Memory Lane

Northern Irish icon has a blast reworking the music of his teens.

- Nick Dalton

Van Morrison 

Moving On Skiffle

4/5

Virgin 4819228 (2CD, 2LP)

Van does things his own way and while this is skiffle, it's also not. At least not what you sometimes expect when a major star chooses to cover songs of his youth. Moving On Skiffle is far from simply a lively run-through of old favourites. He takes classics from the 50s, things that he was listening to in some case before he was even a teenager, and recreates them as Van Morrison songs. He never loses sight of the originals yet infuses them not only with the soulfulness of his always unmistakeable growl but with an extra something, easy-going but in a focused way.

There's always something going on, whether it's his own sax solo on Careless Love, the three-piece backing vocals, verging on 50s Memphis, on many tracks, or the organ runs and near rock'n'roll guitar on No Other Babywritten and first recorded by Dickie Bishop in 1957 then covered by admired Brit band The Vipers.

Van really is the man here, doing plenty of work... as well as the sax on various tracks, electric guitar strumming, 12-string acoustic fills, powerful harmonica breaks, even producing the whole caboodle. It's no mean feat given there are 23 tracks.

There are nods to the past all over the place: Jerry Lee Lewis piano pounding here, a touch of steel there, the merest hint of 60s Tex-Mex keyboard. There's a swaying take on I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, a Hank Williams song recorded so many times you wouldn't think it could bear up to another go. In fact, the country artists of the time get a good show, and to good effect. Williams' Cold Cold Heart, sax-drenched and with playful western swing showband vibe, Don Gibson's O Lonesome Me, Hank Snow's I'm Moving On.