Moondance

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Moondance
Van Morrison studio album

Publication
(s)

February 28, 1970

Label (s) Warner Bros. Records

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC , BD

Genre (s)

Folk-Rock , Rhythm & Blues

Title (number)

10

running time

38:14

occupation

production

Van Morrison , Lewis Merenstein

Studio (s)

A&R Studios, New York City

chronology
Astral Weeks
(1968) 		Moondance His Band and the Street Choir
(1970)
Single release
April 1970 Come running
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Moondance
  UK 32 04/18/1970 (3 weeks)
  US 29 05/30/1970 (24 weeks)
Singles
Come running
  US 39 04/25/1970 (8 weeks)
Moondance
  US 92 December 10, 1977 (4 weeks)

Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison and was released in February 1970. It combines the styles of rhythm and blues , folk , pop and soul , with influences from jazz , especially in the title track.

background

Was recorded Moondance August to December 1969 in the A & R Studios in New York City. For the first time Van Morrison acted himself as a music producer , he was supported by Lewis Merenstein, who already produced the predecessor Astral Weeks . The album celebrates rural life with stories of innocent growing up in the country. It starts with And It Stoned Me , which sets the mood for the album by telling of the nostalgic sadness after leaving the rural surroundings. Songs like And It Stoned Me , Caravan and Into the Mystic are mixed with delicate ballads like Crazy Love and Moondance .

Moondance had its highest chart position as number 29 on the Billboard pop albums chart, while the single hit single Come Running reached number 39 on the pop singles chart. The two best-known tracks on the album, the title track and Into The Mystic , only sold moderately as a single, with Moondance reaching number 92 and Into The Mystic not being ranked at all. Nevertheless, both songs are now part of the standard repertoire of many classic rock radio stations. They were also numerous other artists gecovert .

On the original LP version of the album, the album cover was hinged, revealing A Fable , a short fable penned by Morrison's then-wife, Janet Planet. The fable is about a young man and his gifts .

publication

Warner Bros. Records released Moondance on February 28, 1970 on LP. The album was first released on CD in 1984. On October 22, 2013 Warner brought the "Expanded Edition" on the market, which in addition to a new remaster of Moondance also previously unreleased studio recordings from the period from September to December 1969 and a cover version of Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out on a Includes bonus CD. The “Deluxe Edition” was also released at the same time. The collector's edition includes 4 CDs with additional archive recordings. Also is Moondance in high-definition audio quality and 5.1 - surround sound on Blu-ray Disc in.

Track list

All songs are written by Van Morrison .

page A
1. And It Stoned Me - 4:30
2. Moondance - 4:35
3. Crazy Love - 2:34
4. Caravan - 4:57
5. Into the Mystic - 3:25
Side B
6. Come Running - 2:30
7. These Dreams of You - 3:50
8th Brand New Day - 5:09 am
9. Everyone - 3:31
10. Glad Tidings - 3:42
Bonus Tracks (Expanded Edition)
1. Caravan (Take 4) - 5:50
2. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Jimmy Cox) - 3:28
3. Into The Mystic (Take 11) - 4:04
4. Brand New Day (Take 3) - 5:24
5. Glad Tidings (old version) - 3:43
6. Come Running (Take 2) - 4:38
7. Crazy Love (Mono Mix) - 2:39
8. These Dreams Of You (Alt. Version) - 4:00
9. Moondance (Take 22) - 4:51
10. I Shall Sing (Take 7) - 3:12
11. I've Been Working (Early Version, Take 5) - 10:24

reception

source rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone
Pitchfork

The magazine Rolling Stone leads Moondance at number 66 of the 500 best albums of all time . Into the Mystic ranks 474 and Moondance 231 of the 500 best songs of all time . The website Pitchfork voted Caravan 181st out of the 200 best songs of the 1970s. In 2001, Moondance was voted number 32 of the 100 best albums of all time by the US TV station VH1 . The album was included in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

Trivia

Moondance was used as a love scene underlay in the movie American Werewolf . The song Glad Tidings was played in the finale of the fifth season of The Sopranos . Everyone was used for the closing scene and credits of Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums .

swell

  1. ↑ a b Chart History: Van Morrison on Billboard (accessed April 25, 2020)
  2. ↑ full Official Chart History on Official Charts Company (accessed April 25, 2020)
  3. ↑ Review by Jason Ankeny on Allmusic (accessed November 26, 2018)
  4. ↑ Review on Rolling Stone (accessed November 26, 2018)
  5. ↑ Review by Ryan H. Walsh on Pitchfork Media (accessed November 26, 2018)
  6. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time on Rolling Stone (accessed November 26, 2018)
  7. ↑ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time on Rolling Stone (accessed April 25, 2020)
  8. ↑ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time on Rolling Stone (accessed April 25, 2020)
  9. ↑ The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s on Pitchfork (accessed April 25, 2020)

Web links