Beautiful Vision
Encyclopedia
Beautiful Vision is an album by Northern Irish
singer-songwriter
Van Morrison
. It was released February 1982 (see 1982 in music
) by Warner Bros. Records
in the US and Mercury Records
in the UK. As with many of Morrison's recordings, spirituality is a major theme and some of the songs are based on the teachings of Alice Bailey
. Other songs show Morrison's celtic heritage and reminiscence of his Belfast
background.
The album garnered modest chart success when released, peaking at number 31 on the UK album charts and number 44 on the Billboard 200
. It has received mixed reviews over the years, notably featuring on Rolling Stone
magazine's "15 Worst Albums by Great Bands", while biographer Johnny Rogan
has credited it as one of Morrison's most impressive albums.
, near the Golden Gate
, San Francisco. Although only "Scandinavia
" was released on Beautiful Vision from this session, "Cleaning Windows" and "Celtic Ray" were re-recorded for Beautiful Vision later on. All the other songs or instrumentals from the session were included on one of Morrison's later albums: the instrumental
s "All Saints Day" and "Daring Night" appeared with lyrics on the albums Hymns to the Silence
and Avalon Sunset
, and "Down the Road I Go" was renamed "Down the Road" and used as the title track on Down the Road.
On July 27 Morrison entered the recording studio to record "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist". Morrison brought in different musicians for this session, including his former drummer Gary Mallaber
and guitarist Mark Knopfler
.
Morrison concluded recording in the summer, when he recorded the rest of the songs for the album. Four songs were not used from this session, including the future singles "Real Real Gone
" and "Tore Down a la Rimbaud
". Neither Knopfler nor Herbie Armstrong were able to produce the guitar tone Morrison wanted, so engineer Jim Stern suggested Chris Michie: "I got the call when I was doing a session in San Francisco. Van's producer Jim Stern said 'Can you get to the Plant [in Sausalito] in twenty minutes?' I said 'Yeah.' I walked into the studio with my gear as the band and Van were doing ... basic tracks. I was set up and playing before the end of the song 'She Gives Me Religion'". Michie later added lead guitar overdubs to "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist". Knopfler's contributions still featured on the final release, but are not as audible as Michie's.
writer Alice Bailey
. It is also said to have been strongly influenced by his new girlfriend, Ulla Munch, from Vanløse
in Copenhagen
, Denmark
. The album also emphasized the distance Morrison had moved away from R&B
and was inspired by Irish music
. He commented at the time, "It's important for people to get into the music of their own culture... I think it can be dangerous to not validate the music of where you're from, for anybody, whether it's Bulgaria or whatever."
The opening song, "Celtic Ray", was one of the first songs to be written for the album. It is concerned with the singer's connection to the ancient Celt
ic culture. The song has the concept of messages coming through the ether from Mother Ireland
. "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)" adds a young woman in County Down
to a similar theme. Morrison commented in an interview with Hot Press
in 1982 that "Some of the material [on Beautiful Vision], when it started, was more traditional. Some of the songs - like 'Solid Ground' and 'Celtic Ray' - they basically started out as folk-oriented stuff, and ... ended up being integrated as folk/R&B."
"Dweller on the Threshold
" and "Aryan Mist" are credited to the religious writings of Alice Bailey. Her book discusses the New Age
ideas of "glamours" or "mental illusions", which formed a fog that covers the "spiritual warrior" and the "Aryan race" from the world. When the "dweller on the threshold" was covered with the light of the soul or "Angel of Presence" illumination came. Some of these ideas were quoted in the two Morrison compositions, both co-written with Hugh Murphy. In 1982 Morrison revealed in an interview: "I've read Glamour four or five times, and I get different things out of it each time. [Alice Bailey]'s saying a lot of things. It's depth reading. You might read it on Wednesday and on Thursday you pick it up again and get an entirely different thing. I don't feel qualified to speak about what it's about - you really have to read it yourself ... because there's so much i there."
"Beautiful Vision" can be interpreted as either a vision of heaven or of his girlfriend, who also influences "She Gives Me Religion" and "Vanlose Stairway
" (which refers to the stairway in the apartment where she lived.) Biographer Clinton Heylin
believes the songs "'Vanlose Stairway' and 'She Gives Me Religion' [were] perhaps Morrison's most captivating love songs since the days of Veedon Fleece
."
