It's Too Late to Stop Now is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and the Rainbow in London, during Morrison's three-month tour with his eleven-piece band, the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, from May to July 1973. Frequently named as one of the best live albums ever, It's Too Late to Stop Now was recorded during what has often been said to be the singer's greatest phase as a live performer.
Release and reception
According to Elmore Magazine's Mike Jurkovic, when It's Too Late to Stop Now was first released in 1974, "everyone—and I do mean everyone—tripped over themselves to hail the two-LP set as one of the greatest live renderings of the rock era." Reviewing the album in Creem, Robert Christgau hailed it as Morrison's best since Moondance (1970) while writing, "Songs that wore poorly or were just lame in the first place have more force and tightness here than in their studio versions". Ken Emerson was somewhat less impressed in Rolling Stone: "On It's Too Late Morrison's voice is in fine form, but much else is not...The other musicians, most of whom have played with Morrison many times before, never detract, but Morrison could be better served....But the power of Morrison's vocals overcomes these drawbacks." At the end of 1974, It's Too Late to Stop Now was voted the 20th best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics, published by The Village Voice. Ellen Willis, Greil Marcus, and Christgau ranked it 2nd, 6th, and 18th, respectively, in their ballots for the poll.
Three months after the concerts for the Too Late to Stop Now tour, Morrison had disbanded The Caledonia Soul Orchestra and went on a vacation tour of Ireland for three weeks that resulted in the album Veedon Fleece.
In a retrospective review, Jason Ankenny from AllMusic regarded the album as "an engaging, warm portrait of the man at the peak of his powers", while Morrison biographer John Collis called it "one of the most impressive of all attempts to squeeze the stage excitement of a rock performer on to vinyl." Fellow biographer Johnny Rogan said that "Morrison was in the midst of what was arguably his greatest phase as a performer." Chris Jones of the BBC wrote: "In a live setting all the hyperbole about Morrison's blend of genres into one Celtic, mystic vision makes perfect sense. This is soul music in a very real sense." Hal Horowitz with American Songwriter, on reviewing the 2008 remasters of some of Morrison's albums, said, "The classic is 1974’s double live It’s Too Late…, rightfully on anyone’s shortlist of finest concert albums. Van typically blows hot and cold on stage, but when he ignites on the oldies and choice blues covers here, few can touch him for pure blue-eyed soul passion." It's Too Late to Stop Now has been on lists of greatest live albums of all time.
Track listing
Original 1974 double LP
All tracks written by Van Morrison, except where noted. The compact disc version places sides one and two on disc one, with sides three and four, and the bonus track at the end of disc two.
