portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Friday, March 01, 2019

Again don't know anyone who didn't buy this when out came out . . . . . . a must have for ever record collection (youngsters read: playlist/stream do you remember CDs?)
Go get it!

On this day in music history: February 28, 1970 - “Moondance”, the third album by Van Morrison is released. Produced by Van Morrison and Lewis Merenstein, it is recorded at A&R Studios in New York City from August - November 1969. Following the highly acclaimed (but only modestly selling) “Astral Weeks”, the Northern Irish singer and songwriter returns with what becomes one of his best and most beloved works. Moving to upstate New York, he’ll spend nearly ten months writing the material that make his next full length release. The albums blend of R&B, Jazz, Folk, Country and Rock firmly establishes Morrison as one of the premier singer/songwriters of his generation. Several songs including “Crazy Love”, “Into The Mystic”, “Caravan”, and the title track become album rock radio staples over the years, and are covered by many other artists. The album is remastered and reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP in 2008 by Rhino Records. In 2013, the label remasters and reissues this classic title on CD in an expanded five disc edition (4 CD’s + Blu-Ray disc). The first CD features the original ten song album, with the second, third and fourth CD’s featuring outtakes and alternate mixes from the sessions. The Blu-ray disc features newly remixed high resolution stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the original album, from the original multi-track masters. Regarded a landmark recording in Van Morrison’s career, the album is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999. A limited edition 180 gram LP titled “The Alternative Moondance” is released for Record Store Day in April of 2018. Featuring alternate takes culled from the 2013 CD box set, the album comes packaged in a Stoughton tip on jacket, designed to look like a vintage vinyl LP. “Moondance” peaks at number twenty nine on the Billboard Top 200, is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Thanks to Jeff Harris' blog Behind The Grooves

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