A new 14-track album by Van Morrison, The Prophet Speaks, will be released Dec. 7 by Caroline International, according to an announcement from the label. The Prophet Speaks, his 40th studio album, again finds Morrison working with the multi-instrumentalist Joey DeFrancesco (the artist co-credited on You’re Driving Me Crazy) and his band (including Dan Wilson on guitar, Michael Ode on drums and Troy Roberts on tenor saxophone).
Says the October 2 announcement, “This fourteen-track album follows a recent run of hugely acclaimed albums (Roll With The Punches, Versatile and You’re Driving Me Crazy), each of which has delved deep into the musical styles that have continued to inspire Van throughout his life—vocal jazz and R&B. Here, Van takes on a series of unarguable classics by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke and Solomon Burke (among others) and makes them unmistakably his own. Alongside these reinterpretations, The Prophet Speaks features six phenomenal new Van Morrison compositions.”
Related: We revisit Van’s early masterpiece, Astral Weeks
“It was important for me to get back to recording new music as well as doing some of the blues material that has inspired me from the beginning,” Morrison is quoted as saying in the announcement. “Writing songs and making music is what I do, and working with great musicians makes it all the more enjoyable.”
Watch the lyric video for “Got to Go Where the Love Is”
Track Listing (songwriters in parentheses)
Gonna Send You Back To Where I Got You From (Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Leona Blackman)
Dimples (John Lee Hooker, James Bracken)
Got to Go Where the Love Is (Van Morrison)
Laughin’ and Clownin’ (Sam Cooke)
5 am Greenwich Mean Time (Van Morrison)
Gotta Get You Off My Mind (Solomon Burke, Delores Burke, Josephine Burke Moore)
Teardrops (J.D. Harris)
I Love The Life I Live (Willie Dixon)
Worried Blues / Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (J.D. Harris)
Ain’t Gonna Moan No More (Van Morrison)
Love Is A Five Letter Word (Gene Barge)
Love Is Hard Work (Van Morrison)
Spirit Will Provide (Van Morrison)
The Prophet Speaks (Van Morrison)
Van Morrison 2019 Tour Dates (Tickets here and here)
Jan 25 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Jan 26 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Jan 30 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Feb 01 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Feb 02 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, NV
Feb 05 Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Listen to the title track from The Prophet Speaks
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