Astral Weeks

Van Morrison

album cover

The Way Young Lovers Do

Van Morrison was not yet the mystic healer or revered rock troubadour of the spiritual when he and a group of skeptical jazz musicians gathered to make this album, his second solo effort. He wasn't an entirely unknown quantity either: He'd authored one rattling classic of garage rock ("Gloria," recorded by his group Them), and one long ranting tragic blues ("T.B. Sheets"). Despite those flashes of success, the Irish singer was already mired in music business trouble. He was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, doing a boho thing, playing gigs with just a bass player. Prospects were not exactly bright.

According to bassist Richard Davis, who'd worked with such luminaries as Eric Dolphy, the Irish bard played the outline of his songs on guitar, and expected the others to follow him. He encouraged some improvisation, and to facilitate that, gave very little guidance. This turns out to be key to Astral Weeks: Rather than pursuing a fixed idea, this ensemble is out in the mists, listening for anything solid to grab, moving tentatively so as not to shatter the airy atmosphere. Much of the album drifts along without a fixed tempo, with the musicians swirling strains of folk melody or boppish riffage around Morrison's lover-as-hero character. (The sweet and somber sounds of a string quartet were added later.)

Astral Weeks doesn't come at you straight. A song cycle that loosely follows the desperate thoughts of a young man who's consumed by an unattainable woman, its lyrics sometimes seem so loaded with meanings and allusions they make your brain hurt. And then, when you least expect it, Morrison's idle dreaming odes, like "Cyprus Avenue" and "Beside You," sneak up and explode—images you missed last time suddenly feel significant. Later, Morrison got downright haughty about his quests, singing obtuse dark-night-of-the-soul ramblings like a Joyce scholar slumming in the pubs. But here he's just a seeker, somebody who's been torn apart. Lost in the reverie of her touch, he salvages what pleasure he can from the memory.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1968, Warner Bros.
Key Tracks: "Cyprus Avenue," "The Way Young Lovers Do," "Sweet Thing"
Catalog Choice: Moondance; His Band and Street Choir; Tupelo Honey; Too Late to Stop Now
Next Stop: Nick Drake: Bryter Layter
After That: Grant Lee Buffalo: Fuzzy
Book Pages: 523–524

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#1 from carneham, Spain - 10/06/2008 1:31

For me, the most beautiful album ever made alongside “Kind Of Blue”. Absolutely timeless.

N.1- ¿Why not choose too “Moondance”, “Veedon Fleece” and “It’s Too Late To Stop Now”?

#2 from Garage Doors, around - 01/06/2009 5:21

Astral Weeks didn’t reach the charts, but its mystic poetry, spacious grooves, and romantic incantations still resonate in ways no other music can.

#3 from Adam Herbst, New Jersey - 01/06/2009 7:10

This is such a great album, one of my all time faves.  I think that Van should record with Charlie Haden - only makes sense as Richard Davis is the best part of Astral Weeks.

#4 from Jessica - 01/16/2009 10:32

I must admit your perfection here in writing this, thanks for sharing this. And I would like to read encouraging blogs like this!

#5 from OlivaB., San Francisco - 03/03/2009 3:06

I’m surprised “Moondance” isn’t in the list.  But with “Astral Weeks,” it can be an acquired taste.  I remember as a kid, I was the only one in the house who’d appreciate it. smile Morrison sings from the soul and is very narrative in his songs.  His singing is almost raw to me as the instruments paint a wonderful background to place his voice.  I recall The Black Crows’s bassist said that the baseline in “Astral Weeks” was memorable for him.  I don’t blame him.  As it comes out of the first track, it almost sounds like something coming out of a movie.
——-
Olivia B.
San Francisco car accident lawyer

#6 from Shane, Nashville - 03/07/2009 8:42

I bought this album about 12 years ago. I was familiar with his other more commercial stuff and at first, I didn’t “get” Astral Weeks.  I have found that some things just take time.  This is now my favorite Van Morrison album, it is great!

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About 1,000 Recordings

Celebrate the joy, the revelation, the mystery, the fun, the sheer shivers-up-the-spine pleasure of great music.

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