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Van Morrison: Moondance

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Warner Bros. Records
Released: 1970.02.28
Time:
 38:14
Category: Soul, Pop, Jazz, Irish Folk
Producer(s): Van Morrison
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.vanmorrison.co.uk
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] And It Stoned Me (Van Morrison) - 4:30
[2] Moondance (Van Morrison) - 4:35
[3] Crazy Love (Van Morrison) - 2:34
[4] Caravan (Van Morrison) - 4:57
[5] Into the Mystic (Van Morrison) - 3:25
[6] Come Running (Van Morrison) - 2:30
[7] These Dreams of You (Van Morrison) - 3:50
[8] Brand New Day (Van Morrison) - 5:09
[9] Everyone (Van Morrison) - 3:31
[10] Glad Tidings (Van Morrison) - 3:42

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Van Morrison – Vocals, Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Tambourine, Harmonica, Producer
Jack Schroer – Alto & Soprano Saxophones
Collin Tilton – Flute, Tenor Saxophone
Jeff Labes – Organ, Piano, Clavinet
John Platania – Guitar, Rhythm Guitar
John Klingberg – Bass
Gary Mallaber – Drums, Vibraphone
Guy Masson – Conga
Emily Houston – Backing Vocals on [3,8]
Judy Clay – Backing Vocals on [3,8]
Jackie Verdell – Backing Vocals on [3,8]

Lewis Merenstein - Executive Producer
Steve Friedberg - Engineer
Tony May - Engineer
Elliot Scheiner - Engineer
Neil Schwartz - Engineer
Shelly Yakus - Engineer
Elliott Landy - Photography
Bob Cato - Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1970 LP Warner Bros. WS 1835

Recorded in August-December 1969at the A & R Studios (New York City)



The yang to Astral Weeks' yin, the brilliant Moondance is every bit as much a classic as its predecessor; Van Morrison's first commercially successful solo effort, it retains the previous album's deeply spiritual thrust but transcends its bleak, cathartic intensity to instead explore themes of renewal and redemption. Light, soulful, and jazzy, Moondance opens with the sweetly nostalgic "And It Stoned Me," the song's pastoral imagery establishing the dominant lyrical motif recurring throughout the album - virtually every track exults in natural wonder, whether it's the nocturnal magic celebrated by the title cut or the unlimited promise offered in "Brand New Day." At the heart of the record is "Caravan," an incantatory ode to the power of radio; equally stirring is the majestic "Into the Mystic," a song of such elemental beauty and grace as to stand as arguably the quintessential Morrison moment.

Jason Ankeny - All Music Guide



Van Morrison went a long way towards defining his wild Irish heart with his first two classic albums: the brooding, introspective Astral Weeks (1968), and the expansive, swinging Moondance. If the first was the work of a poet, its sequel was the statement of a musician and bandleader. Moondance is that rare rock album where the band has buffed the arrangements to perfection, and where the sax solos instead of the guitar. The band puts out a jazzy shuffle on "Moondance" and plays it soulful on "These Dreams of You." The album includes both Morrison's most romantic ballad ("Crazy Love") and his most haunting ("Into the Mystic"). "And It Stoned Me" rolled off Morrison's tongue like a favorite fable, while "Caravan" told a tale full of emotional intrigue. Moondance stood out in the rock world of 1970 like a grownup in a kiddie matinee.

John Milward - Amazon.com



Moondance is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 28 February 1970 by Warner Bros. Records and peaked at #29 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. The album's musical style blends R&B, folk rock, country rock, and also jazz (most obviously on the title track). The single released was "Come Running" with "Crazy Love" as the B-side, which peaked at #39 on the Pop Singles chart. "Crazy Love" was only released as a single in the Netherlands and did not chart. "Moondance" was not released as a single until 1977 and peaked at #92. Moondance was critically acclaimed when first released and established Morrison as a major artist. The songs on the album quickly became staples of FM radio. It has proven to be Morrison's most famous album, often appearing on many lists of best albums of all time. Among other awards, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2003, it was ranked #65 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Moondance was a commercial and critical success with the album charting in the Top 30 in the US and #32 in the UK. While Blowing Your Mind! was recorded and released under Bert Berns's control and Astral Weeks was a commercial failure if lauded by most critics, Moondance represented Morrison's first success as an artist in control of his music and his band and it established him as a top selling singer-songwriter. Said to be an "extraordinary achievement", as of 2010, it had continuously sold well during the forty years since its release. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA in 1996, having shipped three million copies in the United States.

Rolling Stone magazine critics Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs jointly reviewed it and concluded: "Moondance is an album of musical invention and lyrical confidence; the strong moods of "Into the Mystic" and the fine, epic brilliance of "Caravan" will carry it past many good records we'll forget in the next few years." In the San Francisco Chronicle, Ralph J. Gleason noted: "It is really in the quality of his sound that Van Morrison's impact comes through most strongly. He wails. He wails as the jazz musicians speak of wailing, as the gypsies, as the Gaels and the old folks in every culture speak of it. He gets a quality of intensity in that wail which really hooks your mind, carries you along with his voice as it rises and falls in long, soaring lines." Jon Landau considered the album's only flaw to be that of perfection. "Things fell into place so perfectly I wished there was more room to breathe. Morrison has a great voice and on Moondance he found a home for it." Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice in 1970, claimed that "Morrison has finally fulfilled himself. Forget Astral Weeks--this is a brilliant, catchy, poetic, and completely successful lp."

In a retrospective review, Christgau said that on Moondance, Morrison skillfully integrated his style of Irish poetry into popular song structure while improving his "folk-jazz swing" with a strong backbeat, lively brass instruments, and innovative hooks. He found "Morrison's soul" to be similar to "the black music he loves", calling it "mortal and immortal simultaneously". The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979) called the album a "bolder flipside" to Astral Weeks. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny said that "virtually every track exults in natural wonder, whether it's the nocturnal magic celebrated by the title cut or the unlimited promise offered in Brand New Day." Nick Butler from Sputnikmusic wrote that, like Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, Moondance is "fixated on the power of nature, but rather than merely sitting in awe, it finds spirituality and redemption in the most basic of things. The pinnacle of Van The Man's career, and maybe, of non-American soul in general."

Wikipedia.org
 

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