One of the greatest albums most people haven't heard is Van Morrison's 1968 masterpiece "Astral Weeks." 
It was recorded after "The Belfast Cowboy" scored a hit with "Brown Eyed Girl," but before his hit albums such as "Moondance"
and "Tupelo Honey."
"Astral Weeks" didn't sell well initially. Morrison says he never collected a dime for "Brown Eyed Girl," which means he wasn't set-up for a financial fall after "Astral Weeks" was released.
Not that he was content with that when he recorded that album, "I was broke and depressed and remained that way for many years after that, and I just decided to make a stand for myself and do things my way, not theirs," he told the Los Angeles Times.
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The result of doing things his way was "Astral Weeks," Morrison's widely revered 1968 release. Four decades later it is regularly cited as one of the greatest albums of the rock era, though it never sold enough copies to show up on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart.
So, despite the awe the album inspired among music aficionados for its remarkable depth -- Morrison was only 22 when he made it -- he was never able to go on tour and play the songs live the way he wanted. He'll realize that long-standing wish on Friday and next Saturday when he performs "Astral Weeks" live in its entirety over two nights at the Hollywood Bowl backed by an orchestra and two of the key musicians, bassist Richard Davis and guitarist Jay Berliner, who accompanied him so many years ago.
"I am not 'revisiting' it really, as this is a totally different project," Morrison said, responding by e-mail so he could consider each question put to him. "I had always wanted to do these songs fully orchestrated and live, [but] I never got around to it. Then I thought, well, we have lost the great [drummer] Connie Kay already and Larry Fallon the original arranger, so I thought I should probably get to it now."
He plans to record the Bowl concerts and release them on his own label on vinyl, CD and DVD around the first of the year. Despite its vast size, seating almost 18,000 -- he's usually played indoor theaters with anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 seats on recent U.S. tours -- the Bowl appealed to Morrison for this event "because it is outdoors and live sound dynamics can be interesting outdoors in the cool fall breeze. And the Hollywood Bowl has a lot of interesting history."
Of the album's songs, perhaps only "The Way Young Lovers Do" will sound familiar to those who can hum along with Morrison classics such as "Wild Night."
The centerpiece of "Astral Weeks" is "Madame George," a stream-of-consciousness masterpiece anchored by a haunting string quartet refrain. A great song among other great ones.
I can't make it to the Hollywood Bowl for the concerts, but I'm looking forward to the release of the live CD.
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