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Album Description: Pressed on 180gram vinyl at RTI. Mastered from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Grey at Acoustech Mastering. Features all original packaging. Van Morrison's 1970 release His Band and The Street Choir had a more relaxed sound than its predecessor "Moondance." This release was just one of many critically acclaimed releases for the equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild eyed poet sorcerer.Amazon.com: His Band and the Street Choir appeared at a time--1970--when Van Morrison was building on the great critical successes of Astral Weeks and Moondance. His third Warner Bros. album contains a number of radio-friendly tracks clearly aimed at the singles market and few clues of the serious, brooding melancholy of Astral Weeks. Kicking off with the jaunty "Domino," the album is generally dominated by uptempo swingers such as "Call Me Up in Dreamland," "Give Me a Kiss," and "Blue Money." The cover photography and liner notes by then wife Janet Planet reveal a smiling Morrison and hint at a newfound personal contentment. This mood did not last long after Van left the artists' community of Woodstock. But even here, in "I'll Be Your Lover Too" and "Crazy Face," there are moments that are essential listening for fans of his sullen splendor and mysticism. --Rob Stewart
Customer Reviews:
- REMASTER AVAILABLE! But ONLY In Japan! Why, Edgar... WHY?:
The good news?
20+ years after their debut on CD, FINALLY, there are full remasters of Moondance, Street Choir and Astral Weeks.
The bad news?
They're not available domestically from Warner Music Group USA: All three were released in June 2008 by Warner in Japan only, and Amazon is FINALLY getting around to stocking them.
The catalog numbers for the three Japan Warner remasters are WPCR-75419, -20 and -21, which streeted in Japan on 6/25/08. Be sure that you use the links I have provided above, as Warner Japan has previously released non-remastered versions of all three titles, and you don't want to make an expensive mistake.
These classic albums, which we have all waited so long to be brought properly into the digital world, now, unfortunately, join fellow Warner artists such as Little Feat, The Doobie Brothers, Neil Young, Ry Cooder, Tower Of Power, Cold Blood and several others, whose remastered catalogs are only available off-shore.
Pathetic.
The responsibility for this is ultimately Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the CEO of WMG USA. Instead of focusing on WMG's core music catalog, he's busy extolling the virtues of consumer-oppressive DRM, over-paying P-Diddy tens of millions of dollars, and this week, revealed as losing another $30 million of WMG funds in promoter Joe Meli's mad scheme to charge $15,000 per person to attend a swank, exclusive, five-act concert series in the Hamptons. These are only a few of many excesses this guy has perpetrated at WMG, presiding over a spectacular loss of investor equity since the 2005 WMG IPO, while he and his investors have lined their own pockets.
This year, Universal is staging a 28-title Van Morrison catalog re-release, all remastered with bonus tracks. You'd think SOMEBODY at WMG would be smart enough to pilot-fish that momentum with these three seminal titles. At the very least, how hard can it be to obtain the existing, completed remasters from a Japan subsidiary and make them available in the U.S.?
All of this is no surprise to WMG, or ex-WEA, insiders. Internally, Warner policy was always that the majority of consumers were going purchase popular catalog titles anyway, so why waste profits to remaster them? WEA sales employees were told this directly by Warner management as far back as the early 90's, and Bronfman's regime simply status-quo'd that odious philosophy.
This is what happens when bean-counters run record companies.
But, I guess Edgar & Co, too preoccupied with moguling the mess they've made of a once-great record company, can't see the opportunity: As of this writing, no WMG act has any major position on the charts, and artists, alienated by WMG's all-finance-dominated mentality, are departing for pastures where music still has some modicum of corporate consideration.
What a waste.
WMG could borrow a page from Sony, who established a successful business model out of sonically-upgrading their catalog over a decade ago. The only major Columbia Records artist that comes to mind, whose catalog hasn't been remastered, is Springsteen... and you have to believe that's not by Sony's choice.
Bottom line, Edgar? If you don't believe there's no positive revenue to be generated by offering a better product, then you've no business being in that business.
- This album gave Bruce the Juice.: Listen to this album immediately followed by Springsteen's "Wild Innocent" and Van's influence on Bruce will be crystal clear. I'd like to see both Van and Bruce make this kind of music again.
- Old fashion style - good vocal performance: In this album I like the song I'll be you r love too, poetic, great vocal and guitar performance. Is an example of what you can do with a guitar and voice alone. Raw style - great music
The song appears in a movie with Russel Crow and Meg Ryan, about terrorism in the Andes 'Proof of life' - Van rocks : Was looking for song "blue money" thot he was saying "Blue Monday "
- His band and the street choir: I was satisfied with product and will use amazon again
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