WIWS Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ News

Unchained Melodies: Van Morrison Blends Standards with Originals on New "Versatile"

November 6, 2017 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Less than three months after the release of his 37th studio album, the rhythm-and-blues-based Roll with the Punches, the one and only Van Morrison is back with No. 38.  On December 1, Legacy Recordings will issue Versatile - certainly an apt title for the man since his earliest days fronting Them to his immersions in jazz, soul, rock, blues, pop, and beyond.

Roll with the Punches featured five original compositions from the prolific singer-songwriter alongside blues classics by artists such as Bo Diddley, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Mose Allison.  Versatile, a companion collection, features six Morrison compositions joining jazz vocal standards written by The Gershwins ("A Foggy Day," "They Can't Take That Way from Me"), Cole Porter ("I Get a Kick Out of You"), the team of Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Jule Styne ("The Party's Over"), Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh ("Let's Get Lost"), and other legends of the Great American Songbook.  Of the six Morrison-penned songs, three are originals and three have been previously recorded: "I Forgot That Love Existed," "Only a Dream," and "Start All Over Again" - on Poetic Champions Compose (1987), Down the Road (2002), and Enlightenment (1990), respectively.  Flautist Sir James Galway appears on the new Morrison song "Affirmation."

Tracks on the album were recorded at Stormont Hotel, Co. Down; .The Courtyard, Clandeboye Estate, Co.Down; The Culloden Hotel, Co.Down; Slieve Donard Hotel, Co. Down; Dunluce Castle, Co. Antrim and Holywood Studio, Co. Down.

Tackling standards is nothing new for the eclectic artist; his 1995 live set How Long Has This Been Going On was titled after a George and Ira Gershwin staple and also featured tunes from Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, the Broadway team of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, and jazz's Cannonball Adderley and Jon Hendricks.  2005's Magic Time found him surveying hits by Sinatra and Como, and he joined the late Chet Baker in concert to sing Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" - just to name a few of his excursions into the standards songbook.

Van Morrison's Versatile arrives in CD and vinyl editions on December 1 from Legacy in the U.S., and Caroline Records in the U.K., and can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Van Morrison, Versatile (Legacy Recordings, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)

  1. Broken Record (Van Morrison)
  2. A Foggy Day (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)
  3. Let's Get Lost (Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh)
  4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon)
  5. Skye Boat Song (Traditional, arranged by Van Morrison)
  6. Take It Easy Baby (Van Morrison)
  7. Makin' Whoopee (Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn)
  8. Get a Kick Out of You (Cole Porter)
  9. I Forgot That Love Existed (Van Morrison)
  10. Unchained Melody (Alex North and Hy Zaret)
  11. Start All Over Again (Van Morrison)
  12. Only A Dream (Van Morrison)
  13. Affirmation featuring Sir James Galway (Van Morrison)
  14. The Party's Over (Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne)
  15. I Left My Heart in San Francisco (George Cory and Douglass Cross)
  16. They Can't Take That Away from Me (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)

Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Van Morrison

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Connect With Joe: FacebookTwitter

You Might Also Like

  • The Band Cahoots 50Review: The Band, "Cahoots: 50th Anniversary Edition"
  • The Band Cahoots 50Life Is A Carnival: The Band Reissues, Remixes, Expands "Cahoots" For December Box Set Release
  • Amy Winehouse at the BBCRelease Round-Up: Week of May 7
  • unnamed 1 1Message to Love: Universal Prepares a Wealth of Rarities for RSD 2020

Comments

  1. Ross says

    November 6, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Love Van's music. He is fully deserving of the title "legend". Roll With the Punches was fantastic. I will be getting this.

    Reply
  2. Kenny says

    November 6, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    Does the list of places that the album was recorded mean that Van is still searching for "Coney Island"

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Upcoming Releases

  • Finally Enough Love LP
    Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones
    Madonna
    August 19, 2022
  • Blondie front cover
    Against the Odds 1974-1982
    Blondie
    August 26, 2022
  • Lou Reed Words and Music May 1965
    Words and Music - May 1965
    Lou Reed
    August 26, 2022
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,494 other subscribers

Popular

  • Elvis On Tour Box
    Burning Love: Elvis Presley's "Elvis On Tour" Gets Super-Sized on New Box Set posted on August 12, 2022 | under News
  • Olivia Newton John Making a Good Thing Better
    In Memoriam: Olivia Newton-John (1948-2022) posted on August 8, 2022 | under News
  • Jimi Jamison Rock Hard
    Release Round-Up: Week of August 12 posted on August 12, 2022 | under Release Round-Up

Comments

  • small faces here come the nice2
    Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 84 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
  • the beatles u s albums box2
    British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
  • Rolling Stones in Mono
    Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popblerd
  • Popdose
  • Record Racks
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Viva La Mainstream
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Resonance Records
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2022 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy