Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece FLAC album

I fondly remember hearing this on the car stereo at a tender age (upon its release). My father pulled into Tower Sunset & we bought it. Out of the 10,000+ lps I own. this is the one I would grab first if the house was on fire. Never mind my recommendation though - I have subsequently discovered that it is Elvis Costello & Nick Cave's Fave lp as well (at least during some period of their lives). Two gents that know their music history quite well...

Even if I'm giving this Morrison LP a one star review, it is still a great great album gang. Each track feels like a broken heart. Van Morrison has some great vocal range, and you can no doubt hear it on just about every track. If you are a completist, you must buy this record. I'm sort-of a completist. For instance, I'll get an artist "best work" collected and leave their not-so great work on the shelf. Main example, Bad Company. I'm a Paul Rodgers Bad Company guy. No offense to the other guy, whoever he is, but come on. It's Paul Rodgers! Back to Van Morrison and Veedon Fleece. This for me this LP falls into Van's "best work" category! It's a put on record and leave playing throughout. Very smooth jams. Pick it up gang! Solid!

Let’s get the bad news, or should I say interesting news, out of the way first ... Van Morrison has never been know for wonderful album covers, matter of fact, his Hard Nose The Highway has to be one of the all time worst covers ever. I have no idea what he’s trying to convey with this hand-tinted image of himself and two Irish Wolfhounds, harkening back to an era that suggests some sort of antique portrait, rather than a young man attempting to break new musical ground. Though according to Mr. Morrison, the cover is full of mysticism and suggested meanings, echoing hidden aspects of his life at the time.

The Sutton House Hotel, featured in the background is actually a converted mansion overlooking Dublin Bay, the place where Van first stayed when arriving in Ireland on holiday. There have been several suggestions regarding the Veedon Fleece, an enigmatic and mysterious object as it appears in the album title and in the lyrics of the song “You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push The River.” I think that the Veedon Fleece as perceived by Morrison, is wisdom, spiritual enlightenment, love, and an artistic vision ... one may see Veedon Fleece as as a sort of Irish Holy Grail, a quest on which Morrison was on for a variety of reasons.

This is the eighth studio album by Van Morrison, and was recorded shortly after his divorce from Janet Rigsbee. It seems that Morrison was rushing head long into everything during this era, because he returned to Ireland with his new fiancee Carol Guida rather quickly, hoping for inspiration, and hoping to put his past behind him. His choice must have been a good one, because he wrote and record nearly all of the tracks in just under four weeks. Initially the album was dismissed by nearly everyone, even to the point of ignoring it ... and that being said, Morrison has only sung five of the songs from the album in concert. Both Melody Maker, and Rolling Stone printed quite horrid dismissive reviews, though Rolling Stone, in a biography of Morrison touts the album as ”The culmination of everything Van was doing up to that point, all celtic mystic tumult in vocals and pastoral beauty in the music ... ranking among his most majestic music.” Which sort of leaves me scratching my head, because that quote really says nothing more than the obvious; though the album was a huge departure from the R&B style he was known for. If you were to ask me, I’d say that for the most part Morrison was channeling these songs, as if they’d been living in his head, and he just needed the right atmosphere and time in his life, for them to take form and see the light of day.

I’m not going to say that Veedon Fleece is an easy album to listen to, matter of fact there are only three songs that are stand out winners for me ... but in the same light, one must appreciate Veedon Fleece as an ambitious adventure, inexhaustible, inspiring, intellectually challenging, and eclectic ... ranking right up there with the musical statements that Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys was trying to make. And like Brian it would take years for people to be able to appreciated this genuine piece of original music.

Van has stepped back into this musical style from time to time on individual songs, but never as the conceptual product found here. I think that even Mr. Morrison found this album demanding ... I know that when I finish playing it, I almost demand silence, as if there’s a palatable thickness to the air which must settle out before I can do just about anything else.

Oh, and to a fan, when questioned about the album’s title, Morrison said, ”It doesn’t mean anything, I made it all up myself.”

Review by Jenell Kesler

Jim Rothermel's flute and recorder throughout the album is otherworldly. It takes the compositions somewhere 'other' within Van's work. In my opinion the pinnacle of Morrison's work, where the sentiment is both intelligent and lyrically sublime.

One of my favourite albums of all time, truly personal white soul from Van here. A reflective album about going home, nostalgia and his love for his country. I am a sucker for strings and the strings section on You Don't Pull No Punches is utterly sublime, a true work of art. This and Astral Weeks were for me his best, I'd love to find more albums like Veedon Fleece but I don't think there are many out there and that in essence is why it is such a great album.