This is a great time to be a fan of Van Morrison. His recent albums that focus on jumping the blues reveal a renewed musical enthusiasm. His live shows are swinging affairs with Morrison in not only wonderful voice, but bopping like Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson on the alto sax.
Just as rewarding is the cache of reissues and unreleased material gives put out by Legacy Recordings, ranging from 70s concert material to this beauty of a 3 disc set from an overlooked gem of a period, 1997 when The Healing Game was released. This album was a return to his own compositions after doing a couple sessions of jazzier material such as the Mose Allison songbook. His harmonica playing is rich and full, working well on the folksy “Rough God Goes Riding” and Burning Ground” while he gives a nice doo wop feel to “If You Love Me.” A pub-like casual rollicking feel to “The Healing Game” has Morrison at his Irish tenor best, as he declare’s he’s “back where I belong.” Musical heart is on his sleeve.
The extra material on the second disc includes alternative and “jazz versions” of tunes from the album, and they show Morrison’s musical thought process. What really sets this apart is the inclusion of blues legend John Lee Hooker sitting in on a couple pieces, “Don’t Look Back” and a grit under the nails read of “The Healing Game” whle rockabilly legend lights things up with two steppin’ takes of “Matchbox” and “Boppin’ The Blues.” Most festive is the inclusion of skiffle master Lonnie Donegan taking Morrison to the local pub for a foot stomping “Mule Skinner Blues.” Lift up your Guinness!
The third disc is a concert from July 19, 1997 in Montreux with a team including Georgie Fame/voc-org, Ronnie Johnson/g, Geoff Dunn/dr, Nicky Scott/b, Robin Aspland/p, Brian Kennedy/voc and a horn section of Pee Wee Ellis, Leo Green and Matt Holland. He mixes R&B material from Ray Charles (“Fool For You”) and Sly Stone (“Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again”) with some of his own hits such as a gorgeous “Tupelo Honey.” He brought in material from his latest album such as “Fire In The Belly,” “This Weight” and “It Was Once My Life” and it works even better in concert than in studio. Morrison was long boarding a wave at this stage of his career, and surf was up.