A unique Van Morrison bootleg that had been floating around for a few years recently got a boost of exposure when WFMU, one of the nation's best radio stations, posted the "album" on their blog. So what's so unique about it? Well, for one thing, it's almost 40 years old, and it's an unreleased album by a pretty famous artist. Oh, did I mention that it's full of improvised songs?
It's Van Morrisson's 'Duck Hunt'!* Sounds interesting in theory, but it's a pity that these songs aren't so great. The main problem is, he's not much of an improvisor musically, and to make matters worse, he seems to have considerable trouble thinking on his feet. This, as one might surmise, is not a fortuitous combination.
The backstory has it that the sessions from which these tracks are culled are from a proverbial "Contractual Obligation record," the kind artists make when they're pissed off at their record company, and decide to crank out mediocre music to meet the album quota demanded by their contracts. Yeah, it certainly sounds like it-- if only for the fact that it's not very good. That much isn't surprising, but what is truly confounding is that it even lacks the "fuck you" attitude that has traditionally embodied the Contractual Obligation album. Even the most obvious attack on his record company, the plodding, pointless "The Big Royalty Check" sounds at best vacuous, and at worst boring as all shit. I wonder, how could a song that is in essense demanding money for services rendered lack any sort of viciousness, anger, resentment, resignation, or any other interesting qualities? Morrison's singing and guitar playing are so mechanical that it barely even has any historical value, much less entertainment value.
It's because of things like this, this album ends up sounding less like what it's being called, and more like what it really is: half-assed tracks that never should have reached the public's ears. If Van's handlers had any sense in their heads, they would have locked this shit safety away in a company vault, never to see the light of day again, or better yet, burned the tapes. It would be hard to argue that this set even surpasses studio banter in its entertainment value. Even the best tracks, like "Freaky," "Here Comes Dumb George," and the bluesy gibberish of "Chickee Coo" don't really hold up well to repeated listens-- or one for that matter; even the Van Morrison completists out there would have difficulty justifying this one.
Still, it's yet another addition to the canon of mysterious lost albums, and that at least has its value in drunken barroom dialogues. But you can't help but feel that although Van now has a coveted contractual obligation album under his belt-- a well respected badge of honor in the eyes of the musical elite-- it's a pyrrhic victory; he would have been better off as the composer of a rumored contractual obligation album that no one had actually gotten their hands on. Especially since this shit is starting to turn up, presumably against his will, on some of his Greatest Hits albums. Next time, Van, take some cues from Lou Reed when you try something like this.
* full disclosure: I was a member of Duck Hunt
