A Period of Transition
Encyclopedia
A Period of Transition is the ninth album
by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison
, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music
). It was his first album in two and a half years, largely forgotten or looked over by most casual fans. At the time of its release it was received with some disappointment by critics and fans: "Most were hoping for a work of primeval vocal aggression that would challenge the emerging élite of Morrison pretenders, whose ranks included Bruce Springsteen
, Bob Seger
, Phil Lynott
, Graham Parker
and Elvis Costello
."(Johnny Rogan
) However, the album is still notable for several major compositions, including "Heavy Connection," "Flamingos Fly," "The Eternal Kansas City
" and "Cold Wind in August".
Morrison had appeared in The Last Waltz
with Mac Rebennack (Dr. John
) who was a co-producer on this album as well as playing keyboards
and guitar
.
. "Flamingos Fly" was also recorded in 1973 with Jackie DeShannon
and appeared on her album Jackie... Plus, along with three other original Morrison compositions from that recording session. It didn't take Morrison long to play the song in concert — a week after the recording session on April 18, 1973, the song featured in a concert in Los Angeles
at the Shrine Auditorium
. This performance remains the only known live version of the song.
" is according to Dr. John "the song that Van got the whole album hooked up around. It was a real deep thing for him to focus on. It goes from a real ethereal voice sound to a jazz introduction and then into a kind of chunky R & B." The song, "Joyous Sound" is described by Brian Hinton as "more like the real Van as he starts to wail and the lyrics describe themselves." Morrison said of the track, "Flamingos Fly", "I've done three versions in the studio. I've done it slow, a ballad version. I've done a mid-tempo version and I've done this version. This is the version I like best for release." "Heavy Connection" is said to be "psychic stuff" with the lyrics vague and secret but speaking of a love connection "when you came into my dreams/like from a whisper to a scream." The last song on the album is "Cold Wind in August". Dr. John describes it as a "cross current from forties to seventies music. It's like where Ray Charles
left off. It's a real tear-jerker that gets back to the basics of music." "Flamingos Fly" was covered by Sammy Hagar
, a year before A Period of Transition was released, on his first solo album Nine on a Ten Scale
.
, reviewing the album in Rolling Stone
upon its release, offered a mostly negative appraisal: "Morrison made better music in '64 and '65 with Them, the first (and last?) great Irish rock & roll band;...There is a lot of neo-R&B huffing and puffing on A Period of Transition (from what to what?), but Morrison's performances rarely find a focus, almost never hit a groove...The key to the album's sluggishness is the dullness of the horn charts."
The Allmusic reviewer, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
says the album is "warm, welcoming, infused with spirituality and humor. Still like any period of transition, this is somewhat tentative and uneven, with its best moments, being at best, minor masterpieces." Adrian Denning called it "a good little album" with "some earthy Van soul music on display".
Peter Knobler
, reviewing the album in Crawdaddy
, wrote: "People had started talking about Van Morrison in the past tense. In the three years since his last album release, Veedon Fleece
, his presence had grown to become some vaguely attainable level of excellence it seemed no one, not even Morrison himself, could ever truly achieve....A Period of Transition is Van Morrison's comeback album and with it he steps from influential absentia directly back to the top."
Robert Christgau
said in his review: "in general this is an unexciting record—but not definitively. It's full of the surprising touches...that signify talent putting out."
Biographer Steve Turner calls the album, "lethargic and uninspired" but says that perhaps it was the album Morrison needed to make after being largely absent from the music business for almost three years. (His only public performance during this time period was a highly acclaimed appearance on The Last Waltz with The Band in 1976.) Scott Floman was unimpressed calling it "the first truly skippable album of Van’s career thus far."
The album charted moderately well but most critics were disappointed, after waiting three years for a new album from Morrison. He had hired Harvey Goldsmith
as manager and began a much more public media profile after the album's release. He recorded a Midnight Special
session for NBC
that was broadcast in April 1977, appearing with Carlos Santana
, George Benson
and Etta James
. Morrison also began giving interviews again, commencing with his first interview since 1973 to Cameron Crowe
from Rolling Stone
. In the interview when asked by Crowe: "Is the album a document of the actual period? Is the transition over?" Morrison replies: "All of that. It's been going on for about three years ...it's like, there's been lots of highs and there's been depressions... there's been starts and stops...it's just a period, you know."
