After leaving the group Them and recording one album for the Bert Burns label Bang (Blowin’ Your Mind), Van Morrison recorded two albums (for Warner Bros. Records) that solidified his place in music at that time and forever.
Astral Weeks (1968) is considered Morrison’s most critically acclaimed album and his next one, Moondance (1970), is his most popular and well-known album. While these two recordings often receive the most attention in an evaluation of the immense legend of Morrison, his next three LPs further enhanced and reinforced the enormity of the man’s vast talents. Those albums are His Band and Street Choir (1970), Tupelo Honey (1971), and Saint Dominic’s Preview (1972). His Band and the Street Choir has just been reissued as one of the first four releases from the Rhino High Fidelity Series. This is a great album and the approach taken by Rhino on this reissue is like a master class on how to reissue a classic album.
His Band and the Street Choir was a dramatic change from his previous two albums. On those two records, Morrison was an artist who drew from a range of sometimes tortured emotions to create music of impressionistic, sublime beauty that mixed folk, jazz, r&b, rock, and soul in a sound that was unmatched. On His Band and the Street Choir, Morrison continued to mix those styles, but sounds more relaxed, like he’s truly having fun, and is surrounded by musicians he clearly loves and is inspired by. The songs are shorter and punchier and were clearly recorded mostly live with minimal rehearsal or takes.
It’s a joyous celebration and while it didn’t quite reach the heights of the previous two albums, was an instant classic. The most well-known song from the album is “Domino.” “Blue Money” is another enduring classic from the album and “I’ve Been Working” was a highlight of his live shows at the time. This music very much reflects Morrison’s Woodstock period and the rural, pastoral beauty of that place was certainly a key ingredient in the writing and recording of the album.
As for this reissue, the album is cut from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. The jackets are gatefold packages, using thick carboard with glossy covers. Included as a bonus is a lyric sheet and an additional insert with tape and session log photos and information that also includes an insightful Q&A interview with renowned recording engineer Elliot Scheiner. This is a limited edition, numbered release of 5,000 copies. The vinyl comes is in paper and polyvinyl sleeves, but does not replicate the original label, but instead features a new label for the Rhino High Fidelity Series.
The sound is perfect. Not needing any enhancements, this album, recorded on 16-tracks, a relatively new technology at the time, has a rich sound, with lively vocals, sassy, warm horns and a full drum sound. This is a classic album reissue in a way that only enhances the originals reputation.
If this excellent reissue were not enough, Van Morrison is releasing two new albums this year. The first, which is already out, is yet another double vinyl album, like the two albums before his last release in 2022. This one is a tribute to skiffle music. Skiffle was a form of folk music that became a key musical genre in England that partly gave birth to the UK music explosion of the ’60s. At that time, Morrison was in Them. Them was more of an r&b band, but virtually anyone who was around in the late ’50s/early ’60s in the UK who was an aspiring musician played at one time in a skiffle band.
This is an authentic take on the music. Naturally, the two main American musical artists who were the most significant inspiration for this sound—Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly—are covered here (“Gypsy Davy” and “Cotton Fields”). Obviously from the world of country, the music of Hank Williams was also important to this sound and Morrison covers two songs from that legend (“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Cold, Cold Heart”). Williams’s music also seeps into many other tracks on this album.
The music of other country artists (Jim Reeves, Jimmie Rodgers, Don Gibson, Hank Snow) are covered here as well. Blues artists (Elizabeth Cotton, Red Nelson) are also included, further illustrating just how many musical genres intermingle to make up skiffle music, although it is primarily viewed as a form of folk music. Train songs (“Freight Train,” “Streamline Train”) were part of the mythology and romance of the genre. All of this music was of course American music, and in the UK, American music continued to be a major inspiration, from trad jazz to skiffle to blues, to r&B and rock and roll.
This release is the second time that Morrison has paid homage to skiffle. Exactly 25 years ago he released The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998, which also featured two key players of the skiffle craze in the UK: Lonnie Donegan and Chris Barber. While these albums could be viewed as tribute albums, or a chance for an artist to give his take on a genre of music, Morrison is steeped in this music and these records become faithful continuations of the genre and opportunities for a master to pass the music on to future generations, who will hopefully keep the music alive, which is all part of the folk process.
The music here is truly inspired and Morrison effortlessly turns these weathered and simple songs into something fresh, full-bodied and lively. His voice never seems to lose any of its majestic luster and listeners are treated to hearing the music of an artist in full command of his voice and the musical arrangements. He is clearly adept at leading in some cases a large ensemble through mostly live first take recordings that couldn’t be improved in by studio trickery.
Morrison’s next album to be released later this year is Beyond Words: Instrumental. With Van Morrison, it’s truly too late to stop now for all the right reasons.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
His Band and the Street Choir
A+
Moving On Skiffle
B+
