Rock�s mystery man returns to roots
By Juan Rodriguez
Montreal Gazette
May 29, 1976
Van Morrison is one of the great mystery men of rock � he is reclusive,
erratic, romantic, angry.
He is probably the most inventive personal rock singer, yet he has
given
many a drunken performance.
The Belfast-born singer-writer tasted success early, in 1965 with the
Irish
group Them (Gloria, Here Comes the Night) and he has had a couple of
hit
parade success (sic) on his own. His albums, from the dreamy elusive
Astral
Weeks to the dewey Moondance to the recent enigmatic Veedon Fleece,
are
everlasting reflections of an intense, restless spirit.
There is no denying Morrison�s strong personality, but it is too full
of
changing to get stuck in the rut of the record business game � which is
why
his songs are not heard over the airwaves as often as they should.
It has been nearly two years since Veedon Fleece was released to
generally
poor reviews, naturally, that disc has outlasted the notices. Since
then
Morrison has been hiding out on the West Coast, mulling over a busted
marriage as well as his place in music.
Now Morrison has moved back to England to work on a new album and,
often the
victim of misquotes and speculation, he has issued his first press
statement.
�As far as the past year was concerned,� he says, �things simply came
to a
grinding halt. Everything just came to a standstill as far as being
into
music�I simply stopped doing it for a while in order to get a new
perspective on what it was all about. I wanted to change the way I was
working�to get more of a solid business thing together. I wanted to
open up
new areas of creativity so I had to let go of everything for a while�
�So I did a bunch of different things. For example, I attended special
sessions conducted by a pupil of Ada Rolf, the Swedish tension expert,
to
release accumulated tension. I got into reading and studied various
subjects
including Jungian psychiatry, Celtic history and supernatural activity
on an
academic level. I sorted out a lot of things in my head and now I think
I�ve
gotten a new perspective on my career.
�Basically I just want to grow into the music�to grow through what I�ve
done
before.�
Morrison says he�s moving back to England �to get back to the roots,
back to
where I started off. And that�s what�s happening with my music as well.
I�m
getting back to more basic rock �n� roll stuff. I like Britain as a
place to
live and it will be interesting to check it out again.�
After combining a vacation with jam sessions, Morrison plans to work in
earnest on a new album, to be released around September.
�It is true,� he says, �that I do have a lot of material in the can.
I�ve
got all these tapes from different places. I am keeping it all, but as
yet I
have no plans to release any of it.�
The mystery man cometh.
Van Morrison-1976
A
anonymous
(view)
Rock�s mystery man returns to roots
By Juan Rodriguez
Montreal Gazette
May 29, 1976
Van Morrison is one of the great mystery men of rock � he is reclusive,
erratic, romantic, angry.
He is probably the most inventive personal rock singer, yet he has
given
many a drunken performance.
The Belfast-born singer-writer tasted success early, in 1965 with the
Irish
group Them (Gloria, Here Comes the Night) and he has had a couple of
hit
parade success (sic) on his own. His albums, from the dreamy elusive
Astral
Weeks to the dewey Moondance to the recent enigmatic Veedon Fleece,
are
everlasting reflections of an intense, restless spirit.
There is no denying Morrison�s strong personality, but it is too full
of
changing to get stuck in the rut of the record business game � which is
why
his songs are not heard over the airwaves as often as they should.
It has been nearly two years since Veedon Fleece was released to
generally
poor reviews, naturally, that disc has outlasted the notices. Since
then
Morrison has been hiding out on the West Coast, mulling over a busted
marriage as well as his place in music.
Now Morrison has moved back to England to work on a new album and,
often the
victim of misquotes and speculation, he has issued his first press
statement.
�As far as the past year was concerned,� he says, �things simply came
to a
grinding halt. Everything just came to a standstill as far as being
into
music�I simply stopped doing it for a while in order to get a new
perspective on what it was all about. I wanted to change the way I was
working�to get more of a solid business thing together. I wanted to
open up
new areas of creativity so I had to let go of everything for a while�
�So I did a bunch of different things. For example, I attended special
sessions conducted by a pupil of Ada Rolf, the Swedish tension expert,
to
release accumulated tension. I got into reading and studied various
subjects
including Jungian psychiatry, Celtic history and supernatural activity
on an
academic level. I sorted out a lot of things in my head and now I think
I�ve
gotten a new perspective on my career.
�Basically I just want to grow into the music�to grow through what I�ve
done
before.�
Morrison says he�s moving back to England �to get back to the roots,
back to
where I started off. And that�s what�s happening with my music as well.
I�m
getting back to more basic rock �n� roll stuff. I like Britain as a
place to
live and it will be interesting to check it out again.�
After combining a vacation with jam sessions, Morrison plans to work in
earnest on a new album, to be released around September.
�It is true,� he says, �that I do have a lot of material in the can.
I�ve
got all these tapes from different places. I am keeping it all, but as
yet I
have no plans to release any of it.�
The mystery man cometh.
By Juan Rodriguez
Montreal Gazette
May 29, 1976
Van Morrison is one of the great mystery men of rock � he is reclusive,
erratic, romantic, angry.
He is probably the most inventive personal rock singer, yet he has
given
many a drunken performance.
The Belfast-born singer-writer tasted success early, in 1965 with the
Irish
group Them (Gloria, Here Comes the Night) and he has had a couple of
hit
parade success (sic) on his own. His albums, from the dreamy elusive
Astral
Weeks to the dewey Moondance to the recent enigmatic Veedon Fleece,
are
everlasting reflections of an intense, restless spirit.
There is no denying Morrison�s strong personality, but it is too full
of
changing to get stuck in the rut of the record business game � which is
why
his songs are not heard over the airwaves as often as they should.
It has been nearly two years since Veedon Fleece was released to
generally
poor reviews, naturally, that disc has outlasted the notices. Since
then
Morrison has been hiding out on the West Coast, mulling over a busted
marriage as well as his place in music.
Now Morrison has moved back to England to work on a new album and,
often the
victim of misquotes and speculation, he has issued his first press
statement.
�As far as the past year was concerned,� he says, �things simply came
to a
grinding halt. Everything just came to a standstill as far as being
into
music�I simply stopped doing it for a while in order to get a new
perspective on what it was all about. I wanted to change the way I was
working�to get more of a solid business thing together. I wanted to
open up
new areas of creativity so I had to let go of everything for a while�
�So I did a bunch of different things. For example, I attended special
sessions conducted by a pupil of Ada Rolf, the Swedish tension expert,
to
release accumulated tension. I got into reading and studied various
subjects
including Jungian psychiatry, Celtic history and supernatural activity
on an
academic level. I sorted out a lot of things in my head and now I think
I�ve
gotten a new perspective on my career.
�Basically I just want to grow into the music�to grow through what I�ve
done
before.�
Morrison says he�s moving back to England �to get back to the roots,
back to
where I started off. And that�s what�s happening with my music as well.
I�m
getting back to more basic rock �n� roll stuff. I like Britain as a
place to
live and it will be interesting to check it out again.�
After combining a vacation with jam sessions, Morrison plans to work in
earnest on a new album, to be released around September.
�It is true,� he says, �that I do have a lot of material in the can.
I�ve
got all these tapes from different places. I am keeping it all, but as
yet I
have no plans to release any of it.�
The mystery man cometh.
