I had a few Van albums- Astral Weeks, Moondance and a best-of- which I owned and liked but didn't bother to explore further. However, last year I came across a CD called 'Common One' for £1.25 in a charity shop. This was not one of his more lauded releases and seemingly got knocked for being 'pretentious' at the time but it absolutely knocked me out. When the last track came around, 'When Heart Is Open', I was stunned by the beauty of the piece and how I'd been so ignorant of the man's work for so long. I then proceeded to buy most of his other albums over the months that followed. 'Common One' is possibly his least accessible album, featuring two lengthy (15 minutes each, in fact) epics, but I find it a haunting, beautiful, magical, fascinating work.

As entrance points, I don't think you can go too far wrong with 'Moondance' which is a direct album that's easy to like. After that, I'd go for the more challenging 'Saint Dominic's Preview' and then the jazz/folk beauty of 'Veedon Fleece', the latter of which is my favourite of his alongside 'Common One'.

His best ever. Super-unfashionable - this was released in the dreadful skinny-tied PVC-trousered post-new wave era. No-one seemed to like it at the time - it spent years in the bargain bins until Q gave it a posthumous 5 stars in the late 80s. 6 tracks, the shortest of which clocks in at 7 minutes. Reallllllllly laid back. If you only buy one Van Morrison album!

after 40 years of pungent harmonicas, arguments with hapless record company personnel and being mistaken for a minicab driver.

Like Stevie Wonder, it's only because he was so good that he had so far to fall.

IMHO - and I speak as someone who once went to every night of a stunning six night run of shows back in the mid-80s - the Man has not released an album worth the buying since 'Beautiful Vision' back in 1982, and I heartily recommend that CD as a starting point. Pretty much everything since is a re-tread of the basic formula perfected here. The only later contender is 'No Guru, No Method, No Teacher' which occasionally comes close to greatness. There are one or two good/great tracks on almost every album since 1982 but stick with a 'Best of ...' for those.

As for the early years, these are the albums that established his reputation: 'Moondance', 'Saint Dominic's Preview' and 'Tupelo Honey'.

In my view 'Astral Weeks' should be approached with care as, although it is undoubtedly a masterpiece, it is not typical of his voice or later style. Try 'Veedon Fleece' and 'Common One' first. I agree with JJ that these are both excellent. The live version of 'Summertime In England' - when he was still performing it - was always spectacular. If you want to check out songs from this era done live you can download the concert that JJ refers to over at http://www.bigo.com.sg/. It's pretty good - including a version of 'Summertime ...' where he references Yeats, Coleridge and Bob Dylan.

And if you want to know why people still turn out for the live shows, try 'It's Too Late To Stop Now'. Stunning live band complete with string section.

We all still trot along hoping that just a tiny glimmer of what you can hear on this album might emerge. In my recent experience however it's pretty much a lost cause. I have not seen a truly inspirational live set since the early 90s. Nowadays its standard bar band by the numbers. Live you are also unlikely to get anything earlier than 'Days Like This' except for a perfunctory run through of 'Brown Eyed Girl', although 'Vanlose Stairway' (from 'Beautiful Vision') has returned and was the highlight of the BBC session.

As you say the band are professional but there is no spark. Van peppers his albums with tracks vowing to 'keep mediocrity at bay' and the like, with no apparent awareness of the irony.

EDIT

The old sod can do those with his eyes closed. When he's good though, you'll be amazed.

I'll second almost all of the above recommendations. If you want to buy only 3 titles, I'd say get Astral Weeks, Common One and Moondance. If you can stretch to a fourth, my advice would be to get Wavelength as well; it's not often touted as one of his greats, but I disagree, and it knocks spots off most of the last 20 years worth of albums, and I absolutely adore the track "Kingdom Hall", which swings like mad.

If you're still in the market for more after that lot, the double live album mentioned above is utterly brilliant; in fact it's a strong candidate for best live album ever, ever, ever, in the whole universe.

... albeit not in the last 20 years.

The Best Of Van Morrison vol.1 is a great place to start.

Then stuff I recommend are:

The Story Of Them,
Astral Weeks,
Moondance,
Tupelo Honey,
St. Dominic's Preview,
It's Too Late To Stop Now,
Wavelength,
Into The Music,
Beautiful Vision,
Live At The Grand Opera House,
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher,
Poetic Champions Compose,
Irish Heartbeat.

You're lucky just starting to get into this little lot.

most of the above. I think I got into Common One originally because The Waterboys played a bit of Summertime in England live. I also first heard The Healing Has Begun via The Waterboys. I like Into The Music and think it is up there just behind Moondance and Astral Weeks. Of the later ones, the late eighties trilogy of Irish Hearbeat, Poetic Champions Compose and No Guru are not too bad.

Try his performance in The Last Waltz. Which has been removed from YouTube and Google Video. Go figure.

...as I said I've only been following his career closely for just over a year though I forgot to mention my parents had the two best-ofs on tape.

His 80s output I find to be generally excellent, actually- he was still trying different things. 'Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart' is another one I have time for; the fact there are four instrumentals on it puts people off but I find the one that closes the album, 'September Night', to be really beautiful. His only 80s release I find to be weaker is 'A Sense Of Wonder' where he goes through the motions and delivers a Van-by-numbers album...but even then I like 'Tore Down A La Rimbaud' (what a terrible title, though!) and the title track.

You can't really go wrong with this. There are worse ways to spend a fiver.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=74768977&...

This one came out in the early 90s and has some really high quality stuff on it, from the up tempo opener "Real, Real Gone' to a stunning 'So Quiet In Here', which really is very beautiful. The title track and 'In the Days Before Rock and Roll' are also worth the purchase, the latter recalling childhood days scouring the radio dials for good music.

As for seeing him live, I've seen the good, the bad, the surly and (once) even the talkative. Haven't bothered buying any of his stuff for about 15 years because I came to the conclusion that he was doing the same thing over and over, but worse each time! I felt much the same about his live performances. The last time I saw him was 1997 at Glastonbury, where he occupied the Sunday afternoon 'old codgers' slot. Wasn't bad actually, but he kept it brisk and up beat.

He's got a beautiful voice full of character and the majority of his music is very melodic.

Start with a best of (Best Of Vol 1 is concise at 1 CD but Still On Top is better as there are 2 and 3 disc versions).

Hi Mr. Lovegrove (& JJ and Everyone),

First-of-all, we hope that you don't mind us butting-in to your interesting thread (and 'sorry' if you do) ... .. it looks like you've got some pretty comprehensive advice already and, with over four decades to choose from, it’s genuinely hard to know where to start ... .. our (unofficial) suggestions would be Astral Weeks (a must / unique), Tupelo Honey and Veedon Fleece from Van’s earlier work and each decade since has also been graced with sublime releases ... .. and, as for lyrics, Into The Mystic is pure poetry and evergreen (again in our humble opinion), witness The Swell Season’s beautiful rendition of it – available on their MySpace page.

A full discography – and up-to-the-minute news on Van’s latest album (Keep It Simple) and 2008 shows - is, of course, available on www.vanmorrison.com and www.myspace.com/vanmorrison. As for YouTube, we’re pleased to announce that an increasing archive of exclusive film footage of Van Morrison performances has now been made available for fans on Exile’s official YouTube channel at http://uk.youtube.com/user/OfficialExileFilms, which we’d recommend checking-out for rare as well as popular videos of Van performances.

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiastic recommendations.

All The Best,

WEB SHERIFF

Hi Fraser,

Many thanks for your note ... .. not that we sent you a DMCA, but it is a legal requirement that we post our contact info so that anyone receiving a post or a notification from us has the (ready) opportunity to respond / contact us in relation to our communication ... .. that is the only reason why we include our contact info in our posts - pure and simple and nothing to do with 'advertising', we can assure you ... .. that being said, we're more-than-happy to abide by this restriction in relation to this thread if you're okay with the fact that people won't be able to contact us privately without having to locate our contact info first.

Kind Regards,

W*B SHER*FF : )

First of all, what's with that crazee name - you guys are clearly way too cool for school, even if you do write like the Borg collective after a $25,000 Ron L auditing course.

Can I ask why there has been a concerted effort to remove cover versions and guitar tuition videos of Van Morrison songs from YouTube? Or to require formal acknowledgement of copyright? Surely there is no cost or loss of either actual or potential earnings to the artist in this type of posting, and the amount of ill will generated is simply counter productive. I note even some of the protest videos have now been removed. Doesn't this strike you as a slightly pathetic way to make a living?

Oh and does Van take exception to, or simply laugh heartily at, being referred to as 'Mr Grumpy Trousers'? [Insert amusing smiley face here]

One of his links was to this: the best (only?) live performance of "Madame George" I've come across. Surely this is better than some wonky mobile-phone recording. And it's from this year too - if he'd sang that well when I saw him 15 years ago, I'd have refrained from refraining from spending my money on ever seeing him again:

(Now, about that unobtrusive little watermark....)

