Van's Catalogue Reissues Begin January 2008

Van Morrison Catalogue Reissues Begin In 2008 Through 2009:
London 27 Nov 2007 - Van Morrison and Exile Productions in association with Polydor/Universal are pleased to announce the worldwide release of the Van Morrison back catalogue commencing January 2008.

This worldwide exclusive release covers 29 albums from 1971’s Tupelo Honey through to 2002’s Down The Road and includes the 1997 Two CD collection The Story of Them. The albums are being remastered and will include bonus material, none of which has been previously available.

Each album will include original artwork and full lyrics to Van Morrison compositions. The first series of 7 albums will be released on January 28th followed by a further 3 sets, all retailing at mid-price.

The first series features:

Tupelo Honey
It’s Too Late To Stop Now
Wavelength
Into The Music
A Sense Of Wonder
Avalon Sunset
Back On Top

The bonus recordings are of particular interest, the first time Van Morrison has authorised any unreleased material since The Philosopher’s Stone in 1998. Each reissued album includes exclusive unreleased recordings from each respective time period, giving a unique insight into some of his most revered songs.

Tupelo Honey, 1971 – Wild Night (alternative take) and a reworking of the traditional Down By The Riverside

It’s Too Late To Stop Now, 1974 - a live take on Brown Eyed Girl

Wavelength, 1978 – Kingdom Hall and Wavelength (Live at the Roxy Theatre, LA, Nov 26, 1978)

Into The Music, 1979 – Steppin’ Out Queen and Troubadours (alternative takes)

A Sense Of Wonder, 1984 – Crazy Jane On God and A Sense Of Wonder (alternative takes)

Avalon Sunset, 1989 – Whenever God Shines His Light (alternative take) and When The Saints Go Marching In (with additional lyrics by Van Morrison)

Back On Top, 1999 – Philosopher’s Stone (alternative take) and Valley Of Tears (A completely new arrangement of the Fats Domino Song)

24-Nov-07 Norwich Concert Review

Once again here's Dail review (Thanks for the photos):

Feeling very privileged to have see Van's concert on Friday...you knew that tonight's Concert was going to be good. Straight from the start... we were away....no warming up.... or getting into the moment !!

Van was into the Music, the enthusiasm and this magic energy was there and Back On Top was the first song out, my review will not justify this amazing concert...outstanding..jubilant..In my opinion this has been the best concert I have been to so far....purely based on the music...A different setlist to Friday concert, except for Tupelo Honey, Playhouse, Precious Time , Brown Eyed Girl and The Healing Has Begun..who doesn't mind hearing this again... but for the rest of the show.....please forgive me can't remember all the setlist....Foggy Mountain...into C.C. Ryder...and the when you thought it couldn't get any better Van finished with Lonely Avenue... brilliant.

Playhouse was next....and this doesn't do it for me.....I have to say that Playhouse was so good tonight...when you really get into IT!
The band played first class surrounded by Van's buoyant mood and eagerness to perform to a higher level...and we where not disappointed.
Rough God Goes Riding was a fantastic version...Van voice was amazing....between the growling and the soft tones of Van singing In The Midnight...to a whisper in Precious Time..when Van had taken control....not one word was spoken and the theater went into total silence.
Van sung In The Afternoon..... and again we where taken on another journey to the Brotherhood of light into a mystic Church in Notting Hill Gate.... Van left the stage...and it seemed ages before returning..(.I was all out of whistle!!!! ) when Van came back.... The Healing Has Begun, wonderful absolutely beautiful... and a great solo from Van on guitar....went off stage again came back and belted out BEG...nearly another 100 minutes of pure musical magic.

There was no room for the Horns at this concert...didn't need them.
Van is definitely Still On Top.
A great weekend of music...
-Regards Dail

Setlist:
Back On Top
Magic Time
Rough God Goes Riding
Bright Side Of The Road
Stranded > Don’t Look Back
Playhouse
Tupelo Honey > Why Must I Always Explain?
It Once Was My Life
Foggy Mountain Top > C. C. Rider > Lonely Avenue
Real Real Gone > You Send Me
In The Midnight
Precious Time
In The Afternoon > Ancient Highway > Raincheck > Mystic Church
And The Healing Has Begun
Brown Eyed Girl

Big hand for the band!
Paul Moran, Crawford Bell, Katie Kissoon, Karen Hamill, Ned Edwards, Tony Fitzgibbon, Sarah Jory, Paul Moore, Neal Wilkinson, John Platania, Bobby Ruggerio

23-Nov-07 Norwich Concert Review

Norwich Evening News:
Norwich Theatre Royal

He might be a man of few words between songs but it mattered not a jot for the sell-out crowd at the new-look Theatre Royal who turned out to be entertained by one of the most influential musicians of the modern era.

