Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey | ||||
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Warner Bros. | ||||
Producer | Van Morrison, Ted Templeman | |||
Van Morrison chronology | ||||
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Singles from Tupelo Honey | ||||
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Tupelo Honey is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter
The namesake for the album and its title track is a
Tupelo Honey received most of its success in America; it charted at number 27 on the
Background
Prior to the Tupelo Honey recording sessions, Morrison had recorded demo tracks in Woodstock for an upcoming country-and-western album.[1] Some of the tracks planned for Tupelo Honey did appear on the album, but other more traditional country songs like "The Wild Side of Life", "Crying Time" and "Banks of the Ohio" were abandoned.[2] Morrison decided to move from Woodstock when the lease on his house expired and the landlord wanted to move back in. He explained to Richard Williams in Melody Maker that the release of the documentary film Woodstock in 1970 had altered the quaint character of the community: "Everybody and his uncle started showing up at the bus station, and that was the complete opposite of what it was supposed to be."[3] In April 1971, before he began recording on the planned album, Morrison and his family moved to Marin County, California, where his wife, Janet Planet, had family living close by.[1] Morrison's guitarist at the time, John Platania, told biographer Steve Turner that Morrison "didn't want to leave, but Janet wanted to move out West. He was manipulated into going."[4] The Morrisons' new home was in a rural setting situated on a hillside close to San Francisco amid redwood trees.[5] With the move, Morrison abandoned the idea of a full country album and exchanged some of the intended material for songs he had written earlier.[6]
Morrison was under pressure by
Recording
Due to the location of the recording sessions of Tupelo Honey, having moved from New York to California, the only musicians from Morrison's previous band that could work with him were saxophonist Jack Schroer and his wife Ellen (who contributed backing vocals). However, two of the three percussionists on the album had recorded with him in the past; Connie Kay contributed drums to Astral Weeks and Gary Mallaber played drums and vibraphone on Moondance. On this album, Kay played drums on four songs and new recruit Rick Shlosser was used for the remaining tracks, while Mallaber played percussion and vibraphone.[9] Biographer Howard DeWitt was convinced that Morrison's music benefited from his move to California, as he comments that "the musical explosion in Marin County also added a great deal to Van's music. In particular, Ronnie Montrose's guitar work made Tupelo Honey a rock classic."[10] Mark Jordan and John McFee made up the rest of the rhythm section.[9] The remaining members of the horn section were Bruce Royston and "Boots" Houston on flutes and Luis Gasca on trumpet. The band was augmented by producer Ted Templeman, who contributed organ to the title track.[11]
The first recording sessions took place in the spring of 1971 at the
Morrison relocated in the late spring of 1971 to the Columbia Studios, San Francisco to record a second session of tracks for the album.[12] This time Morrison rehearsed the songs before recording began, which helped the sessions run more smoothly. "You're My Woman" was recorded a few days after the other songs, with Rick Shlosser back playing drums.[14]
The vocals on the album were always live after rehearsing each song five or six times, according to saxophonist and flautist "Boots" Houston, who further commented that when Morrison and the band went into the studio: "we would then just play a whole set straight through without repeating anything. We would have played maybe twenty songs and Van would go back and cut out the songs he didn't want. The only time we'd go back would be to overdub backing vocals or horns."[15] Ted Templeman remarked that he had to go through three engineers during the recording of the album, due to Morrison's "ability as a musician, arranger and producer": "When he's got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing ... I've had to change engineers who couldn't keep up with him."[16]
Composition and themes
The rural setting in Marin County furnished the backdrop for the domestic bliss associated with the album,[5] and the songs' lyrics contained harmonious references to the "good life at home". In an interview given to New Spotlight magazine at the time, Morrison's wife, Janet Planet, referred to Morrison's dislike of socializing at this time: "Really he is a recluse. He is quiet. We never go anywhere. We don't go to parties. We never go out. We have an incredibly quiet life and going on the road is the only excitement we have."[17] Although Morrison said that the songs on the album "had been hanging around for awhile [sic?]"[18] and according to biographer Steve Turner they were written in Woodstock,[17] musician Ronnie Montrose recalled that Morrison wrote one of the tunes, "You're My Woman", while sitting at the piano during the recording sessions in California.[19]
