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The Summer of Astral Weeks

New York 2018 L to R Warren Smith John Payne Jay Berliner Brooks Arthur Image Name: New York 2018 L to R Warren Smith John Payne Jay Berliner Brooks Arthur
Vans band reunion Boston 2018 Image Name: Vans band reunion Boston 2018
vanmorrison-astralweeks Image Name: vanmorrison-astralweeks
Van and Janet Image Name: Van and Janet

As 1968 began, Van Morrison was at his lowest ebb: despite having had a smash hit the previous year with Brown Eyed Girl, he found himself penniless, facing deportation from the United States, and living under the threat of Mob violence in New York city.

As 1968 drew to a close, Van Morrison had transformed the sound of his music, signed to Warner Brothers, and recorded Astral Weeks – now regarded as one of the greatest album of all time.

How did Van Morrison turn his life and career around so dramatically that year? Who were the people and what were the events that made it possible?

In The Summer of Astral Weeks, those closest to Van Morrison in 1968, including his then wife and muse, Janet Planet, reflect on that most significant year. The musicians Van Morrison played with that year, and those who recorded the record with him, are reunited for the first time in half a century at locations which were central to the album’s story in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.

Contributors include: Janet Planet; Warren Smith [percussion, vibrophone]; Jay Berliner [guitar]; Brooks Arthur [sound engineer]; Joe Smith [former President, Warner Brothers Music]; John Sheldon [guitar]; Joe Bebo [drums]; Tom Kielbania [bass].