The Philosopher's Stone (album)

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The Philosopher's Stone
The Philosopher's Stone cover
Compilation album by Van Morrison
Released June 16, 1998
Recorded 1969 - 1988
Genre Blues, R & B
Length 153:07
Label Polydor
Producer Van Morrison
Professional reviews

All Music Guide 3.5/5 stars link

Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars link
Van Morrison chronology
The Healing Game
(1997)		 The Philosopher's Stone
(1998)		 Back on Top
(1999)

For the Harry Potter book, see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998. The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1970 to 1988. The album features twenty-five songs that had never been released and alternative renditions of "The Street Only Knew Your Name", "Wonderful Remark," "Real Real Gone," "Joyous Sound", "Flamingoes Fly" and "Bright Side of the Road".

Van Morrison said about the previously unreleased songs:

It's hard to work out why you didn't put something out at the time. Usually it felt like it didn't fit....When I was with Warner Brothers they were very minimalist.

The Philosopher's Stone Volume One was originally scheduled to be released in July 1996. When it was released, it had been changed and "When I Deliver", "John Brown's Body" and "I'm Ready" were deleted. [1]

[edit] Recording dates

Many of the recording dates on the album notes are incorrect according to Clinton Heylin. "Really Don't Know" was recorded in 1969, not 1971 as the musicians recording with him were only working with him in that particular year. Also tracks from "Wonderful Remark" to "Drumshanbo Hustle" were all recorded in 1972 not 1973, as well as "There There Child" recorded in 1972 not 1976. On disc two "John Henry" was supposed to have been recorded in 1977, but infact was recorded two years earlier, as Morrison didn't actually record anything in 1977. "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded with The Moving Hearts in 1983, as well as the recordings with the band on A Sense of Wonder, that recording date was even stated on the album itself, but the date on The Philosopher's Stone says this recording was from 1984.[2]

Scott Thomas in the fan magazine Wavelength noted:[3]

Everything about The Philosopher's Stone, from its format to its packaging to its song selection, seems designed to divorce the tracks from their historical milieu...When we open the package, there are no essays, no interviews, no archival photos — just lyrics (often incorrectly transcribed) and credits which include the year of the session.

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Van Morrison unless otherwise stated.

[edit] Disc one

  1. "Really Don't Know" – 3:37
  2. "Ordinary People" – 5:20
  3. "Wonderful Remark" – 8:01
  4. "Not Supposed to Break Down" – 5:24
  5. "Laughing in the Wind" – 4:10
  6. "Madame Joy" – 4:23
  7. "Contemplation Rose" – 5:15
  8. "Don't Worry About Tomorrow" – 5:20
  9. "4 O'Clock in the Morning (Try for Sleep)" - (Morrison, Platania) – 6:05
  10. "Lover's Prayer" – 3:57
  11. "Drumshanbo Hustle" – 4:48
  12. "Twilight Zone" – 8:23
  13. "Foggy Mountain Top" – 5:27
  14. "Naked in the Jungle" – 4:36
  15. "There There Child" - (Morrison, Platania) – 3:01

[edit] Disc Two

  1. "The Street Only Knew Your Name" – 6:25
  2. "John Henry" - (Traditional) – 5:48
  3. "Western Plain" -(Leadbelly, Lomax) – 5:42
  4. "Joyous Sound" – 2:30
  5. "I Have Finally Come to Realise" – 5:09
  6. "Flamingos Fly" – 6:28
  7. "Stepping Out Queen, Pt. 2" – 4:26
  8. "Bright Side of the Road" – 4:02
  9. "Street Theory" – 4:54
  10. "Real Real Gone" – 3:45
  11. "Showbusiness" – 9:21
  12. "For Mr. Thomas" - (Williamson) – 4:15
  13. "Crazy Jane on God" - (Mathieu, Yeats) – 4:05
  14. "Song of Being a Child" - (Handke, Morrison) – 4:09
  15. "High Spirits" - (Moloney, Morrison) – 4:21

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1998 The Billboard 200 87

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence, p 477
  2. ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 519-525
  3. ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 477

[edit] References

  • Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7

[edit] External links

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