Van Morrison, or “Van the Man” as he has been dubbed, might cut a fairly dreary figure on stage - dressed in grey, a stern look on his face partially hidden by his trademark tinted glasses and trilby hat - but his love-laced lyrics added an extra sheen to the gleaming auditorium which has just undergone a £10m facelift.

With more than 45 years and more than 30 albums under his belt he knows exactly how to work the crowd and get them joining in with some of his most memorable works - notably Brown Eyed Girl and Moondance. Many of the songs released as part of his latest album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume Three, were included in last night's mesmeric 100-minute celebration.

The set proved thirsty work for Van the Man who, backed ably by an impressive band, had to keep his well-worked vocal cords moistened with a constant flow of water-filled cups.

He might not have hung around at the end - leaving his band to take the rapturous acclaim of the audience - but the man in grey did not disappoint on the first of a two-night stint in the city. People with tickets for tonight's performance are in for a treat.
-PETER WALSH

Here is Dail's review:

Where do I begin...Friday concert was a real treat, the highlights for me was St James, Vanlose Stairway, Not Feeling It Anymore, Reminds Me of You and The Healing Has Begun.

We were giving 100 minutes of brilliant performance from Van and the Band..
The Concert started off really slowly....and you kinda think here we go again...but then maybe 30 minutes into the concert, Van did a great St James with some very good playing from Crawford Bell... who has improved so much from when he first joined the band.

Vanlose Stairway was excellent....I was just spellbound on every detail.
Not Feeling it Anymore...Van was singing softly and more slower arrangement singing almost to a whisper but then brought back up to full volume.....Nice!

Reminds Me of You...sung so much compassion, Van hanging on to every word...such a beautiful song.
And towards the end of the show....okay let's have Gloria and BEG...because you know you are going to hear this.....but then Van pick up his guitar ... and started playing The Healing Has Begun...
just... brilliant... brilliant... a quick look at my watch...and we were in the 90 minutes zone!!!

Van left the stage.... with Ned saying saying Mr Vaaaaaan Morrison....show over but he came back
to do BEG...now I have never like this song......but I guess it makes the audience happy..and it has growing on me.

Just a great show....I was little disappointed that Van did not get a standing ovation....
-Regards Dail


Setlist:
This Love Of Mine
Magic Time
Stop Drinking
Too Many Myths
It Once Was My Life
Tupelo Honey > Why Must I Always Explain?
Playhouse
What Makes The Irish Heart Beat
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
All Work And No Play
Reminds Me Of You
I’m Not Feeling It Anymore
Precious Time
Vanlose Stairway
And The Healing Has Begun
Brown Eyed Girl

Big hand for the band!
Paul Moran, Crawford Bell, Katie Kissoon, Karen Hamill, Ned Edwards, Tony Fitzgibbon, Sarah Jory, Paul Moore, Neal Wilkinson, John Platania, Bobby Ruggerio

Chart Update: Still On Top - The Greatest Hits

Van's latest release, Still On Top - The Greatest Hits, debuts on the U.S. Billboard Album Chart at #48.

Meanwhile on the UK charts it has dropped down to #24 after it's debut, at #2, nearly a month ago.

In the Australian Music Charts it's at #33.

(Photo: Van With Montreux Jazz Festival Creator, Claude Nobbs)

16-Nov-07 Amsterdam Concert Review

Vanfan has posted a review and photos on his website of last night's Amsterdam show.

Hans also was at the show:
The show started really promising, with a fine This Love Of Mine and then a
superb Foreign Window, followed by Magic Time. T for Texas was played very
slow and bluesy, Van asking the piano player to 'boogie woogie now!', which
he did more or less... The band was very tight, if not too tight. My wife
commented after the show that it was all so well crafted and directed, that
nobody really TOOK a solo, none of the musicians did (dare to) take that
extra step. Sarah and Tony were maybe the two who seemed to be the most
'into the music'. I can agree with my wife (I sometimes do ;-)), though the
whole show was very very solid, musically.

