This is great news. I've been a fan since 1974 and have most of his CD's. But yes the earlier albums are terribly recorded such as Hard Nose the Highway, His Band and the Street Choir, St. Dominick's Preview, Moondance, A Period of Transition, Live in Belfast, Astral Weeks, etc. The At the Movies CD I believe contains some early cuts that have either been remastered already or re-recorded in the studio. Brown Eyed Girl for example sounds great with super bass, etc. Also Wild Night.
Now about Veedon Fleece. Yes, I completely agree with Musicslug. Totally unappreciated and under rated. But Van hits some of his highest notes in those songs, especially in Linden Arden Stole the Highlights. Last year I went on a serious search for this CD but to no avail. I finally downloaded it in MP3 from Yahoo Music reluctantly. But at least I have it. Then not a month later, there it was in a CD store here in NJ. Brand new copy. Never fails.
His later CD's from the 90's sound fairly good today so I would say those would be lower priority to purchase. The Healing Game sounds great for example. Thanks to Tomcy6 for the schedule. I read a book about Van's life recently and it helps me appreciate his music and poetry even more.
Last year at a local outdoor concert, I went to see and met John Platania who was performing with another group. He was Van's lead guitarist early on. I believe he also recroded with him on a recent album. You can see him in the DVD, Van Morrison Live at Montreux. Super guy. johnplatania.com.
