Too Long in Exile

Exile/Polydor 314 519 219-2
(Released June 1993)

Too Long in Exile (6:18)
Big Time Operators (6:04)
Lonely Avenue (6:26)
Ball & Chain (5:36)
In the Forest (4:39)
Till We Get the Healing Done (8:32)
Gloria (5:20)
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (4:08)
Wasted Years (3:58)
The Lonesome Road (3:16)
Moody's Mood For Love (2:53)
Close Enough for Jazz (instrumental) (2:40)
Before The World Was Made (4:24)
I'll Take Care Of You (5:19)
Instrumental / Tell Me What You Want (8:10)
Total time: (77:45)

Musicians:
See production information for this album, or click on track timings above for production information on that track.

Review by Scott Thomas:
Morrison's ongoing and heartfelt desire to recapture his lost youth is the prime motivation behind 1993's Too Long in Exile, but this time he does it by covering songs like Ray Charles's "Lonely Avenue," Bobby "Blue" Bland's "I'll Take Care of You," and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" that he would have performed with the Monarchs and Them. He does a credible job. The original songs, on the other hand, betray creative exhaustion. "In the Forest" and "Til We Get the Healing Done" bear witness to this fact. While the former appropriates the melody of "Orangefield" and the lyrics of ____________ (name any Van Morrison song with a pastoral theme), the latter shamelessly plunders "When the Healing Has Begun" from Into the Music. The album reaches its nadir in a lifeless remake of "Gloria" with John Lee Hooker in tow.

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