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longlongwinter
Love Van and love how he and Eric took a stance against a total complete power grab by many politicians who failed to understand and follow the science. Florida Governor is one of the few that got it right...over tike this will all come out but for now media is still trying hard to scare you.

Science? haha. There is no science here.

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longlongwinter
Love Van and love how he and Eric took a stance against a total complete power grab by many politicians who failed to understand and follow the science. Florida Governor is one of the few that got it right...over tike this will all come out but for now media is still trying hard to scare you.

I don't think I'll be looking up to Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and Ted Nugent for advice over the coronavirus vs. the scientists who've spent their entire lives dedicated to studying diseases, vaccinations, etc.
BUT it is interesting to see states like Florida with such few restrictions doing generally better than states like Washington doing so badly with many safety precautions still in place. Not sure the reasons why,
but it's been all over the news that they're in the thick of a 4th wave of infections, and it doesn't look to be getting any better...in fact it seems to be getting worse by the day. And then there's Texas -
I haven't heard anything about increased corona cases lately...or record breaking infections...or 4th waves? It does make you wonder though, and there hasn't really been any explanation given as to why.........
Meanwhile, gonna make a playlist of my favorite Van Morrison, Clapton, and even a few old Nugent tunes - their personal beliefs are their business, and if they want to express them in music, it's their choice.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Its becsause many of you swallow what the media feeds you, and that includes many of the so called 'scientists' and 'doctors'. My brother is a doctor. Not all doctors are preaching what you're seeing on CNN, in fact quite the opposite.
Florida,Texas,Tenn are all doing great b/c their leaders actually followed real science and made calcualted decisions like good leaders do vs.some blanket "lock it all down now",order etc. which we know does not work and in fact makes it worse.

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GasLightStreet

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MisterDDDD
Very nice.. excellent even.
Not sure how much of the anti mask nonsense is on the double album this one is being released on. Definitely would keep me from picking one up,

This is great though.

*edit
Great title song as well.

Shame the controversial stuff is on there, will impact sales etc, and as the title song speaks to, it mattering to him.




"The double album features “Dead Beat Saturday Night,” a song in which he expresses his feelings about the lockdown that includes the lyric “No life, no gigs, no choice, no voice.” He also addresses the evolution of social media on “Why Are You On Facebook?” Additionally,Latest Record Project: Volume 1 contains a track with the controversial title “They Own The Media.”
[www.jambase.com]

I have no need to be chirped at by boring music with wrong opinions.

Van is an example of a guy that can sing the phone book and I'll buy any time. He's got something indescribable.

That said it was a little annoying to hear that 'chirping' from Van a while back.

But I'm gonna take it like the way the extreme right wingers do that still listen to Springsteen, or like Trump playing the crap out of YCAGWYW (which still pisses me off).

I'll just suck it up and enjoy the music and not let their opinions on things bother me. But that doesn't include nugent.

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longlongwinter
Its becsause many of you swallow what the media feeds you, and that includes many of the so called 'scientists' and 'doctors'. My brother is a doctor. Not all doctors are preaching what you're seeing on CNN, in fact quite the opposite.
Florida,Texas,Tenn are all doing great b/c their leaders actually followed real science and made calcualted decisions like good leaders do vs.some blanket "lock it all down now",order etc. which we know does not work and in fact makes it worse.

I don't know about that longlongwinter, and I even stated "Not sure the reasons why" and "there hasn't really been any explanation given as to why".
As for the "lock it all down now" order etc. you mentioned, we've had a few of those in California over the last year, and according to some the most recent info., pretty sure we're #1
in the country as far as lowering the infection rates, hospitalizations, deaths, etc. Again, seems to be no real rhyme or reason as to why, but the success we're having here is undeniable.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-04-28 06:07 by Hairball.

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Hairball
I don't know about that longlongwinter, and I even stated "Not sure the reasons why" and "there hasn't really been any explanation given as to why".
As for the "lock it all down now" order etc. you mentioned, we've had a few of those in California over the last year, and according to some the most recent info., pretty sure we're #1
in the country as far as lowering the infection rates, hospitalizations, deaths, etc. Again, seems to be no real rhyme or reason, but the success we're having here is undeniable.

California indeed has the best rates now in USA.

I'm not sure of the other disparities but maybe it has something to do with climate insofar as warmer areas do things more 'outside' and outside is generally safer than inside, all things being equal. But then you have India now which is worst case scenario.

These musicians don’t ride public transit and certainly are not “front line” workers, nor are they called to fill-in on their days off. They are, however, able to perform via social media.

