#120 Van Morrison, 'Moondance' (1970)

Previously #66

Following the commercial failure of ‘Astral Weeks,’ Van Morrison and his wife moved to upstate New York, close to Woodstock, and close to Bob Dylan’s home, an artist he greatly admire. According to Morrison’s wife, "Van fully intended to become Dylan's best friend." Sadly for Van, though, Dylan moved out of town just before he arrived. Morrison spent most of 1969 writing this album, which was more structured, less acoustic and featured more a punchy band sound than his previous record, include the punch of horns on various songs. Morrison left the area shortly after the Woodstock festival in August ’69 due to the influx of people.

The title track was the very first MP3 I illegally downloaded in high school. Because it took hours, sometimes days to download music back then, I would listen to this song over and over. It’s got a great Jazzy sound to it, a real departure from the ‘Astral Weeks’ sound. His band really shines on this song; the double bass, the piano and even the flute. The album opens with ‘And It Stoned Me,’ a song on which Morrison reminisces about his childhood. Specifically an experience he had as a kid where on the way to a fishing trip, his family stopped at a house in a village to get some water. The old man offered them water for a stream and the wonderment of nature stopped him in his tracks, stoned him, as it were, by the nature of it. ‘Crazy Love’ is one of the greatest love songs of all time, and possibly my favourite Van Morrison song. Side 1 of the record ends with the perfect ‘Into The Mystic.’ Morrison’s voice is incredible on this track. ‘Come Running,’ the first single, is an upbeat Gospel and Southern Rock-influenced song. Just a joyous celebration of life. The album was Morrison’s commercial breakthough and would go on to define his sound for decades. ‘Moondance’ became the blueprint for Blue-Eyed Soul. It’s been certified 3x Platinum in the US, thanks to its sales of 3 million plus.

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