No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
Studio album by Van Morrison
Released	July, 1986
Recorded	Studio D & Record Plant, Sausalito, Cal. Townhouse Studios, London, 1985
Genre	Celtic, Folk rock, Jazz
Length	50:50
Label	Mercury
Producer	Van Morrison
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link
Van Morrison chronology
A Sense of Wonder (1985) No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986) Poetic Champions Compose (1987)

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is an album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986.

Songs

The song "In the Garden" was a favorite fan concert performance and in the words of Morrison, "I take you through a definite meditation process which is a form of transcendental meditation." There are references back to Astral Weeks with gardens wet with rain and a childlike vision. The words are poetic as in the line "you are a creature all in rapture/You had the key to your soul". "Got to Go Back" features Kate St. John's oboe and reminisces of school days back in the singer's childhood in Belfast. "Oh, The Warm Feeling" is also a song of feeling the safety of family and love in childhood. "Foreign Window" is a song concerned with dealing with some sort of self imposed therapy and having to go on no matter what. Brian Hinton remarks, "There is a grace and majesty here which I have experienced from little else in rock music." "Here Comes the Knight" is a pun on the Them song, "Here Comes the Night" and quotes from the epitaph on one of Van's favorite poets, W. B. Yeats' tombstone. The Yeats Estate had denied Morrison's request to transform a Yeats poem to music, but the gravestone was considered public property:— Here come horsemen through the pass/They say cast a cold eye on life, on death/". "Ivory Tower' echoes Yeats once more. The song, "Thanks For the Information" is a comment on the cliches of the business world.^[1]

Reviews

This album was hailed by most critics as a return to form. John Wilde in Sounds remarks, "the crescendos here are never dampened by their subtle nature and never fall short of blinding. The whole album aches with a steady stream of sorrow." NMEs review was less enthusiastic and found, "He no longer takes the breath away and as a musician has been content to age with dignity."^[2]

LP track listing

All songs written by Van Morrison

Side one

1. "Got to Go Back" – 5:00
2. "Oh the Warm Feeling" – 3:16
3. "Foreign Window" – 5:20
4. "A Town Called Paradise" – 6:13
5. "In the Garden" – 5:46

Side two

1. "Tir Na Nog" – 7:14
2. "Here Comes the Knight" - 3:41
3. "Thanks for the Information" – 7:16
4. "One Irish Rover" – 3:30
5. "Ivory Tower" – 3:34

Personnel

• Van Morrison - Guitar, keyboard, saxophone, vocal
• Jeff Labes - Synthesizer, piano, string arrangement on "Tir Na Nog"
• David Hayes - Bass guitar
• Richie Buckley - Tenor and soprano saxophones
• Chris Michie - Lead guitar
• John Platania- Additional lead guitar
• Baba Trunde - Drums
• Martin Drover - Trumpet
• Kate St. John- Cor anglais, oboe
• Bianca Thornton, Rosie Hunter, June Boyce, Jeanie Tracy - Backing vocals
• Terry Adams - String section leader
• Nadine Cox - Harp on "Tir Na Nog"

Production

• Van Morrison - Producer
• Mick Glossop - Engineer
• Jim Stern - Engineer

Charts

Album - UK Album Chart

Album - Billboard

Singles - Billboard

Notes

References

Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074169X

External Links

• Lyrics No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

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