The album opens with "Wild Night", a hybrid of R&B, soul and country music influences, which uses a moderate 4
4 time signature and features the lead guitar playing of Ronnie Montrose.[9][20] The song's intro was created, according to Montrose, when "One afternoon I was messing around with what is now the intro on the record, [Van] stopped me and ... said ' ... that thing you just played ... that's the intro, don't forget it'". This guitar-driven intro in Clinton Heylin's opinion made it one of Morrison's most memorable singles.[13] "Wild Night", which has been described by biographer Ken Brooks as "a great start to the album",[9] was first recorded after the Astral Weeks sessions in Autumn 1968 and was re-recorded numerous times before its eventual release on Tupelo Honey.[12] Morrison recalled during an interview that the song was originally "a much slower number, but when we got to fooling around with it in the studio, we ended up doing it in a faster tempo."[13]
"
"Old Old Woodstock" is a tribute to Morrison's previous life in upstate New York. The theme of domestic bliss is encapsulated in this song, as it shows a strong sensitivity towards children and family life. Howard Dewitt comments that "It is a moving and compelling look at a satisfying period in Van's life."[23] Musically the song contains the music genres jazz and folk. Janet Planet served as the inspiration for the song and also performed backing vocals on the recording.[24]
Jon Landau describes "Starting a New Life" as "both the simplest and lyrically the most significant cut on the album as Van spells out with perfect clarity the statement of Tupelo Honey: it expresses his need to take stock of himself, to see how far he has come, to record the support of those who have helped him get there, and together with them to 'start a new life.'"[25]
The last song that was recorded for the album was "You're My Woman".[19] This slow, blues-influenced ballad was influenced by Janet Planet.[23][26] As perhaps a last-minute decision Morrison added this song to the album in place of "Listen to the Lion", just before it was released.[19] The recording of "Listen to the Lion" was released a year later on Saint Dominic's Preview.[12]
The title song, "
4 time.[28] Uncut reviewer David Cavanagh wrote: "On an album where the vocals are exultant to say the least, this song sees Morrison use larynx, diaphragm, teeth and tongue to find new ways of enunciating the lines 'she's as sweet as Tupelo honey' and 'she's all right with me', seemingly in ever-increasing adoration."[20] Bob Dylan (who performed the song with Morrison during a concert tour in the 1990s) once remarked that "'Tupelo Honey' has always existed and that Morrison was merely the vessel and the earthly vehicle for it".[29] Greil Marcus called the song "a kind of odyssey" evoking Elvis Presley (whose hometown was Tupelo, Mississippi), and "the most gorgeous number on the album" that "was too good not to be true."[30]
"I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)" is a country-flavored waltz that prominently features John McFee's steel guitar and Ronnie Montrose's mandolin. The "Scottish Derivative" subtitle refers to the word "roo" featured in the song, which is a Scottish slang word for "woo".[31]
"When That Evening Sun Goes Down" is described by Erik Hage as a "hootenanny flavored" tune driven by "barrel-house honkey-tonk piano".[32] Like "Wild Night", it was first recorded in Autumn 1968 and on various other recording sessions by Morrison before its release on Tupelo Honey.[12] An alternative take of the song was featured as the B-side of the "Wild Night" single.[6]
The final song, "Moonshine Whiskey", has been compared musically to the likes of the Band,[33] (earlier in 1971 Morrison had worked with the Band in Woodstock).[34] The song fluctuates between a slow 6
8 and fast a 4
4 time throughout. During the coda it accelerates to an abrupt ending.[33][35] "Moonshine Whiskey" combines country rock and soul in a song that Morrison once spoke of as having been written for "Janis Joplin or something."[36] (Joplin lived in Woodstock around the same time as Morrison.)[37] There is also a comic element to the song with Morrison imitating fish blowing bubbles.[38]
Packaging
The title of the album derives from the varietal honey produced from the flowers of the tupelo tree found predominantly in Florida.[39]
The photos on the album were taken by Michael Maggid, a friend of Morrison's then wife Janet Planet, in the town of
Release
Tupelo Honey was first released on LP in October 1971 on Warner Bros. Records.
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,[49] was the third single from the album and only reached number 119, just outside the Billboard Hot 100.[50]
The album was reissued on CD in 1990 by Polydor Records. Another CD reissue was released in 1997 by Polydor and Mercury Records.[51] The 29 January 2008 reissued and remastered version of the album, released on CD, contains an alternate extended (5:32) take of "Wild Night" and a reworked cover version of the traditional song "Down by the Riverside".[52] It was also reissued on vinyl, but without the bonus tracks.[51]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [55] |
Tom Hull | A−[56] |
Tupelo Honey was well received by critics upon the album's release.