...be more vintage Van footage on DVD. That Rainbow show hopefully will get a release at some point.

For all his reputation for grumpiness, anger at the record business, and for getting lost in gardens misty wet with rain, wet with rain, no one writes a joyous, love-of-life song like Van: there's a whole album of them, songs that make you feel good to be alive they're so sunny: Brown Eyed Girl, Real Real Gone, Bright Side of the Road, Full Force Gale, Jackie Wilson, Days Like This, etc.
In 1989 I was in Britain with some time on my hands. I'd seen Van for the first time earlier that year, in the US: a dreadful concert where he filled in for someone at the last minute at New Orleans Jazzfest. The band didn't seem prepared, and I'm sure the photographer with the telephoto lens of 12" diameter crouched in front of him didn't put the man in the best of moods.
By September, Van had put out a terrific album, a 'return to form' so to speak: "Avalon Sunset". Strong songs that didn't meander, didn't repeat earlier glories, seemed to touch real life, and Georgie Fame along to keep him on message. He was touring Britain, so I tried out this new caper - credit card booking - and booked for Sheffield, Manchester and the Albert Hall, and hopped on the train.
In a narrow street in Sheffield the afternoon of the gig, I saw a man walking in front of me, as wide as he was tall, and he wasn't tall. The stacked, Chelsea boots beloved of 1960s UK R&B musicians were the giveaway: Van, just a few feet away ...
He stopped by a public phone, one of those open kiosks, and (feeling like Mark David Chapman) I paused to watch. Phonecards were new then and this one wasn't working for Van. He pushed it in, and the machine slid it back out ... he pushed it in, the machine slid it out... you move in, you move out ... I thought I saw steam coming out his ears. It was taking all his willpower to stop himself from pounding the phone into submission with the handpiece. This wasn't the moment to tap him on the shoulder and say, you're my biggest fan.
So, to business: a beginner's guide to Van Morrison. First, watch him in "The Last Waltz" to witness him in his prime.
Then, to the gramophone with 1972's St Dominic's Preview: all strong and the perfect mix of original R&B, jazz, singer-songwriter numbers and the introspective journeys lasting 11 mins ..
Then the big one, Astral Weeks. "Sweet Thing" is the way in, then 'Madame George' and 'Cyprus Avenue'. Only one clunker: 'The way Young Lovers Do'.
Moondance for a solid set of easily accessible Van, one of his greatest songs - 'Into the Mystic' - and his most burnt out song, which I never want to hear again, the title track.
The live album, It's Too Late to Stop Now, covers all the bases and is compelling.
Veedon Fleece, for recapturing a hint of Astral Weeks and set back in Ireland.
Tupelo Honey, for white country-soul, influenced by the Band.
Into the Music: side one all upbeat, side two an erotic coming-of-age suite.
Common One - for the glorious, 15 minute 'Summertime in England'.
Avalon Sunset - back to Ireland, a happy, nostalgic reverie.
Enlightenment has two great songs worth downloading: Real Real Gone and In the Days Before Rock'n'roll'.
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart is more moving than you'd expect, much of it being 80s synth instrumentals, with one classic, "Irish Heartbeat" - a contemporary standard, recorded to better effect on the Chieftains/Van collaboration of that name.
For me he went off the boil with 1985's "Sense of Wonder", with just the occasional, ahem, 'return to form' since, like the mid-90s song 'Days Like This,' which the citizens of Belfast sang in the street together, not long after its release, while waiting for Clinton to emerge with news of the peace accord.
For Van reading, just two pieces in the one place: Lester Bangs classic essay on Astral Weeks, and, just as good, M Mark on It's Too Late to Stop Now (and the whole career) in the desert-island-album book "Stranded".
That'll be enough for now. There'll be a test in the morning.

Oh, I forgot to mention about the gigs. All excellent, with the Albert Hall being the cracker. Watching him glower at the audience, standing stock still, while this glorious sound seemed to float out of his mouth I was reminded of the episode in 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet' where Dennis sees Oz singing Merle 'aggard in a pub, and he says:
"Ow does summat so beautiful come outta summat so oogly?"

Find it very difficult these days to physically tell apart Van Morrison and racist comedian Roy Chubby Brown.

One is an out-of-touch fat balding grumpy old bastard with a permanently dwindling fanbase...

The other is... (fill in the blank..)

.