I’d had an uncanny sense that I was going to find a Van Morrison record in Cornwall–and I did. Though in my reverie I imagined discovering an original edition of Moondance, I was quite pleased to find the American heavy cardboard/tip on sleeve/gatefold issue of the present album, which, apart from “Wild Night”, I had never heard. It is an excellent album from the same purple patch as St. Dominic’s Preview, Moondance, and His Band & the Street Choir. I thoroughly recommend it. I was pleased to note the album’s inner sleeve and read up on the Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders series of albums. I was fascinated by these compilations as a child, though I’ve never actually seen one in the flesh. One is tempted to hunt them down on t’internet.
In a related matter, I’ve also recently purchased the latter period Van the Man records Inarticulate Speech of the Heart and A Sense of Wonder at a Kent boot fair; despite their new age trappings, I have a certain fondness for both, though in truth, they are largely mediocre albums.
Thrifty Vinyl 