Van Morrison‎– Astral Weeks Label: Warner Bros. - Seven Arts Records ‎– WS 1768 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: US Released: 1968 Genre: Jazz, Rock, Blues, Folk, World, & Country Style: Acoustic, Classic Rock, Free Improvisation Tracklist In The Beginning A1 Astral Weeks 7:00 A2 Beside You 5:10 A3 Sweet Thing 4:10 A4 Cyprus Avenue 6:50 Afterwards B1 Young Lovers Do 3:10 B2 Madame George 9:25 B3 Ballerina 7:00 B4 Slim Slow Slider 3:20 Credits Arranged By– Larry Fallon Bass– Richard Davis (2) Drums– Connie Kay Flute, Soprano Saxophone– John Payne (4) Guitar– Jay Berliner Percussion– Warren Smith Producer– Lewis Merenstein Written-By– Van Morrison Notes 1st US press with Green Labels. Warner / 7 Arts logo

USA FIRST PRESSING VINYL LP WITH WHITE INNER SLEEVE.

Generally regarded as Van Morrison's greatest recording, Astral Weeks was not a big seller at the time of release, but has grown steadily in stature down the years. It is a unique recording of partly-improvised poetic ramblings in a jazzy-folk acoustic style. There is nothing quite like it in the musical world, with perhaps the exception of Tim Buckley's Happy Sad and Blue Afternoon albums.

The only copies to own and hear are either the Pye UK pressed orange Warners label on delightfully thick vinyl, or the original olive Warners USA pressings, which are on thinner, less quality vinyl, but tend to have the edge over the UK pressings as they are closer to the source, so to speak. The album having been recorded, cut and mastered in the USA.

This particular copy would benefit from a VPI type professional clean, a great hi fi and a bottle of French red. Musical nirvana awaits all those who enter the world of Astral Weeks. Everyone who does will be playing the album on and off for the rest of their lives, and everyone you play it to who has never heard it before, without exception, will go out and buy a copy on some format or other for themselves. The best sounding copies of this album have always been the UK and USA first pressings, they are livelier, have more depth and a fresh sound that has been lost down the years on every re-issue and re-master we have heard to date.

MATRIX NUMBERS IN RUN-OFF GROOVES: SIDE A: 39435 WS 1768 A - 1C / SIDE B: 39436 WS 1768 B 1-E.

SLEEVE: VERY GOOD WITH CORNER, RING, SHELF AND EDGE WEAR. ONE INCH SEAM TEAR TOP RIGHT, SCUFFS ALONG SEAMS ON BOTTOM. SPINE HAS NICKS. INNER SLEEVE IS VERY GOOD+.

DISC: VISUALLY AN HONEST GRADING IS VERY GOOD+. THE DISC PLAYS MOSTLY EXCELLENT MINUS WITH THE ODD POP OR TICK, WHICH IS MAINLY DUST AND THE LESSER QUALITY OF THE VINYL USED. NO SCRATCHES, MINOR SPINDLE WEAR, SOME LIGHT SCUFFS AND HAIRLINES. CLEAN LABELS. A VERY DECENT PLAYING COPY WITH GREAT AUDIO, WHICH WOULD BENEFIT FURTHER FROM A PROFESSIONAL CLEAN AS THE DISC ITSELF IS IN GOOD OVERALL SHAPE.

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