Moondance
Occupation
- Guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboard, saxophone, tabla, tambourine, vocals: Van Morrison
- Vocals, backing vocals: Judy Clay
- Vocals: Cissy Houston
- Backing Vocals: Emily Houston
- Bass: John Klingberg
- Organ, percussion, piano, keyboard, Clavinet: Jeff Labes
- Percussion, drums, vibraphone: Gary Mallaber
- Conga: Guy Masson
- Guitar, rhythm guitar John Platania
- Clarinet, Percussion: David Shaw
- Flute, tenor saxophone: Collin Tilton
- Vocals, backing vocals: Jackie Verdell
Moondance is the third solo album by Northern Irish singer -songwriter Van Morrison and was released in February 1970. It combines the styles of Rhythm & Blues and Country Rocks, which also influences can be seen from the Jazz, especially the title song.
Background
Moondance celebrates rural life with stories of the innocent growing up in the country. The beginning makes And It Stoned Me, which sets the mood for the album by telling it from the nostalgic sadness after leaving the rural environment. Songs like And It Stoned Me, Caravan and Into the Mystic are mixed with delicate ballads like Crazy Love and Moondance.
Moondance had his highest chart position, while the only hit single Come Running court reached as number 29 on the Billboard pop album charts for 39 of the pop singles chart. The two best known tracks on the album, the title song and Into The Mystic, sold as a single only moderately, with Moondance reached number 92 and Into The Mystic was not placed. However, both songs are now part of the standard repertoire of many classic rock radio stations. They have been covered by numerous other artists.
2001 Moondance was chosen by the TV channel VH1 ranked number 32 a list of the greatest albums of all time. It also was number 65 on the Top 500 Albums of All Time magazine Rolling Stone in 2003. In March 2007, Moondance was listed as number 72 on the NARM Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the " Definitive 200 ".
On the original LP version of the album the album cover was hinged, What A Fable brought to the fore, a short fable written by Morrison's then- wife Janet Planet. The story is about a young man and his gifts.
Trivia
Moondance was used as the backing of a love scene in the movie American Werewolf in London. The song Glad Tidings was played in the final of the fifth season of The Sopranos. Everyone was used for the final scene and the closing credits of Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums.
Title list
All tracks were written by Van Morrison.
Chart success
Album - Billboard (North America)
Album - UK Album Chart (United Kingdom)
Singles - Billboard (North America)