Legacy Recordings and Exile Productions are celebrating a late-1990s classic from Van Morrison with a new expanded set.  On March 22, the label will issue The Healing Game: Deluxe Edition in 3-CD and digital formats; these releases will be joined by a single-LP vinyl edition of the original album only.

The Healing Game found the artist reconnecting with his R&B roots.  For the sessions, he was joined by such top-flight musicians as James Brown collaborator Pee Wee Ellis (who had first played with Morrison on 1979's Into the Music), Georgie Fame, and Dave Brubeck sideman Alec Dankworth (son of John Dankworth and Cleo Laine).  These talents had previously collaborated with Morrison on the jazz-centric How Long Has This Been Going On? (1995), recorded at London club Ronnie Scott's, and Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison (1996), a tribute to the great pianist-songwriter.  The Chieftains' Paddy Moloney appeared on "Piper at the Gates of Dawn."

The first disc of the Deluxe Edition, "The Original Album Plus..." presents the original 1997 album plus five bonus tracks first released on various CD singles and compilations:  "Look What the Good People Done," "At the End of the Day," "The Healing Game (Single Version)," "Full Force Gale '96" and "St. Dominic's Preview" - the latter from the soundtrack of Sult - Spirit of the Music.

Disc 2, "Sessions & Collaborations," boasts fifteen tracks - ten of which are previously unreleased.  These include early, alternate versions of "The Healing Game" and "Fire in the Belly" plus a "Jazz" version of "The Healing Game," the full-length version of "Sometimes We Cry," a cover of the Bert Kalmar/Harry Ruby/Oscar Hammerstein II standard "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and many previously unreleased collaborations with rock & roll guitar hero Carl Perkins ("Boppin' the Blues," "Matchbox," "My Angel," and "All By Myself").  Blues titan John Lee Hooker appears on two tracks from his Grammy-winning 1997 album Don't Look Back: the title track and "The Healing Game."  The Hooker album can be viewed as a companion to The Healing Game; produced by Van, it was released on the same date (March 4, 1997).  This disc concludes with a duet with skiffle hero Lonnie Donegan on Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues."

Lastly, the third disc features the official premiere of Live at Montreux: 17 July 1997, capturing Morrison and his band on a blazing 14-track set.  Morrison tackled "Rough God Goes Riding," "Sometimes We Cry," "It Was Once My Life," "This Weight," "Fire in the Belly," "Burning Ground," and "The Healing Game" from the album plus old favorites ("Tupelo Honey," "Tore Down a la Rimbaud") and eclectic covers (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's  showtune "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)," Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."

Look for this generously-expanded version of The Healing Game, along with a single-LP edition of the original album, on March 22 at the links below!

Van Morrison, The Healing Game: Deluxe Edition (Exile/Legacy, 2019)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD

Disc 1: The Original Album Plus...

1. Rough God Goes Riding
2. Fire In The Belly
3. This Weight
4. Waiting Game
5. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
6. Burning Ground
7. It Was Once My Life
8. Sometimes We Cry
9. If You Love Me
10. The Healing Game
11. Look What The Good People Done
12. At The End Of The Day
13. The Healing Game (Single Version)
14. Full Force Gale '96
15. St. Dominic's Preview

Tracks 1-10 originally released as Polydor 537 101-2, 1997
Tracks 11 and 14 originally released on "The Healing Game" U.K. CD single - Polydor VANCD 13, 1997
Tracks 12-13 originally released on "Rough God Goes Riding" U.K. CD single - Polydor HEAL 3, 1997
Track 15 originally released on Sult - Spirit Of The Music - Hummingbird Records HBCD0009, 1996

Disc 2: Sessions & Collaborations (* denotes previously unreleased)

1. The Healing Game (Alternate Version) *
2. Fire In The Belly (Alternate Version) *
3. Didn't He Ramble *
4. The Healing Game (Jazz Version) *
5. Sometimes We Cry (Full Length Version) *
6. Mule Skinner Blues
7. A Kiss To Build a Dream On *
8. Don't Look Back - John Lee Hooker
9. The Healing Game - John Lee Hooker
10. Boppin' The Blues - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison *
11. Matchbox - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison *
12. Sittin' On Top Of The World - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison
13. My Angel - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison *
14. All By Myself - Carl Perkins & Van Morrison *
15. Mule Skinner Blues - Lonnie Donegan & Van Morrison

Track 6 originally released on The Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute - Egyptian/Columbia CK 67676, 1997
Tracks 8-9 originally released on Don't Look Back - Pointblank 72438 42771 2 3, 1997
Track 12 originally released on Good Rockin' Tonight - The Legacy Of Sun Records - Sire 31165, 2001
Track 15 originally released on Muleskinner Blues - Capo 501, 1999

Disc 3: Live At Montreux - 7/19/1997 (previously unreleased)

1. Rough God Goes Riding
2. Foreign Window
3. Tore Down A La Rimbaud
4. Vanlose Stairway/Trans-Euro Train
5. Fool For You
6. Sometimes We Cry
7. It Was Once My Life
8. I'm Not Feeling It Anymore
9. This Weight
10. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
11. Fire In The Belly
12. Tupelo Honey/Why Must I Explain
13. The Healing Game
14. See Me Through/Soldier Of Fortune/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)/Burning Ground