''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' is the sixteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, released in 1986 on Mercury. Upon release in 1986, it was well received by critics and charted at number twenty-seven in the UK and number seventy on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Recording and composition

The album was recorded at Studio D and

Record Plant Studios The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

in 1985 with Jim Stern as engineer. The basic takes were recorded at Studio D with Chris Michie,

Jef Labes Jef Labes is an American keyboardist and musician. He is best known from his work with Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt. Jef Labes has also arranged for string and woodwind instruments on numerous albums. Career Labes started his recording career ...

Babatunde Lea Babatunde Lea ( ) is an American percussionist who plays Afro-Cuban jazz and worldbeat. He took his name from Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji. Biography Michael Lea was raised in Englewood, New Jersey, while regularly commuting to 116th an ...

(credited as "Baba Trunde"), David Hayes and Morrison. Overdubs, guitar solos, strings and back-up vocals were added at the Record Plant with the masters taken to Townhouse Studios in London. Overdubs with Ritchie Buckley on saxophone, Martin Drover on trumpet and oboe played by

Kate St. John Kate St John (born October 2, 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Classically trained on oboe, she gained a music degree at City University London. Her first band was The Ravishing Beauties with Virginia A ...

were added in the London studio. The album title is evocative of a 1966 quotation by Jiddu Krishnamurti: "...there is no teacher, no pupil; there is no leader; there is no guru; there is no Master, no Saviour. You yourself are the teacher and the pupil; you are the Master; you are the guru; you are the leader; you are everything." The song " In the Garden" was a favorite fan concert performance for years. Morrison told Mick Brown in 1986 on the ''Interview Album'': "I take you through a definite meditation process which is a form of

transcendental meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...

. It's not about TM, forget about that. You should have some degree of tranquillity by the time you get to the end. It only takes about ten minutes to do this process." There are references back to ''

Astral Weeks ''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Rec ...

'' with gardens wet with rain and a childlike vision. The words are poetic as in the line "you are a creature all in rapture/You had the key to your soul". "Got to Go Back" features

's oboe and reminisces of school days back in the singer's childhood in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. "Oh, The Warm Feeling" is also a song of feeling the safety of family and love in childhood. "Foreign Window" is a song concerned with dealing with some sort of self-imposed therapy and having to go on no matter what. Brian Hinton remarks, "There is a grace and majesty here which I have experienced from little else in rock music." "Here Comes the Knight" is a pun on the Them song "

Here Comes the Night "Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the US. Them's single is listed at either No. 33 or No. ...

" and quotes from the

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

on the gravestone of one of Morrison's favorite poets,

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

. The Yeats Estate had denied Morrison's request to transform a Yeats poem to music, but the gravestone was considered public property: "Here come horsemen through the pass / They say cast a cold eye on life, on death". "Ivory Tower" echoes Yeats once more. The song "Thanks For the Information" is a comment on the cliches of the business world.

Critical reception

''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' was well received by contemporary critics and proved to be Morrison's best-reviewed album during the 1980s. Barry McIlheney from '' Melody Maker'' hailed it as a "magnificent return to form" that will astound listeners who had become disenchanted with his last few albums. John Wilde in ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' remarks, "the crescendos here are never dampened by their subtle nature and never fall short of blinding. The whole album aches with a steady stream of sorrow" and concluded by calling it the best record of that year so far, upon release. In ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'',

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

described the album as "a fragile, familiar schematic, laid out over haunting, circular melodies airbrushed with acoustic guitars and often abruptly broken up by Morrison's idiosyncratic vocal phrasing." ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' critic Lynn Van Matre said it reminded her of Morrison's 1968 album ''

