[rkm]

Any fans here?

I’m in the middle of a listening project. I’ve heard everything from 1964-1994 in order. I still have 1995 to the present to hear properly.

The dude has a strong work ethic. Almost 50 albums, compared to The Stones (about 30).

I think the public’s awareness extends to ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and ‘Moondance’. Perhaps ‘Have I Told You Lately’ (although most think that song belongs to Rod Stewart). It’s a shame, because his catalog is deep and interesting.

[Skinny]

The run from Astral Weeks to Veedon Fleece, including the live album from '73, can stand up to almost anyone's entire discography, and he's been sporadically great on record since. (There's some golden Them stuff, too.) Live in recent years, however, he has just largely settled into a phoned-in lounge soul comfort zone, which - given the money I've spent to watch him - has evaporated much of my goodwill towards him.

At his best, he was equally adept at rolling, stream-of-consciousness jazz-folk as he was warm, light-hearted rock'n'roll and country homages, and even incredibly convincing, incredibly passionate soul music, all with a bucolic, distinctly Gaelic feel, a glorious singer, and inspiring bandleader, and an impressionistic writer who borrowed liberally from both the history of pop music and from the Romantic poets to create his own language of utopian Irish countrysides and nostalgic, summertime Americana, not wordy in the Dylan or Springsteen sense, but capable of capturing immersive moods with economic turns of phrase. During that glorious six or seven year period, his sound was evolving constantly to pull in various strands of pop and folk music, but he always managed to sound like nobody but himself.

I still kinda hate him for those fucking sleepy and inoffensive gigs I've sat through, hoping to catch a glimpse of genius, but it's hard to deny the power of that stretch.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[RockyRaccoon]

[theblueboy]

Yeah, he's really good. Particularly like the live album "it's too late to stop now"- I don't think I've ever been more impressed by a live album.

I've never quite grasped the greatness of Astral Weeks though I'm due a revisit so hopefully this might change (woefully enough my cd of said album will not read in my laptop so this idea has stalled )

Any nuggets from later on in his career we should know about?

[Spyglass]

Astral Weeks and Veedon Fleece are my two favorites. Moondance comes pretty close, though. I tried playing some of his music for my brothers but they hate his voice.
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Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802

[rkm]

If you’re after some inspiring live Van, and like his run from Astral Weeks to Veedon Fleece, I’d highly recommend these expanded volumes of ‘’It’s Too Late To Stop Now”

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

...It's Too Late To Stop Now... Vols. I...n Morrison

‘Vol. III Live at the Santa Monica Civic’ is fantastic (perhaps better than the original release).

Having listened from 1964-1994, I also have found a new appreciation for this live album

A Night In San Francisco by Van Morrison

In fact, all the live albums sum up each era quite well.

[rkm]

I’m interested in which album you guys think is Van’s last good album?

[Skinny]

[RoundTheBend]

Both Astral Weeks and Moondance are near perfect albums imo. Pretty crazy those were back to back.

I'd have to agree with Skinny's comments though. After Veedon Fleece he pretty much washed up (imo). He didn't age as well as say a Randy Newman or Johnny Cash or Paul Simon... all of which who have had albums late in their career people cared about. Having said that, to be fair, I haven't listened to much after it because it was a rough go and I don't consider myself a masochist. It was just painfully boring... I remember an older track showing up on a comp or like listening to a comp of his and near the end I had to turn it off it was so stale.

Tip to some of the earlier works, also mentioned, with Them or Brown Eyed Girl... I mean damn, is there really a better pop song than Brown Eyed Girl?

[PurpleHazel]

If BEA is any indication, among album fans he's equally known for Astral Weeks.

When I worked in a big record store in the 80s, "Brown-Eyed Girl" wasn't available except for a live version on a double album. Probably the most requested song or album by customers that wasn't available -- and there were a lot of OOP albums or brand new singles customers requested that weren't available.