When Popular Music Left Love Songs for Gurus
As popular music grew tired of love songs and became more philosophical in the 1960s, it began celebrating a figure not previously considered: the guru.
Van Morrison
41 Essential Pop/Rock Songs with Accordion
No popular musical instrument has been more frequently maligned than the accordion. Despite gaining hipster cred in the 1990s, its role in pop remains underappreciated.
Counterbalance No. 15: Van Morrison – ‘Astral Weeks’
Van Morrison ventured in the slipstream between the viaducts of your dreams with his 1968 LP Astral Weeks and made it to Number 15 on the List. Klinger and Mendelsohn recount the journey in this latest installment of Counterbalance.
Time Out of Minds: Interview with Author Ryan Walsh on Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’
Ryan Walsh chronicles the making of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and the chaotic Boston scene that gave birth to it and tells us all about it in this expansive interview.
The Beat Goes on with ‘Kerouac on Record’
These essays explore the connection between Kerouac and the music he loved -- Charlie Parker, Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, Miles Davis and others -- and the musicians who loved him, in turn.
Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco Drive Each Other Crazy, in a Good Way
The best music on You're Driving Me Crazy can be found when the musicians groove together rather than challenging each other to take it the next level.
‘Astral Weeks’ and the Making of a Van Morrison Classic
Ryan H. Walsh's Astral Weeks beautifully captures a not-so-distant era of free-form radio playing the "boss-town sound", people living communally, thriving underground newspapers -- and a 22-year-old Van Morrison coming into his own.
Van Morrison: The Authorized Bang Collection
Van Morrison's Bang sessions have been bootlegged and shamelessly repackaged for 50 years. This collection brings it all together the right way.
Van Morrison: It’s Too Late to Stop Now… Vols. II, III, IV and DVD
One of rock music's greatest live albums gets a sequel and shows a legendary singer/songwriter at the peak of his powers.
Van Morrison with Bobby Womack – “Some Peace of Mind” (audio)
Bobby Womack is one of the many artists Van Morrison selected to re-interpret his classic songs for his new duets album.