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Van Morrison: Poetic Champions Compose (PolyGram)

Roy Trakin, Musician, November 1987

"IF MY HEART could do the thinking, and my head began to feel," pleads Van Morrison on a song from his latest album, a sentiment that could serve as the credo for the Irish singer/songwriter's two-decade trip into the mystic. From his first solo album, Astral Weeks, Van the Man has fused the mythical aspects of his Celtic background with the soulful grit of his R&B roots and cloaked them in airy jazz-like instrumentation.

Total word count of piece: 430

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