Friday: It was with a feeling of trepidation that I set off on Friday afternoon for my local record shop in Warminster. I had read some scathing reviews of Van Morrison’s new album and also lots of negativity from so-called fans who were slagging off the album even before hearing it. When you have been a fan for nearly 50 years you know it is too late to stop now, and I had to hear it even if I didn’t like it. In the shop I opted for the deluxe edition of the 2CD set because it contained a booklet of lyrics and I like reading the lyrics. While I waited patiently in Spoons for my friend Sian to arrive I perused the album cover. It does not exactly inspire confidence in the music because the design looks bland and lazy. It is an arrow made up of lots of dots. If you look closely, you will see that among all the little circles there is one solitary square. Does that mean that Van is a square peg among many round holes? Maybe I am reading too much into it. I was pleased to see that a lot of the songs were recorded near here at Pete Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box and also at the Bath Spa Hotel. I wish that Van had never sold his nearby Wool Hall studio in Beckington where he made so many great records, but that is another matter. I got Sian to take my photo with the album for publicity purposes. Later that day in the pub in Westbury my friend Curly gave me two positive reviews that he had torn from the Daily Mirror & The Times which cheered me up. That night I listened to about fifteen of the songs and quite liked what I heard.
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| Me with CD. |
Saturday Morning: It was pouring rain and windy, so I sat in my kitchen and listened carefully to all the songs on CD1. This is what I thought. Latest Record Project is a lively upbeat song to start the album. Richard Dunn’s Hammond organ is to the fore on this and many of the other songs. I like the sha la la backing sound of Dana Masters and the Crawford Bell singers. Where Have All The Rebels Gone? Is nice rock n roll with Dave Keary starring on guitar. I am not sure who the rebels are that Van is referring to. Maybe he means people who said they would support his live music campaign during lockdown, and then disappeared when it became clear that it was obviously a mad idea. Psychoanalysts’ Ball is one of the best songs on this album. It is soulful and heartfelt and has a sad world-weary feel. Like someone who has tried all sorts of new age therapy to no avail. Musically it has some delicate vibraphone by Teena Lyle and classical guitar by Dave Keary. An excellent song. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished again has the great organ sound and the excellent backing singers give the song a 1960s feel. The lyrics are a very bitter commentary on the greed of a woman. For someone who has always jealously guarded his private life some of the words of these songs must be quite painful to sing. Tried To Do The Right Thing is another great soul song. Jim Mullen is the guitarist on this song. The harmonies of the backing singers are wonderful, especially on the very last line which reminded me of Brian Wilson. I don’t like The Long Con very much. Van really spilled his guts on this song. Not being able to see his children during lock-down, being drained by lawyers and ex-wife and not being able to have an income must have been exceedingly difficult, but millions of people have suffered in the last year.
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| Real World Studios. |
He is not the only one. If people part with their cash to hear music, they want to be uplifted, not depressed. Thank God For The Blues is much better and more positive. Big Lie features his old pal Chris Farlowe and is ok I suppose. Richard Dunn again excels. Him and Dave Keary are the stars of this ensemble. I love the groove of A Few Bars Early, it reminds me of the soul sound of Booker T & The MGs or something like that. The lyrics mention a song called ‘It’s Later Than You Think’. There is a song of that name by Louis Prima who Van has long admired. It would be great to hear this track in a small club. It Hurts Me Too is not the song I thought it was, because I love a song with that title by Karen Dalton, but Van has changed most of the words to express his own personal pain about his private life. Somebody said this album was about ‘petty’ grievances. I bet they would not think it was petty if they were in that situation.
Only A Song is a disclaimer pop tune, probably designed to get some radio play. It is ok. I think Van must have been watching a David Attenborough documentary about penguins when he wrote it. I think Diabolic Pressure might have been recorded earlier than most of the songs because it features Paul Moore, Paul Moran, Jeff Lardner, and Chris & Alistair White. Maybe an outtake from an earlier album. I don’t like it much anyway. Deadbeat Saturday Night is a rant about being banged up all alone with nothing to do. He quotes Samuel Beckett with ‘More pricks than kicks’. I quite like this song and find it humorous. The final track on CD1 is Blue Funk which has a good groove and is enlivened by Van’s sax playing. Van complains about the TV junk, well, listen to some music, read a book, or go for a nice walk then.
