Editing Van Morrison (section)

===''Moondance'' to ''Into the Music'': 1970–1979===
[[File:Van Morrison (1972).png|thumb|right|Morrison in 1972]]
Morrison's third solo album, ''[[Moondance]]'', which was released in 1970, became his first million selling album and reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard charts.<ref name="TurnerPage95">Turner (1993), page 95.</ref><ref name="TurnerPage98">Turner (1993), page 98.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=van%20morrison&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723045104/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=van%20morrison&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 July 2013|website=Riaa.com|title=RIAA-Gold and Platinum|access-date=21 April 2009}}</ref> The style of ''Moondance'' stood in contrast to that of ''[[Astral Weeks]]''. Whereas ''Astral Weeks'' had a sorrowful and vulnerable tone, ''Moondance'' restored a more optimistic and cheerful message to his music,<ref name="YorkePage69">Yorke (1975), page 69.</ref> which abandoned the previous record's abstract folk compositions in favour of more formally composed songs and a lively [[rhythm and blues]] style he expanded on throughout his career.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=DeCurtis|editor1-first=Anthony|editor-link1=Anthony DeCurtis|editor2-last=Henke|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=George-Warren|editor3-first=Holly|year=1992|last=Evans|first=Paul|chapter=Van Morrison|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=0-679-73729-4|edition=3rd|pages=487–88|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide}}</ref>

The title track, although not released in the US as a single until 1977, received heavy play in [[FM broadcasting|FM radio]] formats.<ref name="RoganPage250">Rogan (2006), page 250.</ref> "[[Into the Mystic]]" has also gained a wide following over the years.<ref name="allmusic Biography: Van Morrison">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p107175|pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[AllMusic]]|title=Van Morrison Biography|author=Ankeny, Jason|access-date=7 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xpn.org/images/pdfs/wxpn_885songslist.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105155906/http://www.xpn.org/images/pdfs/wxpn_885songslist.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2009|website=Xpn.org|title=885songslist|access-date=14 May 2009}}</ref> "[[Come Running]]", which reached the [[American Top 40]], rescued Morrison from what seemed then as Hot 100 obscurity.<ref name="allmusic.com">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p107175|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|title=Van Morrison Chart Awards:singles|access-date=24 September 2008}}</ref> ''Moondance'' was both well received and favourably reviewed. [[Lester Bangs]] and [[Greil Marcus]] had a combined full-page review in ''Rolling Stone'', saying Morrison now had "the striking imagination of a consciousness that is visionary in the strongest sense of the word."<ref name="Marcus, Bangs">{{cite web|url=http://www.superseventies.com/spmorrisonvan.html|author1=Marcus, Greil|author2=Bangs, Lester|name-list-style=amp|title=Moondance:Van Morrison|website=Superseventies.com|date=17 March 1970|access-date=29 April 2010}}</ref> "That was the type of band I dig," Morrison said of the ''Moondance'' sessions. "Two horns and a rhythm section—they're the type of bands that I like best." He produced the album himself as he felt like nobody else knew what he wanted.<ref name="HeylinPage226">Heylin (2003), page 226.</ref> ''Moondance'' was listed at number sixty-five on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's ''The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time''.<ref name="500 Greatest Albums" /> In March 2007, ''Moondance'' was listed as number seventy-two on the [[National Association of Recording Merchandisers|NARM]] [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] list of the "Definitive 200".<ref name="Narm">{{cite web|url=http://www.timepieces.nl/Top100's/2007NARM.html|website=Timepieces.nl|title=2007 National Association of Recording Merchandisers|access-date=6 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210030146/http://timepieces.nl/Top100%27s/2007NARM.html|archive-date=10 February 2010}}</ref>

Over the next few years, he released a succession of albums, starting with a second one in 1970. ''[[His Band and the Street Choir]]'' had a freer, more relaxed sound than ''Moondance'', but not the ''perfection'', in the opinion of critic [[Jon Landau]], who felt like "a few more numbers with a gravity of 'Street Choir' would have made this album as perfect as anyone could have stood."<ref name="HBATSC">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21378|last=Landau|first=John|title=His Band and the Street Choir music review|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=4 February 1971|access-date=23 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212075624/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21378|archive-date=12 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> It contained the hit single "[[Domino (Van Morrison song)|Domino]]", which charted at number nine in the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name="CollisPage122">Collis (1996), page 122.</ref>

In 1971, he released another well-received album, ''[[Tupelo Honey]]''.<ref name="RoganPage259">Rogan (2006), page 259.</ref> This album produced the hit single "[[Wild Night]]" that was later covered by [[John Mellencamp]] and [[Meshell Ndegeocello]]. The title song has a notably country-soul feel about it<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t1648130|pure_url=yes}}|title=allmusic Tupelo Honey Review|last=Janovitz|first=Bill|access-date=6 February 2010}}</ref> and the album ended with another country tune, "[[Moonshine Whiskey]]". Morrison said he originally intended to make an all-country album.<ref name="RoganPage267-268">Rogan (2006), pages 267–268.</ref> The recordings were as live as possible—after rehearsing the songs the musicians would enter the studio and play a whole set in one take.<ref>Turner (1993), page 107</ref> His co-producer, [[Ted Templeman]], described this recording process as the "scariest thing I've ever seen. When he's got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing."<ref name="HintonPage137">Hinton (1997), page 137.</ref>

Released in 1972, ''[[Saint Dominic's Preview]]'' revealed Morrison's break from the more accessible style of his previous three albums and moving back towards the more daring, adventurous, and meditative aspects of ''Astral Weeks''. The combination of two styles of music demonstrated a versatility not previously found in his earlier albums.<ref name="Saint Dominic's Preview Music Review">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21052|last=Holden|first=Stephen|title=Saint Dominic's Preview Music Review|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=31 August 1972|access-date=23 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228224126/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/vanmorrison/albums/album/186447/review/5945763|archive-date=28 February 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two songs, "[[Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)]]" and "[[Redwood Tree (song)|Redwood Tree]]", reached the Hot 100 singles chart.<ref name="allmusic.com" /> The songs "[[Listen to the Lion]]" and "[[Almost Independence Day]]" are each over ten minutes long and employ the type of poetic imagery not heard since ''Astral Weeks''.<ref name="Saint Dominic's Preview Music Review" /><ref name="HeylinPage255-256">Heylin (2003), pages 255–256.</ref> It was his highest-charting album in the US until his Top Ten debut on [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] in 2008.<ref name="Charts & Awards">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p107175|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|title=Charts & Awards: Van Morrison|access-date=9 April 2009}}</ref>

He released his next album, ''[[Hard Nose the Highway]]'', in 1973, receiving mixed, but mostly negative, reviews. The album contained the popular song "[[Warm Love]]" but otherwise has been largely dismissed critically.<ref name="HeylinPage265-267">Heylin (2003), pages 265–267.</ref> In a 1973 ''Rolling Stone'' review, it was described as: "psychologically complex, musically somewhat uneven and lyrically excellent."<ref name="HNTH">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21055|last=Holden|first=Stephen|title=Hard Nose the Highway Music Review|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=27 September 1973|access-date=23 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210031207/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21055|archive-date=10 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During a three-week vacation visit to Ireland in October 1973, Morrison wrote seven of the songs that made up his next album, ''[[Veedon Fleece]]''.<ref name="TurnerPage122">Turner (1993), page 122.</ref> