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John Lee Hooker: The Best of Friends
by Doug Collette
In contrast to his often (always?) irascible peer Chester Burnett, aka Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker has long been amenable to collaborations, reciprocal and otherwise. Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Charlie Musselwhite and Carlos Santana, among others, appeared on The Healer (Chameleon,1989) and all those artists also populate the credits for The Best of Friends. (Santana, the Mexican-born guitar hero, appears with two different iterations of his band). Fittingly titled, this anthology is a suitable companion piece to Whiskey ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison at Carnegie Hall
by Mike Perciaccante
Michael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison Carnegie Hall New York, NY March 21, 2019 “I know he doesn't like this version, but I'm thanking him anyway," so stated a sly Patti Smith at New York City's Carnegie hall before launching into her classic version of Van Morrison's anthem “Gloria" at the tribute concert to Belfast's favorite son on a cool rain-soaked late March evening. The founder of City Winery, Michael Dorf, ...
Continue ReadingVan Morrison: The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition)
by Doug Collette
As enigmatic as Van Morrison is, the archiving of his vault reveals some logic with the reissue of The Healing Game in expanded form. Following on the heels of It's Too Late to Stop Now... Volumes II, III, IV (Legacy Recordings, 2016) and The Authorized Bang Collection (Legacy Recordings, 2017), this three-CD package of one of his better latter-day albums reaffirms an underlying theme of those previously-released titles--Morrison's predilection for spontaneity. The Healing Game is one of most ...
Continue ReadingBANG! The Bert Berns Story
by Doug Collette
BANG! The Bert Berns Story Abramorama 2018 BANG! The Bert Berns Story compares favorably to The Terry Kath Experience (FilmRise, 2017), not just in the elevated quality of its conception and execution, but in its authorship by an offspring of the subject. Just as the Chicago guitarist's daughter, Michelle Sinclair, helmed the documentary she produced and directed in homage to her late father, this feature is the result of exhaustive research and collation by the late ...
Continue ReadingVan Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco: You're Driving Me Crazy
by C. Michael Bailey
Van Morrison has been busy, releasing three recordings in quick succession, Roll With the Punches (Exile, 2017), Versatile (Exile, 2017), and presently You're Driving Me Crazy with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. At this point in his career, Morrison can pretty well sing what he damn well pleases. On his past several recordings, Morrison has revisited his catalog, recasting some of his older songs in new frames and You're Driving Me Crazy proves no exception. Revisited here are “The Way Young ...
Continue ReadingAstral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968
by Doug Collette
Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 Ryan H. Walsh 368 Pages ISBN: # 978-0735221345 Penguin Press 2018 Before thoroughly delving into Ryan H. Walsh's Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, a reader can thumb randomly through its three-hundred fifty-some pages and find nary a reference to Van Morrison or the epochal album after which this story of a pivotal year in Boston, Massachusetts is named. But that perception is as ...
Continue ReadingVan Morrison In Concert
by Doug Collette
Van Morrison In Concert Eagle Rock Video 2018 The video equivalent of last fall's pair of albums, Versatile (Legacy, 2017) and Roll with the Punches (Caroline, 2017), Van Morrison's In Concert is comprised of not just one, but two concerts. The main feature was recorded for the BBC Music In Concert Series in 2016, while Up On Cypress Avenue is a slightly shorter hour-long bonus (sic) commemorating the Belfast cowboy's seventieth birthday (hence its ...
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