The Hollywood Bowl was where the complete "Pet Sounds" concept was birthed,making it a suitable home for Van Morison to revisit "Astral Weeks."
Morrison will perform "Astral Weeks," his 1968 solo album, at the Hollywood Bowl with a band featuring the musicians who appeared on the landmark album. Morrison used a rhythm section of jazz players on the album, among them the great bassist Richard Davis who's now 78.
This event, being held Nov. 7 and 8, is being recorded for an “Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl” DVD. Like Brian Wilson did with "Pet Sounds," it's likely a tour of the work will follow.
This clip gives you an idea of what he sounds like singing 40-year-old songs.

The next set of Van Morrison reissues will be on on shelves July 1.
The title are "Veedon Fleece" from 1974 "Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast" (1985), "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher" (1986), "Enlightenment" (1990), "A Night In San Francisco" (1994) and "The Healing Game" (1997).

In honor of Van Morrison securing his first top 10 album, we look back to a prime period for the Belfast Cowboy on the concert stage. Band had Jack Schroer on sax and David Hayes playing bass; "It's Too Late to Stop Now" had quickly earned a place as one of the greatest live albums ever; and  Morrison, then and now, rock 'n' roll's finest singer, was insisting he was a jazz singer and his current release, "hard Nose the Highway," was proof. Thankfully he did not stick to his guns on that last one. 
At Winterland on Feb. 2, 1974, Morrison played:
Ballerina / Streets of Arklow / Just Liek a Woman / Try for Sleep / Into the Mystic / I Just Want to Make Love to You / Moondance /These Dreams of You / Listen to the Lion / Wonderful Remark / Warm Love / Help Me / Here Comes the Night / Gloria / Caravan>You Don't Pull No Punches / Cyprus Avenue

The day before Van Morrison was to make his first-ever appearance at SXSW, he delivered a set heavy on tracks from his album due April 1 from Lost Highway, “Keep It Simple.” Some might argue – and I am sure plenty of car discussions on the way home involved this – that a concert with prices of $250 and $150 for orchestra seats deserved a heavy dose of the familiar.
Not so with VanMo. The Belfast Cowboy delivered seven or eight tunes from “Keep It Simple” in his encore-free show March 11 at the Austin Music Hall and beyond “Moondance” and “Bright Side of the Road,” Morrison stuck with tracks from his recent country and jazz discs. He did however, play more alto sax than usual and his voice was spot on.
The set: 

This Love of Mine / Can You Dig It / Playhouse / Magic Time / Moondance / I Can’t Stop Loving You / How Can  Poor Boy / That’s Entrainment / Keep It Simple / School of Hard Knocks / No Thing / Professional Jealousy / Don’t Go to Nightclubs Anymore / End of the Land / Bright Side of the Road / St. James Infirmary / Behind the Ritual

Van Morrison and the Lemonheads will be making their first ever appearances at South By Southwest.
SXSW has booked Morrison for a  March 12 show at the La Zona Rosa to preview songs from his next Lost Highway release "Keep It Simple" (out April 1).
The Lemonheads will perform "It's A Shame About Ray" in its entirety the same night at Emo's Annex. Performance is in celebration of Rhino's March 25 release of "collector's edition" of the 1992 album.On the tour that accompanied the album's release, the shows were remarkably short.

On the heels of the Van Morrison reissue project comes the announcement that an album of all new Morrison recordings will be released March 11.
"Keep It Simple" will feature 11 Morrison songs composed specifically for the album. (He has not done that in awhile).
It's VanMo's first disc since 2005's impressive collection of country covers "Pay the Devil." (One exception: He did write the title track).
Having not heard a single note, here's the rundown from the record company, Lost Highway:
All of his influences show up: jazz, folk, blues, Celtic, country, soul and gospel;
No big horns or string arrangements;
and the creation of a new word, “Entrainment.”
Any tour dates will have to follow his current spate of dates in Europe, where he is booked through early May.

Van Morrison's neglected catalog will receive a thorough remastering by Universal Music Enterprises and Exile Productions, starting with one of the greatest live albums ever.
Pact covers 29 of VanMo's albums, running from 1971's "Tupelo Honey" to 2002's "Down the Road," albums he recorded during stints with Warner Bros., Polygram and Universal.
While his CDs have remained in print, they have never been updated and there are gaping holes in Morrison offerings online.
The first set of reissues is: "Tupelo Honey" with an alternate take of "Wild Night" and a reworking of the traditional "Down By The Riverside";the aforementioned "It's Too Late to Stop Now" with a live version of "brown Eyed Girl"; "Wavelength" with two bonus tracks; "A Sense of Wonder" with two songs tacked on; "Avalon Sunset" with an alternate of "Whenever God Shines His Light" and "When The Saints Go Marching In"; and "Back on Top" featuring Morrison's take on Fats Domino's "Valley of Tears."
The first six will be released on Jan. 29.

Very quietly, almost too quietly, Van Morrison has made his catalog available for digital downloading after years of being one of the more important holdouts.
The debut of Morrison albums - and we're talking "Veedon Fleece," "Beautiful Vision" and the record he made with the Chieftains, not just "Moondance" - comes on the heels of him scoring his highest chart debut ever in the U.K. "Still on Top - The Greatest Hits," Morrison's third compilation album released in the U.K. this year, entered at No. 2.
Morrison's online catalog has jumped from a  handful of titles to 43.
Released as double album with 37 tracks in the U.K., it will be released Nov. 6 in the U.S. by Universal's Hip-O as a single disc with 21 tracks.