The highlights were definitely my all time favourite Foreign Window and In
The Afternoon. In The Afternoon had a long stretched out part including Big
Joe Turner and 'Swedenborg Church-At the Notting Hill Gate-In The Mystic
Church-I was thinking about it-I was sitting own-meditation-contemplation-in other words religion'. Which of course we
all know from the good old Summertime In England-days. Van had most of the
audience with him on this song, even with the quieter parts. Well, except
for the two lads standing three feet behind us and who I think now have the
world record for 'continuously-talking-for-90-minutes-without-taking-a-breath'. Grr.
'Sometimes We Cry' was powerful and great.

Van's voice might not have been as good as can be, it seemed to me that he
might be suffering from a cold. The Venue itself is quite dreadful. It has
good acoustics but absolutely zero atmosphere. There are only a few seats in
the very back of the hall, the rest is standing. There's room for about
10.000 people.

Remarkable: Van had the two bars located inside the hall closed, maybe
because he didn't want people walking to and fro all the time and because of the noise. There were bars open elsewhere in the building, and quite some people did leave the room for a beer. Personally, I can do without a drink for 90 minutes.

The area where the venue is located is even more dreadful (all my personal
opinion, of course!). This part of Amsterdam is a sea of concrete, brick,
steal and glass. It might be called modern architecture, I hate it. After
the show I thought about how much contrast there is between this cold and
chilly environment and the images Van paints with his music: Mystery,
nature, love, religion. To me two different worlds.


Most of the people were apparently not so familiar with were Van is at now.
There was great rumour when Van sang the first line of HITYL Vegas-style,
and after Help Me, almost everybody was waiting for the next thing to come,
while we sneaked out the door, grabbed our coat and catched the train.

All in all, I think it was a fine evening, with the best we can get from
Van, considered where he's at now. If only he would play Vredenburg again...

And if only he (and his musicians) would really stretch out and improvise...

My final comment (and this really bothers me) is that there is still
absolutely nothing new in the show, and it has been this way for a very very long time. I think Magic Time is the most recent 'new' song. Van does now include that Swedenborg Church part in In The Afternoon, but still it all has been done before. It is not really new. I bet Van did not ONLY listen to Big Joe Turner while driving the Ancient Highway, so why not play around with that a bit? Might lead into something else. I guess that's how the song developed long ago to what it is now. Why not carry on? I don't really understand. Therefore I'm really curious about this new album next year. I hope it IS new.
-Hans


Setlist:
This Love of Mine
Foreign Window
Magic Time
Choppin' Wood
Bright Side Of The Road
Foggy Mountain Top
Goin' Down Geneva > Brand New Cadillac
In The Afternoon > Ancient Highway > Raincheck > Mystic Church
Moondance
Playhouse
Don't Start Crying Now > Custard Pie
Saint James Infirmary
Have I Told You Lately
Here Comes The Night
Sometimes We Cry
Precious Time
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me

03-Nov-07 Nottingham Concert Review

This Is Nottingham:
Seeing Van the Man always brings a degree of trepidation. The emotional quality of his voice has moved me to tears in the past but there have been
times when he has not given his all or growled his way through a hurried series of his hits as though trying to win a world record for medleys.

And let's face it, the veteran Irish crooner is no frontman, having little or no rapport with his audience, who seem almost surplus to his requirements.

When our regulation 90 minutes were up and after a whiz though a Brown Eyed Girl encore, he and his excellent 11-piece band were off. But at least it
was longer than a previous concert when amid a crisis in the lovelife department he marched off the stage after only 45 minutes.

Despite all this, his fans still turn out to catch those moments of genius than sometimes shine through and on Saturday, donning trademark sharp suit and hat, he was on form.

Looking considerably thinner - and sounding better - he had me and a few others dancing in the aisles although his largely Radio 2 audience were far too reserved to engage in such activities, with a polite, rather than rapturous response to anything other than the crowd-pleasing numbers such as Moondance and Days Like This.

He also managed to bring tears to my eyes again - not with an old favourite but a track I had never heard before so can't tell you what it was called.
But it is measure of the man's talent that a even a 'debut' performance of something can send one off with the fairies...
-LISA CHERRY-DOWNES

Dail comments on last night's show in Nottigham:

Just come back from Nottingham and WOW...what a excellent concert, we were graced with John Platania and Bobby Ruggiero.

Van was in perfect form, the highlights....Vanlose Stairway... wonderful to
hear this, and a delightful In the Afternoon....which took us into the
Mystic Church in Notting Hill Gate to a slow beautiful fading...still in
the Mystic Church.

