Listen To A Van Morrison Astral Weeks Outtake
Exclusive! Hear an epic, testifying, unreleased version of Beside You from the remastered album.
Van Morrison's peerless 1968 album Astral Weeks is to be reissued in remastered form next month with the exciting addition of unreleased tracks from the sessions. And no, none of them are You’ve Got Ringworm. The four alternate takes are a stripped-back, vibraphone-heavy Madame George (Take 4), longer versions of Ballerina, Slim Slow Slider, a version of the epic, testifying Beside You (Take 1), from September 25 ’68 (that’s 47 years ago this week!) that you can listen to below.
The Astral outtakes highlight the interplay between Morrison and the quartet that joined him in the studio: bassist Richard Davis, guitarist Jay Berliner, percussionist Warren Smith, Jr., and Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Connie Kay. And of course it’s Van at the very peak of his mystic jazz-rock-soul powers...
October 30 is the date for your diaries. Accompanying Astral Weeks will be a remaster of 1970’s His Band And The Street Choir, also featuring five unreleased takes: Call Me Up In Dreamland (Take 10); Give Me A Kiss (Take 3); Gypsy Queen (Take 3); I’ve Been Working (Alternate Version); and I’ll Be Your Lover, Too (Alternate Version).
You can order copies the remastered/expanded Astral Weeks and His Band And The Street Choir here...