Van Morrison Lp Tupelo Honey NM/Mint

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Cover VG++ Record is Nm/MINT Buyer to pay $4.00 s/h Thanks for looking Tupelo Honey Studio album by  Van Morrison Released 15 October 1971
Reissued January 2008 Recorded Spring-Summer 1971 Studio Wally Heider Studios and Columbia Studios in San Francisco, California Genre Rock, folk rock, blue-eyed soul, country Length 40:42 Label Warner Bros., 
Polydor Producer Van Morrison
Ted Templeman Van Morrison chronology His Band and the Street Choir
(1970) Tupelo Honey
(1971) Saint Dominic's Preview
(1972) Singles from Tupelo Honey

1. "Wild Night"
   Released: 1 September 1971
2. "Tupelo Honey"
   Released: 1 December 1971
3. "(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball"
   Released: 1 March 1972

   Tupelo Honey is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin County, California, except for "You're My Woman", which he wrote during the recording sessions. Recording began at the beginning of the second quarter of 1971 at the Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco. Morrison moved to the Columbia Studios in May 1971 to complete the album.

The namesake for the album and its title track is a varietal honey produced from the flowers of the tupelo tree found in the Southeastern United States. The album features various musical genres, most prominently country, but also R&B, soul, folk-rock and blue-eyed soul. The lyrics echo the domestic bliss portrayed on the album cover; they largely describe and celebrate the rural surroundings of Woodstock and Morrison's family life with then-wife Janet "Planet" Rigsbee.

Tupelo Honey received most of its success in America; it charted at number 27 on the Billboard charts and in 1977 it was certified goldby the RIAA. It failed to reach any of the European or other world-wide charts. The album yielded two hit singles, the hymn-like title track, as well as the R&B-flavored "Wild Night". The third released single, "(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball", was less successful and did not enter the Billboard Hot 100. The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics at the time of its release, but Morrison's biographers were less favorable towards it in later years.**********

Release

Tupelo Honey was first released on LP in October 1971 on Warner Bros. Records.[41] The album reached number 27 on the Billboard 200, which was the highest position reached in the US by any of Morrison's albums at that point.[42][43] However it failed to reach any of the charts across Europe.[44] By the middle of 1974 Tupelo Honey had sold well over 350,000 copies (50,000 more than Moondance),[45] and in 1977 it was certified gold by the RIAA.[46]

Three singles were released from the album. The first, "Wild Night", with a rare alternative take on "When That Evening Sun Goes Down" as the B-side,[6] proved popular enough to reach number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[47] The single fared slightly better in The Netherlands, peaking at number 24.[48] "Tupelo Honey" reached number 47 on the US singles chart,[47] with the B-side "Starting a New Life". "(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball", with "Old Old Woodstock" as the B-side,[ was the third single from the album and only reached number 119, just outside the Billboard Hot 100.[

Critical response[edit]

Tupelo Honey was well received by critics upon the album's release. Jon Landau wrote in Rolling Stone: "Tupelo Honey is in one sense but another example of the artist making increased use of the album as the unit of communication as opposed to merely the song or the cut. Everything on it is perfectly integrated."[25] ZigZag magazine reviewer John Tobler, who also reviewed the album just after its release, gave the album high praise, saying "If all music were as good as this, there wouldn't be any reason to make any more, because this is the real thing."[40] Critic Dave Marsh called it "the perfect album for Van: he does everything...so incredibly well. There isn't a bad cut on it, of that I'm really sure."[54] Robert Christgau from The Village Voice voiced reservations in his praise of the album, writing that it was "almost as rich in cute tunes as The Shirelles' Greatest Hits, but I worry that domestic bliss with Janet Planet has been softening Van's noodle more than the joy of cooking requires."[53] Tupelo Honey was later ranked the fourth best album of the year in the Village Voice's first annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.[55]

Morrison's biographers were less impressed by the album. Johnny Rogan commented: "Tupelo Honey was no masterpiece but it was a considerable improvement upon His Band and the Street Choir. At a time when the rock élite were seduced by the lovelorn laments and steel guitars of country rock, Morrison emerged with a work that offered a soulful romantic veneer without lapsing into banal sentimentality."[38] Erik Hage held the opinion that by this time Morrison had become famous enough to be insulated from constructive criticism, resulting in some of the love songs to Janet Planet on the album containing: "obvious lyrical platitudes (truly some of his worst poetry since the revenge songs for Bang Records) and less-than-inspired arrangements."[5]

Morrison's response[edit]

Morrison said afterwards that he "wasn't very happy" with it. "It consisted of songs that were left over from before and that they'd finally gotten around to using. It wasn't really fresh. It was a whole bunch of songs that had been hanging around for a while. I was really trying to make a country and western album."[45] He commented further that he seldom listened to it and had a bad taste in his mouth for both His Band and the Street Choir and Tupelo Honey.[15]

Aftermath[edit]

In 2009, music journalist Erik Hage wrote that Tupelo Honey "has become one of Morrison's most likeable albums, but the very elements that make it appealing to many—the homey feeling, the personal odes to married life—also make it a complacent album for an artist who had been pushing forward and challenging boundaries for the past few years."[56]

Morrison was expected to tour to promote the album, but at this time he had developed a phobia about performing that was especially problematic when appearing before large audiences. John Platania was playing in concerts with Morrison and spoke of noticing his confidence ebbing away: "There were many times when he literally had to be coaxed on stage. His motto was 'The show does not have to go on'. He would create the choice of whether he would go on stage or not." Morrison announced before an impending performance at a larger venue that he was retiring from performing live. After regaining his confidence by making regular and informal performances at a small club near his home, he began to tour coast-to-coast again in 1972.[57]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by Van Morrison, unless otherwise noted.[58]

Personnel[

• Van Morrison - rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals, backing vocals
• Ronnie Montrose - electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, backing vocals
• Bill Church - bass
• Rick Shlosser - drums
• Connie Kay - drums on "Starting a New Life", "Tupelo Honey", "When That Evening Sun Goes Down" and "Old Old Woodstock"
• Jack Schroer - alto, tenor and baritone saxophones
• Mark Jordan - piano, electric piano
• Gary Mallaber - percussion, vibraphone
• John McFee - pedal steel guitar
• Ted Templeman - organ on "Tupelo Honey"
• Bruce Royston - flute
• Luis Gasca - trumpet
• "Boots" Houston - flute, backing vocals
• Ellen Schroer - backing vocals
• Janet Planet - backing vocals