Among Van Morrison fans, Veedon Fleece is a dearly loved cult favorite—and it contains some of Van’s most richly atmospheric, emotionally moving work. Influenced by a stay in Ireland, songs like “Streets of Arklow” and “Country Fair” are bucolic mood pieces with mystical overtones, simultaneously hypnotic and stirring. “Linden Arden Stole the Highlights” and others overflow with mysterious imagery, literary allusions, and a rapturously loose-limbed, jazz-folk vibe akin to that of the legendary Astral Weeks.