Astral Weeks — 1968

Background

Astral Weeks was released in 1968, Van Morrison's second solo album, recorded with a group of jazz session musicians given considerable improvisational freedom, resulting in a record built around loose, flowing arrangements quite unlike the more conventional pop and R&B structures of Morrison's earlier work with Them and his debut solo single 'Brown Eyed Girl'.

Sound

The album moves through extended, largely improvised arrangements built around acoustic guitar, upright bass, flute and strings, Morrison's vocal delivery shifting fluidly between conventional singing, spoken passages and wordless, scatted improvisation. 'Madame George' and 'Cyprus Avenue' both stretch well past conventional song length, unfolding gradually through repetition and vocal improvisation rather than following a fixed verse-chorus structure.

Jazz-folk fusion

The musicians, largely drawn from New York's jazz scene, brought a genuine improvisational sensibility to the sessions, reportedly working from minimal direction and building the album's flowing, organic arrangements collectively in the studio — a process closer to jazz recording practice than the more tightly arranged folk-rock of the period.

Legacy

Astral Weeks is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest albums ever recorded, its combination of loose, jazz-influenced arrangement and Morrison's raw, deeply felt vocal performance having influenced generations of singer-songwriters despite defying easy categorisation or commercial expectation at the time of release. It remains a singular achievement that critics have struggled to place neatly within any single genre.