Celtic Crossroads [Paperback] Review

This book is a meaty little tome, 392 pages of entertaining text with a small, b/w picture section in the middle. I got my copy two days ago andhave found it hard to put down since.Despite his PhD in poetry and myth,Hinton doesn't go for academic jargon at all. The writing is brisk anddown-to-earth. Hinton is confident not only in his literary knowledge butalso in his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music, which enables him toput Van in interesting contexts at times.
Still, I've noticed a fewfactual errors and odd omissions (he doesn't know that the Bottom Line '78MC is Peter Wolf), and the writing sometimes seems rushed, especially thelast few chapters. Also, there are lapses in tone (Hinton will often jumpout of his authorial character to address the reader with a chummyquestion) and paragraphs that jump from one topic to anotherdisconcertingly.
Hinton seems to have about five main goals.
To arguethat Van Morrison is indeed a very fine poet, albeit one who's poetryrelies on its musical context. Hinton takes issue with the Johnny Rogan andJohn Collis books on this subject.To assert that VM's artistry is at itsbest during live performances. To demonstrate this, Hinton goes into greatdetail comparing the oft-booted Fillmore West 1970 show to MOONDANCE,arguing that the live versions of the MOONDANCE songs are more vital andinteresting than the studio versions. (I can't agree in this particularinstance - and *I* personally tend to feel that while the argument might betrue with Van's '90s work, the studio was where Van tended to be mostcomfortable and vital in the '70s and early '80s.)To make a strong casefor albums that critics often denigrate, such as TUPELO HONEY and COMMONONE, although he isn't afraid to come down hard on some titles (HIS BANDAND THE STREET CHOIR, A PERIOD OF TRANSITION). And he comes right out andsays that one of his primary motivations was to champion VEEDON FLEECE, analbum that he feels deserves a stronger status than that of "cultfavorite."To write a book that functions as a clearing-house of VMinformation. In this, he succeeds fairly well. There is very little Vanknowledge, lore, and minutiae that is absent. Hinton has done an amazingamount of secondary research and incorporated it generously into the book.He has even immersed himself in back issues of THE VAN MORRISON NEWSLETTERand WAVELENGTH as well as many underground tapes and boots (from thearchives of Geoff Wall), although I wish he'd taken more time to let allthe info. digest before spewing it out in the book, sometimes rathercluelessly. Overall, Hinton's use of secondary research is one of thebook's strengths. Unfortunately, there seems to be little *primary*research; most of his interview material seems gathered from the work ofhis predecessors: Ritchie Yorke, Johnny Rogan, Steve Turner, and even JohnCollis.To avoid the "wounded-journalist" bitterness thatovertook the Rogan and Collis books. Hinton doesn't stint on reporting manyinstances of VM's rude, SOB behavior, and he doesn't try to defend it, buthe also avoids moralizing about it or allowing it to (dis)color his view ofthe music.I'm sure Hinton has several other agendas in writing this book,but these are the five that stand out for me. I do recommend the book.Although the other books do more face-to- face research, and although theTurner book is the most cogent and revelatory regarding Van's spiritualconcerns, this big clearing-house project may be the most purelyentertaining volume yet written on the subject.

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Product Description:
Containing a host of new stories and personal accounts and interviews with those who know him, this new edition fully updates Van's tours, albums, top 40 single and musical collaborations.

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