Legendary Van Morrison ‘It’s Too Late to Stop Now’ Gets Expanded

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Van Morrison records 'It's Too Late to Stop Now' live at the Santa Monica Civic (CA) Auditorium on May 19, 1973. (Photo by Ed Caraeff/Getty Images)

Van Morrison records It’s Too Late to Stop Now live at the Santa Monica (CA) Civic Auditorium on May 19, 1973. (Photo by Ed Caraeff/Getty Images)

Previously unreleased live concert recordings from Van Morrison‘s 1973 tour with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra are being issued in multiple configurations by Legacy Recordings. It’s Too Late To Stop Now will arrive on June 10 as a 2-CD, 2-LP or expanded 3-CD/1-DVD set.

The collections collate performances originally recorded at three venues: The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Civic Center, and The Rainbow Theatre in London. The DVD features live footage from the Rainbow performance, which originally aired on the BBC and is now available for the first time as a commercial home video release.

Morrison’s highly acclaimed It’s Too Late To Stop Now concert album was initially released in 1974 as a two-record set featuring 18 songs compiled from eight sets of live performances at the three venues. All of the recordings on Legacy’s new collection have been previously unavailable and none of them overlap with the performances on “Volume I” of It’s Too Late To Stop Now.

For this ambitious new release, the tapes have been remastered in 24-bit high resolution sound and will be available as both 2-CD and 2-LP (the first vinyl pressing of the album in more than 25 years) and via hi-res partners (iTunes, HD Tracks and Pono).

“I am getting more into performing,” said Van Morrison in 1973, during his tour with his newly formed Caledonia Soul Orchestra. “It’s incredible…. All of a sudden I felt like ‘you’re back into performing’ and it just happened like that…. A lot of times in the past I’ve done gigs and it was rough to get through them. But now the combination seems to be right and it’s been clicking a lot.”

Morrison’s 1973 tour found the Irish soul singer at the peak of his powers, returning to the stage to deliver scorching definitive renditions of the signature material comprising his catalog at the time, from the R&B/rock roots of his earlier band Them to the haunting folk soul of Astral Weeks and Moondance in songs like “Gloria,” “Into The Mystic” and “Domino” to covers of songs written by Sam Cooke (“Bring It On Home To Me”), Willie Dixon (“I Just Want To Make Love To You”), Hank Williams (“Hey Good Lookin'”), Carl Sigman-Peter De Rose (“Buona Sera”) and more.

The 11-piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra featured two horn players and a four-piece string section.

Each disc on It’s Too Late To Stop Now features previously unreleased performances, newly remixed from the original multitrack recordings by Guy Massey (the acclaimed engineer behind the remasters of The Beatles).

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It’s Too Late To Stop Now Volumes II, III, IV & DVD
Volume II (Recorded live at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, May 23, 1973)
Come Running (songwriter: Van Morrison)
These Dreams Of You (Van Morrison)
The Way Young Lovers Do (Van Morrison)
Snow In San Anselmo (Van Morrison)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
Purple Heather (Van Morrison)
Hey, Good Lookin’ (Hank Williams)
Bein’ Green (Joseph G. Raposo)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Listen To The Lion (Van Morrison)
Hard Nose The Highway (Van Morrison)
Moondance (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)

Volume III (Recorded live at the Santa Monica Civic, California, June 29, 1973)
I’ve Been Working (Van Morrison)
There There Child (Van Morrison, John Platania)
No Way (Jeff Labes)
Since I Fell For You (Woodrow Buddy Johnson)
Wild Night (Van Morrison)
I Paid The Price (Van Morrison, John Platania)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Gloria (Van Morrison)
Buona Sera (Carl Sigman, Peter De Rose)
Moonshine Whiskey (Van Morrison)
Ain’t Nothing You Can Do (Don D. Robey, Joseph Wade Scott)
Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket (Sonny Boy Williamson)
Sweet Thing (Van Morrison)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles)

Volume IV (Recorded live at The Rainbow, London, July 23-24, 1973)
Listen To The Lion (Van Morrison)
I Paid The Price (Van Morrison, John Platania)
Bein’ Green (Joseph G. Raposo)
Since I Fell For You(Woodrow Buddy Johnson)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
Everyone (Van Morrison)
I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles)
Sweet Thing (Van Morrison)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Wild Children (Van Morrison)
Here Comes The Night (Bert Berns)
Buona Sera (Carl Sigman, Peter De Rose)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)

DVD (Recorded live at The Rainbow, London, July 24, 1973)
Here Comes The Night (Bert Berns)
I Just Want To Make Love To You (Willie Dixon)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Moonshine Whiskey (Van Morrison)
Moondance (Van Morrison)
Help Me (Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson)
Domino (Van Morrison)
Caravan (Van Morrison)
Cyprus Avenue (Van Morrison)