"Cleaning Windows
" is about Morrison's first full time job and the last carefree days of his adolescence
in the years 1961 to 1962, and is a metaphor for the idea that his music alters people's perceptions of life. Biographer Steve Turner
believes in this song Morrison "captured the balance between his contentment at work and his aspirations to learn more about music. It conveyed the impression that his happiness with the mundane routine of smoking Woodbine cigarettes, eating Paris buns and drinking lemonade was made possible by the promise that at the end of the day he could enter the world of books and records ... ". The melody is very upbeat and embellished with organ and guitar, reminiscent to the music of The Band
. The song is written in a similar fassion to Morrison's 1970 song, "And It Stoned Me
".
It is widely interpreted by Morrison's biographers that "Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell" is literally about the bridge
that separated Morrison's Mill Valley, California
home from the San Mateo house where his daughter, Shana
lived with Morrison's ex-wife Janet Rigsbee.
Beautiful Vision ends with the instrumental "Scandinavia
", with Morrison on piano
and prominently features Mark Isham
's synthesizer
. "Scandinavia" was nominated in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category for the 25th Annual Grammy Awards.
, John Milward had a mixed response to the album saying, "Beautiful Vision is so emphatically half-great that if you dumped the four bad tunes, put the borderline case on hold and didn't judge the instrumental, the LP's sequential and thematic integrity would be strengthened." Contradicting the lukewarm review, the album received a four out of five star rating by Rolling Stone. In 2007, Rolling Stone ranked Beautiful Vision as Morrison's worst album, by listing it as #4 on "Rolling Stones "15 worst albums by Great Bands".
Robert Christgau
gave the album an A- rating and noted that "After a period of transition, Van has finally achieved the eternal Kansas City—this music is purely gorgeous (or at times lovely), its pleasure all formal grace and aptness of invention."
Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine believes that "Beautiful Vision shares much sonically with its predecessor, Common One, being heavy on long, winding song-poems, moderate tempos, dense lyricism, and dated production. Still, this winds up being a stronger articulation of what Morrison was attempting to do on Common One", but goes on to say that "the record reveals such charming moments as 'She Gives Me Religion', 'Beautiful Vision', and 'Cleaning Windows'".
Biographer Johnny Rogan believes the album was "Well structured and arranged ... which offered depth and listenability. It also underlined the extent to which Morrison had moved away from the R&B stylings which had made him such a hit on American FM radio."
In an article published in The Guardian
in 2011, Laura Barton writes that, "There are Morrison albums I like better, but Beautiful Vision has never struck me as dull; on the contrary, its particular strangeness has always proved appealing – an exploration of Celtic heritage, distance, reminiscence, spirituality and the writings of Alice Bailey."
. His manager, Bill Graham, was concerned that Morrison was not promoting the album with a nationwide tour of the US. Morrison fired Graham on stage in San Francisco. Herbie Armstrong remembered "He was taking Van in the wrong direction. He was trying to commercialize him." Warner Brothers persuaded Morrison to allow Tom Dowd to produce the album but after Morrison became suspicious of Warner's motives, Dowd's services were not used and Morrison took over production of the album.
After the release of the album, Morrison performed a series of concerts at the Dominion Theatre
, London, opened by Herbie Armstrong with an acoustic
set. Paul Charles, who managed Morrison's business affairs at the time, commented that
, Essen
, Germany, was broadcast in many European countries as a TV/radio simulcast
in the Rockpalast
TV series by German TV station WDR
. Seven of the songs that were performed were from Beautiful Vision.
In March 1983, Morrison performed a series of four concerts at the Grand Opera House
; six of the Beautiful Vision songs were featured on the live album Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast
that was composed of the two best concerts performed at this venue. On January 27, 1984, Morrison performed at another Rockpalast TV special from the Midem
at Cannes
, where he promoted Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
and included seven songs from Beautiful Vision.
"Vanlose Stairway" is one of the songs that Morrison has performed most frequently since the release of the album; the song has featured in over seven hundred of Morrison's shows, behind only "Moondance
", "Gloria" and "It's All in the Game" (as of 2010).
A remastered version was released in 1998. On August 29, 2008 an extended remastered version with alternative takes of "Cleaning Windows" and "Real Real Gone" was planned to be released in the Remasters series, but got postponed until January 9, 2009 and was eventually cancelled.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
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...
