Sold Date: February 15, 2024
Start Date: February 8, 2024
Final Price: $41.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 17
Seller Feedback: 3399
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VAN MORRISON "MOONDANCE" U.S stereo LP w/gatefold cover featuring one pf the era's best Blue-Eyed Soul singer/songwriters at his greatest (Warner Brothers) WS-1835. M-/MINT. Including  "Come Running", "Crazy Love", "Into The Mystic & the classic title tune.  

Our first awareness of Van Morrison was as the lead singer for the Belfast, Northern Ireland Beat Group Them in 1965. They were never huge in the U.S. but did make some inroads with "Here Comes The Night" which reached #24 & the follow-up "Mystic Eyes" #33 placing in mid-1965. Van Morrison also wrote & had the first recording of the Garage Rock anthem "Gloria" but Them's #71 chart position was dwarfed by the Shadows Of Knight cover version which reached the Top Ten in the first months of 1966. Them released a couple of albums & several more singles but Van Morrison decided to leave the group in 1967 when he signed a solo deal with Bert Bern's Bang Records. He had a big hit right out of the box with "Brown Eyed Girl" but Van's blue-eyed soul vocals did not totally mesh with the bubblegum approach of the label & after much legal wrangling, he signed with Warner Brothers Records with the stipulation of "artistic control". His first LP under the new deal "Astral Weeks" revealed a more mature singer/songwriter whose vocals hearken back to his R&B idols Ray Charles & Sam Cooke & can only be compared with Eric Burdon or Steve Winwood among his blue-eyed soul contemporaries. Despite great reviews "Astral Weeks" was not the breakthrough LP Van had hoped for. That came with his second Warner Brothers album "Moondance" in 1970. It's nearly perfect in every respect, combining great original songs, great arrangements & great singing which combines elements of jazz & R&B with an almost folky feel as well as an awareness of contemporary rock & roll. The songs are classics- "And It Stoned Me", "Come Running" which reached #39 when released as a single, "Crazy Love", "Into The Mystic" & the fantastic title song "Moondance". It all adds up to a timeless classic- an album not to be missed.