Van Morrison: 'I Didn't Know I Was Going to Have This Body of Work' - RollingStone.com
"This is the meat of what I do," Van Morrison says of his new record, Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue. "I like working with challenges. And I like working with other singers. " Morrison, 69, resurrects deep tracks from albums like 1977's A Period of Transition and 1991's Hymns to the Silence with heroes and friends including Steve Winwood, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal and the late Bobby Womack. Morrison also reunites with peers from Britain's Sixties-R&B boom like Chris Farlowe and P. J. Proby, who turns up in a new take on the 2002 tribute "Whatever Happened to P. J. Proby. " Morrison subtitled his new album like a memo. "It's the reality of working the catalog," he says, "having fun but being practical, too. Because nobody else is working it. ". Sidebar The opening track with Womack, "Some Peace of Mind," is poignant, given his passing last summer. We did the track in October 2013. I knew he wasn't too well. When I suggested the song [from Hymns to the Silence ], he said, "Yeah, I can relate to the lyrics. He said, "Sure, count me in. ". One of your earliest duets was in 1966. Your band Them was at the Whisky in Los Angeles, and you sang with the opening act's vocalist – the Doors' Jim Morrison. One thing that surprised me in their set was that Kurt Weill song ["Alabama Song"]. Source: www.rollingstone.com
