While Van Morrison had lived in the U.S.A. Since the start of his solo career, Tupelo Honey’s country textures make for his most American sounding album. Living in Woodstock, Van Morrison was living close to The Band, and they’re perhaps one influence on the rootsier sound here. Van Morrison releases a new live concert film on 16 February 2018 through Eagle Vision. Available on DVD and Blu-ray, In Concert captures Morrison’s intimate 2016 show at the BBC Radio Theatre. Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl is the fifth live album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, and released in the United States on February 24, 2009 and on February 9, 2009, in the UK. The 10 Best Van Morrison Albums To Own On Vinyl. It seems obvious that he prefers the control of the studio to live performances where anything could go wrong. Even now, he has a reputation as an inconsistent performer, offering little to no banter between songs and often refusing to play the hits. But when he was on, he was untouchable. Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Live Box - Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison on AllMusic - 2019. Van Morrison discography and songs: Music profile for Van Morrison, born 31 August 1945. Genres: Singer/Songwriter, Folk Rock, Chamber Folk. Albums include Astral Weeks, Moondance, and Veedon Fleece.

Days Like This is the twenty-third studio album by Northern Irishsinger-songwriterVan Morrison, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music). It is a diverse group of songs offering a variety of moods and styles. It ranked No. 5 on the UK album charts and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

• 5Personnel
• 6Charts

Composition[edit]

His daughter, singer-songwriterShana Morrison performed duets with her father on two tracks, 'You Don't Know Me' and 'I'll Never Be Free'. 'Ancient Highway' is nine minutes long and contains the lyric 'praying to my higher self/Don't let me down'. It is said to be the one song on the album where he comes closest to following his muse.^[1] The title track has continued to be a popular song in concert to the present day. Most of the songs are reflective and seem to come during a time of self-examination. 'No Religion' came about Morrison explained when he was thinking: 'Wouldn't it be great just to be born and nobody told you there was such a thing as religion? Say it didn't exist and you were just told that all you've got is this life and that's it...and there's no heaven, no hell.' The song, 'Songwriter' spoke of his songwriting techniques as a practical application instead of inspired as in the past.^[2] 'Melancholia' and 'Underlying Depression' continue the theme of soul searching.

Reception[edit]

At the time of its release in 1995, Days Like This was Morrison's best selling non-compilation album and was nominated for the Mercury Music Award.^[6] David Sinclair in Q describes the album as a 'glorious return to form', while the Entertainment Weekly reviewer found that 'Days Like This, is too perfunctory to call it a return to form, but surprisingly, there is real spark.'^[5] Other reviews were less enthusiastic: Tom Moon's Rolling Stone review states: 'There are moments of genius followed by lavish displays of questionable taste, sometimes within the same song.'^[7] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau named 'You Don't Know Me' and 'Songwriter' as highlights, while summing the record up with a quoted lyric from the latter song: 'I'm a songwriter, and my check's in the mail'.^[8] The Music Box rated it with 3 stars and mildly endorsed it: 'The latest release from Van Morrison is really only for his true fans. It's enjoyable, but it doesn't seem as inspired as his last few albums.'^[9]Allmusic summed it up as an album that is a 'completely competent yet completely uninspired pop-R&B workout, with Van sounding as if he couldn't care less about the words leaving his mouth.' ^[3]

Cover[edit]

Van Morrison Live Videos

The cover of the album showed Morrison and his then-girlfriend, now ex-wife, Michelle Rocca walking a pair of greyhounds.^[10] It was his first album in 24 years to feature a female companion on the cover. The last had been the cover of Tupelo Honey with his then-wife Janet 'Planet' Rigsbee.