'', as most of the songs "on this beautiful and deeply soulful album resound with gentle, questing hope." In a more critical review, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' magazine said Morrison "no longer takes the breath away and as a musician has been content to age with dignity." In ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', Robert Christgau's critique came in the form of quip mocking the album's title: "no soap radio" (in reference to the nonsensical punchline to an unstated joke, suggesting Morrison's lyrics are unintelligible or meaningless), "no particular place to go" (a reference to the Chuck Berry song of the same name), "no man is an island" (suggesting Morrison is solipsistic), "no spring chicken" (mocking his cantankerous mood and obsession with mortality), "no-doz" ( the caffeine pill, suggesting the album is a bore), and "no can do" (conclusion upon listening to it). In a retrospective review for ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004),

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Ble ...

dismissed ''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' as a "cranky self-imitation", with Morrison complaining about "how you don't understand him because you live in an 'Ivory Tower,' though he obviously hadn't listened to any music in years except his own." By contrast, biographer

Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College, University of London, ...

called it "his most consummate record since ''

Wavelength In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, t ...

'' and his most intriguingly involved since ''Astral Weeks'', this is bursting to saturation point, Morrison at this most mystical, magical best."Heylin, ''Can You Feel the Silence?'', p. 396 ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''s Nick Coleman gave its remastered edition a rave review, urging listeners to buy it "because no one has realised William Blake’s visionary ambitions more cogently in popular song. Because the songs are remarkable". The album is ranked number 977 in ''

All-Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (3rd. edition, 2000).

Reissue

The 2008 reissued and remastered version of the album contains an alternative take of "Oh the Warm Feeling" and a previously unreleased Morrison composition "Lonely at the Top". "Thanks for the Information" from this album was listed as one of the standout tracks from the six album reissue.

Track listing

All songs written by Van Morrison

Side one

#"Got to Go Back" – 5:00 #"Oh the Warm Feeling" – 3:16 #"Foreign Window" – 5:20 #"A Town Called Paradise" – 6:13 #" In the Garden" – 5:46

Side two

#" Tir Na Nog" – 7:14 #"Here Comes the Knight" – 3:41 #"Thanks for the Information" – 7:16 #"One Irish Rover" – 3:30 #"

Ivory Tower An ivory tower is a metaphorical place—or an atmosphere—where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits, usually mental and esoteric ones. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an e ...

" – 3:34

Bonus tracks (2008 CD reissue)

#"Oh the Warm Feeling" (alternate take) #"Lonely at the Top"

Personnel

Musicians

*Van Morrison – guitar, harmonica, vocals *Teressa "Terry" Adams – cello, string section leader on "Tir Na Nog" *June Boyce – backing vocals *Richie Buckley –

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and soprano saxophones *Nadine Cox – harp on "Tir Na Nog" *Martin Drover – trumpet *Joseph Edelberg – violin * David Hayes – bass *Rosie Hunter – backing vocalist *

– piano, synthesizer, string arrangement on "Tir Na Nog" *

Chris Michie Chris Michie (January 12, 1948 – March 27, 2003) was an American guitarist and composer and best known for his work with Van Morrison. Chris Michie was born in Ithaca, New York in 1948 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when he was a teenager. He ...

– guitar *

John Platania John Platania is a session musician, guitar player, and record producer. He was born in 1948 in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, in Ulster County, near Woodstock. Career Van Morrison Platania is best known for his work with Van Morrison, begin ...

– guitar *Rebecca Sebring –

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– cor anglais,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

on "Got to Go Back", "Foreign Window" and "Here Come the Knight" *John Tenney – violin * Bianca Thornton – backing vocals *

Jeanie Tracy Jeanie Tracy is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as a background singer of Sylvester, an American disco singer. Her first album, '' Me and You'' (1982), featured post-disco hits "I'm ...

– backing vocals *

(credited as Baba Trunde) – drums

Production

*Van Morrison – Producer *

Mick Glossop Mick Glossop is an English record producer and recording engineer. In 2009, he was awarded a Visiting Professorship at Leeds College of Music. Glossop was initially known for recording and producing for new wave and punk bands such as Magazine ...

– Engineer *Jim Stern – Engineer *Assistant Engineer – Lenette Viegas

Charts

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press, * Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary, {{Authority control Van Morrison albums 1986 albums Mercury Records albums Albums produced by Van Morrison