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treaclefingers



Van is an example of a guy that can sing the phone book and I'll buy any time. He's got something indescribable.

That said it was a little annoying to hear that 'chirping' from Van a while back.

But I'm gonna take it like the way the extreme right wingers do that still listen to Springsteen, or like Trump playing the crap out of YCAGWYW (which still pisses me off).

I'll just suck it up and enjoy the music and not let their opinions on things bother me. But that doesn't include nugent.

A healthy attitude I would say. I'm not biggest Christian by any means, but I am a big fan of Dylan's Christian period. My take on that has been like 'all kudos to God, if she inspires Bob like that'...

I generally think it is rather odd if some political opinion by some rock star should dictate or guide one's own choices in that department, but let's say that if the opinions of your 'hero' aren't too much in contradiction how you believe, that makes it easier to be a fan. So I am glad Mick has a more common sensical take on covid than Van does - but Van is still the Man, little idiotism allowed. And yeah, those total nutcases like Ted Nugent do not belong anyway to my world. My big-hearted relativism and tolerance ends there...

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-04-28 19:10 by Doxa.

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Doxa

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treaclefingers



Van is an example of a guy that can sing the phone book and I'll buy any time. He's got something indescribable.

That said it was a little annoying to hear that 'chirping' from Van a while back.

But I'm gonna take it like the way the extreme right wingers do that still listen to Springsteen, or like Trump playing the crap out of YCAGWYW (which still pisses me off).

I'll just suck it up and enjoy the music and not let their opinions on things bother me. But that doesn't include nugent.

A healthy attitude I would say. I'm not biggest Christian by any means, but I am a big fan of Dylan's Christian period. My take on that has been like 'all kudos to God, if she inspires Bob like that'...

I generally think it is rather odd if some political opinion by some rock star should dictate or guide one's own choices in that department, but let's say that if the opinions of your 'hero' aren't too much in contradiction how you believe, that makes it easier to be a fan. So I am glad Mick has a more common sensical take on covid than Van does - but Van is still the Man, little idiotism allowed. And yeah, those total nutcases like Ted Nugent do not belong anyway to my world. My big-hearted relativism and tolerance ends there...

- Doxa

Agree with most of this, but will note that both posts refer to this controversy as people not agreeing with "his opinion" etc. as the main issue at hand.
If that were the crux of the argument, I'd be in total agreement.

I am a big fan of Lyle Lovett for example, particularly enjoy seeing him live with his "LARGE Band". Have been taking my daughter to see his show every year since she was in diapers.
He played at one of GW Bush's inaugurations, which bothered me for a bit, but he's a fellow Texan, and his political opinion or persuasion never comes up in song or in person, much less songs about it on his albums. And if he is a republican, and supporter of Bush, it frankly doesn't bother or concern me.

Van's situation is quite different imo.
Speaking out against public safety measures in the middle of a pandemic, while actively trying to persuade his audience and fellow performers to sign petitions etc., makes him an activist. That's where he loses me.

Opinions are easy to overlook, activism on conspiracy theories which endanger people, not so much.

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MisterDDDD

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Doxa

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treaclefingers



Van is an example of a guy that can sing the phone book and I'll buy any time. He's got something indescribable.

That said it was a little annoying to hear that 'chirping' from Van a while back.

But I'm gonna take it like the way the extreme right wingers do that still listen to Springsteen, or like Trump playing the crap out of YCAGWYW (which still pisses me off).

I'll just suck it up and enjoy the music and not let their opinions on things bother me. But that doesn't include nugent.

A healthy attitude I would say. I'm not biggest Christian by any means, but I am a big fan of Dylan's Christian period. My take on that has been like 'all kudos to God, if she inspires Bob like that'...

I generally think it is rather odd if some political opinion by some rock star should dictate or guide one's own choices in that department, but let's say that if the opinions of your 'hero' aren't too much in contradiction how you believe, that makes it easier to be a fan. So I am glad Mick has a more common sensical take on covid than Van does - but Van is still the Man, little idiotism allowed. And yeah, those total nutcases like Ted Nugent do not belong anyway to my world. My big-hearted relativism and tolerance ends there...

- Doxa

Agree with most of this, but will note that both posts refer to this controversy as people not agreeing with "his opinion" etc. as the main issue at hand.
If that were the crux of the argument, I'd be in total agreement.

I am a big fan of Lyle Lovett for example, particularly enjoy seeing him live with his "LARGE Band". Have been taking my daughter to see his show every year since she was in diapers.
He played at one of GW Bush's inaugurations, which bothered me for a bit, but he's a fellow Texan, and his political opinion or persuasion never comes up in song or in person, much less songs about it on his albums. And if he is a republican, and supporter of Bush, it frankly doesn't bother or concern me.

