Some would call this a forgotten classic. But if it was barely recognized at the time of its release, can it really be considered “forgotten”? Perhaps it’s better to say that it was an overlooked gem, at the time, and since has failed to get the rightful praise it certainly deserves.
Pictured is the recent Vinyl Me, Please Record of the Month (February) release of Van Morrison’s 8th solo studio album, Veedon Fleece. This marked the first time the album had been reissued in roughly 30 years. It was first pressed at the time of the album’s release in 1974, again in the US in 1987, and then finally a trio of EU pressings in 1989…and then nothing for 30 years! While early copies are not as hard to track down as one might expect for an album with such limited pressings, they certainly don’t come cheap. A VG+ condition Terra Haute US 1st press can fetch $50+ in most cases. So this definitely was in need of a modern reissue, so good on VMP for landing on this title for their subscription service!
Certainly a core reason for such a lack of reissues has to do with the fact that this album flew under the radar at the time of its release – coming out just a few months after Morrison’s excellent live double album It’s Too Late to Stop Now. It marked the end of an extremely productive era for Morrison, which began with Blowin’ Your Mind (1967), continued through with the extremely well known Astral Weeks (1968) and Moondance (1969), and ended with this under-appreciated masterpiece. It preceded a lengthy gap of 3 years before Van would release another album (aptly titled A Period of Transition). Veedon Fleece was also a marked change from prior albums, ditching some of the peace/love and standard rhythm and blues that many had grown accustomed to in favor of a more celtic-acoustic sounds. It was in many ways autobiographical; written shortly after his divorce with Janet Planet. In all, it’s a sometimes-beautiful, sometimes-haunting, album that rivals Astral Weeks in its stream of consciousness from the Belfast Cowboy.
For this release, Vinyl Me, Please pressed this one “emerald green” vinyl – which I feel is a fitting color. They were a bit ambiguous on the mastering component, suggesting it was “remastered from the original tapes a while ago and the label was sort of waiting on the right time to reissue it, so we used that version”. My best guess is that while they did start with the analog tapes at some point, it was eventually cut from hi-res digital, like nearly every other VMP release. This has been a sticking point for me; one that causes a bit of frustration. I noted in my recent review of their release of De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising that I had some dialogue a while back with VMP Co-Founder/CEO Matt Fiedler about it, and he indicated that they do have interest in an all analog release…but the wait continues. More than anything, I’d just like a little more transparency over the mastering/cutting process than what they currently allow. While not technically untrue that it was mastered from analog tapes, it is a bit misleading to leave it at that without noting that there was a digital component. I love everything VMP has been doing – from release selection to packaging – but this is one area I’d like to see some improvement (and also, stop pressing these at GZ Media). All that said, this release still does sound very good. I don’t have an original to compare to, but this copy is certainly passable and better than other streaming/digital versions I’ve listened to. I played this on my setup as detailed in this prior post, and outside of some minor surface noise here and there, there’s not much that I didn’t like. If you like the album, you’ll love the VMP treatment. Below are some photos of what came in the box:
- Album back jacket
- Inner sleeve front
- Inner sleeve back/lyric sheet
- Artwork by Studio Ashleen, exclusive to this release
- Cocktail recipe found on spine-insert, called ‘Cul De Sac’
I hope y’all enjoyed the read – let me know if you have questions on the album and this release specifically, or anything about the VMP subscriptions service. I’d be happy to discuss!
The Vinyl Farm 