. It was released February 1982 (see 1982 in music
1982 in music
This is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
) by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in the US and Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
in the UK. As with many of Morrison's recordings, spirituality is a major theme and some of the songs are based on the teachings of Alice Bailey
Alice Bailey
Alice Ann Bailey , known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB to her followers, was an influential writer and theosophist in what she termed "Ageless Wisdom". This included occult teachings, "esoteric" psychology and healing, astrological and other philosophic and religious themes...
. Other songs show Morrison's celtic heritage and reminiscence of his Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
background.
The album garnered modest chart success when released, peaking at number 31 on the UK album charts and number 44 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It has received mixed reviews over the years, notably featuring on 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...
magazine's "15 Worst Albums by Great Bands", while biographer 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...
has credited it as one of Morrison's most impressive albums.
Recording
The first recording session started in May 1981 at The Record Plant studios, Sausalito, CaliforniaSausalito, California
Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
, near the Golden Gate
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...
, San Francisco. Although only "Scandinavia
Scandinavia (composition)
"Scandinavia" is an instrumental composition by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the closing track on his 1982 album Beautiful Vision....
" was released on Beautiful Vision from this session, "Cleaning Windows" and "Celtic Ray" were re-recorded for Beautiful Vision later on. All the other songs or instrumentals from the session were included on one of Morrison's later albums: the instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
s "All Saints Day" and "Daring Night" appeared with lyrics on the albums Hymns to the Silence
Hymns to the Silence
Hymns to the Silence is the twenty-first album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1991 It peaked at No. 5 in the UK...
and Avalon Sunset
Avalon Sunset
Avalon Sunset is the nineteenth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1989 The album has been described as "a powerful statement that the often turbulent muse had stabilized and was now a sublime force flowing through Van Morrison".The 29 January 2008 reissued and...
, and "Down the Road I Go" was renamed "Down the Road" and used as the title track on Down the Road.
On July 27 Morrison entered the recording studio to record "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist". Morrison brought in different musicians for this session, including his former drummer Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
and guitarist Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
.
Morrison concluded recording in the summer, when he recorded the rest of the songs for the album. Four songs were not used from this session, including the future singles "Real Real Gone
Real Real Gone
"Real Real Gone" is a hit single written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1990 album Enlightenment. It has remained a popular live performance tune and Morrison has included it on the set lists at many of his concerts since releasing it.-Recording and...
" and "Tore Down a la Rimbaud
Tore Down a la Rimbaud
"Tore Down a la Rimbaud" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1985 album, A Sense of Wonder.-Composition:...
". Neither Knopfler nor Herbie Armstrong were able to produce the guitar tone Morrison wanted, so engineer Jim Stern suggested Chris Michie: "I got the call when I was doing a session in San Francisco. Van's producer Jim Stern said 'Can you get to the Plant [in Sausalito] in twenty minutes?' I said 'Yeah.' I walked into the studio with my gear as the band and Van were doing ... basic tracks. I was set up and playing before the end of the song 'She Gives Me Religion'". Michie later added lead guitar overdubs to "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist". Knopfler's contributions still featured on the final release, but are not as audible as Michie's.
Composition
According to the liner notes, some of the lyrics derive from the book Glamour: A World Problem by esotericEsotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
writer Alice Bailey
Alice Bailey
Alice Ann Bailey , known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB to her followers, was an influential writer and theosophist in what she termed "Ageless Wisdom". This included occult teachings, "esoteric" psychology and healing, astrological and other philosophic and religious themes...
. It is also said to have been strongly influenced by his new girlfriend, Ulla Munch, from Vanløse
Vanløse
Vanløse is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It lies on the western border of the municipality. Vanløse covers an area of 6.69 km², and has a population of 36,115, making Vanløse the smallest district of Copenhagen, by population....
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The album also emphasized the distance Morrison had moved away from R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and was inspired by Irish music
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
. He commented at the time, "It's important for people to get into the music of their own culture... I think it can be dangerous to not validate the music of where you're from, for anybody, whether it's Bulgaria or whatever."
The opening song, "Celtic Ray", was one of the first songs to be written for the album. It is concerned with the singer's connection to the ancient Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic culture. The song has the concept of messages coming through the ether from Mother Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)" adds a young woman in County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
to a similar theme. Morrison commented in an interview with Hot Press
Hot Press
Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...
in 1982 that "Some of the material [on Beautiful Vision], when it started, was more traditional. Some of the songs - like 'Solid Ground' and 'Celtic Ray' - they basically started out as folk-oriented stuff, and ... ended up being integrated as folk/R&B."
