"Sweet Thing" Rediscovered
Some time ago I saw the movie "Moonlight Mile" (Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon). The song played over the closing credits was Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing". I was greatly moved both by the song itself and by the way it capped the movie, allowing the emotional element of the final scene to play out. Sort of the way you [should] drink wine. After you swallow, you appreciate the way it "finishes" ...you don't just immediately shove something else in your mouth ...or in this case, jump up and rush out of the theater.
Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Van Morrison's music. In fact, I have more discs (vinyl and CD combined) by him than any other single artist. I can't say that I have all of his music because he's too prolific to keep up with. Every time I go to buy one of his new releases, I always find one or two disc there in the bin that I was previously unaware of. And yes, I grab them up. He's one of the few artists whose music I automatically buy whenever it's available (not having heard it in advance). Sure, there have been a few projects that didn't resonate with me, but to some degree, I can get into almost anything this man does. And so much of what I really do like has nothing to do with his "hits". There's so much of his music that doesn't even make the mainstream playlists. Pity!
Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Van Morrison's music. In fact, I have more discs (vinyl and CD combined) by him than any other single artist. I can't say that I have all of his music because he's too prolific to keep up with. Every time I go to buy one of his new releases, I always find one or two disc there in the bin that I was previously unaware of. And yes, I grab them up. He's one of the few artists whose music I automatically buy whenever it's available (not having heard it in advance). Sure, there have been a few projects that didn't resonate with me, but to some degree, I can get into almost anything this man does. And so much of what I really do like has nothing to do with his "hits". There's so much of his music that doesn't even make the mainstream playlists. Pity!
Anyway back to the movie soundtrack. I immediately went to Amazon to check out the soundtrack for this song. I was distraught to find "Sweet Thing" wasn't even on the soundtrack. It was such a perfect ending to the movie, that to not include it on the soundtrack was just wrong. I did a search to find what [obscure] album might contain this song; what album [he] had realease that I'd overlooked. Guess what? The song is on "Astral Weeks". Damn! I already have "Astral Weeks". I've had "Astral Weeks" for over thirty-five years. I immediately delved through my countless vinyl albums and pulled out the disc to find "Sweet Thing" sitting right there. How had I missed it for all these years?
Thing is, when I get a new disc, I listen to it completely through. There are always those songs that resonate more than others. I guess back in 1969, when I first heard it, for some reason I can't explain, it didn't click and in future playings of the album, I just skipped it.
Because this was back before the random access of CD players, and playing only selected tracks from a vinyl disc was cumbersome, I tended to put my favorites tracks on tape and just play the tape, thereby lessening my chance of "rediscovering" those lost track that would appeal to me later...when my sensibilities had changed or I'd had some experience to make the song more relevant.
But now that I've rediscovered this great tune, I still have to re-buy the CD since my vinyl disc is, well you know, it's experienced considerable wear. This was from back when I was less appreciative of the vulnerability of vinyl discs and how valuable they would be [to me] in the future. Fortunately this album has been re-released on CD and, since it's an [old] release, the cost is really not bad ...only nine bucks. This is not the first ...nor will it be the last ...album I have to re-purchase on CD because my vinyl copy is in less than pristine condition. Too bad the vinyl version is unavailable. I really do prefer vinyl, the sound is warmer.
Quote of the Week: "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
Thing is, when I get a new disc, I listen to it completely through. There are always those songs that resonate more than others. I guess back in 1969, when I first heard it, for some reason I can't explain, it didn't click and in future playings of the album, I just skipped it.
Because this was back before the random access of CD players, and playing only selected tracks from a vinyl disc was cumbersome, I tended to put my favorites tracks on tape and just play the tape, thereby lessening my chance of "rediscovering" those lost track that would appeal to me later...when my sensibilities had changed or I'd had some experience to make the song more relevant.
But now that I've rediscovered this great tune, I still have to re-buy the CD since my vinyl disc is, well you know, it's experienced considerable wear. This was from back when I was less appreciative of the vulnerability of vinyl discs and how valuable they would be [to me] in the future. Fortunately this album has been re-released on CD and, since it's an [old] release, the cost is really not bad ...only nine bucks. This is not the first ...nor will it be the last ...album I have to re-purchase on CD because my vinyl copy is in less than pristine condition. Too bad the vinyl version is unavailable. I really do prefer vinyl, the sound is warmer.
Quote of the Week: "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
posted by gieau_sf (9:45:00 PM)
-- All non-relevant comments will be (have been) deleted!
2 Comment(s):
I pulled out our vinyl copy of Astral Weeks. Still looks in pretty good shape. It still has a German price tag on it, DM 9.80. I didn't by it though. My spouse must have. We were living in Germany together right before vinyl went to cd. I thought cd was the best thing ever, but nothing beats the sound of an old vinyl album.
We do seem to have a lot of the same "stuff". I might take you up on your offer to fedex me your excess. I'll consider you as an offsight backup :-)
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