Exile/Legacy RecordingsAn expanded version of Van Morrison‘s 1997 studio album, The Healing Game, will be released on March 22 as part of the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s ongoing reissue project.
The Healing Game‘s deluxe edition is a three-disc collection that features the album’s original 10 tracks, various bonus cuts — including alternate versions, single versions and various collaborations — and a previously unreleased live 1997 performance from Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival.
The first disc features the original album, plus five extra tracks that previously appeared on other releases.
Disc two contains four tracks that Morrison recorded with rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Carl Perkins, a couple of duets with John Lee Hooker that originally appeared on the blues great’s Grammy-winning 1997 album Don’t Look Back, and a cover of Jimmy Rodgers‘ “Mule Skinner Blues” recorded with skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan.
Also featured on that disc are a few unreleased cuts: early versions of “The Healing Game” and “Fire in the Belly,” a jazz version of the title track and a cover of Louis Armstrong‘s “A Kiss to Build a Dream On.”
The live performance on the third disc, captured in July 1997, features renditions of most of The Healing Game‘s songs, plus a version of “Tupelo Honey” and covers of Ray Charles‘ “Fool For You” and Sly & the Family Stone‘s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”
You can check out the live version of “The Healing Game” from Montreux ’97 at Van’s official YouTube channel.
The Healing Game reissue also will be available digitally and via streaming services, and as a one-disc vinyl LP minus the bonus tracks.
Here’s the track list of The Healing Game‘s deluxe edition:
Disc 1: The Original Album…Plus
“Rough God Goes Riding”
“Fire in the Belly”
“This Weight”
“Waiting Game”
“Piper at the Gates of Dawn”
“Burning Ground”
“It Once Was My Life”
“Sometimes We Cry”
“If You Love Me”
“The Healing Game
Bonus Tracks
“Look What the Good People Done”
“At the End of the Day”
“The Healing Game” (single version)
“Full Force Gale ’96” (single version)
“St. Dominic’s Preview”
Disc 2: Sessions & Collaborations
“The Healing Game” (alternate version)*
“Fire in the Belly” (alternate version)*
“Didn’t He Ramble”*
“The Healing Game” (jazz version)*
“Sometimes We Cry” (full-length version)*
“Mule Skinner Blues”
“A Kiss to Build a Dream On”*
“Don’t Look Back” — John Lee Hooker
“The Healing Game” — John Lee Hooker
“Boppin’ the Blues” — Carl Perkins & Van Morrison*
“Matchbox” — Carl Perkins & Van Morrison*
“Sittin’ on Top of the World” — Carl Perkins & Van Morrison (arranged by Van Morrison)
“My Angel” — Carl Perkins & Van Morrison*
“All by Myself” — Carl Perkins & Van Morrison*
“Mule Skinner Blues” — Lonnie Donegan & Van Morrison
Disc 3: Live at Montreux 7/17/97
“Rough God Goes Riding”*
“Foreign Window”*
“Tore Down a la Rimbaud”*
“Vanlose Stairway/Trans-Euro Train”*
“Fool for You”*
“Sometimes We Cry”*
“It Once Was My Life”*
“I’m Not Feeling It Anymore”*
“This Weight”*
“Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)”*
“Fire in the Belly”*
“Tupelo Honey/Why Must I Always Explain”*
“The Healing Game”*
“See Me Through/Soldier of Fortune/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)/Burning Ground”*
* = previously unissued.
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