Veedon Fleece [Bonus Tracks]

Performer: Van Morrison
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Van Morrison (vocals); John Tropea, Ralph Walsh (guitar); Terry Adams , Nathan Rubin (strings); Jim Rothermel (flute, recorder); Jack Schroer (soprano saxophone); James Trumbo, Jeff Labes (keyboards); David Hayes, Joe Macho (bass guitar); Dahaud Elias Shaar, Allen Swartzburg (drums). Following the blues and soul excursions of Morrison's early-'70s albums, VEEDON FLEECE returns to the dreamy, impressionistic folk-jazz sound of ASTRAL WEEKS. Temporarily forsaking the R&B growl he previously employed, Morrison explores his upper vocal range on several songs here, making good use of his falsetto. Songs turn from the romantic and spiritual (the transcendent ballad "Come Here My Love") to the impenetrably elliptical ("Linden Arden Stole The Highlights"). Throughout, Morrison's heady, improvisational vocal style weaves its way through a mystical, mostly acoustic soundscape that is often low-key but never less than engaging. VEEDON FLEECE is a beautiful and too-often underappreciated masterpiece.

Q (5/95, p.125) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...An acoustic, folksy, gently meditative Irish album....shows the first traces of his subsequent fixation with William Blake..."

Van Morrison first came to notice as the powerful vocalist of the mid-1960s group Them ("Baby Please Don't Go," "Gloria"), and then with the solo hit "Brown-Eyed Girl." Morrison followed this success with two landmark albums, ASTRAL WEEKS and MOONDANCE, which masterfully combined folk, gospel, rock, and jazz. As complex a performer as any that rock & roll has produced, the soulful Irishman has produced numerous outstanding recordings in his long career, mixing his pensive and passionate R&B-inflected rock with a decidedly mystical bent.

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