Van Morrison & The Caledonia Soul Orchestra Live At Rainbow Theatre London 1973**
"It’s useful to consider Moondance as a perfect work of art.
It’s unassailable. In the classic rock canon. Beyond anyone’s opinion. One for the ages. And as I was saying above, you can project a lot onto it emotionally (like you can with, say, Blood on the Tracks), so it’s very dear to a lot of people’s hearts. I think of Moondance like Leaves of Grass, except that Walt Whitman went about refining his transcendental masterpiece, literally, for four decades (up to the time he was on his deathbed) while Morrison laid his down in a matter of days when he was just 24 years old and left it to be mixed by someone else." = = Richard Metzger / Dangerous Minds
[ ** The Caledonia Soul Orchestra was the band created by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 1973. The band is often considered one of the tightest performing backup groups of the 1970s. The band was named after an eighteen minute instrumental outtake on the His Band and the Street Choir album.
In 1973 Van Morrison and the Caledonia Soul Orchestra went on a three-month tour of the United States, and Europe with the result of which was the seminal live double album It's Too Late to Stop Now. The title is taken from the last line in the lyrics in one of Morrison's songs: "Into the Mystic" from the 1970 Moondance album. In live performances with The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, he would close the concert with a dynamic, stretched out version of the Astral Weeks song, "Cyprus Avenue" and then shout out "IT'S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW!" as he quickly exited stage. -- schuerbuikske / youtube]
When I was 18 years old, I went into a record shop in Tucson, Arizona and asked the aging hippy clerk about this song. He excitedly ran to the files of albums, pulled out Moondance, and told me to listen to it several times in a row. I took it back to my dorm room and fell in love with Van.
Posted by: Leslie at December 19, 2013 3:24 AMWhen I was 18 years old, I went into a record shop in Tucson, Arizona and asked the aging hippy clerk about this song. He excitedly ran to the files of albums, pulled out Moondance, and told me to listen to it several times in a row. I took it back to my dorm room and fell in love with Van.
Posted by: Leslie at December 19, 2013 3:24 AMI did a radio DJ stint at the local college station as a senior in high school 2 years after that and thusly got introduced to the Van
Posted by: Cletus Socrates at December 20, 2013 4:57 PM's ok, but into the mystic is THE van song of all time. for me.
Posted by: itor at December 20, 2013 8:42 PMI saw him at the Fillmore on my birthday. It must have been around the time Moondance was released as it's always been one of my favorite albums. The music was good, but he seemed uncomfortable on stage, self absorbed.
Posted by: Teri at December 20, 2013 9:22 PMI saw him at the Fillmore on my birthday. It must have been around the time Moondance was released as it's always been one of my favorite albums. The music was good, but he seemed uncomfortable on stage, self absorbed.
Posted by: Teri at December 20, 2013 9:22 PM
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