In November 1968, “Warner Bros” label released “Astral Weeks”, the second Van Morrison studio album.It was recorded September – October at “Century Sound Studios” in New York City, and was produced by Lewis Merenstein. In 1995 “Mojo” magazine ranked “Astral Weeks” at number two on its list of the greatest albums of all time; in 1998 it was voted the 9th greatest album of all time in a “Music of the Millennium” poll conducted by “HMV”, “Channel 4” and “The Guardian”; in 2000, “Q” magazine ranked it at number 6 on its list of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever”; in 2003, “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked it at number 19 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, and in 2006, “Time” magazine included “Astral Weeks” in its list of the “All-TIME 100 Albums”.

Personnel:

• Van Morrison— vocals, acoustic guitar
• Barry Kornfeld — acoustic guitar
• Jay Berliner— classical and steel-string acoustic guitars
• Richard Davis— double bass
• Warren Smith, Jr.— percussion, vibraphone
• Connie Kay— drums
• John Payne — flute, soprano saxophone
• Larry Fallon— harpsichord, string arrangements, conductor
• Brooks Arthur — engineer
• Ed Thrasher— art director
• Joel Brodsky— photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Van Morrison.

Part One: In The Beginning

1. Astral Weeks
2. Beside You
3. Sweet Thing
4. Cyprus Avenue

Part Two: Afterwards

1. The Way Young Lovers Do
2. Madame George
3. Ballerina
4. Slim Slow Slider