Newly signed to Warner Brothers in 1968 after extricating himself from a painful previous record deal, Morrison cut “Astral Weeks” during a handful of studio sessions mostly using jazz musicians with whom he had never worked.įans would call the results sublime, an introspective masterpiece blending Morrison’s jazz, blues, classical and folk influences. I had bad management, a bad record company,” Morrison, 63, said in a phone interview from London. “I didn’t do exactly what I wanted to because I didn’t have the support, and I didn’t have any money. So he has taken a second crack at it with “Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl,” recorded over two nights last November with musical arrangements closer to what he originally envisioned. Yet, Morrison felt he never quite had the chance to get it right the first time.
Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” rests high on critics’ lists of all-time best albums.
