The Philosopher's Stone (album)
The Philosopher's Stone | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Length | 153:07 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Producer | Van Morrison | |||
Van Morrison chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[2] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998.
The songs released on this 2-CD thirty-track album were previously unreleased
Three songs on the album were evidently intended for Morrison's unreleased 1975 album Mechanical Bliss. "Twilight Zone", "Foggy Mountain Top" and "Flamingos Fly" were all mixed in 1974 just before Mechanical Bliss was due to come out.
Original release
The Philosopher's Stone, Volume One was originally scheduled to be released in July 1996. When it was released, some of the tracks had been changed; "When I Deliver", "
Commenting on the previously unreleased songs, Van Morrison remarked:
"It's hard to work out why you didn't put something out at the time. Usually it felt like it didn't fit...When I was with Warner Brothers they were very minimalist."[4]
The Van Morrison song titled "Philosopher's Stone" does not appear on this album, but is from 1999's Back On Top, released one year after this album.
Recording dates
Many of the recording dates on the album notes are disputed by one of Morrison's biographers, Heylin. "Really Don't Know" he claims was recorded in 1969, not 1971 as he only has details of the musicians recording with Morrison in 1969. Heylin feels that tracks from "Wonderful Remark" to "Drumshanbo Hustle" were recorded in 1972 not 1973, and that "There There Child" was recorded in 1972 not 1976. On disc two "John Henry" is shown as recorded in 1977, but Heylin argues that it was recorded two years earlier, as there are no details on Morrison recording in 1977. "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded with Moving Hearts in 1983 for the album A Sense of Wonder. From the same sessions the songs "A Sense of Wonder" and "Boffyflow and Spike" were used for the album. The recording date of these songs was 1983 (as stated on the album itself) but the date on The Philosopher's Stone states "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded in 1984.[6]
Scott Thomas in the fan magazine Wavelength noted:
Everything about The Philosopher's Stone, from its format to its packaging to its song selection, seems designed to divorce the tracks from their historical milieu...When we open the package, there are no essays, no interviews, no archival photos — just lyrics (often incorrectly transcribed) and credits which include the year of the session.[4]
Track listing
All songs written by Van Morrison unless noted.
|
|
Personnel
- acousticand electric guitar, harmonica, saxophone
- June Boyce – vocals
- Ronnie Montrose – guitar, background vocals on "Wonderful Remark" and "Ordinary People"
- John Blakey, John Platania, Mick Cox, Chris Michie – guitar
- Herbie Armstrong – rhythm guitar
- Toni Marcus – violin
- Jules Broussard – flute, tenor saxophone
- "Boots" Rolf Houston – flute
- Jack Schroer – alto and baritone saxophones
- Collin Tilton, Pee Wee Ellis – tenor saxophone
- Bill Atwood – trumpet
- Mark Isham – trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizers
- John Allair – piano, organ
- Jeff Labes, Mark Naftalin, Mark Jordan, Pete Wingfield– piano
- Smith Dobson – piano, electric piano
- Bernie Krause – moog synthesizer
- John Klingberg, Bill Church, David Hayes, Jerome Rimson, Clive Culbertson – bass
- Dave Early– drums
- Jackie DeShannon, Judy Clay, Bianca Thornton, Pauline Lazano, Annie Stocking – background vocals
- Neil Drinkwater – keyboards
- The Chieftains, Moving Hearts – bands
Charts
Album –
Year | Chart | Position |
1998 | UK Album Chart | 20[citation needed] |
Album –
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1998 | The Billboard 200 | 87[citation needed] |
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Tony Scherman (19 June 1998). "Entertainment Weekly review". Ew.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ Wild, David (18 May 1998). "Van Morrison: The Philosopher's Stone". Album reviews. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ a b c Heylin, p 477
- ^ Rogan, p.606
- ^ Heylin, pp. 519–525
- ^ "Rick Shlosser – About". rickshlosser.com. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
Sources
- ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1