In 1968, known for psychedelic forays with the UK group “Them” and a handful of Top 40 pop gems, Morrison went into the studio to record what would ultimately become his least commercial and accessible LP, Astral Weeks. On Astral Weeks, Morrison poured out stream-of-consciousness lyrics about love, rebirth, and a pain that passes all understanding, in an impressionistic folk-jazz-blues idiom that transcended all known rock conventions of the time. Only a handful of luminaries bought the record at the time it was released. A decade later, Lester Bangs called Astral Weeks “a mystical document.”
On the original LP, a 23-year-old Morrison howls, hollers and grabs hold of the inexpressible and caresses its edges, bending and reshaping it like a virtuoso. Guitarist Jay Berliner, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Connie Kay create an improvisatory space for Morrison’s haunted freeform meditations. Larry Fallon’s overdubs added strings, woodwinds, and harpsichord.
Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl was culled from a pair of concerts held last year at the Hollywood in Los Angeles, honoring Van’s legendary effort. Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl is also a cd honoring the shows that honored that legendary album. Astral Weeks was released 40 years ago almost to the day before Van Morrison performed the whole set live two straight nights last November. “We did the songs and took them somewhere else. Transcended the originals, if you know what I mean.” He stated to the Associated Press recently. The shows featured guitarist Berliner from the 1968 sessions, along with other previous Morrison collaborators and a full string section. They were generally well-reviewed by audiences. As recorded on Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl, the performances retain the improvisatory approach from the record, right down to changing the song order.
Astral Weeks was Morrison’s first great solo work—an amazingly unified-sounding meditation on the mystery, joy and insecurity of love, as well as poetic evocation of the quiet moments and places that transform the mundane into the sublime. These songs are still vibrant today. Forty years from now, Astral Weeks will still hold up, and our descendants will be fortunate to chance upon music that is truly timeless.