Track listing[edit]

All songs by Morrison unless noted otherwise;

1. 'Perfect Fit' — 4:33
2. 'Russian Roulette' — 3:56
3. 'Raincheck' — 5:53
4. 'You Don't Know Me' (Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker) – 4:32
5. 'No Religion' — 5:14
6. 'Underlying Depression' — 4:35
7. 'Songwriter' — 2:50
8. 'Days Like This' — 3:13
9. 'I'll Never Be Free' (Bennie Benjamin, George David Weiss) — 3:37
10. 'Melancholia' — 3:56
11. 'Ancient Highway' — 8:53
12. 'In the Afternoon' — 6:21

Personnel[edit]

Van Morrison Cds

Musicians[edit]

• Van Morrison — vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, alto saxophone, Hammond organ
• Liam Bradley — drums on 'Raincheck' and 'You Don't Know Me'
• Phil Coulter — piano on 'Raincheck', 'You Don't Know Me' and 'I'll Never Be Free'
• Geoff Dunn — drums, tambourine
• Noel Eccles — drums on 'I'll Never Be Free'
• Pee Wee Ellis — tenor and alto saxophones
• Leo Green — tenor saxophone
• Matthew Holland — trumpet, flugelhorn
• James Hunter — electric guitar, background vocals on 'Meloncholia' and 'In the Afternoon'
• Ronnie Johnson — electric guitar
• Brian Kennedy — background vocals
• Teena Lyle — recorder, piano, vibraphone, congas, background vocals
• Foggy Lyttle — electric guitar on 'Raincheck', 'You Don't Know Me' and 'I'll Never Be Free'
• Arty McGlynn — acoustic guitar on 'Raincheck'
• James McMillan — trumpet, flugelhorn on 'Raincheck', 'You Don't Know Me' and 'Ancient Highway'
• Shana Morrison — vocal, background vocals on 'Raincheck', 'You Don't Know Me', 'I'll Never Be Free' and 'Meloncholia'
• Jonn Savannah — Hammond organ on 'No Religion'
• Nicky Scott — bass guitar
• Kate St. John — alto saxophone, oboe

Production[edit]

Van Morrison Live Albums

• Production: Van Morrison and Phil Coulter
• Recording: Mick Glossop, Walter Samuel and Brian Masterson
• Assistant engineers: Matthew Lawrence, Greig Sangster, Avril Mackintosh, Jamie Cullum, Alastair McMillan and Meabh Flynn
• Mixing: Walter Samuel and Mick Glossop
• Mastering: Ian Cooper and Tim Young
• Horn arrangements: Pee Wee Ellis and James McMillan

Charts[edit]

Album[edit]

Billboard (North America)

Singles[edit]

Certifications and sales[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 457
2. ^Rogan, No Surrender, p. 435
3. ^ ^abErlewine, Stephen Thomas. 'Days Like This'. Allmusic. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
4. ^Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 211. ISBN0312245602.
5. ^ ^abScherman, Tony (23 June 1995). 'Days Like This (1995)'. ew.com. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
6. ^'1995 Shortlist - Barclay Mercury Prize'. mercuryprize.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
7. ^Moon, Tom (2 February 1998). 'Days Like This Rolling Stone review'. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
8. ^Christgau, Robert (14 November 1995). 'Consumer Guide'. The Village Voice. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
9. ^Metzger, John (June 1996). 'Van Morrison: Days Like This'. musicbox-online.com. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
10. ^'Singer Van Morrison denies 'unfounded baby' story'. BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
11. ^'Platinum Van'. Billboard. 27 January 1996. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
12. ^'New Zealand album certifications – Van Morrison – Days Like This'. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
13. ^'British album certifications – Van Morrison – Days Like This'. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 June 2019.Select albums in the Format field.Select Gold in the Certification field.Type Days Like This in the 'Search BPI Awards' field and then press Enter.
14. ^'American album certifications – Van Morrison – Days Like This'. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 3 June 2019.If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
15. ^'Who's Selling Where'. Billboard. 17 February 1996. Retrieved 29 April 2018.

References[edit]

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN1-55652-542-7
• Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN978-0-09-943183-1

Van Morrison Discography Wikipedia