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]
It was ranked number 944 from votes taken in the third edition of
Aftermath
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."[60]
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 (the "Lion's Share" in San Anselmo California), he began to tour coast-to-coast again in 1972.[61]
Morrison's response
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] This may be why it's his only studio album to be unavailable on certain streaming services.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Van Morrison[62]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Wild Night" | 3:33 |
2. | "(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball" | 3:43 |
3. | "Old Old Woodstock" | 4:17 |
4. | "Starting a New Life" | 2:10 |
5. | "You're My Woman" | 6:44 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Tupelo Honey" | 6:54 |
2. | "I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)" | 3:27 |
3. | "When That Evening Sun Goes Down" | 3:06 |
4. | "Moonshine Whiskey" | 6:48 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "Wild Night" (alternate take) | 5:37 |
11. | "Down by the Riverside" (Traditional) | 3:54 |
Personnel
Musicians
- Van Morrison – rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals, backing vocals
- Ronnie Montrose – electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, backing vocals
- John McFee – pedal steel guitar
- Bill Church – bass
- Ted Templeman – organ on "Tupelo Honey"
- Mark Jordan – piano, electric piano
- Jack Schroer – alto, tenor and baritone saxophones
- Luis Gasca – trumpet
- Bruce Royston – flute
- "Boots" Houston – flute, backing vocals
- Ellen Schroer – backing vocals
- Janet Planet – backing vocals
- Rick Shlosser – drums
- Connie Kay – drums on "Starting a New Life", "Tupelo Honey", "When That Evening Sun Goes Down" and "Old Old Woodstock"
- Gary Mallaber – percussion, vibraphone
Production[63]
- Producers: Van Morrison, Ted Templeman
- Engineers: Stephen Barncard, David Brown, Doc Storch
- Remixing: Lee Herschberg, Donn Landee
- Remastering: Ian Cooper
- Art direction: Ed Thrasher
- Photography: Michael Maggid
- Horn arrangements: Van Morrison, Jack Schroer
- Flute arrangements: "Boots" Houston on "Like a Cannonball", Bruce Royston on "Tupelo Honey"
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (1971) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[64] | 33 |
US Billboard 200[42][65] | 27 |
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US [50] |
NL [48] | |||
1971 | "Wild Night" | 28[47] | 24 | |
1972 | " Tupelo Honey "
|
47[47] | — | |
"(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball" | 119 | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
Notes
- ^ a b c Collis 1996, p. 126
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 246
- ^ Turner 1993, p. 105
- ^ Hinton 1997, pp. 126–127
- ^ a b c Hage 2009, p. 57
- ^ a b c Rogan 2006, p. 267
- ^ a b Turner 1993, pp. 107–108
- ^ Collis 1996, p. 204
- ^ a b c d Brooks 1999, p. 61
- ^ DeWitt 1983, p. 41
- ^ Collis 1996, p. 127
- ^ a b c d e Heylin 2003, pp. 518–520
- ^ a b c Heylin 2003, p. 248
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 250
- ^ a b Turner 1993, p. l07
- ^ Heylin 2003, p. 249
- ^ a b Turner 1993, p. 106
- ^ Hinton 1997, p. 135
- ^ a b c Heylin 2003, pp. 250–251
- ^ a b c d Cavanagh n.d.
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 63
- ^ a b Maginnis (a) n.d.
- ^ a b DeWitt 1983, p. 89
- ^ Maginnis (b) n.d.
- ^ a b c Landau 1971
- ^ a b Sahagun 1998
- ^ Brooks 1999, p. 62
- ^ Anon. 1999, pp. 37, 51
- ^ Janovitz n.d.
- ^ Marcus 2010, p. 20
- ^ Maginnis (c) n.d.
- ^ Hage 2009, p. 58
- ^ a b Maginnis (d) n.d.
- ^ Rogan 2006, p. 258
- ^ Anon. 1999, p. 54
- ^ Hinton 1997, p. 137
- ^ Anon. (a) n.d.
- ^ a b c Rogan 2006, p. 268
- ^ Marcus 2010, p. 18
- ^ a b Yorke 1975, p. 92
- ^ DeWitt 1983, pp. 88–89
- ^ a b DeWitt 1983, p. 66
- ^ Anon. (b) n.d.
