral Weeks playing on ’ The Black Saint And Northern Irish Unionists as they travelled on the Dublin to 68 Belfast train and crossed the River Boyne). Fitz could be an 69

just vibrated in my Getty allusion to Fitzroy Avenue, a small residential Belfast street soul and I knew between Ormeau Road and Rugby Road. Morrison suggests Madame George is an amalgam of I wanted to work The Sinner Lady five years previously. Only flautist John Payne Richard Davis, up to seven different women. So who is she? A drag queen, with that sound” THE remained from Morrison’s previous bands in Massachusetts integral to the or as ’s Tom Nolan suggests, Georgie and Boston. sound and the Hyde-Lees, the muse of W. B. Yeats, who guided the Irish LEWIS MERENSTEIN recording of Astral poet through automatic-writing sessions in a trance? HOLLYWOOD Davis’s intuitive basslines that surround and underpin Weeks, playing in Morrison’s vocals are one of Astral Weeks’ most striking 1984 in The Hague, MAKEOVER attributes. Merenstein has talked much about how the bassist The Netherlands 7 BALLERINA CLASSIC ALBUM drove the sessions, with Morrison an uncommunicative The oldest song on Astral Weeks, Ballerina dates back to CLASSIC ALBUM A full 40 years after the release of Astral Weeks, Morrison bystander. Speaking to Hank Shteamer in 2009, Lewis said: 1966 and was worked on between gigs by Morrison during revisited his most acclaimed work for two of the most hotly “Richard was the soul of the album. The heart and beat of it… his tenure with Them. Despite being performed in Hawaii on anticipated live shows of 2008 at the in Van had nothing to say. He just went and sang the song. one occasion by , it was never formally recorded Los Angeles. Each gig was split into two halves. Firstly, an That’s primarily the way the album proceeded.” until the Astral Weeks sessions. alternating nine-song opening ‘greatest hits’ selection that After a simple performance of the songs on acoustic guitar Van first conceived of the track while staying at a San included , Caravan and Brown Eyed Girl, followed for the assembled musicians, Morrison would take his place Francisco hotel during a Them tour of the US. He told by the Astral Weeks album played in full. in the vocal booth and let the sessions run their own course. journalist : “I was attracted to the city. It was Guitarist returned to reprise his role, and his the first time I’d been there, and I was sitting in this hotel. All Drummer explained to Rolling Stone magazine interplay with Morrison despite the intervening years was these things were going through my head, and I had a flash remarkable. Bassist Richard Davis apparently was involved, that when the band asked Van for directions, he merely about an actress in an opera house appearing in a ballet.” but bowed out at the rehearsal stage for the landmark replied: “‘Play whatever you like’. We more or less sat there Although melodically simplistic, this is a powerhouse 17,500-capacity show. and jammed.” performance of emotive from Van along with intuitive The elastic arrangements of the original album played to The session players worked intuitively, improvising and sympathetic contributions from bassist Davis once again. Morrison’s strengths as an improvisational performer. The bleak throughout as they bounced off Morrison’s voice with only Slim Slow Slider was moved from its place on the album as a basic chord patterns for guidance. Davis was surprised at desolate closer and was instead played third here, with Morrison Morrison’s rather surly way of working, even if it was shyness 8 SLIM SLOW SLIDER at one point aggressively thrashing away at his acoustic guitar disguised as surliness. He told in 2008: “There A downbeat way to end the record, Slim Slow Slider is the while adding a coda of I Start Breaking Down, a nod to blues wasn’t much communication. As far as I can recall, I don’t only song on Astral Weeks that does not feature additional legend Robert Johnson. strings. Even Morrison isn’t sure exactly who the central think I exchanged one word with the guy. We just listened to Morrison told Rolling Stone’s David Wild: “[Astral Weeks] character is. However, the general consensus is that this received no promotion from Warner Bros – that’s why I never his songs one time, then we started playing.” refers to a heroin addict. Morrison is vaguer, saying it deals got to play those songs live. I had always wanted to play the That communication exists solely on a musical level, with with a girl who is “caught up in a big city like London or record live and fully orchestrated.” Morrison urging the players on with his extraordinarily maybe is on dope. I’m not sure.” The song ends abruptly, emotive singing, at times tender and plaintive, at others with Morrison slapping the side of his acoustic guitar and

Getty raging and anger-filled: at some points, he sounds possessed John Payne wandering off on a free-jazz soprano sax solo.

“The people involved ASTRAL WEEKS could read the 70 situation and knew what to do by the music. Remarkably, the album spontaneously, could read the situation and knew what came together in what was effectively just not belabour it” to do spontaneously, not belabour it, not Getty two eight-hour recording sessions, as an overproduce or overthink it. Everybody on additional early-morning session produced VAN MORRISON the session was like that, which was uncanny.” nothing of note and was eventually abandoned. Over the years, Morrison’s own view of the The first session on 25 September produced album has fluctuated. He’s at times proud of his

CLASSIC ALBUM four songs that made the final cut – the title track, achievement and the style of music contained within the ambitious centrepieces of both sides, Cypress Avenue its 47 minutes, at others grumbling about the addition of and Madame George, as well as the yearning Beside You. After strings and horns and puzzled by the overwhelming critical the abandoned session bore no musical fruit, a third and plaudits it has received. When biographer final eight-hour stint produced a swinging performance of commented that the album overshadowed other equally The Way Young Lovers Do, Sweet Thing, Ballerina and stark impressive work, Morrison agreed – saying that he should closing track Slim Slow Slider. have “changed the arrangements because they are too samey. Four or five other songs should have had a change of mood.” STUDIO ALCHEMY Upon its release, due partly to a lack of promotion, it Apart from string and horn section overdubs arranged by promptly sank without trace. It was a cult album on import Larry Fallon and overseen by Merenstein at two sessions at in the States, but almost ignored in the UK by fans and Mastertone Recordings on 42nd Street, Astral Weeks was by critics alike. The NME was underwhelmed, labelling it a and large a first-take affair, although some tracks were honed pale imitation of a recent album by José Feliciano; while pop at the edit stage. magazine Beat International bizarrely criticised the record for Two further songs recorded at the sessions were deemed being unoriginal. The critical reappraisal of Astral Weeks was unsuitable for the album and a five-minute avant-garde taken up in earnest by Rolling Stone magazine – its lead writer coda to Slim Slow Slider was deemed dubbed the album “unique and timeless”. superfluous and pruned off entirely by the producer. Ultimately, though, Astral Weeks is the archetypal slow- Merenstein was also behind the idea of labelling Side One Performing at The burner, offering up its gifts slowly to those willing to put in ‘In The Beginning’ and its flipside ‘Afterwards’, although the Scene nightclub the time. For once, ­– no stranger to hyperbole decision wasn’t met with approval by Morrison. in NY in 1969, when it comes to music’s great and good – gets it spot on. with bassist Tom In an interview with Scott Foundas in 2009, Morrison said: Kielbania and multi- “It’s still the most adventurous record made in the rock “Most of these songs were first or second takes. It was like instrumentalist medium. There hasn’t been a record with that amount of an alchemical kind of situation, where the people involved Artie Kaplan daring made since.” ●