In November, Morrison revisited the album for the first time in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. But since then, it has become touted as one of the most influential pieces of late-'60s rock. They worked to create an extraordinarily original piece over the course of just a few days, striking a delicate middle ground between rock and jazz.Īstral Weeks never cracked the Billboard Top Albums chart when it was first released. Verging on starvation and desperate to escape a contract with his first label, Morrison wound up in a New York studio with a small group of jazz musicians. Though he'd scored a hit the year before with 'Brown Eyed Girl,' he'd made little money off it. When Van Morrison recorded Astral Weeks in 1968, he had reached a low point in his life. The Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison recorded a live version of Astral Weeks in November.
