Van Morrison

Morrison was at the top of his game when he cut this two-disc live set that showcases his first (and greatest) solo phase, a couple of Them classics, and key R&B covers. Van revisits the Astral Weeks stunner "Cyprus Avenue" in an American R&B showbiz manner that helps explain why a poor Irish kid would find a special kind of freedom and solace in black music.

Like the white middle class it entertains, rock music exhibits a certain rootlessness, a lack
of a living history. This is rock's greatest asset -- it is spontaneous and free, contemporary
and temporary -- but it can also be a liability. The ever-recurrent rock revivals and our
fondness for golden oldies express the absence of a past, the very word "revival" indicating
that the past is dead. Many artists are exploring that past, but the then and the n... More >

Songs that wore poorly or were just lame in the first place have more force and rightness on this exemplary live album than in their studio versions, and "Here Comes the Night" sounds fresher than it did in 1965. In addition, Morrison documents his debt to blues and r&b definitively--you can hear Bobby Bland all over the record, and cover tributes are paid as well to Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, and Sam Cooke. (Grade - A)