"Dweller on the Threshold
Dweller on the Threshold (song)
"Dweller on the Threshold" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and first released on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. It was released as a single on the B-Side in 1982 with the instrumental "Scandinavia" as the "A" tune...
" and "Aryan Mist" are credited to the religious writings of Alice Bailey. Her book discusses the New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
ideas of "glamours" or "mental illusions", which formed a fog that covers the "spiritual warrior" and the "Aryan race" from the world. When the "dweller on the threshold" was covered with the light of the soul or "Angel of Presence" illumination came. Some of these ideas were quoted in the two Morrison compositions, both co-written with Hugh Murphy. In 1982 Morrison revealed in an interview: "I've read Glamour four or five times, and I get different things out of it each time. [Alice Bailey]'s saying a lot of things. It's depth reading. You might read it on Wednesday and on Thursday you pick it up again and get an entirely different thing. I don't feel qualified to speak about what it's about - you really have to read it yourself ... because there's so much i there."
"Beautiful Vision" can be interpreted as either a vision of heaven or of his girlfriend, who also influences "She Gives Me Religion" and "Vanlose Stairway
Vanlose Stairway
"Vanlose Stairway" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. It has remained a popular concert performance throughout Morrison's career and has become one of his most played songs....
" (which refers to the stairway in the apartment where she lived.) Biographer Clinton Heylin
Clinton Heylin
Clinton Heylin is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan.- Education :...
believes the songs "'Vanlose Stairway' and 'She Gives Me Religion' [were] perhaps Morrison's most captivating love songs since the days of 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...
."
"Cleaning Windows
Cleaning Windows
"Cleaning Windows" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision.-Recording and Composition:...
" is about Morrison's first full time job and the last carefree days of his adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
in the years 1961 to 1962, and is a metaphor for the idea that his music alters people's perceptions of life. Biographer Steve Turner
Steve Turner (writer)
Steve Turner is an English music journalist, biographer and poet, who grew up in Northamptonshire, England. His first published article was in the Beatles Monthly in 1969. His career as a journalist began as features editor of Beat Instrumental where he interviewed many of the prominent rock...
believes in this song Morrison "captured the balance between his contentment at work and his aspirations to learn more about music. It conveyed the impression that his happiness with the mundane routine of smoking Woodbine cigarettes, eating Paris buns and drinking lemonade was made possible by the promise that at the end of the day he could enter the world of books and records ... ". The melody is very upbeat and embellished with organ and guitar, reminiscent to the music of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
. The song is written in a similar fassion to Morrison's 1970 song, "And It Stoned Me
And It Stoned Me
"And It Stoned Me" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It is the opening track on Morrison's third solo album, Moondance, which was released in 1970.-Composition and recording:...
".
It is widely interpreted by Morrison's biographers that "Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell" is literally about the bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
that separated Morrison's Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
home from the San Mateo house where his daughter, Shana
Shana Morrison
Shana Morrison, born Shana Caledonia Morrison, on April 7, 1970, in Kingston, New York, is an American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Northern Irish singer-songwriter, Van Morrison, and his ex-wife, Janet Rigsbee Minto.-Early life:...
lived with Morrison's ex-wife Janet Rigsbee.
Beautiful Vision ends with the instrumental "Scandinavia
Scandinavia (composition)
"Scandinavia" is an instrumental composition by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the closing track on his 1982 album Beautiful Vision....
", with Morrison on piano
Piano
The 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...
and prominently features Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
's synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
. "Scandinavia" was nominated in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category for the 25th Annual Grammy Awards.
Packaging
The cover of the album was a concept by Rudy Legname (later known as Rudi). It consists of a hand reaching up to a circle of cloud, containing a crescent shape, stars and a prismatic rainbow. Lack of a lyric sheet and much of the original vinyl pressings being cut off-centre were due to production problems that resulted in a lack of quality control and "shoddy packinging" made note of by at least one biographer.Reception
In 1982, in his review for Rolling StoneRolling 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...
, John Milward had a mixed response to the album saying, "Beautiful Vision is so emphatically half-great that if you dumped the four bad tunes, put the borderline case on hold and didn't judge the instrumental, the LP's sequential and thematic integrity would be strengthened." Contradicting the lukewarm review, the album received a four out of five star rating by Rolling Stone. In 2007, Rolling Stone ranked Beautiful Vision as Morrison's worst album, by listing it as #4 on "Rolling Stones "15 worst albums by Great Bands".
