Another great album--though not entirely Van--is Van Morrison and the Chieftains.
It's true that his earlier work was not produced as well as some of the later recordings, which I might even call SLICK in their production. However, I think that to skip over songs like Into the Mystic (Moondance), Ballerina (Astral Weeks), or Crazy Face (His Band & the Street Choir) because of their production value would have any interested listener miss out on the absolute genius of Van the Man.
A friend once said that if you like one Steely Dan album, buy them all. I've always felt that way about Van Morrison. Heck, if Van did an album of Ricky Martin covers, I'd buy it. Few people have ever written music so perfectly matched for their own voice. He does!
Just listen to him sing 'Caravan' on The Band's "The Last Waltz". Most heavy metal bands would kill for that kind of tension and energy.
Just my 2 cents.
