- Music
- 11 Jul 17
The legendary Celtic Soulster returns with a mix of new tunes and tributes to his blues heroes.
Classic artist Van Morrison has announced the release of his 37th studio album entitled Roll With The Punches.
Aided and abetted by old muckers Chris Farlowe, Georgie Fame and Jeff Beck, the Man is mixing new tunes with classics from the likes of Mose Allison, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bo Diddley and Lightnin’ Hopkins.
“From a very early age, I connected with the blues,” Van reflects. “The thing about the blues is you don’t dissect it – you just do it. I’ve never over-analysed what I do; I just do it. Music has to be about just doing it and that’s the way the blues works – it’s an attitude. I was lucky to have met people who were the real thing – people like John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Witherspoon, Bo Diddley, Little Walter & Mose Allison. I got to hang out with them and absorb what they did. They were people with no ego whatsoever and they helped me learn a lot.
“The songs on Roll With The Punches – whether I’ve written them or not – they’re performance oriented,” he continues. “Each song is like a story and I’m performing that story. That’s been forgotten over years because people over-analyse things. I was a performer before I started writing songs and I’ve always felt like that’s what I do.”
The full track-listing is:
‘Roll With the Punches’ (Van Morrison & Don Black)
‘Transformation’ (Van Morrison)
‘I Can Tell’ (Bo Diddley & Samuel Bernard Smith)
‘Stormy Monday/Lonely Avenue’ (T-Bone Walker/Doc Pomus)
‘Goin’ To Chicago’ (Count Basie & Jimmy Rushing)
‘Fame’ (Van Morrison)
‘Too Much Trouble’ (Van Morrison)
‘Bring It On Home To Me’ (Sam Cooke)
‘Ordinary People’ (Van Morrison)
How Far From God (Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
‘Teardrops From My Eyes’ (Rudy Toombs)
‘Automobile Blues’ (Lightnin’ Hopkins)
‘Benediction’ (Mose Allison)
‘Mean Old World’ (Little Walter)
‘Ride On Josephine’ (Bo Diddley)
To lead the charge, Morrison has released a video for his cover of Sam Cooke's 'Bring It On Home To Me' which features on the newly pressed platter:
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Van's last album was 2016's Keep Me Singing.
Morrison has released many acclaimed albums, including Moondance, Veedon Fleece and Astral Weeks.