It's Too Late to Stop Now is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1974 (see 1974 in music). Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever recorded, It's Too Late to Stop Now was recorded during what has often been said to be Morrison's greatest phase as a live performer.[1][2][3][4][5]
John Collis calls this album, "one of the most impressive of all attempts to squeeze the stage excitement of a rock performer on to vinyl."[6]
The performances on the live album were from tapes made at the beginning of the tour in Los Angeles and also in London and Santa Monica. The London Rainbow concert was the first BBC simulcast in 1974 being broadcast simultaneously on BBC 2 television and Radio 2 stereo so that viewers with strategically sited loudspeakers could enjoy "stereo TV".
Morrison said about touring during this time period:[7]
I am getting more into performing. It's incredible. When I played Carnegie Hall in the fall something just happened. All of a sudden I felt like 'you're back into performing' and it just happened like that...A lot of times in the past I've done gigs and it was rough to get through them. But now the combination seems to be right and it's been clicking a lot.
During the ending of the over ten minute long dynamic performance of "Cyprus Avenue" an audience member shouts out, "Turn it on!" and Morrison good-naturedly replies, "It's turned on already." At the very end he finished the concert with a final heartfelt, "It's too late to stop now!" giving the album its title.
The 29 January 2008 re-issued and re-mastered version of the album contains a live take of "Brown Eyed Girl" not included on the original release.[8]
Music
A mixture of songs that inspired his own musical development, together with some of his own compositions, allied to a backing band and orchestra (The Caledonia Soul Orchestra) and several performances (as noted in the album's liner notes) that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and at The Rainbow in London results in what Myles Palmer of the Times reviewed as demolishing "all barriers between the soul, blues, jazz and rock genres".[9]
Unlike most live rock albums, there was no studio overdubbing allowed by Morrison, which resulted in the exclusion of "Moondance" from the album due to one wrong guitar note. Morrison strictly adhered to his concept of authenticity in presenting the live performance but his musical perfectionism prevented him from including "Moondance".[10] "It's common practice to go back and fix things, but not with Van," bass player David Hayes said, "I think that's what makes it one of the best ever."[11]
Guitarist John Platania says "He had a funeral for a lot of his old songs on stage. With Caledonia, he really got off on performing. There was definitely joy getting onstage at that point. That was a wonderful time for everybody. It was really like a family. Ordinarily, with rock 'n' rollers, jazzers and classical musicians in the band, you'd think it was a three-headed serpent but everybody got along famously."[12]
A version of Morrison's recently written song, "I Paid the Price" was performed at the televised London Rainbow concert but was not included on the album. Clinton Heylin remarked on this song:[13]
Absent from It's Too Late to Stop Now are any songs indicating the death of a great romance. Indeed there is no evidence that he even cut a version of "I Paid the Price" — his most direct and personal song about the break-up with Janet. Though it contains its share of hard feelings couched in a wild accusatory tone — "your forced superiority, your azure delusions of grandeur/are [not] gonna cut you free...you're as cold as ice, you're not Miss Nice/and I paid the price" — such feelings fell on stony ground.
Track listing
All songs written by Van Morrison unless noted.
Side one
- "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" (Deadric Malone, Joseph Scott) – 3:44
- "Warm Love" – 3:04
- "Into the Mystic" – 4:33
- "These Dreams of You" – 3:37
- "I Believe to My Soul" (Ray Charles) – 4:09
Side two
- "I've Been Working" – 3:56
- "Help Me" (Sonny Boy Williamson, Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon) – 3:25
- "Wild Children" – 5:04
- "Domino" – 4:48
- "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Dixon) – 5:16
Side three
- "Bring It On Home to Me" (Sam Cooke) – 4:42
- "Saint Dominic's Preview" – 6:18
- "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket" (Williamson) – 4:04
- "Listen to the Lion" – 8:43
Side four
- "Here Comes the Night" (Bert Berns) – 3:14
- "Gloria" – 4:16
- "Caravan" – 9:20
- "Cyprus Avenue" – 10:20
Bonus track (2008 CD reissue)
- "Brown Eyed Girl" – 3:24
Personnel
The Caledonia Soul Orchestra
Production
- Producers: Van Morrison, Ted Templeman
- Arrangers: Van Morrison, Jeff Labes (strings), Jack Schroer (horns)
- Engineers: Donn Landee, Myles Wiener, Biff Dawes, Jack Crymes, Gabby Garcia, Chris Chigaridas, Bill Broms, Bob Harper
- Mixing: Donn Landee
Recording
- Troubadour, Los Angeles, California
- Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica, California
- Rainbow Theatre, London, England
Charts
Album
Billboard (North America)
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1974 |
Pop Albums |
53 |
Notes
- ^ Rogan, No Surrender, p. 282
- ^ "MOJO Best live albums of all time". Muziek. http://www.muzieklijstjes.nl/MojoBestLiveAlbums.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Top 50 Live Albums". Stylus. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/stylus-magazines-top-50-live-albums-of-all-time.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- ^ "VOX The Greatest live albums ever". rocklistmusic.co.uk. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/voxlive.htm. Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
- ^ "BBC Review of the remastered CD reissue". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/j9hj/. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
- ^ Collis, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, p.136
- ^ Collis, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, p.137
- ^ Van Morrison Official Website
- ^ Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p.160
- ^ Yorke, Into the Music, p.115
- ^ Rogan, No Surrender, p.292
- ^ Rogan, No Surrender, p.283
- ^ Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence? p. 265
References
- Collis, John (1996). Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Little Brown and Company, ISBN 0-306-80811-0
- Hinton, Brian (2000). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X
- Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison:No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 9780099431831
- Yorke, Ritchie (1975). Into The Music, London:Charisma Books , ISBN 0-85947-013-X
- Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
External links
