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Astral Weeks (Music)

 Astral Weeks (Music)
type
TVTItem
 Astral Weeks (Music)
label
Astral Weeks (Music)
 Astral Weeks (Music)
page
AstralWeeks
 Astral Weeks (Music)
comment
Astral Weeks is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Recorded in 1968, it follows on from the Early-Installment Weirdness debut solo album Blowin' Your Mind, and represents Morrison's first bout of relative creative freedom after breaking with Bert Berns. The eight tracks were recorded in September-October 1968, using a backing band of notable Jazz musicians like guitarist Jay Berliner, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Connie Kay. It was released in November of that year.It's a loose Concept Album, dealing with themes of love, growing up and loss, all done within an obvious autobiographical framework (for example, "Cyprus Avenue" is about an actual street in Belfast).Astral Weeks sold poorly when it was first released, but according to music historian Andrew Ford, "Astral Weeks will sell as many copies this year as it did in 1968 and has every year in between."Morrison followed it two years later with the far more popular and accessible album Moondance.
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2023-11-04T22:59:56Z
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2023-11-04T22:59:56Z
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Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Astral Weeks (Music)
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DBTropes
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_1aed264f
type
Happy Rain
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_1aed264f
comment
Happy Rain: Both "Sweet Thing" and "The Way Young Lovers Do" use the lines "Fields all wet with rain". Something of a motif for Van.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_1aed264f
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_1aed264f
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_22093e9b
type
New Sound Album
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_22093e9b
comment
New Sound Album: Followed the Pop-Soul Blowin' Your Mind. It set the tone for the rest of Van's career.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_22093e9b
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_22093e9b
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_26b2747
type
Alliterative Title
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_26b2747
comment
Alliterative Title: "Slim Slow Slider".
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_26b2747
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_26b2747
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_34f6774c
type
Concept Album
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_34f6774c
comment
Concept Album: The lyrics suggest that the songs are illustrating some kind of loose storyline about a young man in Belfast, strengthened by the "In the Beginning" and "Afterwards" labels for the two halves. Morrison has sort of confirmed this, but also says that the songs ended up out of sequence on the album.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_34f6774c
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_5d04596d
type
Ode to Youth
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_5d04596d
comment
Ode to Youth: Most of the album is this, concerning Van's youthful memories of an idealized Belfast.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_5d04596d
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_5d04596d
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_71067de4
type
12-Bar Blues
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_71067de4
comment
12-Bar Blues: The structure of "Cyprus Avenue" uses this, but it's not very obvious.
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_71067de4
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_74149c93
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Epic Rocking
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_74149c93
comment
Epic Rocking: "Astral Weeks", "Cyprus Avenue", "Ballerina", and especially "Madame George".
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_7a82c3d2
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All Love Is Unrequited
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_7a82c3d2
comment
All Love Is Unrequited: "Cyprus Avenue".
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_84d29a11
type
Drag Queen
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_84d29a11
comment
Drag Queen: "Madame George". Morrison has evidently denied this, but most people think he's full of it.
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_84d29a11
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_96a33f11
type
Riddle for the Ages
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_96a33f11
comment
Riddle for the Ages: John Payne, who'd been part of Morrison's ensemble in Boston, plays flute (and saxophone) for most of the album, but another player appears on "Beside You" and "Cyprus Avenue", the first two songs recorded, before Payne talked producer Lewis Merenstein into letting him take over. However, none of the documentation for the session establishes who the other flutist was, leaving their identity lost to history.
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_a6ed3cd6
type
Scatting
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_a6ed3cd6
comment
Scatting: Frequent, most obviously throughout "Astral Weeks" and the bridge of "The Way Young Lovers Do".
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_a6ed3cd6
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_a6ed3cd6
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
type
Rearrange the Song
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_b24ce4b2
comment
Rearrange the Song: One of the conditions of getting released from his Bang Records contract was that Morrison had to include two songs published under his old contract on his first Warner Brothers album, so he re-recorded "Beside You" and "Madame George", which were first recorded at Bang, but didn't get released until years later. In both cases, the songs were midtempo rock/soul pieces in their Bang incarnation, but he turned them into slower acoustic ballads on this album, vastly improving them in the process.
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_bda474d2
type
Last Note Nightmare
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_bda474d2
comment
Last Note Nightmare: "Slim Slow Slider" ends the album with some frantic, discordant sax lines, which, coupled with the final verse being about how "I know you're dyin', baby", gives the album a Sudden Downer Ending.
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_bda474d2
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: "Talkin' to Huddie Ledbetter/Showin' pictures on the wall..." The latter line is reference to the fact that Van always hung a poster of Lead Belly on his wall in the 60's.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_c75df49a
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Astral Weeks (Music) / int_c75df49a
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_cd3703a2
type
Genre Mashup
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_cd3703a2
comment
Genre Mashup: Introduced Van's unique blend of R&B, Blues, Jazz, and Irish Folk Music. Critics sometimes call it "Celtic Soul", though others contend that its genre is essentially unclassifiable. It resembles nothing that had preceded it and little that followed.
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 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_fcdf597b
type
Titled After the Song
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_fcdf597b
comment
Titled After the Song: Though, oddly, "Astral Weeks" is a Non-Appearing Title, meaning the album lacks an Album Title Drop.
 Astral Weeks (Music) / int_fcdf597b
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Astral Weeks (Music)

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 Astral Weeks (Music)
hasFeature
British Music / int_c3b5ca09