Shhhhh, whisper it quietly (cos I’m sure there will be many who disagree) but of all the Van Morrison albums I’ve heard, and that is not even close to all of them, “Into The Music” is my favourite. It’s largely an upbeat Celtic soul/pop record and Van sounds, well, happy during most of it which is not an emotion you often associate with Van Morrison. 

There was a time when I owned quite a lot of Van Morrison albums (“Astral Weeks”, “Moondance”, “St Dominic’s Preview”, “Veedon Fleece”, “Tupelo Honey”, “Hard Nose The Highway” among them). He was signed to Polydor at the time and every time I visited their offices I would help myself to copies of whatever was around which is how I ended up with so many. The only ones I have left are “Moondance” (https://www.whiterabbitrecords.co.uk/blog/read_205111/2023-albums-thing-233-van-morrison-moondance.html) and I now have picked this one up again. 

It begins on the upbeat “Bright Side Of The Road” and continues in much the same vein throughout. It’s a sunny Sunday morning just let it wash over you kinda record. “You Make Me Feel So Free”, “Angeliou”, “Stepping Out Queen”, “You Make Me Feel So Free”, “The Healing Has Begun”, they’re all beauties. In fact the only thing I’m not totally sold on here is the cover of the old 50’s hit “It's All In The Game”, I’m sure Van is referencing Tommy Edwards 1958 US hit but I can’t get it out of my head that Cliff Richard had a sizeable hit with it here in the UK, laying the groundwork for "Whenever God Shines His Light" I guess !

You Make Me Feel So Free - https://youtu.be/chFE3kZTMec?si=wmxtxwczXgcaMOdv