Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
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Free Music Notes for Veedon Fleece
Free Music Review: Great VM release.
Hit: 4 Stars
So all your friends have the VM Greatest Hits and everyone always knows every song etc. You want to get more Van but like he has released a gajillion albums. This one is a safe bet. Very Van from front to back yet your friends won't know every line to every song. A great addition to any Van collection.Free Music Review: A quiet beauty
Hit: 4 Stars
"Veedon Fleece" was never one of Van Morrison's best-known albums, probably because it's difficult to categorize among the rest of his work. It's got soul, no question. But that trademark R&B-influenced belting Van's known for is tempered here by a quiet pastoral elegance. It's much folkier than anything he's done before or since.This album's natural companion in the Van Morrison catalog is definitely "Astral Weeks." The acoustic-based folk sound of that landmark album is in abundance here. But where "Astral Weeks" veered off into breathtaking impressionism, "Veedon Fleece" keeps things relatively grounded, albeit with a sense of aloofness. You can't quite figure out what exactly Van is singing about most of the time, but that's probably part of the mystique...and one of the things that makes this brilliant album so compelling.
I've only given it two or three complete listens so far, and my immediate impressions are strong. My favorite song so far is probably the most upbeat one, the country-flavored "Bulbs" (it sounds a lot like the Band). Elsewhere, the jazzy, soulful opener "Fair Play" and the gorgeous "Cul de Sac" are other highlights.
It's definitely not Van's most commercially savvy release, but that's never something he's cared about. Van Morrison has always taken chances and strived for beautiful music over sales figures.
Free Music Review: Only one mellow way to go...
Hit: 5 Stars
On which Morrison is less Van the Man, the Celtic Soul Brother and more the ruminative Irish poet child of nature...it's difficult to describe this wonderful record in a few sentences. It's very much in the English Nick Drake/Pentangle tradition, which is not to say that it's traditional folk music. It's got strains of R & B, jazz, and even country running through it, and was a logical, if unexpected progression of Van's music at the time. It's closest in feel, in the Morrison catalog, to Astral Weeks; it shares the mostly acoustic, jazzy feel of his Warners debut but is a more mature and introspective work. Morrison had, after the relative aesthetic failure of his otherwise fine Hard Nose The Highway album, begun to get a bit restless artistically...if I recall correctly, he took a trip to Ireland to get back to his roots (so to speak) after spending many years here in the States, and when he returned this is where his muse led him. He recieves stellar backing from his road band on this album, especially the underrated pianist Jef Labes.
There isn't a bad track here. I love them all, but I especially love the moody "Streets of Arklow", with magnificent recorder accompaniment by Jim Rothermel; the breezy opener "Fair Play" in which he begins his penchant for name dropping his favorite writers, clever at first but eventually run into the ground later in his career... "You Don't Pull No Punches...", in which he sings about a quest for spiritual enlightenment, known here as the Veedon Fleece; the jazzy "Cul De Sac" with a fearless, amazing vocal, "Who Was That Masked Man", in which Van does his best Smokey Robinson impersonation, and the closer, the gorgeous "Country Fair" which evokes a late summer evening vividly. It's a haunting tune you won't soon forget.
I could go on and on and probably still not adequately describe my affection for this album. Ever since I picked this up off the rack at age 15 (because I liked the beautiful cover-I had never listened to Morrison before!), I have considered this my favorite album. Sadly, I was one of the few...its commercial failure led Morrison to attack Warners for not promoting it and caused him to spend three years struggling with writers block to finally issue its follow-up, the more conventional A Period of Transition-a lackluster LP light years away from its predecessor. Veedon Fleece is a once-in-a-lifetime work that sounded like nothing out there back then and still sounds unique today, even when compared to Van's own catalogue.
I hope, that if I convince you to take a chance on this album, that you come to love it as much as I. If it was possible I'd give it ten stars.
Free Music Review: A hidden gem
Hit: 4 Stars
Not for those content with "Brown Eyed Girl" and other Van pop classics, this album goes deep as successfully as anything he's done. Warm, rich, earthy, bold, and challenging, this album finds Van stretching, lingering, emoting, and contemplating with a great, flexible band that follows him every step of the way. For those who want to not just listen passively but actually be taken "Into the Mystic", this one's for you. Put it on and wander a while.Free Music Review: ..and a 100 watt bulb just blew
Hit: 5 Stars
Nice to see so much praise for this album, which is also my favorite by Van. Many point to Astral Weeks as the high point of his career, but for me it's Veedon Fleece. I've long been curious about the origins of "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights" and if in fact this is based on a real person. Have done some research but turned up nothing. (There was a play by the same name a few years back performed locally in San Francisco, but I think they just took it from the album.)Anyway, this album never fails to chill. "Lord ain't it lonely, when you're livin' with a gun; you can't slow down and you can't turn around and you can't trust anyone." Van goes searching for the Sisters of Mercy and the Veedon Fleece and comes up with pure gold.