The results are a real treat, upholding the same openness and sense of exploration that defines the original - even with the addition of more musicians and a string ensemble.Ĭlick the link above to hear the full review of Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl. In November, Morrison revisited the album for the first time in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The book goes far beyond 'Astral Weeks,' placing Morrisons time in Cambridge, from January through early September of 1968, in the vivid.

But since then, it has become touted as one of the most influential pieces of late-'60s rock. Filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl, LA, November 2008.©2012 Exile Productions.A CD of this concert can be bought from (for US sales) and . Readers shouldnt expect a simple guide to the album. They worked to create an extraordinarily original piece over the course of just a few days, striking a delicate middle ground between rock and jazz.Īstral Weeks never cracked the Billboard Top Albums chart when it was first released. Verging on starvation and desperate to escape a contract with his first label, Morrison wound up in a New York studio with a small group of jazz musicians. Though he'd scored a hit the year before with 'Brown Eyed Girl,' he'd made little money off it. When Van Morrison recorded Astral Weeks in 1968, he had reached a low point in his life. The Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison recorded a live version of Astral Weeks in November. So begins Astral Weeks, the sublime, eight-song album released in 1968 with little fanfare, though it endures 50 years later as Van Morrison’s very finest.

Van morrison live astral weeks