Van's situation is quite different imo.
Speaking out against public safety measures in the middle of a pandemic, while actively trying to persuade his audience and fellow performers to sign petitions etc., makes him an activist. That's where he loses me.

Opinions are easy to overlook, activism on conspiracy theories which endanger people, not so much.

I can't help but agree with you in the sense that not everyone that listens to that diatribe is going to have the common sense to put it 'in a box'. So yes, that is a problem. But again, I don't have to worship at the altar to enjoy the music. I'm able to divorce their opinion from the music, though as Doxa says it is encouraging when those whose music you slavishly follow happen to agree with you politically or socially. That is nice positive reinforcement...but it doesn't guide me and hopefully not most people.

Great tune

Album: Van Morrison - Latest Record Project Volume
]
Telling it like it isn't

If you want to understand the psychic harm that prolonged lockdown can do to a man, then take a listen to Van Morrison's new 28-song set. Actually, you don't need to listen, the song titles say enough: “Where Have All the Rebels Gone?”; “Stop Bitching, Do Something”; “Deadbeat Saturday Night”; “They Own the Media”; “Why Are You on Facebook?”

While Sir Van's vast catalogue is revered for transcendent love songs and joyous R&B, it also includes a sub-genre of complaint songs (“They Sold Me Out” on Magic Time or “School of Hard Knocks” on Keep it Simple, for example). With the singer stuck at home, that anger has boiled over - and this set does not even include the four anti-lockdown songs he produced in 2020 (one sung by Eric Clapton). There are barbs aplenty at government, the media, judges, and a geopolitical swipe at the complacent state of the West (“Western Man”).

Even Sir Van's fans don't escape: the title track is a wonderfully catchy earworm of an R&B tune but the lyrics chide listeners who don't keep up with his latest stuff (“not something from long ago”). Then there's “Why Are You On Facebook?” The obvious answer for a fan is to access the Van Morrison (Official) Facebook page and hobnob with the other 1.1 million followers. But the singer is having none of it: “Why do you need second-hand friends? … “Get a life. Is it that empty inside?”

Amid the paranoia about mind control and official lies, on “Double Bind” he appears to posit an unlikely saviour - one “Nigel” of an unnamed third party who “comes on strong”. I don't think we're talking Lib Dems.
And so it goes on and QAnon. You'd have hoped that, as on previous albums, Van could find escape in the arms of a good woman. Not here: “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”, “Tried to Do the Right Thing” and others lament love turned sour.

It's hard to be a conspiracy theorist and an entertainer, but this set does, however, have some winning tunes. As well as the catchy title track, “Only a Song” is swinging, vintage Van. The banjo-assisted “Up County Down” is a sunlit glimpse of good times. “Duper's Delight” seems to combine two key themes here – paranoia and cheating women – but musically it's gorgeous in the mystical vein of Astral Weeks. Throughout, the band play their Van-style 12-bar blues, soul and boogie with practised ease. Pick and choose and there's almost a worthwhile, non-peevish single album here.

By the end of what the record company calls a “straight-talking commentary on contemporary life”, the singer seems to be anticipating blowback. On “Jealousy”, arranged in doo-wop style, he addresses the haters: “Is it because I'm good at my job? I don't go with the mob... You don't have a clue...”

Latest Record Project sounds like the work of a man who really needs to get out more. And despite the best efforts of “the system”, with lockdown easing, pretty soon he surely will.




[theartsdesk.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-05-07 15:24 by MisterDDDD.

Van's an idiot, but brilliant just the same. I like what I'm hearing so far.

Strange, as if the album is some kind of art installation. He is making chlichés of his own songs with, sort of, anti-texts. Like a dadaist, or something...

Or a member of the Know Nothing party.

Idi Amin's last name was "Dada" if I recall correctly.

jb

Reading some mixed reviews which is understandable based on some of the themes on a few tunes, but generally seems to be garnering more praise than negativity.
Whatever the case, glad Van's still around and putting out new and original material.

Review: Van Morrison Shows Reverence for Musical Traditions on ‘Latest Record Project’

VAN MORRISON/LATEST RECORD PROJECT/(Exile/BMG)
4.5 of 5 stars

"This Latest might not be his greatest, but in many ways it clearly comes close".

