Review: Van Morrison, ‘Remembering Now’ – A Late Career Gem, After A Rough Few Years

On Van Morrison’s fabulous new album, Remembering Now, he has a song entitled, “Back To Writing Love Songs,” and can I be the first to say, “Thank Heaven!” I have to admit to you, I’d given up on Van. He’s always been a cranky curmudgeon but the pandemic sent him off the deep end… not in a crazy way so much as stupid. Upset about not being able to go out and play live due to Covid protocols he released a couple of his angriest records and they sounded like a QAnon party soundtrack. With titles like “Why Are You Still On Facebook,” or “They Own The Media” these weren’t gonna be songs to play along side say, “Tupelo Honey.” I prefer to get my crazy at family reunions not on my turntable, Van. His last few records included an album of all cover songs (which I generally love, but I ignored that one) and an album of re-recordings of some of his earlier material. There was a Skiffle record in there somewhere but that genre seems so unique to the UK that I left it alone. Although I did add the song “Freight Train” from that album on my Playlist: Songs About Trains. It’s so nice to hear Van writing new songs about more conventional topics. There’s not always a second shooter on the grassy knoll.

I’m so thrilled by this great new album because I’ve been a Van Morrison fan for a long, long time. I was too much of a hard rock/heavy (hair) metal guy in high school so it wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered Van the Man. It was through my roommate Drew that I discovered Moondance. My musical tastes were exploding into so many directions in college but Van really grabbed me. I soon picked up Astral Weeks and His Band And The Street Choir on vinyl and eventually Tupelo Honey, St. Dominic’s Preview and Veedon Fleece on CD. All that music was over a decade old before I discovered it. For reasons unclear that’s pretty much where my spelunking into Morrison’s catalog ended. I know during the 70s and 80s he was up and down. He got religious for a while. I was focused on other music at the time. I did eventually pick up 1990’s The Best Of Van Morrison, because I knew I had gaps in my Morrison collection.

I dated a woman in the middle 90s who was a Morrison fan. She had an album I have always loved, although the critics were lukewarm on, Enlightenment. The track “So Quiet In Here” remains close to my heart even though the woman in question did not. She also had Days Like This, another strong album. I couldn’t help but realize I needed to start paying more attention to Van. I picked up Too Long In Exile and I dug that bluesy album… Blues legend John Lee Hooker shows up for a couple of tracks. The album that really got me into latter day Van was The Healing Game. The title track alone was worth the price of admission…(and of course the lyric “I was flabbergasted by the headlines,” from “Rough God Goes Riding”) He followed that up a few years later with Down The Road and that album really kicked off a late career hot streak for Van. The albums he put out in this millennium are the type of records I started this blog for.

He was certainly on a roll in the 2010’s. He put out 8 albums in that decade and I posted about half of them here at B&V. My favorite of those handful of albums was probably 2016’s Keep Me Singing. I still find myself returning to that album. But I also liked 2017’s Roll With The Punches (the late Jeff Beck played on a few tracks on that record I believe), 2018’s The Prophet Speaks, and finally 2019’s Three Chords & The Truth. When Van is “on,” he makes a wonderful goulash of Celtic soul music, R&B, blues, and jazz and somehow he makes it look effortless. Which will probably lead people to think that Van can just churn out this quality material in his sleep. He may not come up with another “Madame George” again, but he’s putting out quality, nuanced music. Well, he is now that he’s over that whole pandemic thing.

The album starts off with the beautiful “Down To Joy,” which was used in the Kenneth Branagh film Belfast. It’s nice to hear Van happy again. It’s a stunner of a tune. He then pays homage to one of his musical heroes. Ray Charles, with “If It Wasn’t For Ray.” It conjures a similar vibe for me as “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile).” You can feel Brother Ray’s influence on this album with Morrison employing some female backup singers the way Ray did with the Raylettes. He even indulges in some call-and-response like Ray on “Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder,” a track that also conjures up an album title of Van’s from 1984. It’s a song that will grab all of you who are into his more spiritual side. 

I mentioned “Back To Writing Love Songs,” and it’s a jaunty little track. Along those lines of love songs is “Love, Lover, And Beloved,” which is a classic Morrison love song. “Cutting Corners” was the second single and I love this song. It’s got a nice fiddle, giving off a slightly country-rock vibe. “The Only Love I Ever Needed Is Yours” is a string-drenched ballad that hits me right in the heart. “Once In A Lifetime Feeling” is another fabulous love song, and coincidentally was how I felt when I met my wife. It’s another track that features a strong presence of the backup singers and they’re a lovely counterpoint to Van’s vocals.

There are quite a few highlights here. “When The Rains Came” is another laid back, beautiful ballad. I really like this song. Van not only sings but plays guitar and sax on the album. He’s really engaged here. As the album winds down Van hits us with two of the best tracks on the album. The title track sounds more like a passionate prayer overheard kneeling in a pew. Van looks back on his “golden days of youth” and sings “Back to square one, This is where it all, Has just begun again…” A quite stunning statement of purpose with a great organ solo. The final track, “Stretching Out,” at almost 9 minutes long, may be my favorite. Van’s breaks into some non-verbal singing – not singing words but just vibing – and it’s epic and stunning and wonderful. It’s like he’s taking us on a journey. That track could have gone on for thirty minutes and I would have continued to sit in front of my stereo, mesmerized. Although if it had gone on longer than the 9 minutes I’d have had to refill my whiskey glass.

I can’t tell you how delighted I am to hear Van knock an album “out of the park” so to speak, if I may slip into baseball vernacular. This is a great, late night, contemplation record…perhaps over a tumbler of dark and murky fluid. Van sings about his past, but it’s all to frame the “now.” Many of us can get lost in the past, it’s important to, well, remember now. Enjoy this one with someone you love…

Cheers!