Astral Weeks By Van Morrison
The Top Rock Album That Is Not Really A Rock Album
The Genesis of Van Morrison
In the early sixties, Van Morrison played and wrote Rhythm and Blues with the band Them and wrote the proto-punk classic “Gloria”. This song was perfect for anyone picking up a guitar and using the simplest chord sequence E D A repeated and sung over.
Prior to this, in the late fifties as a teenager, he had played in Irish Showbands a master of many instruments as well as a singer and composer.
Astral Weeks - The Album
This was Van Morrison’s second solo album (the first was “Blowin’ Your Mind” ) and it blends folk, blues, jazz, and classical styles, signalling a radical departure from the sound of his previous pop hits, such as "Brown Eyed Girl" and his songs with Them.
The lyrics and cover art of “Astral Weeks” portray the symbolism equating earthly love and heaven that would often feature in his subsequent releases. Morrison’s lyrics have been described as impressionistic, hypnotic, and modernist, while the “Astral Weeks” has been categorized as a song cycle or concept album.
The New Musical Express once described the album as being in the top ten rock albums of all time although they reckoned that the follow up “Moondance” was even better. And this brings me to the conundrum about “Astral Weeks”, although categorised by some as a rock album there are no electric instruments on the album at all, and while we see rock artists doing unplugged sessions of their electric songs, this was a radical departure from Morrison’s previous output.
It was not well received by a lot of critics at the time and did not sell many copies initially, but over time people have come to appreciate its breathtaking beauty. I am listening to the album as I write this piece, and hope that I can tempt a few people into taking a listen to this wonderful album.
The instrumentation was acoustic guitars, vibes, a saxophone and flute, and double bass with string overdubs. So no electric instrumentation. Warner Brothers didn’t really promote it so Morrison didn’t get the chance to really play the songs live, but he eventually rectified that with a live performance with orchestra in 2008 at The Hollywood Bowl, which was released as an album so you can compare the two.
The song cycle is split by the vinyl sides side one being “In The Beginning” and side two being “Afterwards” although with CD and digital formats you just play the whole thing all the way through. Normally when I write an album review I take each song and make notes on them, sort of turning it into a playlist. I can’t really do that with “Astral Weeks” as every song flows effortlessly into the next and before you know where you are you are back at the beginning.
The full album is available on YouTube or your streaming service but I do prefer to have a physical copy. Here is a bit on how the name of the album came about, the cover, and the lyrics to the title song.
According to Steve Turner, one of Van Morrison's biographers, Irish painter Cecil McCartney influenced the titling of “Astral Weeks”. Morrison related how "A friend of mine had drawings in his flat of astral projection. I was at his house when I was working on a song which began, 'If I venture down the slipstream' and that's why I called it 'Astral Weeks'. “It was a painting", McCartney corrects. "There were several paintings in the studio at the time. Van looked at the painting and it suggested astral travelling to him."
The album cover photograph of Van Morrison was taken by Joel Brodsky, best known for his "Young Lions" photoshoot with Jim Morrison. The squared circle in the cover photo is described as portraying "the mystic symbol of the union of opposites; the sacred marriage of heaven and earth"
There is a Youtube playlist of the full album here, but I will share the title song of this amazing album in this piece.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Comments (1)
Absolutely stunning album , just out on it's own