![]() ![]() Recorded in New York’s Century Sound Studios, the songs were borne along on the most flexible of jazz accompaniments – magically improvised, in some cases on the first take, by musicians who hadn’t even had lead sheets or rehearsals – with haunting string arrangements overdubbed later. Frustrated at the tight, claustrophobic arrangements Berns had insisted on employing, Morrison was experimenting with just acoustic guitars, string bass and flute, and when it came time to record his new, expansive songs, producer Lewis Merenstein assembled a team of simpático jazz players more used to working with the likes of Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus. ![]() ![]() The LP’s roots lay in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Morrison and his wife, Janet “Planet” Rigsbee, were living in 1968, hiding out from mob associates of the late producer/songwriter/label boss Bert Berns, who still held his contract (subsequently bought out by Warner Brothers’ Joe Smith, who reportedly delivered $20,000 to mobsters in an abandoned warehouse). Possibly the most sui generis album ever created, Astral Weeks, no matter how many times you’ve listened to it, somehow weaves its magic anew each time you return. “If I ventured in the slipstream, between the viaducts of your dreams…” It’s one of the most enigmatic, evocative opening lines in all of pop history, akin to Alice’s dive down the rabbit-hole in the way it serves as an indication of the enchantments to come. ![]()
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