there are few artists who can challenge the musical legacy of van morrison. he is an alchemist of musical styles – jazz, folk, blues, r&b, country and pop, amongst others. he is of course a very talented songwriter as well and has been prodigious in his recordings for nearly 50 years. he is arguably the best white r&b singer ever.

the original ‘its too late’ was a live release issued in 1974 which chronicled his 1973 tour and is considered one of the best live albums ever. a double album culled from eight performances from a trio of cities and featured the appropriately dubbed caledonia soul orchestra – an 11 piece band with horns and string section. it has just been remastered and repackaged. more importantly, the artist has also chosen to complement this release with an additional compilation from these same shows. three cd’s with 15 songs from those three venues – the troubadour in l.a., santa monica civic auditorium, and the rainbow in london. there is also a dvd taken from the rainbow on july 24, shot as a documentary for the bbc, but never released till now. there is no overlap, as there are cuts that are on both releases, but not from the same venues, and they are different enough to make it worthwhile.

van morrison is on top of his game here, easily switching from a jazz interpretation of ‘moondance’ to a country hoe down version of ‘moonshine whiskey’. maybe more importantly, he fleshes out a great deal of the shows with covers from a wide range of artists, showing his appreciation for various genres that have influenced him. we get hank william’s ‘hey good lookin’, louis prima’s ‘buona sera’, and some standard blues and r&b selections from willie dixon, sam cooke and ray charles. there is also at least one version of ‘bein’ green’, made famous by kermit the frog.

the orchestra is a well oiled machine that was able to follow him anywhere, and did. they could easily pivot from a jazzy elasticity to full tilt boogie. it has been written that the early version of springsteen’s e street band was heavily influenced by the original album.

i can’t say that the remastered version is worth buying to replace the original (except for really devoted fans), but it is worth considering if you don’t already have it. the extended box set is a great value, and i have highly enjoyed it. i have been known to come home from work with it playing in my car at very high volumes. it just sounds great. the dvd is well done and a must have for a fan of van.