Enlightenment (Van Morrison) (LP 3276 - 3284)

Van Morrison  Enlightenment  (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1990) ****  

Van Morrison  A Night In San Francisco  (2CD, Polydor Records, 1994) ****

Van Morrison  The Philosopher's Stone  (2CD, Polydor Records, 1998) ***    

Van Morrison & Linda Gail Lewis  You Win Again  (CD, Virgin Records, 2000) *** 

Van Morrison  Down The Road  (CD, Exile Records, 2002) ****   

Van Morrison  Magic Time  (CD, Exile Records, 2005) ****  

Van Morrison  Keep It Simple  (CD, Exile Records, 2008) ****  

Van Morrison  Keep Me Singing  (CD, Exile Records, 2016) ****  

Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco  You're Driving Me Crazy (Vinyl, Exile Records, 2018) ****  

Genre: Celtic soul, folk rock, jazz 

Places I remember: Music club, The Warehouse, Fives, Hope collection, HMV.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Enlightenment, Celtic New Year (Magic Time)

Gear costume: Real Real Gone (Enlightenment); Help Me (A Night in SF)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: The nineties started with a continuation of the Celtic soul that Van had been releasing in the eighties to great effect. But Enlightenment is also infused with his R&B past. There's a greater grit and toughness to many of the songs that is noticeable if you play the albums in sequence as I'm doing for these posts.

It kicks off with the upbeat/ up-tempo Real Real Gone. I'm putty in his hands from here on in, especially as his next song is the title song. The rest of the album, while not quite ever matching those first two songs, glides by beautifully on majestic wings. This is one of my favourite studio albums of the nineties.

The third live album I have is from shows in San Francisco and Petaluma in December 1993. Van is in showband mode for this date. The plethora of guests joining in the fun were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. James Hunter and Brian Kennedy helped out with the vocals and Georgie Fame was also present.

It's a lively rocking set that includes a number of cover songs, often in medleys. For instance, Help Me is joined with Green Onions and is devastating! 

The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation of unreleased material from 1969 to 1988. It's a nifty collection that traces an alternative Van universe. Highlights: an alternative take of Bright Side Of The Road and High Spirits (with The Chieftains). Awkward moments are the falsetto singing on some songs and the alternative version of Real Real Gone - give me the original any day.

I missed quite a few late nineties albums before the next featured one on this blog, and I only have You Win Again thanks to a donation from Lindsey Hope.

You Win Again is a bit of a weird one. A duet album with Jerry Lee Lewis' sister. They kick up their heels in a fittingly rumbustious fashion given they are basically celebrating Jerry Lee on the album. 

Gail's piano playing is like her brother's style and her singing is appropriately down-home country. It's enjoyable enough for what it is, the band is loose as a long-necked goose and on the money throughout, but this is not an essential Van Morrison album.

Down The Road was one I picked up cheaply from the sale bins at The Warehouse in the days when they stocked CDs and even vinyl. It was a lucky purchase because it's a great sounding album - warm and nostalgic in tone, and musically it successfully mixes R&B with jazz and bits of country.  

Highlights aplenty on this album, with the fifties style swing of Hey Mr DJ, the lovely pace of Steal Your Heart Away and his version of Georgia On My Mind being standouts.

Magic Time is another fine album. I became aware of it because of a spot on Later...With Jools Holland. He performed Celtic New Year and I needed to buy the album. Boy, I'm glad I did. It's 2005 and he's been at it a while by this time, but he sounds vibrant and in the pocket throughout. 

All his various styles and strengths are on display. Evening Train needs a special mention. I enjoy his Sonny Terry like whoops and hollers around the harmonica solos. Always makes me smile. This is followed by the big Sinatra style of This Love Of Mine. Very cool!

Keep It Simple is as eclectic in style as his other post 1990's studio albums. There are elements of jazz, folk, blues, Celtic, country, soul and gospel on display.

Having said that, it sounds pretty cohesive and was a popular album for him in America. Although, there was no one brilliant song like Celtic New Year.

Keep Me Singing was another very successful album. It's the album you want to put on late in the evening and let it soak into your skin. By no means is it easy listening - just laid back, jazzy, warm and cool and easy to listen to. Again, there as no one killer track, just Van doing Van.

My final album (so far) is a collaboration with jazz organist/trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco, called You're Driving Me Crazy.

It's a great collaboration with Joey's jazz combo. The album was recorded in two days apparently, and that freshness is in the grooves of eight tracks from Morrison's catalog and seven standards. According to the AllMusic critic - 'Of the three successive recordings done in this way, this one stands head and shoulders above for its inspired performances and choices of material'.

Where do they all belong? And that's it for now. I'd certainly pick up the albums I'm missing if I happen upon then in Real Groovy's sale bins, but I'm pretty sure I have the cream in my collection. 

The two volume best of compilations give you one type of look but really Van is an old school album guy, so you are best to check my ratings for the essential ones to start with, if you haven't yet caught up with one of music's absolute legends. Van is the man!