Project 1001: Moondance by Van Morrison

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance / With the stars up above in your eyes / A fantabulous night to make romance / 'Neath the cover of October skies

May 19, 2025

Moondance is the kind of album that you can play for lots of different occasions, and I have done so many times. A home-cooked meal for a loved one. The music you play when you’re both in the mood. Enjoying a perfect evening on the deck sipping on your beverage of choice. A reunion of good friends.

Almost a perfect album, the songwriting, musicianship, and singing are all top notch. All of it. And it stands the test of time. Your mood will be lifted almost every single time you play this record, and it will have the same effect on a room full of people.

The first time I heard Moondance was in my college dorm. A girl on my floor was a massive fan of Van Morrison. She thought “Moondance” was the most perfect song ever written and she basically forced me to sit down and listen. I’m glad she did because I loved it straight away. I’m glad she made me listen! My rating:

In AllMusic’s review of Moondance, Jason Ankeny called the album “a classic” and described it as, “light, soulful, and jazzy.”1

Rolling Stone’s 1970 review asserted Morrison’s music could not be imitated because “what one hears is not style, but personality.”

Morrison’s powers are clear: his strong gift for melody, his ability to move freely within virtually any sort of contemporary instrumentation, his verbal magic as inventive and literate as Dylan’s, and most of all, the authenticity of his spirit.2

The review in Society of Rock characterizes Moondance as “Morrison’s tour de force” and that it “transformed Morrison from being a cult favorite into a rock icon” calling it relatable and magical. Vincent Lopez concluded his review with:

Moondance is the kind of record that will take you places. And Van Morrison proved he’s a force of nature with his compositions.3

In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, John Tobler wrote:

Moondance showcases Van Morrison as a masterly songwriter and charismatic vocalist. In contrast to the acoustic Astral Weeks, the sound is bigger, meatier, with a horn section to add punch; the songs are more tightly structured, less improvisatory.4

Enjoy and listen without prejudice.
“And just remember, different people have peculiar tastes”
~ Lou Reed

Cheers!

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Charts

• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #29 5
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Come Running”, #39; “Moondance”, #92 6
• RIAA certification: 3x Platinum | May 1, 1996 7

Released on January 27, 1970. Here’s what else was happening:

Pop Culture

• Number one song: “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” by B.J. Thomas8
• Number one album: Abbey Road by the Beatles9
• Number one movie: Butch Cassiday & the Sundance Kid by George Roy Hill10
• Most watched TV programs: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Here’s Lucy, Mayberry RFD, Family Affair11
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Godfather by Mario Puzo12
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: The Selling of the President 1968 by Joe McGinniss13

Some other albums released that month

• The Madcap Laughs by Syd Barrett

• Here's Loretta Singing "Wings Upon Your Horns" by Loretta Lynn

• Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today! by Tony Bennett

• That's the Way Love Is by Marvin Gaye

• Magic Christian Music by Badfinger

• Back in the USA by MC5

• A Brand New Me by Dusty Springfield

• This Girl's in Love with You by Aretha Franklin

• Hello, I'm Johnny Cash by Johnny Cash

• Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

• Chicago by Chicago

• Ain't It Funky by James Brown

• American Woman by The Guess Who

• Kool and the Gang by Kool and the Gang

• One Day at a Time by Joan Baez

• Try a Little Kindness by Glen Campbell

• Waylon by Waylon Jennings14

Sport

• Jan 26 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court beats fellow Australian Kerry Melville Reid 6-1, 6-3; Court retains title for 9th Australian singles crown and 1st leg of her Grand Slam.
• Jan 27 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Arthur Ashe beats big serving local Dick Crealy 6-4, 9-7, 6-2.
• Jan 27 NFL Draft: Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw #1 pick by Pittsburgh Steelers.15

Notable Births

• Jan 26 Kirk Franklin, American gospel singer (Now Behold the Lamb), choir director, and 16-time Grammy Award-winner, born in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Jan 29 Heather Graham, American actress (Drugstore Cowboy, Diggstown), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Jan 31 (Amelia) "Minnie" Driver, British-American actress (Good Will Hunting; The Riches), and singer-songwriter (Everything I've Got in My Pocket), born in London, England.16

Historical Events

• 22 Jan Boeing 747 Maiden Commercial Flight: The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for Pan American Airways with its inaugural voyage from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport, marking a revolutionary moment in commercial aviation history.
• 26 Jan First Quarter Storm in the Philippines: A significant period of civil uprising and political unrest in the Philippines, characterized by massive student and worker protests against the government of President Ferdinand Marcos. This movement marked a critical moment in Philippine political history, challenging the authoritarian regime and demanding democratic reforms.
• 28 Jan Arthur Ashe Barred from South Africa: Arthur Ashe, a prominent Black tennis star, was prohibited from entering South Africa, highlighting the racial segregation and discrimination of the apartheid era.17

Notable Deaths

• Jan 24 James "Shep" Shepherd, American R&B singer-songwriter (The Heartbeats - "One Thousand Miles"; Shep & Limelites - "Daddy's Home"), beaten to death in a robbery at 34.
• Jan 25 Eunice Hunton Carter, 1st African American female district attorney (NY), dies at 70.
• Jan 31 Slim Harpo [James Moore], American blues musician (I'm a King Bee, Baby Scratch My Back), dies of a heart attack at 46.