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Review
'A grateful and passionate celebration of what it means to hear his music ... a compelling appreciation of one of history's most remarkable, undefinable musicians.' --Guardian
'Marcus's approach yields fresh insight into one of pop's most complex personas.' San Francisco Chronicle
'Beautifully written.' Portland Oregonian
'[Marcus is] literate, brainy and fearless in making cross-genre comparisons.' Portland Mercury
'One of the most interesting rock scribes of the past quarter-century.' --Washington City Paper
'No critical testimonial is more welcome than this assessment of Morrison's work by one of America's most astute cultural critics.... Marcus is informed and insightful. Particularly illuminating are his observations on the tensions between Morrison's roles as singer and songwriter, and on Morrison's ongoing 'quest for the yarragh' --Booklist --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'Marcus's approach yields fresh insight into one of pop's most complex personas.' San Francisco Chronicle
'Beautifully written.' Portland Oregonian
'[Marcus is] literate, brainy and fearless in making cross-genre comparisons.' Portland Mercury
'One of the most interesting rock scribes of the past quarter-century.' --Washington City Paper
'No critical testimonial is more welcome than this assessment of Morrison's work by one of America's most astute cultural critics.... Marcus is informed and insightful. Particularly illuminating are his observations on the tensions between Morrison's roles as singer and songwriter, and on Morrison's ongoing 'quest for the yarragh' --Booklist --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
A celebratory, and revelatory exploration of the artist in his most sublime moments by one of the most revered cultural commentators of these times.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is obviously not a comprehensive review of all Van Morrison's output, nor a biography (no need to repeat other books already out there). Rather it is a series of essays on particular aspects that have struck the writer personally, rather like Bob Dylan's Chronicles which only focuses on 3 particular albums as I recall.
Astral Weeks (and Madame George in particular) is most prominent and 15 years and as many albums are dismissed with a few paragraphs. But this is fair enough ; Astral is much quoted as Morrison's greatest work and I expect many listeners would agree that his output had less impact in the 80s and 90s.
Sure it is personal, it is how Greil Marcus feels listening to Van Morrison and his personal ramblings sometimes don't make sense to an outsider, but as such it does what it says on the tin. I thoroughly enjoyed this short book and devoured it in a few sittings.
Astral Weeks (and Madame George in particular) is most prominent and 15 years and as many albums are dismissed with a few paragraphs. But this is fair enough ; Astral is much quoted as Morrison's greatest work and I expect many listeners would agree that his output had less impact in the 80s and 90s.
Sure it is personal, it is how Greil Marcus feels listening to Van Morrison and his personal ramblings sometimes don't make sense to an outsider, but as such it does what it says on the tin. I thoroughly enjoyed this short book and devoured it in a few sittings.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's daunting to be the first to review a work by a wordsmith like Greil Marcus, but it needs to be done. My reaction to the book was rather like mine to Van Morrison's all those years ago. Bewilderment, initial dislike, then curiosity that ultimately drags you in and claims another fan.
This is not really and honestly the book about Morrison and his music you might be expecting; rather it's a book about what it's like to listen to that music. Or at least, what it's like if you have the literary athleticism of Greil Marcus. As a chronicler of contemporary musicians and their contribution, Marcus has few equals. He can boil intense feelings down to a few words or cause a single, multi-layered sentence to roam across a whole page. I spotted several getting on for 250 words. These are mélanges of words and concepts into which you can dive and luxuriate.
This is one of two different books by different authors to have come out recently with precisely identical covers - a shot a few frames away from the Michael Maggid frame that was used for the cover to Morrison's own "St Dominic's Preview" album. The coincidence is curious, because Greil Marcus' book originally came out in hardback under the title "When that Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison". The title was pared back for the softback version, and the raunchier Them-era photo on the original was dropped. Makes no odds to the content, though. The other book, BTW, is the very excellent Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison, which will get a review when I've finally finished reading it!
To begin with, Greil Marcus gave me a great sense of inferiority. "Surely", I thought, "if he can find this stuff within the same music and the same albums that I listen to, I can't be concentrating hard enough!". But that's definitely not it. He's describing the sorts of mental journeys you can take - not one specific, predestined journey. It's a very hard book to categorise. Part literary criticism, part historical discourse on Van the Man and his place in the rainbow that is modern music, part personal recollection of some of the connections the music makes with its time and its place, and to the times and places that gave it an ancestry. Particularly interesting, and a recurrent theme in the book, is the concept of the vocal "yarragh" (see Page 8). An ultimately indefinable concept that goes beyond what some might call "soul", to the point, as Morrison himself is quoted as questioning "Are you singing the song, or is the song singing you?".
If you are a habitual Van Morrison listener, preferably repeatedly and over a long period of time, and have covered all or most of his works in your travels, this 186 page book will amuse and tease you. It will make you listen harder and reflect on what you hear, and why you hear it. Good stuff. You'll have gathered I like it.
This is not really and honestly the book about Morrison and his music you might be expecting; rather it's a book about what it's like to listen to that music. Or at least, what it's like if you have the literary athleticism of Greil Marcus. As a chronicler of contemporary musicians and their contribution, Marcus has few equals. He can boil intense feelings down to a few words or cause a single, multi-layered sentence to roam across a whole page. I spotted several getting on for 250 words. These are mélanges of words and concepts into which you can dive and luxuriate.
