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This was universally panned and widely regarded as Morrison's worst album (or one of his worst - Inarticulate Speech..., Too Long In Exile, Days Like This, etc., take your pick...) It was a huge blip in an otherwise impressive streak of very good-to-great albums, one that began with Astral Weeks and ended with Veedon Fleece. Well, Heylin's recent bio and Philosopher's Stone from 1998 suggests this could've been a very good album. Apparently, Morrison had enough to release a double Lp and wanted to, but WB wasn't crazy about doing that just yet. WB was right, but unfortunately Morrison chose some crappy tracks for the Lp they DID release. Doesn't say much about Morrison's abilities as a producer because this was the first time he was given complete control; Morrison complained in the past of producers compromising his work, etc., but Heylin's book seems to suggest otherwise - Merenstein, Templeton, and even Solomon (well, he screwed them over and made some bad decisions, but he made some very key decisions too) made some GREAT calls that Morrison would not have made.

This time, it was Morrison's studio, he was the producer, and with the exception of "Warm Love," the Lp he sequenced blows. He had some great material that may or may not have recorded during these sessions ("Spare Me A Little" which may have been intended for an aborted Jackie DeShannon album, and "Paid The Price" which may not exist in studio form). Still, going by the stuff he did release on Philosopher's Stone, here's what a single Lp could have looked like:

Time: 40:30

Side A:
Warm Love
Wonderful Remark (original version)
Madame Joy
Contemplation Rose

Side B:
Not Supposed To Break Down
There There Child
Drumshanbo Hustle
Try For Sleep

You could even throw "Bulbs" and "Country Fair" in there, both of which were recorded but discarded as well. I probably wouldn't because the two were revisited and re-recorded for Veedon Fleece, with "Bulbs" recorded TWICE for that album (Heylin says the 'first' version done for Veedon Fleece would've been more in spirit with the rest of the album; as is, the more rock-oriented arrangements definitely sticks out from its pastoral surroundings.)

"Wonderful Remark" was re-recorded with Robbie Robertson in the early 1980's for that matter, but the original is just as good if not better.

The book also looks at Morrison's period of "silence" which apparently is some All Music Guide bullshit, because Morrison recorded a SHIT load of music between Veedon Fleece and A Period of Transition that was left unreleased. An album was planned around these unreleased recordings but for reasons unclear it was never finalized. At first, it was supposed to come out a couple of months after Veedon Fleece but it didn't happen. Morrison kept recording new material, coming up with newer configurations, and then he just shelved it until Philosopher's Stone. Pretty cool if you're getting into Van Morrison, the guy was even more prolific and 'consistent' (well, this shit wasn't released, but it was still recorded) than I first thought.

Fascinating. I'm a big fan of the pre-Period of Transition albums, but Hard Nose indeed has always struck me as the odd one out. I mean, seriously ... "Bein' Green"??

As someone who's only familiar with the official albums from that period, I suppose I need Philosopher's Stone. And that Heylin bio too, perhaps?

Yeah, Philosopher's Stone is definitely worth it, it's revelatory if you've never heard the bootlegs from the 1970's and 1980's. The recording dates are often incorrect, according to Heylin, usually a year or two years off. (he 'corrects' them in his sessionography - it's an amazing accusation to make, but Heylin's usually right about this sort of thing), but regardless, it completely discredits any argument that Morrison had "writer's block" during this time.

A good number of tracks are earlier versions, and they're often better than the later versions (except "Real Real Gone" which was re-recorded and released 10 years later as a hit single). Overall, it's very strong stuff, definitely one of the better and more concise outtakes/rarities collections out there.

As for Heylin's bio, it may be the best one yet. Some people complain about Heylin putting down Van (check Amazon.com) but that's bullshit. If you know Heylin, he doesn't kiss ass to anyone, definitely not to Dylan - this is a guy who calls Dylan hands down the greatest recording artist and the greatest singer in popular music, but has no reservations about tweaking his nose. Usually it involves unreleased recordings, and that's why Heylin's great to read, because unlike most authors, he'll obsessively track down a truckload of bootlegs and write about them.

Don't get me wrong, the book isn't perfect. Morrison hates biographies and often warns authors about this. Heylin's book ran into its own problems and he had to censor some parts from the book's most interesting chapter. I'm talking about the last one, which covers material few if any books have discussed. It's when Morrison recorded what could've been an excellent comeback, only to have a falling out with Linda Gail Lewis. He remixed, resequenced, and re-recorded the entire album, which became Down The Road.

Johnny Rogan has written a bio that just came out, and it may be better. His last one came about 20, 25 years ago, with extremely limited access - the basic consensus is, he gave it a good try but there was only so much he could do. I wouldn't be surprised if the new one was a lot better.

BTW, I should warn you, Morrison comes off really, really bad. That should be no surprise, for years, his unpredictable personality has been well-known, and his tantrums and concert-ending tirades have been documented on bootlegs. Still, a lot of book reviews seemed STUNNED by how bad Morrison can be.

Actually, according to the sessionography at the end of the book, the PHILOSOPHER'S STONE recording of "Wonderful Remark" came from the ST. DOMINIC'S PREVIEW sessions (and interesting enough, "Listen To The Lion" was actually recorded during sessions for TUPELO HONEY - it wasn't re-recorded, Morrison & Co. used a master take from those sessions for ST. DOMINIC'S PREVIEW).