Three Chords and the Truth, a new album by Van Morrison

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Well, this computer is busting my balls right now, in Word, it keeps going back to “File” when I want it to stay at Home (hello!).  Drat, I hate that, computer doing stuff against my will.  My failure to wrest control just stokes my feelings of inadequacy, which I wasn’t going to mention.  I’ll press on: a couple days ago, I stumbled upon a new (released September, 2019) Van Morrison record, Three Chords and the Truth.  It wasn’t long into the first song that I perked up, enjoying the rest of the song and in anticipation of the next (this is really good stuff!) And as it turns out, the entire record is stunning.  The Belfast Cowboy, Van the Man, is very much still at work. 

From Jason P. Woodbury’s Pitchfork review: “Though he sticks closely to the conservative R&B, blues, and jazz modes that have defined his ’00s discography, the LP’s 14 songs showcase his determination to wring profundity out of even the most common language. Songwriter Harlan Howard coined the phrase “Three chords and the truth” to describe the necessary ingredients for country and western music, but this isn’t a country record. Van’s talking about his desire to take simple rhymes and traditional song structures and imbue them with Caledonia soul heaviness.” 

I didn’t know this, but Caledonia is a Latin word which was used by the Romans to refer to the area north of their province of Britannia, the northernmost reaches of the Roman empire which corresponds roughly to modern day Scotland. Some use the term Caledonia Soul to describe Van’s music and especially his vocal style. (His family immigrated to Northern Ireland from Ulster Scotland.)

Here’s an audio link to one track, Dark Night of the Soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GqszEwXPlc
Is that a tasty guitar or what?  That’s Jay Berliner who played guitar on Van’s second album release, Astral Weeks in 1968. He’s only worked with Van once since then, on a live performance of Astral Weeks in its entirety that was released as a record in 2009.  Also guesting on one track (Fame Will Eat the Soul) is Bill Medley (the tall, thin baritone half of The Righteous Brothers).

Here’s an interview transcript with notes that made me laugh out loud several times.  What a piece of work is Van Morrison!

 P.S. I plan to write again about Van Morrison, so stay tuned if you are interested.  With Three Chords being his 41st record, there is a lot of material!  In the meantime, might I suggest you give Down the Road a listen.  It was released in 2002 and was his highest charting release in the U.S. since 1972’s St. Dominic’s Preview.  It contains the track Choppin Wood , a tribute to his father, George Morrison.  

My father; November 2018. He always did the best he could.


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