Tupelo Honey
	Produced by Van Morrison & Ted Templeman
	Released on October 1971
	US CHART POSITION #27 . . . GOLD RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
WS 1950 cover [high resolution photo]

V an come a-wooing with nine roses. Tupelo Honey always reminds me of Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline; both have the heart of a cowboy and the soul of a poet. At some time in their life, every woman should be wooed with a “You’re My Woman” or “Lay Lady Lay.” These songs cast men as the tower that yields to a tender touch, which (if I’ve learned anything from chick flicks) is what women want. (Okay, so I haven’t learned anything from chick flicks, except that Kevin Costner’s acting is so wooden it’s a wonder he needed at boat at all in Waterworld.) Moondance is the better album because it’s deeper. Honey is sweeter. If Van Morrison was looking for peace on Moondance, he found it on Tupelo Honey. It was a short-lived peace, but so was Dylan’s. I guess everybody has their “let’s move out to the country and live off the land making love in the fields” phase. The image of Van Morrison the Romantik never stuck with me, not that I bought into Van Morrison the Mystik either. Morrison seemed too mercurial to be consistently romantic. And so I’ve always seen Tupelo Honey as a truce between bouts. Still, it’s a lovely truce, the eye in a stormy career. History would seem to bear that out; wife/mother Janet Planet (pictured on the cover) left him in 1973. Never a good thing when the roo-ee gets roo’d. But that’s reality, and reality’s not my province. I’m interested in the music: “Wild Night,” “You’re My Woman,” “Tupelo Honey.” Fine sentiments, handsome gestures, a lovely thing to lead a lady by.

WS 1950 inner gatefold	WS 1950 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. WILD NIGHT    3:29
2. (STRAIGHT TO YOUR HEART) LIKE A CANNONBALL    3:37
3. OLD OLD WOODSTOCK    4:14
4. STARTING A NEW LIFE    2:06
5. YOU'RE MY WOMAN    6:40
6. TUPELO HONEY    6:53
7. I WANNA ROO YOU (SCOTTISH DERIVATIVE)    3:22
8. WHEN THAT EVENING SUN GOES DOWN    3:02
9. MOONSHINE WHISKEY    6:45
   
   All selections written by Van Morrison

CREDITS

VAN MORRISON -- vocals, guitar, harmonica, background vocals, horn arrangements
BILL CHURCH -- bass
MARK JORDON -- piano, electric piano
RONNIE MONTROSE -- guitar, mandolin, background vocals
RICK SCHLOSSER -- drums
JACK SCHROER -- saxophones, horn arrangements
Luis Gasca -- trumpet
Boots Stuart Houston -- flute, background vocals, flute arrangement
Connie Kay -- drums
Gary Mallaber -- vibes, percussion
John McFee -- steel guitar
Janet Planet -- background vocals
Bruce Royston -- flute, flute arrangement
Ellen Schroer -- background vocals
Ted Templeman -- organ
Doc Storch -- engineer
Steve Barncard -- engineer
David Brown -- engineer
Donn Landee -- remix
Lee Herschberg -- remix
Mike Maggid -- photography
Ed Thrasher -- art direction

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