Sir Van

Known as both a chameleon and a curmudgeon, at age 75, Van Morrison shows no sign of slowing down. A Woodstock rambler, a bluesy balladeer, a Celtic soul singer, a country crooner, he’s continued to carve his own creative niche over the course of his 55-year career. More recently, he’s played the role of a revivalist of sorts, one seemingly content to pay due reverence to earlier musical traditions, mostly of the classic blues and jazz variety.

Consequently many Van fans have continued to harbor the hope that the so-called Belfast Cowboy will find a new surge of inspiration and come up with a work comparable to earlier albums like Astral Weeks, Tupelo Honey, Moondance, or the other immortal efforts that helped define his indelible persona. For those who hope for a definitive return to form ought to find some sort of consolation with his latest offering, a sprawling set of signature style songs—28 in all—that take their cue from blues, rock, jazz, R&B, and the other traditional templates Morrison’s shared over the course of his career. Rather than simply sharing standards, the new album finds him using those formats as leaping-off points for more melodic intents.

The result is a series of singular songs as distinctive as his earlier efforts. Indeed, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” “Tried To Do The Right Thing,” “Duper’s Delight,” and “My Time After Awhile” rank among Van’s best offerings of the past 30 years, with his rich, robust vocals still in fine form. Recorded while in lockdown, the album finds Morrison railing on any number of current cultural contradictions—life in isolation as described via the desultory “Deadbeat Saturday Night,” the overwhelming influence of social media decried in “Why Are You On Facebook?” or his insistence to “put up or shut up” on “Stop Bitching, Do Something.”

Some 42 albums on, Morrison remains as emphatic as ever. This Latest might not be his greatest, but in many ways it clearly comes close.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

In addition to his screeds against public health, government, and science, Van also went for anti-Semitism this time:
[forward.com]
No thanks. I’ll pass on Van Morrison.

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bam
In addition to his screeds against public health, government, and science, Van also went for anti-Semitism this time:
[forward.com]
No thanks. I’ll pass on Van Morrison.

Where?

"The lyrics of the song, “They Own The Media,” never indicate who the pronoun in its title refers to"

As the Forward story explains, the trope is unmistakable.
If it were any more explicit, it couldn’t have been released.

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bam
As the Forward story explains, the trope is unmistakable.
If it were any more explicit, it couldn’t have been released.

Yup.. come for the anti-vax, and enjoy some blatant anti-Semitism while you're there.

Ooh, one listen only so far "Love Should Come With A Warning", really nice track!

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gostonesforever

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Rockman
Thems cover of It's All Over Now Baby Blue .... Cool

Yeah, probably the best ever cover of a Dylan song. I like the tongues on this one. Enjoy.

Eggcellent! Never heard this "Them" cover before.. although it still doesn't top G'n'R version of Knocking On Heaven's Door!

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NilsHolgersson




Great tune

Yes, great tune.

In related news to the new album, Van Morrison via twitter:

We are delighted to announce that Van Morrison has partnered with @nugsnet for his first-ever virtual performance
to celebrate the release of his new album ‘Latest Record Project Volume 1’ out May 7th.

Buy tickets now: [vanmorrison.lnk.to]

Filmed @ Real World Studios, England 4K, GB
May 8, 2021 | 3:00 PM ET | LIVE HD VIDEO

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Van Morrison has partnered with nugs.net, the leading music platform for live concert streams and recordings, for his first-ever virtual performance to celebrate the release of his new album ‘Latest Record Project: Volume 1’ out May 7th. The GRAMMY® Award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist will perform a one-of-a-kind Livestream event from the legendary Real World Studios in England that will showcase his eagerly-awaited new music, alongside classic tracks. Tune in live on Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 3:00PM ET / 8:00PM BST.

Preview video snippet: [twitter.com]

Looks and sounds great, and if it was free I'd definitely be tuning in.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

"First ever virtual performance"

Money/album selling over principles.
Atta boy "rebel", way to fall in line

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LeonidP
Ooh, one listen only so far "Love Should Come With A Warning", really nice track!

For the record, this is a fantastic tune. There are several on this record.
(Bigotry and dangerous conspiracy theories aside)
So glad for free streaming and that I've seen him live (and loved it) already.

Unlike Van, I'll be sticking with my principles and not be throwing any of my money his way.

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MisterDDDD
Unlike Van, I'll be sticking with my principles and not be throwing any of my money his way.

Me too.

This new tune has been putting some pep in my step since hearing it yesterday......love it.
And Van mentions playing at the Whiskey in L.A. with the Doors opening up - how cool would that have been!





_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Here is an hilarious review on the new album from the Guardian.

