Veedon Fleece Revisited.

It was wet and windy yesterday. Stuck indoors I was listening to Veedon Fleece and I thought I would revisit a piece I wrote about this album a few years ago and see if I could improve it a bit. It is the Van album that I most associate with Ireland apart from Irish Heartbeat. I bought it on Pete Wells record stall on Peterborough Market in the mid 70's and I did not really get into it at the time. Veedon Fleece languished in my album collection for decades and I hardly ever played it. Only when I began buying all Van albums again on CD did I finally come to realise what a fine album it is. Veedon Fleece was years ahead of its time for fans, critics, and me alike. I think the reason I did not get into this album initially is because apart from Bulbs there are no upbeat catchy type songs on it to grab the attention. That is one of the strengths of the album though, because in terms of consistency of mood and the stream of consciousness type lyrics it is comparable to Astral Weeks. 

The album came about when Van made a trip to Ireland in 1973 with his girlfriend Carol Guida. It was his first visit to Ireland since his move to America six years earlier. He visited Cork, Cashel, Killarney and even the Blarney Stone. Seeing his native Island again through fresh eyes was the inspiration for this album. After a lifetime of looking towards the blues and jazz of America Van was beginning to go through a change in which his Celtic roots would come to the fore. The album sleeve design is arguably the best in his catalogue with Van photographed with two Irish wolfhounds. I believe it was taken at Sutton House near Dublin. It reminds me of a house I knew in my childhood called Fletton Towers owned by a Miss Hartley, the sister of LP Hartley who wrote The Go Between. In the grounds of her house she had about six of these wolfhounds roaming about. The back of the album cover is a nice green colour which is quite appropriate because this album is tinged with green.

Fair Play is a wonderful opening song which sets the tone for the album. Killarney’s lakes so blue is mentioned. There is a smattering of literary name dropping with Poe, Wilde and Thoreau. Also, Geronimo and High Ho Silver. Cowboys and Indians crop up quite a lot in Van’s lyrics, a throwback to his childhood no doubt. Linden Arden Stole The Highlights is a much darker song. Jeff Labes delicate piano introduces this song. If Toni Marcus’s violin gave Into The Music its distinctive sound, then Jeff Labes arrangements give this album it’s grandeur. I wonder what in Van’s subconscious made him come up with the name Linden Arden?  In Notting Hill where he lived at one time is a street called Linden Gardens. Who Was That Masked Man? seems like a continuation of the previous track with the theme of living with a gun.  Lone Ranger imagery appears again. This is a tale of paranoia about not being able to trust anyone and Van sings about being so fragile you might break which suggests it is about a personal crisis. Van’s high falsetto voice is unrecognisable from his singing voice of today.

Streets Of Arklow is a classic and a song Van has returned to his repertoire to huge acclaim from the fans. It begins with a sombre acoustic guitar intro before Van’s vocals accompanied by the flute of Jim Rothermel. I saw him perform a wonderful duet of this song with Mick Hucknell a few years ago. You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River is another masterpiece. I have a book at home by Barry Stevens called Don't Push The River (It flows by itself). Maybe that is where Van got the title from. This song is an aural sketch describing the beauty of the Irish countryside, the real soul, I mean the real soul people, and meandering like a river through the visions of Blake, and Eastern mysticism of Meher Baba. & William Blake and The Eternals. This is the first time Blake is mentioned in a Van song but in the years to come Blake was to be a big influence because his songs are strewn with references to Blake. The Sisters Of Mercy are mentioned. Leonard Cohen recorded a song with that title in 1967. I do not know if that has any relevance though.

Bulbs is the catchiest song on the album and was issued as a single with 'Masked Man' on the flip side. The lines 'The one-shot deal don't matter, And the other one's the same' seems quite Dylan-esque to me. It has a kind of country feel to it. With the references to football games and light bulbs I am not sure what it is about. Canal streetlights all turn blue could suggest Amsterdam or Holland which has lots of canals and bulbs, but I am only guessing. Cul De Sac is also an enigma to me. These lyrics probably just popped into Van’s head. Maybe, even he would not know what they mean. Mount Palomar is a famous observatory. Although I do not understand this song, I do like it. ‘We don’t care who you know, it’s who you really are’ is a good message to have. The last three songs, Comfort You, Come Here My Love and Country Fair I always treat as one, because they all flow together beautifully in a sustained atmospheric twelve-minute passage of brilliance. Comfort You is a touching love song, Come Here My Love is acoustic and simple. Van seems to stretch and search for adjectives, Just layin' down in shades of effervescent, effervescent odours And shades of time and tide. Country Fair is a bucolic aural sketch with the flute or recorder playing simply perfect. The album just ebbs away and fades into the distance wonderfully.

This album wasn't received all that well by the public and critics. Van would not attempt another album as experimental for several years and following its release Van disappeared off the scene for three years. With the passage of time Van was proved to be right and I think Veedon Fleece deserves to be highly placed among His top ten albums.

Me & Killarney's Lakes So Blue.