Van belted out Stranded, Magic Time , I can't Stop Loving you, Talk is
Cheap and Have I told you lately....all sung with passion and commitment..
Help Me with the slow sax intro....I just love this track...keep it stuck on replay please!

I shall leave out the in depth stuff to Simon and Pat Corely I am sure it
will make delightful reading.

Tonight concert brought back all my memories of when I had first heard these timeless classics, but this, to me is what Van's music is all about....lets you experience the raw emotions over again, I feel very blessed tonight... because I have been in the presence of the Genius Mr Van Morrison.
-Regards Dail

And here is Pat's take:

I set off on Saturday morning on yet another of the worlds great train
journeys,Bradford On Avon to Nottingham changing at Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street.As the little train chugged happily along the ancient steel highway towards Bath i looked out of the window and the world looked extraordinarily beautiful.There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the Indian Summer had turned the trees to a mirage of colour,red,yellow,sienna, ochre, umber and loads of other colours that i don't know the names of.It boded well for the concert that night.I got to Nottingham and got a taxi to my friend Dave's house.I hadn't seen him for quite a few years but he features in quite a few of my stories on my blog page.I reminded him of little incidents such as the time i put his shoes on the fire after he wrote all over my Them album.Dave told me that the last time he saw Van with me was Glastonbury in 87.One of Vans finest moments.

We wiled away the afternoon and set off to meet all the Vanatics at the
meeting place pub.I was most disappointed to only find Dail and Simon and a
nice American couple(i can't remember their names, sorry).It was great to
see Dail though and i gave her the great news that Peterborough United had
beaten Stockport County 2-1 and were now 4th in the table.Then it was time
for the show.Dave immediately remarked on how the audience has changed since the last time he saw Van.In those days it was all hippy types now its mainly old gits (like me!).

Van and his band were on great form though in Nottingham.I think there is 11 in the band now and it was John Platania on guitar.The first time i have seen him in Vans band.I wrote the set list down so i hope i got it right because i was drunk and might have made mistakes.This is the notes i
scribbled in the dark:

All in all i thought it was wonderful,the highspot being Van whispering 'In
the mystic church in Notting Hill Gate' at the end of In The Afternoon
etc.Also as Dail said,Vans sax playing is really great these days.
-Pat

Setlist:
Stop Drinking
All Work And No Play
Magic Time
Don’t Worry About A Thing
Bright Side Of The Road
Cleaning Windows >Be Bop A Lula
Vanlose Stairway [NE] >Trans-Euro Train
Talk Is Cheap
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
In The Afternoon >Ancient Highway >Raincheck >Mystic Church
Playhouse
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Precious Time [scat ending]
Stranded
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl

Big hand for the band!
Paul Moran, Crawford Bell, Katie Kissoon, Karen Hamill, Ned Edwards, Tony Fitzgibbon, Sarah Jory, Paul Moore, Neal Wilkinson, John Platania, Bobby Ruggerio

02-Nov-07 Wolverhampton Concert Review

Express & Star:
If, reflecting on Van Morrison’s allegedly grumpy stage demeanour, you wonder after almost 50 years of touring why he does it, he and his band’s
performance gave the answer.

Van The Man surrounds himself with virtuoso musicians and they all go “back to the magic time” of musical enchantment, and last night they took everyone along with them in a stunning show containing many moments of absolute brilliance.

He doesn’t mess around, old Van: Bang on 8pm the band is on stage and starts to play and on he comes, already blowing blues harmonica. Bang on
9.30pm the show is over, but in between there has been pure delight.

All Work And No Play followed You Better Stop before the pace slowed and the magic time really began, especially in a stunning version of I Can’t
Stop Loving You featuring beautiful harmonies from the backing singers.

Exactly 90 minutes of excellence ended with us all la-la-la-ing along with Van to the second encore, Brown Eyed Girl - 40 years old and good as ever, just like Van himself.

Setlist:
Stop Drinking
All Work And No Play
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
In The Midnight
Dead Or Alive
Moondance
It Once Was My Life
When The Leaves Come Falling Down
Playhouse
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Choppin’ Wood
Talk Is Cheap
Fame
Bright Side Of The Road
Stranded
Precious Time [scat ending]
Brown Eyed Girl

Big hand for the band!
Paul Moran, Crawford Bell, Katie Kissoon, Karen Hamill, Ned Edwards, Tony Fitzgibbon, Sarah Jory, Paul Moore, Neal Wilkinson, John Platania, Bobby Ruggerio