This is one of two different books by different authors to have come out recently with precisely identical covers - a shot a few frames away from the Michael Maggid frame that was used for the cover to Morrison's own "St Dominic's Preview" album. The coincidence is curious, because Greil Marcus' book originally came out in hardback under the title "When that Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison". The title was pared back for the softback version, and the raunchier Them-era photo on the original was dropped. Makes no odds to the content, though. The other book, BTW, is the very excellent Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison, which will get a review when I've finally finished reading it!
To begin with, Greil Marcus gave me a great sense of inferiority. "Surely", I thought, "if he can find this stuff within the same music and the same albums that I listen to, I can't be concentrating hard enough!". But that's definitely not it. He's describing the sorts of mental journeys you can take - not one specific, predestined journey. It's a very hard book to categorise. Part literary criticism, part historical discourse on Van the Man and his place in the rainbow that is modern music, part personal recollection of some of the connections the music makes with its time and its place, and to the times and places that gave it an ancestry. Particularly interesting, and a recurrent theme in the book, is the concept of the vocal "yarragh" (see Page 8). An ultimately indefinable concept that goes beyond what some might call "soul", to the point, as Morrison himself is quoted as questioning "Are you singing the song, or is the song singing you?".
If you are a habitual Van Morrison listener, preferably repeatedly and over a long period of time, and have covered all or most of his works in your travels, this 186 page book will amuse and tease you. It will make you listen harder and reflect on what you hear, and why you hear it. Good stuff. You'll have gathered I like it.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I heard that Greil Marcus, the venerable sage of American rock writing, was working on a book on Van Morrison I felt , at last, someone with real gravitas is gonna take on what is an awesome body of work.In the past I have taken Faber & Faber to task for publishing poor books about music, written by authors more concerned with their own egos than the subject matter. One day in their offices I flagged up a book that had massively innacurate descriptions about U2 and The Durutti Column. The answer from the editor in question was " who cares, it sells anyway". Obviously the same criteria was applied to Marcus's book.
The cover, an out-shot from 'St Dominic's Preview' sessions in 1972 is brilliant, conveying all the pent-up artistry of a lone genius suffused in blue hues in a church doorway. (The fact that it's identical to Peter Mill's 'Hymns To The Silence ' mega-tome is just another oversight that slipped the sloppy minds at Fabers.) No matter I bought the book at London's Review Bookshop with enormous enthusiasm and joy. On the way home, on the train I dipped into it. Reading the 'Astral weeks' section first I felt it was an impression rather than an analysis. 'Veedon Fleece' is only referenced by one song! But on pp 85 he literally writes off 15 albums in a handful of pages. There are passages on 1980s recordings like 'A Sense Of Wonder', 'Avalon Sunset'or 'Hymns To The Silence' which are the very essence of Morrison, spiritually committed, epiphanous and full of that unique sense memory that only Morrison can bring to a song. Listening to 'On Hyndford Street' is like walking back in time to a Belfast long lost to time and space. Unfortunately Marcus touches none of this in a book that is beautifully designed but in the end is rather empty inside. A huge disappointment!
Mark Prendergast (Author of 'Irish Rock - Roots, Personalities Directions','The Isle Of Noises' & "The Ambient Century'. (Oct 2010)
The cover, an out-shot from 'St Dominic's Preview' sessions in 1972 is brilliant, conveying all the pent-up artistry of a lone genius suffused in blue hues in a church doorway. (The fact that it's identical to Peter Mill's 'Hymns To The Silence ' mega-tome is just another oversight that slipped the sloppy minds at Fabers.) No matter I bought the book at London's Review Bookshop with enormous enthusiasm and joy. On the way home, on the train I dipped into it. Reading the 'Astral weeks' section first I felt it was an impression rather than an analysis. 'Veedon Fleece' is only referenced by one song! But on pp 85 he literally writes off 15 albums in a handful of pages. There are passages on 1980s recordings like 'A Sense Of Wonder', 'Avalon Sunset'or 'Hymns To The Silence' which are the very essence of Morrison, spiritually committed, epiphanous and full of that unique sense memory that only Morrison can bring to a song. Listening to 'On Hyndford Street' is like walking back in time to a Belfast long lost to time and space. Unfortunately Marcus touches none of this in a book that is beautifully designed but in the end is rather empty inside. A huge disappointment!
Mark Prendergast (Author of 'Irish Rock - Roots, Personalities Directions','The Isle Of Noises' & "The Ambient Century'. (Oct 2010)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliantly written but highly opinionated
I enjoyed reading this but Marcus totally writes off Van's "mystic" period which I believe produced some of his greatest songs.
Published 16 months ago by Mr. Neil Horner
It ain't why why why - it just is
I would like to echo the other reviewers - this book is narcissitic and pointless. It tells you little about Van Morrison or his songs, and a lot about the author - far more than... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Janie
Listening to van Morrison
Greil Marcus dismisses 15 years and albums of Van's work with little or no insightful analysis - I would do the same with this book. Read more
Published 20 months ago by John McMullan
Disappointment
I came late to Van Morrison's music, but I have been a fervent fan for over 30 years, so I thought this book would be interesting. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Himself
Obscure
I'm sure he means well & it's a great idea but I found the book obscure and difficult to follow. Too idiosyncratic really.
Published 20 months ago by Larts
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