Product Description

First album of Morrison's second stint on Polydor and his 31st album in total. Includes the Fats Domino flavoured single 'Hey Mister DJ', 12 other original tracks and 2 cover versions. Van's version of the standard 'Georgia On My Mind' anda cover of Acker Bilk's 'Evening Shadows' featuring Mr. Bilk himself on trademark clarinet.

Track Listing

1. Down The Road
2. Meet Me In The Indian Summer
3. Steal My Heart Away
4. Hey Mister DJ
5. Talk Is Cheap
6. Choppin' Wood
7. What Makes The Irish Heart Beat
8. All Work And No Play
9. Whatever Happened To PJ Proby
10. The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
11. Georgia On My Mind
12. Only A Dream
13. Man Has To Struggle
14. Evening Shadows
15. Fast Train

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18146 in Music
• Released on: 2002-05-10
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Down the Road continues the magnificent journey that George Ivan Morrison began when he first heard the call of the blues as a child growing up in post-war Belfast. In keeping with the open-hearted nature of his best work, "Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?" and "What Makes the Irish Heart Beat" hinge on candid revelations and tender insights. Journalists may tiresomely characterise him as obdurate, but with songs like "Choppin' Wood", simultaneously a hymn to working-class perseverance and a deeply felt ode to his late father, Morrison is the most autobiographical songwriter of his generation.

With a band comprising long-time associates like David Hayes and 1960s guitar-great Mick Green, the dovetailing of Morrison's many influences is assured. His voice is the astounding instrument at the centre, capable of touching deep feelings others don't even know exist. On the awesome "The Beauty of the Days Gone By", he sings of how memories will "keep me young as I grow old". It certainly sounds as if he's found the perfect elixir. --Gavin Martin

Customer Reviews

Solid classic Van
The album opens with the title track, setting the tone as one of reflection on days gone by. This mellow mid-tempo song with intricate instrumental flourishes is followed by the buoyant Meet Me In The Indian Summer, a catchy love song.

Steal My Heart Away is also a love song, but slower and more soulful with evocative imagery, Hey Mr DJ is a chugging pop number with lovely backing vocals and a bit of Morrison's wordless vocalising, whilst Talk Is Cheap is a slow bluesy song about the pitfalls of fame.

The tuneful ballad What Makes The Irish Heart Beat is a definite highlight of the album, infused with Celtic soul. All Work And No Play is a pleasant enough pop ditty and the next one, Whatever Happened To PJ Proby is really interesting as he references various obscure British singers from the 1960s.

One of my favourites is the stirring nostalgic ballad The Beauty Of The Days Gone By with its gorgeous melody and poetic lyrics. I also love the tuneful and lilting Only A Dream. The last song, Fast Train with its appealing organ and harmonica made me think of Arlo Guthrie's Last Train, but is nowhere near as heart-breaking and intense. And that is what I miss on this album: Van's intensely devotional moments.

Down The Road displays all the various styles of the artist, like R & B, rock and his Irish soulfulness but sticks mostly to the middle of the road. The songs are mostly good and sometimes great as in the aforementioned tracks. Down The Road is really a 5-star album, but measured against Van Morrison's vast body of musical genius, it comes in at four.

Morrison's best latter-day album
Not only is "Down The Road" better than the highly succesful "Back On Top", it is one of Irishman Van Morrison three or four best records, period.
More accessible than most of his records, but still not quite mainstream (and thank God for that), "Down The Road" is a retrospective look at music and musicians, filled with tales of recollection and regret which are as well-wrought lyrically as they as they are musically.

Morrison employs his usual blend of R&B, jazz, folk, blues and country on this album. His phrasing is magnificent, subtle and jazzy, and the arrangements are often jazz-influenced as well...Martin Winning plays a couple of magnificent clarinet solos on the swinging, jazzy numbers "Meet Me In The Indian Summer" and "Choppin' Wood", and Morrison is backed by a small, warm and unobtrusive brass band on the majority of these fourteen songs.

It seems moot to point out highlights...the entire album is one. Van Morrison has penned some of his very best melodies for "Down The Road", including the bluesy "Talk Is Cheap", the R&B-like "Hey Mr DJ", the lovely folkish "What Makes The Irish Heart Beat", and the curious and thoughtful "Whatever Happened To P.J. Proby?" with the lines "Don't have no frame of reference no more / Not even Screaming Lord Sutch / Without him now there's no Raving Loony Party / Nowadays I guess there's not much / To relate to anymore / Unless you wanna be mediocre..."

The mood is lighthearted even when the lyrics aren't, and this album is made for a 62-minute and five second drive along the highway, windows rolled down, hands tapping the steering wheel, head bopping like a deranged chicken's.
Perfect band, perfect arrangements, wonderful songs, and Morrison himself has never sounded better. A must-have for fans, and newcomers can start here as well.

memories, dreams and reflections
I listen to this album, or indeed Van's latest, What's Wrong With This Picture, most days. I love the joyful ariculation of the ups and downs of ordinary life. The highways and byways of consciousness. The sheer celebratory quality evident in each and every song. It is great to be able to participate in one man's journey down the neverending road towards peace, harmony and integration.