The Philosopher's Stone (album)

The Philosopher's Stone
File:Van Morrison - The Philosopher's Stone (album cover).jpg
Compilation album by Van Morrison
Released	16 June 1998 (1998-06-16)
Recorded	1969–1988
Genre	Blues, R & B
Length	153:07
Label	Polydor
Producer	Van Morrison
Van Morrison chronology
The Healing Game (1997)The Healing Game1997 The Philosopher's Stone (1998) Back on Top (1999)Back on Top1999

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	A−
Rolling Stone

The Philosopher's Stone is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1998 (see 1998 in music).

The songs released on this 2-CD thirty track album were previously unreleased outtakes from 1969 to 1988. The album features twenty-five songs that had never been released and alternative renditions of "The Street Only Knew Your Name" (Inarticulate Speech of the Heart), "Wonderful Remark" (The Best of Van Morrison), "Real Real Gone" (Enlightenment), "Joyous Sound" (A Period of Transition), "Flamingos Fly" (A Period of Transition) and "Bright Side of the Road" (Into the Music).

Three songs on the album were evidently intended for Morrison's unreleased 1975 album Mechanical Bliss. "Twilight Zone", "Foggy Mountain Top" and "Flamingos Fly" were all mixed in 1974 just before Mechanical Bliss was due to come out.

Original release

The Philosopher's Stone, Volume One was originally scheduled to be released in July 1996. When it was released, some of the tracks had been changed; "When I Deliver", "John Brown's Body" and "I'm Ready" were replaced by "The Street Only Knew Your Name", "Western Plains" and "Joyous Sound". "John Brown's Body" and "I'm Ready" were eventually released as B-sides on Morrison's 1999 single "Back on Top".

Commenting on the previously unreleased songs, Van Morrison remarked:

"It's hard to work out why you didn't put something out at the time. Usually it felt like it didn't fit...When I was with Warner Brothers they were very minimalist."

Album sleeve notes

Many of the recording dates on the album notes are incorrect. "Really Don't Know" was recorded in 1969, not 1971 as the musicians recording with him were only working with him in that particular year. Also tracks from "Wonderful Remark" to "Drumshanbo Hustle" were all recorded in 1972 not 1973, as well as "There There Child", recorded in 1972 not 1976. On disc two "John Henry" was supposed to have been recorded in 1977, but in fact was recorded two years earlier, as Morrison didn't actually record anything in 1977. "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded with Moving Hearts in 1983 for the album A Sense of Wonder. From the same sessions the songs "A Sense of Wonder" and "Boffyflow and Spike" were used for the album. The recording date of these songs was 1983 (as stated on the album itself) but the date on The Philosopher's Stone claims "Crazy Jane on God" was recorded in 1984.

Scott Thomas in the fan magazine Wavelength noted:

Everything about The Philosopher's Stone, from its format to its packaging to its song selection, seems designed to divorce the tracks from their historical milieu...When we open the package, there are no essays, no interviews, no archival photos — just lyrics (often incorrectly transcribed) and credits which include the year of the session.

Track listing

All songs written by Van Morrison unless noted.

Disc one

1. "Really Don't Know" – 3:37 (recorded in 1969)
2. "Ordinary People" – 5:20 (recorded in 1971)
3. "Wonderful Remark" – 8:01 (recorded in 1972)
4. "Not Supposed to Break Down" – 5:24 (recorded in 1972)
5. "Laughing in the Wind" – 4:10 (recorded in 1972)
6. "Madame Joy" – 4:23 (recorded in 1972)
7. "Contemplation Rose" – 5:15 (recorded in 1972)
8. "Don't Worry About Tomorrow" – 5:20 (recorded in 1972)
9. "Try for Sleep" (Morrison, John Platania) – 6:05 (recorded in 1972)
10. "Lover's Prayer" – 3:57 (recorded in 1972)
11. "Drumshanbo Hustle" – 4:48 (recorded in 1972)
12. "Twilight Zone" – 8:23 (recorded in 1974)
13. "Foggy Mountain Top" – 5:27 (recorded in 1974)
14. "Naked in the Jungle" – 4:36 (recorded in 1975)
15. "There There Child" (Morrison, Platania) – 3:01 (recorded in 1972)

Disc two

1. "The Street Only Knew Your Name" – 6:25 (recorded in 1975)
2. "John Henry" (Traditional) – 5:48 (recorded in 1975)
3. "Western Plain" (Lead Belly, John Lomax) – 5:42 (recorded in 1975)
4. "Joyous Sound" – 2:30 (recorded in 1975)
5. "I Have Finally Come to Realise" – 5:09 (recorded in 1975)
6. "Flamingos Fly" – 6:28 (recorded in 1974)
7. "Stepping Out Queen, Pt. 2" – 4:26 (recorded in 1979)
8. "Bright Side of the Road" – 4:02 (recorded in 1979)
9. "Street Theory" – 4:54 (recorded in 1980)
10. "Real Real Gone" – 3:45 (recorded in 1980)
11. "Showbusiness" – 9:21 (recorded in 1982)
12. "For Mr. Thomas" (Robin Williamson) – 4:15 (recorded in 1982)
13. "Crazy Jane on God" (William Mathieu, William Butler Yeats) – 4:05 (recorded in 1983 with Moving Hearts)
14. "Song of Being a Child" (Peter Handke, Morrison) – 4:09 (recorded in 1987)
15. "High Spirits" (Paddy Moloney, Morrison) – 4:21 (recorded in 1988 with The Chieftains)

Personnel

• Van Morrison – vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, harmonica, saxophone
• June Boyce – vocals
• Ronnie Montrose – guitar, background vocals on "Wonderful Remark" and "Ordinary People"
• John Blakey, John Platania, Mick Cox, Chris Michie – guitar
• Herbie Armstrong – rhythm guitar
• Toni Marcus – violin
• Jules Broussard – flute, tenor saxophone
• "Boots" Rolf Houston – flute
• Jack Schroer – alto and baritone saxophones
• Collin Tilton, Pee Wee Ellis – tenor saxophone
• Bill Atwood – trumpet
• Mark Isham – trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizers
• John Allair – piano, organ
• Jeff Labes, Mark Naftalin, Mark Jordan, Pete Wingfield – piano
• Smith Dobson – piano, electric piano
• Bernie Krause – moog synthesizer
• John Klingberg, Bill Church, David Hayes, Jerome Rimson, Clive Culbertson – bass
• Gary Mallaber, Connie Kay, Lee Charlton, Dahaud Shaar, Rick Shlosser, Peter Van Hooke, Tony Dey, Tom Donlinger, Roy Jones, Dave Early – drums
• Jackie DeShannon, Judy Clay, Bianca Thornton, Pauline Lazano, Annie Stocking – background vocals
• Neil Drinkwater – keyboards
• The Chieftains, Moving Hearts – bands

Charts

Album - UK Album Chart

Year	Chart	Position
1998	UK Album Chart	20

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1998	The Billboard 200	87

References

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
• Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1