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Veedon Fleece | 
 enlarge | Artist: Van Morrison
Label: Polydor / Umgd
Category: Music
Buy New: $28.98
New (8) Used (6) Collectible (4) from $17.48
Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 50044
Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 731453745629
EAN: 0731453745629
ASIN: B000002GNO
Release Date: June 3, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NEW/SEALED! THIS IS NOT A BOOT OR CD-R. WE SHIP VIA USPS (OR PRIORITY MAIL IF YOU CHOOSE EXPEDITIED SHIPPING) TO THE U.S. AND AIRMAIL TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.
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| Tracks:
| • | Fair Play | | • | Linden Arden Stole the Highlights | | • | Who Was That Masked Man | | • | Streets of Arklow | | • | You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River | | • | Bulbs | | • | Cul de Sac | | • | Comfort You | | • | Come Here My Love | | • | Country Fair |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
On this subtle classic, a comparatively somber, subdued Van Morrison emerged from the rubble of the failed marriage that a few years earlier infused his American studio sessions with a conjugal glow and journeyed home to Ireland to revive his Celtic identity. From the pale, hand-colored images on its cover to the quieter, more skeletal arrangements of the music, 1974's Veedon Fleece originally seemed dispiriting to Morrison fans hoping for the R&B ebullience of its predecessors. Yet songs like "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights," "Streets of Arklow," and "Country Fair" anticipate the pastoral Irish lyricism that would bloom again a half decade later on Into the Music, emerging as a cornerstone of Morrison's work from the '80s forward. --Sam Sutherland
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| Customer Reviews:
 Van fromhis mediocre period November 5, 2007
Marcus Aurelius (PA USA)
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
You want to hear this only if you're a completist. There's so much better Van out there.
Stunning, and close to perfection October 1, 2007
finulanu (Here, there, and everywhere)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I don't know why this often gets forgotten and stored on the Van backburner: out of the nine or ten Morrison albums I've heard, the only one I prefer to it is Astral Weeks. Then again, I really like the mystic folksy side of Van, and you get a lot of that here. He reaches the intensity level of a shaman on
"You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River": I heard he used to go completely insane in his live performances, raving and barking and generally acting like something inhuman, and you really hear it on that intense track. Plus the flutes make it sound like Astral Weeks, which in my mind is a good thing, since I absolutely adore that masterpiece. Anyway, in my mind "Punches" is a Van Morrison classic, though its length and cathartic ending make it inaccessible. But worthwhile! Oh yes, very worthwhile. And it's tightly wound, too, the closest Van ever came to a full-blown symphony. Right, so enough praise for that, onto praising the rest: "Fair Play" and the jazzy "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights" have a sort of quiet, stately majesty to them. They're just pure atmosphere, but it's lovely, soothing, melodic, atmosphere. And the strings on "Streets of Arklow" are creative and add a lot to the song. Much like on "Sweet Thing" (my favorite Van Morrison song, for the record: when I start listening to that one, I just can't stop and I find it being virtually the only song I listen to for days on end), I can't imagine it without them. I also like "Cul de Sac". It's hypnotic! And has tasty jazz guitar! My favorite part of the song is when he goes, "do-do-do-do-do-do-do you go back... to the cul de sac..." and all the other crazy scatting he does. I can't name you any other rock (in the broad, generic sense of the term) singer who would scat without making a total fool of themselves. There are a couple pseudo-weak songs: "Comfort You" is at least pretty, and has some awesome acoustic guitar, but "Bulbs" is more Jackson Browne than Van Morrison (nothing against Jackson, but unrelenting mediocrity can only get you so far). But the creepy "Country Fair" makes up for it - it honestly sounds like Indian music. This is one of my very favorite Van albums. It's far off the beaten track, but if you ask me any fan should have it.
an early 70's treasure. February 13, 2007
fluffy, the human being. (forest lake, mn)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
after "astral weeks," this is my favorite van morrison album. simply one of the very greatest recordings of the early 70's, this is a gentle and stunning work of music. you don't need me to go through this tune by tune, each song is a majestic piece in its own right. the whole thing works as an organic wonder of sounds. don't miss this masterpiece.
Van gets dark January 13, 2007
Elliot Knapp (Seattle, Washington United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I own a few of Van Morrison's classic 60's/70's recordings, and this one surprised me since it's so much darker than any of his other, generally upbeat Irish soul albums. On first listen, it really floated by me--the music is mellow, the accompaniment is subtle and not in-your-face, and there aren't many upbeat numbers. Once I started actually listening, though, Veedon Fleece became one of my very favorite Van Morrison albums.
The album starts off gently enough with "Fair Play," which plays off Van's jazzy side, with lounge piano and a relaxed vocal. It's mellow, in a major key, and easy to relax to. Things stay similar on the second track, which builds to an emotive crescendo as the song wears on. Van gets more soulful, singing in a sweet falsetto on "Who Was that Masked Man?" Things really get dark on "The Streets of Arklow." I don't think I'd ever really heard Van get so brooding or mysterious (except maybe on Astral Weeks), and the Irish folk background music makes for a pastorally forboding feeling. This just continues into the album's centerpiece, where the title comes from, "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River." Beginning with a hypnotic and haunting piano line, the song pulses under Van's searching vocal, as he channels something soulful and mystical that's beyond my comprehension (maybe that's why I like it so much).
The rest of the album has some more upbeat and characteristic Van numbers, like the grooving "Bulbs" and soulful "Cul de Sac," but an aura of darkness lurks beneath the surface in a really intangible way, like it's gone to soon return. "Country Fair" closes the album on a mellow, flute-inflected folk note, keeping the spell of mystery intact.
There are Van Morrison albums that are more versatile, like Moondance, that I can play to fit almost any situation or mood, but Veedon Fleece has a certain magic and mystery that makes it all the more special when the time is right to let the music wash over me. Hopefully it comes back into print soon--it's a classic, if often overlooked album.
Van's "Blood On The Tracks"... November 6, 2006
B. Bowman (Jersey, United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is my favorite Van Morrison album without question. Every time I hear the opening strains of "Fair Play" it takes me to another place. I find it stunning that this album caused such a disruption of Van Morrison's career after it was released and alienated so many of his fans. True, this album doesn't contain any R&B stompers, but it shouldn't be seen as anything less than an amazing group of songs. "Veedon Fleece" has a reputation for being a somber and depressing album, but the second half of the disc is actually much more upbeat than the first. I read that Van Morrison had returned to Ireland for the first time in years and after his divorce from then wife Janet Planet, and the effect it had on his music is evident, particularly in the instrumentation on songs like "Streets of Arklow". Although Van sounds dispirited at times the music is actually very relaxing. This album is always one that I can slip on late at night and feel right at home with. Highly recommended.
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