This traditional Scottish ballad was an old folk standard covered by Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Joan Baez, and Marianne Faithfull, among many others. But leave it to Van Morrison to reinvent it as a soul number. His arrangement of 'Wild Mountain Thyme' as 'Purple Heather' on Hard Nose to the Highway(1973) is a stirring, soothing, dramatic reading that ranks with his best work, particularly the jazzy folk excursions of his monumental Astral Weeks (1968). In fact, Morrison was still at the top of his game on this LP, a peak he rode right through his more country- and R&B-flavored early-'70s records to his under-acknowledged Veedon Fleece (1974), which must be counted as one of his best records, a full realization of some of the ideas he began to explore on Astral Weeks.' Purple Heather' finds Morrison returning to one of his strengths, the soul-infected Celtic folk song, or the Celtic-infused soul song - depending on how you want to view it. Early-'60s American soul music, particularly the Southern Stax-identified strain - as well as coming from the blues - owed a great deal to country music, which of course followed from Appalachian folk, which can itself be traced back to the British Isles.
These folk strains are not as evident on most of the recordings by, say, Wilson Pickett, Al Green, or Otis Redding, though the musical elements are indeed there, and can be heard more obviously in later recordings by the latter two artists in particular. But Morrison manages to balance all of these various strains into his own unique musical melting pot, a melange that is so distinctly his own that all one needs to hear are the opening guitar strums and tentative drum hits of 'Purple Heather' to know that one is listening to a Van Morrison production.It begins much like 'Into the Mystic' and 'Sweet Thing,' calmly, comforting, and autumnal. Morrison softly intones the pastoral, romantic lyric 'Well, the summertime has gone/And the leaves are gently turnin'/And my love I wanna take you/To the place heart-a-yearnin'/Will you go, lassie go/And we'll all go together/In the wild mountain thyme/All around the blooming heather/Will you go.' Before the end of the almost six minutes, we are swept along in blustery tides of Astral Weeks-like strings and hammering piano figures from Jef Labes (who also co-produces and arranges on the LP) that play off of Morrison's lead vocal cues. Labes sounds particularly inspired here, playing rolling figures and grandly dramatic solos.
Purple Heather Lyrics: Oh, the summertime is coming / And the leaves are sweetly turning / And the wild mountain thyme / Blooms across the purple heather / Will you go, lassie. / If you will.
The drums alternate between jazzy fills and a rock & roll backbeat. We can hear the spontaneous spirit inherent in the live performance, right down to the unintended clams from the bass player missing a chord change - much like on the early electric Dylan albums. But one can not imagine the spirited performance done any other way.Morrison had noted that the song was ubiquitous in his musical upbringing, but it took a live performance by a legendary Irish folk group called the McPeake Family (who are often credited with writing the song) to awaken him to the gem within the number. In a 1973 interview with Irish television host Tony Johnson, Morrison explained, 'a lot of people are saying 'Why are you doing that?' I tried to get it on an album for a long time. I heard this song for years but I never heard it done like the McPeakes. I was at a party, a phony record company party, and the McPeakes were at it.
They were the only real thing happening there. They just stood in the middle of the floor and sang this song. I don't sing it the way they sing it, but that's what inspired me, it's what turned me on to the song.' For a taste of the ballad as the more traditional 'Wild Mountain Thyme,' the Marianne Faithfull interpretation is suggested, from her 1965 LP Go Away From My World. Her younger, sweet voice is perfect for the haunting arrangement of the song.
Hers is a inherently and inexplicably sad rendering.