Saturday afternoon: I played CD2. This is what I thought. I don’t like the opening track Double Agent much. It reminds me a bit of a Van song called ‘Man Has To Struggle’. I don’t understand what the song is about. It seems a bit like a John Le Carre novel. Double Bind has an eerie bluesy organ sound. Is the double bind about being ruled by either Conservatives or Labour? Is the Nigel mentioned, the Farage? I hope not. Van used to say he wouldn’t touch politics with a barge pole. There is mention of ‘weird scenes in the diamond mine’ which is quite similar to the title of a Doors album. Love Should Come With A Warning is co-written with Don Black. Why a person like Van who has written some of the greatest songs of all time needs to work with Don Black baffles me. The sound is great though and reminds me of Ray Charles and also The Isley Brothers ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’. Breaking The Spell is like ‘Meet Me In The Indian Summer’ revisited. An optimistic Van mentions breaking the spell of the ‘lower vibrations’. I have just been reading about that and lower vibrations include fear, sadness, anger, resentment, guilt, jealousy, anxiety, stress and need, so there!
Up County Down is a jaunty novelty song. Van claims he can remember when there were twelve shillings in a pound. Oh no you can’t. It was twenty shillings in a pound, twelve pence in a shilling. There is another reference to ‘The Doors’ when they played at The Whiskey. Dave Keary plays some nice banjo & mandolin. Duper’s Delight is another outstanding soulful track with the band stripped back to just five players. Duper’s Delight is a neologism coined by Paul Ekman in his book Telling Lies (1992). It means the pleasure of being able to manipulate someone. It is often made visible to others by flashing a smile at an inappropriate moment. My Time After A While features Van on alto sax and some Jerry Lee Lewis style piano by Stuart McIlroy. Crawford Bell and the other backing singers are great. The lyrics are painful and personal. He’s Not The Kingpin features another old pal PJ Proby, but I don’t think he adds much to the song. There is a lot of percussion and vibraphone provided by Colin Griffin and Teena Lyle. I wonder if the song is about Trump? ‘If He’s a traitor, sooner or later, he’ll take the fall’. I am only guessing at the meanings of these songs. Mistaken Identity is another collaboration with Don Black. It features a famous quote by Socrates ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ which is very profound. Dave Keary plays some tasteful jazzy guitar, but the sound is very ‘easy listening’. I like Stop Bitching, Do Something. It has a rhythm like Buddy Holly or The Stones Not Fade Away. The organ and alto sax are great. I am put off Western Man by the lyric content which is quite paranoid about us being taken over. You would think someone with Van’s supposed wisdom would have a holistic view of the world. There is nothing on this album about climate change, our major problem which can only be solved globally. The words about ‘caretakers taking over the big house’ brings images of the occupation of Congress to me. It is a shame because musically the song has a nice country feel to it and Dave plays banjo for a bit of variety.
I read that They Own The Media shows that Van is anti-Semitic. I can’t see anything in the lyrics to suggest that. I agree with him that there are some nasty people manipulating people through the media. You only have to see the rubbish headlines in the tabloid press to realise that. Rupert Murdoch or the Barclay brothers are not Jewish as far as I know. The music reminded me slightly of ‘I Put A Spell On You’. Lots of songs on the album remind me of earlier work. Why Are You On Facebook? Is my least favourite song on the album. I’m not saying that because I’m on Facebook, but because it is boringly repetitive. I think social media has been a godsend during lockdown. When you don’t see anyone apart from shop assistants for weeks on end Facebook is a link to the outside world. Jealousy brings the album to a close. Musically it sounds great with Van’s voice which is as good as ever, the backing singers, and splendid saxophone. It is just the negative lyrics that let the song down.
On Saturday evening I watched a splendid live stream concert by Van which showcased a lot of these songs, and they came to life and sounded better than on the album. That is often the case with Van. The records are just a template for live performance. Blue Funk and Do The Right Thing especially sounded great live. My main criticism of this album is that it is too long. If just the best twelve or fourteen songs were released as a single album I think the critics would be hailing it as Van’s best album this century. Sadly, a lot of people will always point out what is worst, rather than what is best. For a musician of 75 years of age to produce this work under the most difficult circumstances is a great achievement, so well done Van Morrison.
