Van Morrison - No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
On this week's episode, we revisit an artist we discussed during our first season - Van Morrison when we talked about his 1974 album Veedon Fleece.
This time we discuss his 1986 LP No Guru. No Method, No Teacher. Morrison is known for making albums rich in spiritual themes and Celtic lore. Around the time of No Guru, he was also writing songs from the perspective of a curmudgeonly angry guy complaining that "copycats have ripped off his songs". While this album has more than it should of the latter, it is also steeped in the former, with lush string arrangements, beautiful oboe and cor anglais parts (played by the Dream Academy's Kate St. John), and a band firing on all cylinders. It is an album of thematic contrasts, held together by its production; and one portending things to come for Morrison. It is also an album cited by many as a favorite among Van Morrison album.
Recommended this episode: The Last Waltz: a Martin Scorsese Film about the Band.
THINGS WE DISCUSSED ON THIS EPISODE
For 25 summers, the Swiss mountain village of Saanen hosted Jiddu Krishnamurti and thousands of visitors would attend to listen to him speak. During a Q&A in 1980, Krishnamurti opined on the “no guru” principle that inspired the title of this Van Morrison album.
Van Morrison performed “In the Garden” in 1986 at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Here is” One Irish Rover” performed by Van Morrison and Bob Dylan on June 27, 1989 as they sit on the Hill of Muses overlooking Athens, Greece. This was part of the BBC documentary on Morrison Arena: One Irish Rover Van Morrison in Performance.
Here’s is Morrison performing “Ivory Tower” on the British talkshow Wogan in June of 1996.
