Hard Nose the Highway
| Hard Nose The Highway | ||||
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| Studio album by Van Morrison | ||||
| Released | August 1973 | |||
| Recorded | 21–25 August and October 1972 at Caledonia Studio | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, R&B, Blue-eyed soul | |||
| Length | 42:52 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Van Morrison | |||
| Van Morrison chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Hard Nose the Highway | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Robert Christgau | B− |
| Rolling Stone | (not rated) |
Hard Nose the Highway is the seventh studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The album contains the single "Warm Love," a fan favourite.
It is his second solo album to contain songs not written by Morrison. A cover version of the song "Bein' Green", usually associated with Kermit the Frog, is included, and a take of the traditional song "Purple Heather".
Recorded during a series of prolific recording sessions, there was more than enough material to fill a double-album. Morrison proposed the idea to Warner Bros. Records, but he was ultimately convinced to release a single LP. During the recording sessions held between August and November 1972, there were nearly thirty songs recorded in all, at least three quarters of them original compositions. A few leftover tracks were saved or re-recorded for future albums like Veedon Fleece, but most would not see release until 1998's compilation of outtakes, The Philosopher's Stone, when nine of the songs would be used. Biographer Clinton Heylin suggested that "only 'Warm Love' and 'Hard Nose the Highway' could have sat comfortably alongside 'rejects' like 'Madame Joy', 'Bulbs', 'Spare Me a Little', 'Country Fair', 'Contemplation Rose' and 'Drumshanbo Hustle'."
By Morrison's own account, this was the first album that was completely produced under his complete control. The recording sessions even took place in a recording studio he had built next door to his home in Fairfax, California. He remarked on the album: "As a concept for the album, I was just trying to establish how hard it was to do what I do. Plus there were some lighter things on the other side of it. One side has a kind of hard feeling while the other is soft."
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