Production
UK Album Chart (United Kingdom)
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
). It was his first album in two and a half years, largely forgotten or looked over by most casual fans. At the time of its release it was received with some disappointment by critics and fans: "Most were hoping for a work of primeval vocal aggression that would challenge the emerging élite of Morrison pretenders, whose ranks included Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
, Phil Lynott
Phil Lynott
Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....
, Graham Parker
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
."(Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
) However, the album is still notable for several major compositions, including "Heavy Connection," "Flamingos Fly," "The Eternal Kansas City
The Eternal Kansas City
"The Eternal Kansas City" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was the key song on the 1977 album A Period of Transition, and was his first single released since "Gloria" in 1974....
" and "Cold Wind in August".
Morrison had appeared in The Last Waltz
The Last Waltz
The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...
with Mac Rebennack (Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
) who was a co-producer on this album as well as playing keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
Recording
Clinton Heylin remarks on "Flamingos Fly" and "Joyous Sound": "Just seven songs were recorded [for A Period of Transition] and two of these had already been cut at the Record Plant back in 1975." Both of these versions were included on the 1998 compilation album, The Philosopher's StoneThe Philosopher's Stone (album)
The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998 .The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1969 to 1988...
. "Flamingos Fly" was also recorded in 1973 with Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
and appeared on her album Jackie... Plus, along with three other original Morrison compositions from that recording session. It didn't take Morrison long to play the song in concert — a week after the recording session on April 18, 1973, the song featured in a concert in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
. This performance remains the only known live version of the song.
Composition
"You Gotta Make It Through the World" is according to Morrison, "a survival song". Dr. John felt that it had "a real spiritual sound". "It Fills You Up" is an attempt by the singer to explain the inspirational spirit that is often found in his music. "The Eternal Kansas CityThe Eternal Kansas City
"The Eternal Kansas City" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was the key song on the 1977 album A Period of Transition, and was his first single released since "Gloria" in 1974....
" is according to Dr. John "the song that Van got the whole album hooked up around. It was a real deep thing for him to focus on. It goes from a real ethereal voice sound to a jazz introduction and then into a kind of chunky R & B." The song, "Joyous Sound" is described by Brian Hinton as "more like the real Van as he starts to wail and the lyrics describe themselves." Morrison said of the track, "Flamingos Fly", "I've done three versions in the studio. I've done it slow, a ballad version. I've done a mid-tempo version and I've done this version. This is the version I like best for release." "Heavy Connection" is said to be "psychic stuff" with the lyrics vague and secret but speaking of a love connection "when you came into my dreams/like from a whisper to a scream." The last song on the album is "Cold Wind in August". Dr. John describes it as a "cross current from forties to seventies music. It's like where Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
left off. It's a real tear-jerker that gets back to the basics of music." "Flamingos Fly" was covered by Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar
Sam Roy "Sammy" Hagar , also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Also sings Country Music....
, a year before A Period of Transition was released, on his first solo album Nine on a Ten Scale
Nine on a Ten Scale
Nine on a Ten Scale is Sammy Hagar's first solo album.- Song information :* "Keep On Rockin'", a Hagar original, was covered by Bette Midler on the classic soundtrack to The Rose, albeit in a vastly different version....
.
Reception
Greil MarcusGreil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, reviewing the album in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
upon its release, offered a mostly negative appraisal: "Morrison made better music in '64 and '65 with Them, the first (and last?) great Irish rock & roll band;...There is a lot of neo-R&B huffing and puffing on A Period of Transition (from what to what?), but Morrison's performances rarely find a focus, almost never hit a groove...The key to the album's sluggishness is the dullness of the horn charts."
The Allmusic reviewer, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
says the album is "warm, welcoming, infused with spirituality and humor. Still like any period of transition, this is somewhat tentative and uneven, with its best moments, being at best, minor masterpieces." Adrian Denning called it "a good little album" with "some earthy Van soul music on display".
Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on several national best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of Crawdaddy magazine from 1972 to 1979.- Writing :...
, reviewing the album in Crawdaddy
Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
, wrote: "People had started talking about Van Morrison in the past tense. In the three years since his last album release, Veedon Fleece
Veedon Fleece
Veedon Fleece is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in October, 1974 . Morrison recorded the album shortly after his divorce from wife Janet Rigsbee...
, his presence had grown to become some vaguely attainable level of excellence it seemed no one, not even Morrison himself, could ever truly achieve....A Period of Transition is Van Morrison's comeback album and with it he steps from influential absentia directly back to the top."
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
said in his review: "in general this is an unexciting record—but not definitively. It's full of the surprising touches...that signify talent putting out."
Biographer Steve Turner calls the album, "lethargic and uninspired" but says that perhaps it was the album Morrison needed to make after being largely absent from the music business for almost three years. (His only public performance during this time period was a highly acclaimed appearance on The Last Waltz with The Band in 1976.) Scott Floman was unimpressed calling it "the first truly skippable album of Van’s career thus far."
Aftermath
Expectations were high and Morrison has admitted to working at his best when not under the pressure of high expectations from the industry and fans. In June 1977, he explained his feelings about this:The album charted moderately well but most critics were disappointed, after waiting three years for a new album from Morrison. He had hired Harvey Goldsmith
Harvey Goldsmith
Harvey Goldsmith CBE is a British performing arts promoter. He is best known as promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall.During early 2007 he appeared on the Channel 4...
as manager and began a much more public media profile after the album's release. He recorded a Midnight Special
The Midnight Special (TV series)
The Midnight Special is an American musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981...
session for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
that was broadcast in April 1977, appearing with Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
and Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
. Morrison also began giving interviews again, commencing with his first interview since 1973 to Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....
from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. In the interview when asked by Crowe: "Is the album a document of the actual period? Is the transition over?" Morrison replies: "All of that. It's been going on for about three years ...it's like, there's been lots of highs and there's been depressions... there's been starts and stops...it's just a period, you know."
Album cover
Morrison has said that the title of the album referred to its front cover. Photographer Ken Mcgowan captured Morrison in various reflective, introspective moods until he realises with a half smile in the last shot that all such moods are transitory.Side one
- "You Gotta Make It Through the World" – 5:10
- "It Fills You Up" – 4:34
- "The Eternal Kansas CityThe Eternal Kansas City"The Eternal Kansas City" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was the key song on the 1977 album A Period of Transition, and was his first single released since "Gloria" in 1974....
" – 5:26
Side two
- "Joyous Sound" – 2:48
- "Flamingos Fly" – 4:41
- "Heavy Connection" – 5:23
- "Cold Wind in August" – 5:48
Personnel
Musicians- Van Morrison – acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Ollie E. BrownOllie E. BrownOllie E. Brown is an American drummer, percussionist and record producer. A prolific session musician, Brown has performed on over a hundred albums in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Brown was also half of the American dance-pop duo Ollie & Jerry, which had a Top 10 hit with "Breakin'.....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Marlo Henderson – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Jerry Jumonville – tenorTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
s - Reggie McBride – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Joel Peskin – baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
- Mac Rebennack (Dr. John)Dr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
and guitar on "It Fills You Up" - Mark Underwood – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Robbie Montgomery, Roger Kennerly-Saint, Gregory Wright, Carlena Williams, Paulette Parker, Candy Nash, Toni McVey, Gary Garrett and Joe Powell – backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
Production
- Producers: Van Morrison, Dr. JohnDr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
- Engineer: Gary Ladinsky
- Assistant Engineers: Mike Beiriger, Richard Kaplan, Bart Johnson, Mick Glossop
- Art Direction/Design: Mike Doud-AGI Hollywood
- Photography: Ken McGowan
- Management: Harvey GoldsmithHarvey GoldsmithHarvey Goldsmith CBE is a British performing arts promoter. He is best known as promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall.During early 2007 he appeared on the Channel 4...
- Cover Concept: Van Morrison
Album
Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1977 | Pop Albums | 43 |
UK Album Chart (United Kingdom)
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1977 | UK Album Chart | 23 |