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...
gave the album an A- rating and noted that "After a period of transition, Van has finally achieved the eternal Kansas City—this music is purely gorgeous (or at times lovely), its pleasure all formal grace and aptness of invention."
Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine believes that "Beautiful Vision shares much sonically with its predecessor, Common One, being heavy on long, winding song-poems, moderate tempos, dense lyricism, and dated production. Still, this winds up being a stronger articulation of what Morrison was attempting to do on Common One", but goes on to say that "the record reveals such charming moments as 'She Gives Me Religion', 'Beautiful Vision', and 'Cleaning Windows'".
Biographer Johnny Rogan believes the album was "Well structured and arranged ... which offered depth and listenability. It also underlined the extent to which Morrison had moved away from the R&B stylings which had made him such a hit on American FM radio."
In an article published in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2011, Laura Barton writes that, "There are Morrison albums I like better, but Beautiful Vision has never struck me as dull; on the contrary, its particular strangeness has always proved appealing – an exploration of Celtic heritage, distance, reminiscence, spirituality and the writings of Alice Bailey."
Aftermath
Morrison was eager to include the new material recorded for Beautiful Vision in concert. Before the album was released he performed three-quarters of it at shows in California in October 1981. However his live performances at this point were increasingly confined to the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. His manager, Bill Graham, was concerned that Morrison was not promoting the album with a nationwide tour of the US. Morrison fired Graham on stage in San Francisco. Herbie Armstrong remembered "He was taking Van in the wrong direction. He was trying to commercialize him." Warner Brothers persuaded Morrison to allow Tom Dowd to produce the album but after Morrison became suspicious of Warner's motives, Dowd's services were not used and Morrison took over production of the album.
After the release of the album, Morrison performed a series of concerts at the Dominion Theatre
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:...
, London, opened by Herbie Armstrong with an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
set. Paul Charles, who managed Morrison's business affairs at the time, commented that
"The idea [behind the Dominion residencies] was [to go against the] 'come into town, do one show, get all the press down, get the radio and TV and record-company people' [mentally]. My logic was, 'Look, with Van it's not just a rock & roll tour. It's not just here's the hits, here's the new record, please buy it, whatever.' It was a performance. ... A certain number of people would come back every night, [knowing that] Van will not have a set-list that he adheres to religiously ... So I thought, 'Here's a way. Van is not having any singles. Van doesn't do TV. How can we get attention to him doing what he does?' Well, the best thing that he does is perform live. I think we did four [concerts] the first time. We ended up doing eleven [in 1984]. We got a lot of coverage, we got a lot of attention, without him having to do something he didn't like."Morrison's love of live performing was reignited by this set of concerts and he commented at the time that it was "more like appearing in a play, going to the theatre and doing your job every day - which I prefer to touring because that's very fragmented and disorientating." According to Johnny Rogan, these performances "are still regarded by many as his most memorable since the glory days of the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. A concert on April 3 to 4, 1982 at the Grugahalle
Grugahalle
Grugahalle is an indoor sports arena, located in Essen, Germany. Opened in 1958, the seating capacity of the arena is 5,309 people, for sporting events and 7,800, for concerts.It is currently home to the TUSEM Essen handball team....
, Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Germany, was broadcast in many European countries as a TV/radio simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
in the Rockpalast
Rockpalast
Rockpalast is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk . Rockpalast started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock and jazz bands have performed on Rockpalast...
TV series by German TV station WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
. Seven of the songs that were performed were from Beautiful Vision.
In March 1983, Morrison performed a series of four concerts at the Grand Opera House
Grand Opera House (Belfast)
The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895....
; six of the Beautiful Vision songs were featured on the live album Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast
Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast
Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast is the second live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1984...
that was composed of the two best concerts performed at this venue. On January 27, 1984, Morrison performed at another Rockpalast TV special from the Midem
Midem
-MIDEM:Short for Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, MIDEM is the world's largest music industry trade fair, which has been held annually at and around the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, since 1967...
at Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, where he promoted Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart is the fourteenth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983 ....
and included seven songs from Beautiful Vision.
