- Common One
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Common One 
Studio album by Van Morrison Released August, 1980
Reissued June 2008Recorded February 11–19, 1980 at Super Bear Studios Genre Jazz
R&BLength 55:01 Label UK Mercury
USA Warner Bros.Producer Van Morrison Van Morrison chronology Into the Music
(1979)Common One
(1980)Beautiful Vision
(1982)Common One is the twelfth album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. It has been said to be one of his most ambitious and daring albums since Astral Weeks. The album was recorded over a nine day period in Super Bear Studios located in a monastery in the French Alps that was said to be haunted by the massacre of a number of members of a religious society in hiding there. (It burned down several weeks later.)[1]
The title of the album comes from the 3/4 section of the song "Summertime in England", where Morrison sings the lyrics "Oh, my common one with the coat so old and the light in her head".
The June, 2008 re-issued and re-mastered version of the album contains an alternative take of "Haunts of Ancient Peace" and "When Heart is Open".
Contents
Recording
According to Mick Cox the early stages of the album were rehearsed during November and December 1979. The songs "Summertime in England" and "Haunts of Ancient Peace" were rehearsed by Morrison and the band during small gigs in January 1980. Cox thought that "some of these performances at the rehearsals were far better than the final recordings." Speaking of the recording sessions at Super Bear, Cox said: "We were all ensconced in a very, very intense, highly charged situation for those eleven days, but it did bring out that album."[2] Jef Labes recalled about his arrangements on the album: "...but what I always tried to do with string arrangements for him was to just try to mimic what he was singing, 'cause he was such a song instrument."[3]
Composition
In contrast to many of his previous albums, Common One ventures more into the realms of free jazz than the usual Van Morrison R&B, with the sax playing of Pee Wee Ellis coming to the fore. The songs are also somewhat longer than on his previous albums. Morrison said that the original concept was even more esoteric and was heavily influenced by his reading of nature poets.[4]
The opening track, "Haunts of Ancient Peace" was named from a (1902) book by Alfred Austin (Poet Laureate 1896-1912), and features the twin brothers of Morrison's voice against the answering saxophone of Pee Wee Ellis, with the trumpet of Mark Isham.[5]
"Summertime in England" was the longest track and proved to be a successful live performance for some time to come. Morrison said it "was actually a part of a poem I was writing and the poem and the song sorta merged." The lyrics include images of Wordsworth and Coleridge smokin' up in Kendal (Brian Hinton says they are "smokin' with poetry not spliffs.")[6] It ends with the music being brought down to nothing and the words, "Can you feel the silence?"
"Spirit" played with sudden tempo changes and the ending fifteen minute track, "When Heart is Open" was experimental in form with no discernible melody or tempo. (pre-empting the era of New Age music.)[4]
Reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic 
[7]Robert Christgau (B-)[8] Rolling Stone (not rated)[9] The album was generally not well received upon release and some of the reviews were scathing and merciless. Graham Locke reviewed it in NME calling it "colossally smug and cosmically dull; an interminable, vacuous and drearily egotistical stab at spirituality". Dave McCullough wrote in Sounds: "For the fan, as I am myself, it's not even possible to romanticize and say that Morrison has lost his way temporarily, so stern and so acute is his departure."[3] Clinton Heylin contends that Morrison was bruised by the reaction and "would not attempt anything quite so ambitious again."[10] In 1982, Lester Bangs argued for a reassessment, saying, "Van was making holy music even though he thought he was, and us rock critics had made our usual mistake of paying too much attention to the lyrics."[3] Some years later, AllMusic gave it three stars and a favorable review that ended with: "No wonder the rock critics of the time didn't get it; this is music outside the pop mainstream, and even Morrison's own earlier musical territory. But it retains its trancelike power to this day."[7] Upon the album's reissue on CD in late 1988, the British music magazine Q gave it a five-star rating. In 2009, Erik Hage wrote that "Nevertheless, the dominant critical reaction represented it as prohibitive, sententious, and inaccessible, when in fact it is filled with much melody and beauty."[11]
Track listing
All songs written by Van Morrison.
Side one
- "Haunts of Ancient Peace" – 7:07
- "Summertime in England" – 15:35
- "Satisfied" 6.01
Side two
- "Wild Honey" – 5:49
- "Spirit" – 5:10
- "When Heart is Open" – 15:05
Bonus tracks (2008 CD reissue)
- "Haunts of Ancient Peace" - 7:44 (alternative take)
- "When Heart is Open" - 7:43 (alternative take)
Personnel
- Musicians
- Van Morrison - vocals, guitar, harmonica,
- Mick Cox - lead guitar
- David Hayes - bass, backing vocals
- Mark Isham - trumpet, flugelhorn
- John Allair - organ, piano, electric piano, backing vocals
- Herbie Armstrong - guitar, backing vocals
- Pee Wee Ellis - tenor and alto saxophones, flute
- Pete Brewis - backing vocals on "Satisfied" with the band
- Peter Van Hooke - drums
- 2008 Reissue
- Production
- Producer: Van Morrison with Henry Lewy for Caledonia Productions
- Musical Director: Pee Wee Ellis
- Horn Arrangement: Pee Wee Ellis
- String and Choir Arrangement: Jef Labes on "Summertime", "Wild Honey" and choir on "Haunts"
- Engineers: Henry Lewy, Dave Burgess and Chris Martyn
- Photography: Rudy Legname
- Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A & M Studios
Charts
Album
Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position 1980 Pop Albums 73 UK Album Chart
Year Chart Position 1979 UK Album Chart 68 Notes
- ^ Rogan, No Surrender, p. 329-330
- ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, pp. 358-360
- ^ a b c Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 364
- ^ a b Rogan, No Surrender, p. 331
- ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 359
- ^ Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p.228
- ^ a b Ginnell, Richard. "Common One Review". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r13466. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Common One Review". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Van+Morrison. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ Carson, Tom. "Common One Review". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/67/albums/album/203928/rid/5945852/. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence, p.365.
- ^ Hage, The Words and Music of Van Morrison, p. 92.
References
- Hage, Erik (2009). The Words and Music of Van Morrison, Praeger Publishers, ISBN 978-0-313-35862-3
- Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- Hinton, Brian (2000). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X
- Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London: Vintage Books ISBN 9780099431831
Categories:- Van Morrison albums
- 1980 albums
- Albums produced by Van Morrison
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