Other Mixes By Rob Conroy
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Single Artist
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Mixed Genre
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Mixed Genre
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Single Artist
To be born again in silence easy (Disc 1)
| Artist | Song | |
| Them | One Two Brown Eyes | |
| Them | Baby Please Don't Go | |
| Them | Gloria | |
| Them | Mystic Eyes | |
| Them | I Can Only Give You Everything | |
| Them | My Lonely Sad Eyes | |
| Them | It's All Over Now Baby Blue | |
| Them | Hey Girl | |
| Them | Friday's Child | |
| Van Morrison | T.B. Sheets | |
| Van Morrison | Astral Weeks | |
| Van Morrison | Beside You | |
| Van Morrison | Sweet Thing | |
| Van Morrison | Cypress Avenue | |
| Van Morrison | The Way Young Lovers Do | |
| Van Morrison | Madame George | |
| Van Morrison | Ballerina | |
Comment:
As I wrote in the notes to my (now-deleted) single-disc Van Morrison mix from 2005, I'm not the world's most zealous Van champion; in fact, most of my appreciation for his work stops in 1974 (I do, however, think that "Cleaning Windows" from 1982's Beautiful Vision is an absolute classic and is completely on par with the pre-A Period of Transition/Wavelength work). I really like his work with Them and really love all of Veedon Fleece and Moondance; I worship Astral Weeks in a way that I worship few other albums (try as I might, I could not bring myself to cut a single track from it); and I love tracks from his other early albums (mostly the title track from "Tupelo Honey," "Domino" from His Band..., and the bulk of Saint Dominic's Preview). Into the Music is pretty decent, as well, and so is No Guru, No Method, No Teacher. However, I find most of the rest of his work to be mind-numbing, despite his obvious talent (at least for the bulk of his career... I can't see much to defend in his most recent r 'n' b rehashes). That said, I love every track on this three-disc set unreservedly and still had to cut a couple, most notably "Full Force Gale," "Warm Love," "And the Healing Has Begun," and "Here Comes the Night."Feedback:
Alas, as I noted when you & I were swapping notes on our favorite albums, Van's one artist I've just never developed a taste for -- more than happy to hear his hits on the radio, but just haven't found the desire to spend much time with him. But, yeah, I really need to try again.
No, you can't mess with Astral Weeks. To be honest, much as I love that album, I don't really spend much time with Van apart from it... tho Moondance and Veedon Fleece are good.
I'm sure 'Them' could probably warrant a Single Disc of their own, but Baby Blue is on here so I won't quibble ( one of the finest covers ever? ). Love Blowin' Your Mind, Astral Weeks, Moondance and various other tracks since. Great work..
I was just relistening to Van last week and he just released a new album which I haven't heard. Regret the Full Force Gale cut but this is wonderful as is.
Never appealed to me as a solo artist. Enjoy Them but Van is just not my cup of ginger beer.
I agree that Van (like most artists) did his best work earlier in his career, however I did like "Pay The Devil" very much. I saw him in Nashville during the support tour for this album and he alternated between the country and r&b bands.
I love just about everything Van does, happy to see this.
I'm pretty much with everyone else in believing early Van is the best Van, and I absolutely love Them. Even way back when I heard "Baby Please Don't Go" on Good Morning, Vietnam, long before I knew that it was Van. And now I'm listening to his newest album, and it's not bad. Not brilliant, but not bad. So your mixes really remind me of why I liked him in the first place. Cheers!
I have never listened Morrison very mutch, and I can remember only a song or two. But this looks interesting to me. TY.
van the man is one of my top 5 favorite vocalists ever, & astral weeks is also on my top 10 all-time favorite albums list. so obviously i love the guy. great overview - & really, how could anyone cut anything from astral weeks??
What a miserable old bastard he is. That said he holds the distinction of being both the best and the worst live act I've ever seen!
I agree with Sammy here completely!
well this is undeniable, that's for sure. i don't lose total interest in van after this period, but the quality does get spotty. still, there's been recent great stuff - i love "precious time".
I'm a bit hit-and-miss with the Van stuff but love Them. Great job with this collection!
Hmmmm... I'm assuming you had this in the works before our coversation last week, hate to think I put you up to such a Herculian effort. I guess I'm one of the reason's Van still puts out discs, I find a couple of tunes to love on every release (including the new one.) Undenialbly great stuff on these three none the less.
Cool set you've put together, Rob. I'm painfully unaware of anything other than "Astral Weeks". I'll investigate further....
Great, a tribute to Van; I admire the man. I love Avalon Sunset, but I don't think you've included anything from that record. Still, a great collection.
Hmm... I have to say I can't condone what you've done with Astral Weeks here... presenting the whole damn thing in order only to at the end eliminate the *last track*?? There are some things that just make little concept album babies *cry*, Rob! On the other hand I do appreciate its presence on Vol. 2... always keep 'em beggin' for more, I suppose, then.... Oh, also, if you haven't heard it, I heartily recommend the Down The Road album from 2002, probably my favorite from after the spiritual-musical-universal pinnacle of No Guru, No Method, No Teacher. (Oh, and did i mean WEEDY or REEDY in my comment on Vol. 3, anyway??)
My very favorite Them tracks are missing ("The Story Of Them" and "Don't Look Back") but this is definitely the volume for moi.
Always loved Van Morrison in every period. I can't believe how hard it would be to condense his career. I probably have about 40 of his albums.
I remember enjoying his songs on the radio before picking up any of his albums and I still have a lot of work to do. Lester Bangs' review of Astral Weeks drove me to seek it out first and it held up to his adament praise. Good work.