Post Description

Van Morrison - Common One (1980/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 70:39 minutes | 1,45 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover
Common One is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title comes from the 3/4 section of the song "Summertime in England", where Morrison sings the lyrics "Oh, my common one with the coat so old and the light in her head". Morrison has cited Common One as his favorite of his own albums.


Van Morrison was working through one of his greatest – yet least appreciated – creative periods when he made this album, one that burrows deeply into an introspective jazz-rooted spiritual groove. With Mark Isham's lonely muted trumpet up front, listeners are in the jazz world immediately with "Haunts of Ancient Peace," merging perfectly with Morrison's idiosyncratic vocal style. A low-pressure soul-jazz organ riff lays down the base of the most easily assimilated track, "Satisfied," as Morrison's lyric indicates that he has reached a state of internal peace. "Wild Honey" has R&B horn riffs over Philly-style strings, while "Spirit" mostly pursues a self-fulfillment path similar to that of "Satisfied." Ultimately, the record stands or falls upon two remarkable, gigantic 15-minute pieces, "Summertime in England" and "When Heart Is Open." The propulsive opening of "Summertime" drops names of Morrison's favorite poets and authors; the track teeters upon indulgence but you are drawn in by Morrison's obsessions with lines and phrases like "common one" and "let your red robe go," his voice becoming a twin brother of arranger Pee Wee Ellis' riffing sax. Lonely horns over the hilltops open "When Heart Is Open," and it begins to resemble a sequel to Miles Davis' treatment of "In a Silent Way," setting a peaceful, mesmerizing mood that carries you through its enormous length to the end of the record. No wonder the rock critics of the time didn't get it; this is music outside the pop mainstream, and even Morrison's own earlier musical territory. But it retains its trancelike power to this day.

Tracklist:

01 - Haunts Of Ancient Peace
02 - Summertime In England
03 - Satisfied
04 - Wild Honey
05 - Spirit
06 - When Heart Is Open
07 - Haunts Of Ancient Peace [Alt take]
08 - When Heart Is Open [Alt take]

Produced by Van Morrison with Henry Lewy.