''Enlightenment'' is the twentieth 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 ...

. It was released in 1990 and reached No. 5 in the UK charts and "

Real Real Gone "Real Real Gone" is a hit single written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1990 album '' Enlightenment''. It has remained a popular live performance tune and Morrison has included it on the set lists at many of ...

" charted at No. 18 in Mainstream Rock Tracks. The June 2008 re-issued and re-mastered version of the album contains alternative takes of " Enlightenment" and "So Quiet in Here". "Start All Over Again" from this album was listed as one of the standout tracks from the six album reissue.

Recording

The album was recorded in London, England, and Real World in Box. The arrangements were by

Fiachra Trench Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench (born 7 September 1941, in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician and composer from Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. Trench first studied Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, before moving on to t ...

and Micheal O'Suilleabhain played piano with a brass section made up of British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians from the late sixties:

Frank Ricotti Frank Ricotti (born 31 January 1949) is an English jazz vibraphonist and percussionist. Early life and education Ricotti was born in London, England. His father was a drummer. Bill Ashton, founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NY ...

, Henry Lowther and Malcolm Griffiths. One of the songs "So Quiet in Here" was recorded at the Kirk, Rode,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, a setting which served as both church or studio.

Composition

The song "Enlightenment" contains the words: "I'm in the here and now and I'm meditating/ And still I'm suffering but that's my problem/ Enlightenment, don't know what it is". "So Quiet in Here" is a continuation of the song "

Into the Mystic "Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album ''Moondance''. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now''. Recording and composition "Int ...

" from the ''

Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album ''Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morris ...

'' album. The single released from the album, "

", was originally written and meant for the 1980 album ''

Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...

''.Hinton, ''Celtic Crossroads'', pp 293, 294 The song "In the Days Before Rock 'N' Roll" was a collaboration between Morrison and the Irish poet

Paul Durcan Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet. Early life Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and forma ...

Track listing

All songs by Morrison unless noted otherwise. #"

" – 3:43 #" Enlightenment" – 4:04 #"So Quiet in Here" – 6:09 #"Avalon of the Heart" – 4:45 #"See Me Through" – 6:13 #"Youth of 1,000 Summers" – 3:45 #"In the Days Before Rock 'N' Roll" (Durcan, Morrison) – 8:13 #"Start All Over Again" – 4:10 #"She's My Baby" – 5:14 #"Memories" – 4:14

Bonus tracks (2008 CD reissue)

#" Enlightenment" – 3:29 (alternative take) #"So Quiet in Here" – 4:03 (alternative take)

Personnel

Musicians

*Van Morrison – vocals, guitar, harmonica *The Ambrosian Singers – choir, with John McCarthy as choirmaster (on 4) *Dave Bishop –

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

s *

– spoken word (on 7) *

Dave Early Dave Early (5 April 1957 – 14 October 1996) was an English drummer and percussionist. He was best known as the original drummer for Sade. He also worked with Chris Rea, Van Morrison, The Chieftains, Mary Black, Ananta, and others. Later he mov ...

– drums (except on 4, 10) *

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

–

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, backing vocals *Alex Gifford – synthesizers, piano *

Steve Gregory Stephen 'Steve' Gregory (born 1945) is an English jazz saxophonist and composer. He plays tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophone as well as the flute. Biography and career Gregory was born in London. At St. Paul's School he learned guit ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

, flute *Malcolm Griffiths –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

*Bernie Holland – lead guitar (on 2, 6, 9) * Henry Lowther – trumpet (on 6, 8, 9) * Brian Odgers – bass guitar (on 2, 9) *

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (; 10 December 1950 – 7 November 2018) was an Irish musician, composer, academic and educationalist. Biography Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin was a pianist, composer, recording artist and academic; he held the Pro ...

– piano (on 3) *Steve Pearce – bass guitar (except on 2, 9) *

–

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

(on 8) *Steve Sanger – drums (on 4, 10) * Steve Waterman –

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

(on 6, 8, 9)

Production

Recorded mainly at Wool Hall Studios, Beckington
Townhouse, London, Real World, Box and Pavilion Studios, London.
("So Quiet in Here" recorded at The Kirk, Rode, Somerset) *Producer: Van Morrison *Engineers:

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 music, new wave and Punk rock, pu ...

, Steve Williams *Additional engineering: Alastair McMillan *Mixing: Mick Glossop, Steve Williams *String, Brass and Choir arrangements:

*String section leader:

Gavin Wright Gavin Wright (born 1943) is an economic historian and the William Robertson Coe Professor of American economic history at Stanford University. He received his B.A from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University. He ...

*Keyboard and Synth arrangements: Neil Drinkwater

Charts

Album

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

(North America)

Singles

Notes

References

* Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary,

External links

Van Morrison's ''Enlightenment'' another sign of transition
{{Authority control Van Morrison albums 1990 albums Mercury Records albums Albums produced by Van Morrison