Keep It Simple

Keep It Simple
Studio album by Van Morrison
Released	UK 17 March 2008 US 1 April 2008
Genre	Jazz, folk, blues, Celtic, country, soul, gospel
Length	50:10
Label	Exile Polydor-UK, Lost Highway-U.S.
Producer	Van Morrison
Van Morrison chronology
Still on Top - The Greatest Hits (2007) Keep It Simple (2008) Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2009)

Keep It Simple is the thirty-third solo studio album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 17 March 2008 (see 2008 in music) by Exile Productions Ltd./Polydor in the UK and on the Lost Highway Records label on 1 April 2008, in the U.S.. His previous studio album Pay the Devil was also released on the Lost Highway label, in March 2006. The album debuted at No. 10 on the US, UK and Canada charts and No. 7 on European Top 100 Albums. This album achieved Morrison's highest ranking in US charts.

This is the first studio album of all new original material since his 1999 album Back on Top. Other albums released since then have contained some cover songs. The May 2005 album, Magic Time, was composed of ten originals and three cover songs.

The album features most of the various genres that Morrison has been influenced by such as jazz, folk, blues, celtic, country, soul and gospel.

Composition

In an interview on BBC Radio Four on 10 March 2008, Morrison spoke of his inspiration for the songs on the album: "It's got elements of blues, folk, gospel - all my influences . . . Curtis Mayfield. It's got a lot of inspiration from various things I was inspired by out there, but it comes out like a new album."^[1]

Morrison wrote all eleven songs featured on the album and has been quoted as saying: "I felt I had something to say with these songs."^[2]

In one of the songs, "That's Entrainment", Morrison says he has explained his approach to the music on the album. In his words:

Entrainment is when you connect with the music. . . . Entrainment is really what I'm getting at in the music. . . . It's kind of when you're in the present moment - you're here - with no past or future.^[3]

"That's Entrainment" was played for the first time, at the beginning of the second hour, on Chris Evans BBC 2 Drivetime show on Wednesday, 30 January 2008, with Evans commenting: "The new Van Morrison album came with a shoot-to-kill warning if played before a certain date, but that's now been lifted so we can play it."^[4]

Promotion

Morrison announced a short United States tour to promote the album with appearances in Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee (at the Ryman Auditorium); Boston, Massachusetts; and in New York City, starting on 11 March 2008. During this tour, he also performed at La Zona Rosa in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference and festival on 12 March 2008.^[5][6]

In the U.K. on 15 March, BBC Radio 2 presented an exclusive concert performance of Morrison performing all of the songs from the album.^[7]

Morrison gave an interview on BBC Radio Four's Today show in the morning on 10 March 2008^[8] and an hour long interview on the Paul Jones show at BBC Two Radio the same evening.^[9][10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[11]
Entertainment Weekly	(B) [12]
inthenews.co.uk	[13]
The Mirror	[14]
Popmatters	[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
The Star	[17]
The Sun	[18]
Uncut	[19]

On its first week of release the album reached number ten on the U.S. charts, which is Morrison's highest placement ever in the U.S.^[20][21] His sixth solo album, Saint Dominic's Preview, charted at #15 in 1972.

Most of the reviews were favourable with four star ratings by The Star, The Sun, The Times and Uncut.

"There's a certain grace to Van's stripped-back band and as always he evokes images of sorrow and anguish but with such beauty and warmth that you can't help but smile when you hear them."^[22] Mat Strowbridge/inthenews.co.uk

"Typically the band settles into a groove while Morrison lifts off into the trancelike realm he calls 'entrainment'."^[23] Anthony Decurtis, Rolling Stone

Track listing

All songs by Van Morrison

1. "How Can a Poor Boy?" - 5:43
2. "School of Hard Knocks" - 3:44
3. "That's Entrainment" - 4:32
4. "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore" - 4:31
5. "Lover Come Back" - 5:15
6. "Keep It Simple" - 3:34
7. "End of the Land" - 3:16
8. "Song of Home" - 4:13
9. "No Thing" - 4:31
10. "Soul" - 3:37
11. "Behind the Ritual" - 6:59

iTunes Bonus Track

(available UK week of 17 March 2008 and U.S. on 1 April 2008)

1. "Little Village" - 6:11 (Live) (Album Only)

Vinyl Bonus Tracks

1. "Blue & Green" - 5:52 (Live)
2. "Little Village" - 6:11 (Live)
3. "And The Healing Has Begun" - 7:11 (Live)

Recorded live in concert at the Blackpool Opera House (UK) 26 January 2008

Personnel

• Van Morrison - vocals, piano, alto saxophone, acoustic guitar, ukulele
• John Platania - guitar
• Mick Green - guitar
• Ned Edwards - guitar, harmonica, backing vocals
• Sarah Jory - steel guitar, banjo ("Song of Home", "Don't go to Nightcubs Anymore")
• Cindy Cashdollar - steel guitar ("No Thing", "Lover Come Back")
• Paul Moore - bass
• David Hayes - bass ("No Thing", "Lover Come Back", "End of the Land")
• Geraint Watkins - piano, accordion ("Soul", "Keep It Simple", "School of Hard Knocks")
• John Allair - organ
• Liam Bradley- percussion
• Tony Fitzgibbon - fiddle ("How Can a Poor Boy?")
• Neal Wilkinson - drums
• Crawford Bell - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Katie Kissoon - backing vocals ("Lover Come Back", "End of the Land", "No Thing")
• Karen Hamill - backing vocals
• Margo Buchanan - backing vocals ("How Can a Poor Boy?", "Don't go to Nightcubs Anymore", "Song of Home")
• Stevie Lange - backing vocals ("How Can a Poor Boy?", "Don't go to Nightcubs Anymore", "Song of Home")
• Jerome Rimson - backing vocals ("School of Hard Knocks", "Soul", "Behind the Ritual")

Sleeve notes

• Mastered by Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering
• Design by Jon Gilbert@Angelfire
• Photograph of Van Morrison by Patrick Baird

Charts

^{[24] [25] [26]}

Notes

External links

• Van Morrison at Lost Highway Records