Album Review: Van Morrison -- Duets: Re-working The Catalogue

Even the finest white soul voice of his generation has to keep that catalogue turning over.

In his singular way he’s avoided sullying the true classics of his history – there’s no Gloria, Bright Side Of The Road or such – but there are places here where commercial considerations have obviously won out: looking at you, Bublé. But even his second-division songs with input from real contemporaries like Steve Winwood or Georgie Fame – or those where there’s a mutual respect and restraint like Mark Knopfler’s voice-and-distinctive-guitar turn on Irish Heartbeat – have worth beyond just shifting units.