Artist · Musician · Producer · 1945

Van Morrison

4: briefs
11:27: average
46 min: in total

On music.briefs4

Saint Dominic’s Preview

Van Morrison · 1972

Saint Dominic's Preview is Van Morrison’s sixth studio album, recorded between late 1971 and early 1972 across multiple San Francisco studios, featuring evolving personnel, co-production with Ted Templeman, and material drawn from both new sessions and earlier recordings — notably 'Listen to the Lion' (from the Tupelo Honey sessions) and 'Almost Independence Day' (recorded first, in autumn 1971). The album reflects stylistic diversity and ambitious vocal and instrumental experimentation, with key tracks shaped by spontaneous decisions, live takes, and layered overdubs involving a rotating cast of musicians including Gary Mallaber, Connie Kay, Mark Jordan, Ronnie Montrose, Bill Church, Bernie Krause, and others. Its composition draws on stream-of-consciousness writing, nature imagery, and personal reflection, marking a departure from love-centric themes and signaling expanded musical scope and ambition.

9:38

It’s Too Late to Stop Now

Van Morrison · 1974

It's Too Late to Stop Now is a 1974 live double album capturing Van Morrison’s May–July 1973 tour with the eleven-piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra across the Troubadour (Los Angeles), Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and Rainbow Theatre (London). It reflects an unusually disciplined, inventive, and collaborative phase: Morrison altered phrasing nightly, conducted the band physically onstage, and treated each performance as a unique improvisational event. No studio overdubbing was permitted; authenticity was enforced strictly, even excluding 'Moondance' over a single wrong guitar note.

13:00

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison · 1968

Astral Weeks is Van Morrison's second solo album, recorded in three sessions at Century Sound Studios in New York in late 1968 with a group of jazz musicians assembled by producer Lewis Merenstein. A sharp break from his pop singles, it sold modestly on release and has since been treated as one of the defining records of its era.

13:00

Moondance

Van Morrison · 1970

Moondance is Van Morrison's third studio album, recorded at A&R Studios in New York in 1969 with Morrison producing for the first time in his career. Trading the loose, extended pieces of Astral Weeks for tighter songs built around a horn section, it became an immediate commercial and critical success and gave Morrison the sound he would be known for.