"Vanlose Stairway" is one of the songs that Morrison has performed most frequently since the release of the album; the song has featured in over seven hundred of Morrison's shows, behind only "Moondance
Moondance (Van Morrison song)
"Moondance" is a popular song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the title song on his 1970 album Moondance.Morrison did not release the song as a single until November 1977, seven and a half years after the album was released. It reached the Billboard Hot 100, charting...
", "Gloria" and "It's All in the Game" (as of 2010).
A remastered version was released in 1998. On August 29, 2008 an extended remastered version with alternative takes of "Cleaning Windows" and "Real Real Gone" was planned to be released in the Remasters series, but got postponed until January 9, 2009 and was eventually cancelled.
Side one
- "Celtic Ray" - 4:11
- "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)" - 4:05
- "Dweller on the ThresholdDweller on the Threshold (song)"Dweller on the Threshold" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and first released on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. It was released as a single on the B-Side in 1982 with the instrumental "Scandinavia" as the "A" tune...
" (music: Morrison; lyrics: Morrison, Hugh Murphy) - 4:49 - "Beautiful Vision" - 4:08
- "She Gives Me Religion" - 4:33
Side two
- "Cleaning WindowsCleaning Windows"Cleaning Windows" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision.-Recording and Composition:...
" - 4:43 - "Vanlose StairwayVanlose Stairway"Vanlose Stairway" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision. It has remained a popular concert performance throughout Morrison's career and has become one of his most played songs....
" - 4:10 - "Aryan Mist" (music: Morrison; lyrics: Morrison, Murphy) - 4:00
- "Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell" (music: Morrison; lyrics: Morrison, Murphy) - 4:31
- "ScandinaviaScandinavia (composition)"Scandinavia" is an instrumental composition by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the closing track on his 1982 album Beautiful Vision....
" - 6:41
Musicians
- Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan 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...
- 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...
, 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...
, vocalSingingSinging 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...
s - David HayesDavid Hayes (musician)David Hayes is an American bass guitar player.Hayes has worked with Van Morrison, The Rowans, Terry & The Pirates, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Country Joe McDonald and others....
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Mark IshamMark IshamMark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
- synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, 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... - Rob WassermanRob WassermanRob Wasserman is an American bass player, who has played with a wide variety of musicians including David Grisman, Lou Reed, Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, Bruce Cockburn, Van Morrison, Rickie Lee Jones, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, Mark Morris, Aaron Neville, Chris Whitley, Studs Terkel, Pete Seeger,...
- bass guitar on "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist" - John Allair - organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
- Herbie Armstrong - acoustic guitarAcoustic 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...
on "Scandinavia" - Pee Wee EllisPee Wee EllisAlfred "Pee Wee" Ellis is an American saxophonist, composer and arranger. He was an important member of James Brown's band in the 1960s and appeared on many of Brown's most notable recordings...
- 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 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...
s, fluteWestern concert fluteThe Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player.... - Tom Donlinger - 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 ....
- Sean Fulsom - uilleann pipesUilleann pipesThe uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
on "Celtic Ray" and "Northern Muse" - Chris Hayes - guitar
- Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
- guitar on "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist" - Pauline Lozana - backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Gary MallaberGary MallaberGary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
- drums on "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist" - Chris Michie - guitar
- Michele Segan - 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...
on "Cleaning Windows" and "Aryan Mist" - Annie Stocking - backing vocals
- Bianca Thornton - backing vocals
- Peter Van HookePeter Van HookePeter Van Hooke was drummer in the English band Mike + The Mechanics as well as having drummed for Cliff Richard, Van Morrison's band, Headstone, and Ezio. During the 1980s he successfully co-produced many of Tanita Tikaram's hits.Van Hooke grew up in Stanmore, Middlesex and attended Mill Hill...
- drums on "Scandinavia"
Production
- Producer: Van Morrison
- Engineers: Jim Stern and Hugh Murphy
- Assistant Engineer: Ann Fry
- Business Arrangements: Paul Charles
- Cover Concept, Photograph and Design: Rudi Legname
Album
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
31 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
44 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1982 | "Cleaning Windows Cleaning Windows "Cleaning Windows" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded on his 1982 album, Beautiful Vision.-Recording and Composition:... " |
— | — |
| "Scandinavia Scandinavia (composition) "Scandinavia" is an instrumental composition by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the closing track on his 1982 album Beautiful Vision.... " |
— | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||