Can You Feel the Silence? : Van Morrison - A New Biography

by Clinton Heylin

Book Overview

Beginning each chapter with an interpretation of a key autobiographical song, this text tracks Van Morrison's life from the tough working class protestant culture of Belfast to paranoid international... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 014029578X
• ISBN13: 9780140295788
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Gardners Books
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 1.5" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

An in-depth look at the Van and his madness

This is the most complete bio of Van I've read to date, and while I wish it would focus more on the music rather than the man's disdain of fame and celebrity, it's still a fascinating read into the life of a very private man. Sometimes I felt that the interviews went on too long and I just wanted to say, "Okay, we get it, he's a difficult person but get on with it!" Still it's worth the read and apparently there aren't that many great new biographies about Van, so give it a chance.

A Biography, Not A Hagiography

First of all, one has to be really interested in the life and the music of Van Morrison to want to read a tome of this heft. Morrison himself may wonder why anyone wants to know anything about him beyond what they hear on CD or on stage. Well, maybe its because his biggest fans want to know just what the source of all his talent is. After all, Morrison is far from a one hit wonder and a one trick pony. His ability to make quality music in so many different genres is a source of wonder to us all! After I read the book, I read the reviews. Reading the reviews reminded me of how differently any given sentence or phrase can be interpreted, depending on the reader's angle. Some fans will brook no criticism of their idol, others are willing to read between the lines and to accept that because their idol is human, he is as likely to have flaws like the rest of us do. The fair-minded reader should remember that this is a biography, not a hagiography. It's certainly not a whitewash, but its not a hatchet job, either. There is a wealth of information in Can You Feel The Silence, both about Morrison himself, and about his music. It covers the good times and the bad times and the development of his unique musical talent from his youth to the present century. Clearly, Van Morrison follows his own muse, but its up to the reader to digest the information and come to his/her own conclusions. The book doesn't purport to be the last word, but author Heylin tries to be as thorough as possible. I personally don't agree with Heylin's assessment of some of Morrison's work, particularly some of his later albums, but that just reflects our differences in musical taste. So Van Morrison is said to be difficult. Heylin isn't the first to say it and he won't be the last. Lots of artists are said to be difficult. He is said to interview poorly. I have read two fine interviews in the English music press within the last year in which Morrison was quite forthcoming. Maybe those interviews that didn't work out were those in which he was asked asinine questions. Heylin seems at times to be on the side of those who bash Morrison as rude and unprofessional, but if you read closely, he is actually more balanced. As for the music, if you pick 100 Van Morrison fans and ask them to write down their 10 favorite Morrison albums, you are likely to have not a single matching list. So I like Down the Road, Back on Top, and The Crying Game; Heylin thinks they are weak and unfocused. Heylin seems to like the You Win Again collaboration with Linda Gayle Lewis, I thought it stunk. But even though I don't always agree with him, reading this book helps me to hear Morrison's music with new ears. Whatever your view, this book is loaded with interesting stories about the how Van's albums were made. And you will find out why Moondance has not yet been remastered. I recommend Can You Feel the Silence to anyone vitally interested in the life and music of Van Morrison. I find the listing of key people i

A bit flawed but easily the best Van Morrison biography so far

There aren't many Van Morrison biographies out there, and most of them rely on musical analysis as attempts to flesh out Morrison's life are often hindered by Morrison himself. This book falls a bit short, but it's still the best biography on Morrison to date. People who call it a hatchet job are overreacting. Heylin isn't out to get Morrison, but he can't avoid the negative stories (given here in an 'oral history' format). This is a subject who has alienated so many important figures in his professional and personal life, and if Heylin were to cut back on the unflattering anecdotes, you wouldn't understand why Morrison has lost so many great collaborators over the years and how some of his closest relationships have fallen apart (and in return, impacted his work). In fact, one of the most interesting things about this book is how it digs deep into Morrison's written and recorded output, looking at songs he hasn't even released, and ties them with Morrison's own experiences. A few reviewers criticized Heylin for dismissing Morrison's opinions, but to be fair, Heylin still includes Morrison's take on his own work, often unedited; taken from numerous interviews, these passages show an artist who is often unwilling to talk about his work and even contradicts himself in different interviews. This brings me to the next point: there is actually PLENTY of musical analysis. There's definitely a lot less than other Morrison books, but again, those books relied on musical analysis and don't come close to collecting the amount of research Heylin has presented here. In fact, this book actually does a great job explaining how certain albums came together. More importantly, this book debunks numerous myths surrounding Morrison. Some of this is old news; for example, Richard Davis and others have been very upfront that "Astral Weeks" was a collaborative effort with little guidance from Morrison, even though he did write the songs. However, Heylin also argues that the sessions for "Hard Nose The Highway" were actually some of Morrison's most productive (often considered his weakest album, Heylin argues that this is a result of poor song selection, not a lack of inspiration as many critics have argued). He also points out that the "three-year drought" was actually much shorter and that plenty of significant recordings were made during that time - unfortunately it would take 20 years to release them. While the later chapters create a less flattering picture of the man's personality, they also command a complete re-evaluation of his 80's output, finding great merit in songs like 'Summertime In England' and albums like "No Guru..." and even "Down The Road." In fact, the chapter covering "Down The Road" is the biggest eye-opener; even though some information was reportedly censored (at the time of publication, Morrison was involved in a lawsuit, and the case's details had to be dropped), there is still a wealth of new information regarding the circumstances surrou

Ignore the Snob's Poor Ratings - This Book is Great!

I, for one, enjoyed this new biography of Van Morrison immensly. It's definetly up there with the best. It amazes me how people give books bad reviews and critisize the author just because they don't like what they read about their "heroes," and blame the author for it. Van Morrison is in no way going to give any author total access to him unless he has complete control and the book is guaranteed to be so whitewashed that the information in it would be totally unreliable. And I'm sure there are those close to Van who didn't want to participate in this book because of their concern of his privacy and how it might affect their friendship/relationship with him. I found the information in here to be quite interesting, including his failed business ventures, etc. After all, these things are what shape the man as he is today. Ignore the snobs who didn't like this book. If you love Mr. Morrison, you will enjoy it...unless you're one of those snobs. It really is a great book!

Van Fans May Object

This new biography will provide support for the already notorious reputation of Van Morrison - of little comfort to Van fans. Morrison has a renowned reputation as disinterested in fans, commercialization, the record industry and rock.But it also provides great detail of the stages of his career, the meaning behind a good deal of his music and his relations with the press, the music industry, his family and friends. I for one, continue to be an ardent fan, having seen Morrison numbers of times over the years and have collected all of his music. I am deeply grateful of his incredible devotion to music and for sharing his talents when he could well afford to become a recluse.Heylin does a good job of capturing Van Morrison without having the chance to meet him directly.