Van Morrison: Latest Record Project Volume 1 review – depressing rants by tinfoil milliner

The veteran bluesman loudly wakes up the sheeple with this boring and paranoid double album, reminiscent of a dinner party with a bitter divorcee

Alexis Petridis



Even a man as implacably opposed to lockdown as Van Morrison – who spent 2020 releasing songs rubbishing science as “crooked facts”, mocking people for wearing masks and describing the government as “fascist bullies” while also invoking the Berlin Wall – might be forced to concede it had its advantages. After all, it gave him the time to write the material for Latest Record Project Volume 1, a 28-song, two-hour-plus opus that allows him to set out his latterday worldview more fully than any previous work.


Morrison’s longstanding sense of distrust – the result of some dubious contracts he signed in the 1960s – long ago calcified into a Weltanschauung in which everyone was lying, with the exception of a certain Northern Irish singer. He’s sounded like a conspiracy theorist before – on 2005’s They Sold Me Out, he averred that being “sold out for a few shekels” was “the oldest story that’s ever been told”; “brainwashed the suckers again and perpetrated the myth,” he sang on 2008’s School of Hard Knocks, “propaganda far and wide” – but on Latest Record Project Volume 1, the sheeple are truly awoken.

It’s MI5 this and mind-control that, secret “meetings in the forest”, mainstream media lies and Kool Aid being drunk by the gallon. On Western Man, there’s some troubling alt-right-y stuff about how the west’s “rewards” have been “stolen” by foreigners unknown and we should be “prepared to fight”. And he’s convinced that the shadowy forces of the establishment are engaged in efforts to silence him: “You have to be careful of everything you say”, “I’m a targeted individual”. The latter seems a fairly weird claim to make in the middle of a two-hour long album released by a major label: as far as can be ascertained, Sony is a multinational conglomerate with interests in banking and insurance, rather than an anarchist collective devoted to fearlessly speaking truth to power. Clearly the shadowy forces of the establishment need to up their game a bit.

This tinfoil millinery is interspersed with a variety of more predictable and even more enervating rants. These precisely replicate the experience of going back to your parents’ for lunch and discovering that – oh Christ – they’ve also invited Brian, their embittered old bore of a neighbour, who, as usual, has a couple of drinks and starts holding forth over the chicken chasseur. Social media is for idiots and anyone on it should get a life (Why Are You on Facebook?); modern music is awful and it’s all made on computers (Where Have All the Rebels Gone?); most of these so-called doctors don’t know what they’re talking about (Psychoanalysts’ Ball); say what you like about him, but Nigel Farage is a man of his word (Double Bind). Your parents have invited Brian because he’s been on his own since the divorce, and, with a crushing inevitability, you hear a lot about that as well: the iniquities of the legal process (The Long Con), and the injustice of handing over money to an ex-wife “too lazy to work” (No Good Deed Goes Unpunished). It seems a miracle there aren’t songs called These New Speed Bumps Outside the Primary School Are a Disgrace, The People I Got In to Do My Patio Were a Couple of Bloody Cowboys, and Have You Seen The Repair Shop? It’s the Only Thing Worth Watching These Days.

It’s an album you listen to while metaphorically pushing food around your plate and biting your tongue: there’s no point in saying anything back to Brian, because you’ll get a response like Only a Song, effectively an indignant splutter of “I’m just having my say” set to music. But in truth, it’s not really what he says so much as how he says it. The tone isn’t anything as stirring or exciting as anger, just endless peevish discontent and sneering dismissal, the latter reaching a peak with Jealousy, on which Morrison announces that anyone who disagrees with him is envious of his nonpareil insight into the way things really are: “I’m not a slave to the system like you.”


It’s worth noting that his voice and the music are both OK: default-setting late-period Morrison, heavy on the 12-bar blues, with a bit of country and southern soul thrown in. Something occasionally sparks, as when a Green Onions-ish Hammond organ introduces A Few Bars Early, or a Latin-American rhythm drives Diabolic Pressure along, but his band are hamstrung by a production that’s simultaneously antiseptic and muted. For all his hymning of music on Thank God for the Blues, you get the feeling that music isn’t the point here – your attention is meant to be focused on the words.

It’s a genuinely depressing listen, but at least there’s a kind of purpose here, even if it isn’t the purpose its creator intends. The album opens with the title track, which demands to know why people are more interested in Morrison’s work “from long ago” than what he’s doing now. Should anyone be wondering the same thing, Latest Record Project then answers said question in the most exhaustive detail imaginable.

"These New Speed Bumps Outside the Primary School Are a Disgrace" - ...

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Haha! Yeah, I don't care much about Van or his music, but that review is a very entertaining read.

''reminiscent of a dinner party with a bitter divorcee''