- ^ Anon. (c) n.d.
- ^ a b Yorke 1975, p. 91
- ^ Anon. (d) n.d.
- ^ a b c d Anon. (e) n.d.
- ^ a b Anon. (f) n.d.
- ^ DeWitt 1983, p. 64
- ^ a b DeWitt 1983, p. 63
- ^ a b c Ankeny n.d.
- ^ a b Tortelli 2008
- ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 8 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ a b Christgau 1971
- ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
- ^ Hull, Tom (June 2016). "Rhapsody Streamnotes (June 2016)". tomhull.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ Christgau (b) 1972
- ^ Christgau (a) 1972
- ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
- ^ Hage 2009, p. 59
- ^ Turner 1993, p. 108
- ^ Ankeny & Jurek n.d.
- ^ Anon. (g) n.d.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Anon. (h) n.d.
References
- Ankeny, Jason (n.d.), Tupelo Honey, retrieved 21 November 2004
- Ankeny, Jason; Jurek, Thom (n.d.), Tupelo Honey Bonus Tracks, allmusic, retrieved 18 June 2010
- Anon. (1999), Van Morrison Anthology, Los Angeles: ISBN 0-7692-8967-3
- Anon. [a] (n.d.), Woodstock, artiekornfeld-woodstock.com, retrieved 13 June 2010
- Anon. [b] (n.d.), Van Morrison > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums, retrieved 26 September 2011
- Anon. [c] (n.d.), Album artist 52 – Van Morrison, tsort.info., retrieved 20 June 2010
- Anon. [d] (n.d.), Riaa Gold & Platinum search results:Van Morrison, riaa.com, archived from the original on 23 July 2013, retrieved 3 June 2010
- Anon. [e] (n.d.), "Tupelo Honey – Van Morrison > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles", Billboard, retrieved 14 February 2010
- Anon. [f] (n.d.), Dutch singles history:Van Morrison, dutchcharts.nl, retrieved 19 January 2009
- Anon. [g] (n.d.), Tupelo Honey: credits, allmusic, retrieved 15 July 2010
- Anon. [h] (n.d.), Tupelo Honey – Van Morrison > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album, retrieved 26 September 2011
- Brooks, Ken (1999), In Search of Van Morrison, Andover, Hampshire: Agenda, ISBN 1-899882-95-2
- Cavanagh, David (n.d.), "Tupelo Honey Review", Uncut, retrieved 29 June 2010
- Christgau, Robert (12 December 1971). "Consumer Guide (21): Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
- Christgau, Robert [a] (10 February 1972), "1971 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll", The Village Voice, retrieved 12 March 2011
- Christgau, Robert [b] (17 February 1972), "What Does It All Mean?", The Village Voice, retrieved 29 March 2011
- Collis, John (1996), Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Little Brown and Company, ISBN 0-306-80811-0
- DeWitt, Howard A. (1983), Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music, Fremont, California: Horizon Books, ISBN 0-938840-02-9
- ISBN 978-0-313-35862-3
- ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- ISBN 1-86074-169-X
- Janovitz, Bill (n.d.), Tupelo Honey: song review, allmusic, retrieved 28 June 2010
- Landau, Jon (25 November 1971), "Van Morrison Tupelo Honey > Album Review", Rolling Stone, no. 95, archived from the original on 14 June 2008, retrieved 6 November 2005
- Maginnis, Tom [a] (n.d.), Old Old Woodstock: song review, allmusic, retrieved 14 February 2010
- Maginnis, Tom [b] (n.d.), I Wanna Roo You: song review, allmusic, retrieved 21 June 2010
- Maginnis, Tom [c] (n.d.), Like a Cannonball: song review, allmusic, retrieved 14 February 2010
- Maginnis, Tom [d] (n.d.), Moonshine Whiskey: song review, allmusic, retrieved 24 January 2009
- ISBN 978-1-58648-821-5
- ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1
- Sahagun, Louis (17 November 1998), "The Clouds Have Lifted", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 30 June 2010
- Tortelli, Joseph (5 June 2008), "Album Reviews—Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey and It's Too Late to Stop Now", Goldmine, retrieved 20 May 2010[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 0-670-85147-7
- ISBN 0-85947-013-X
External links
- Tupelo Honey Photo Session by Michael Maggid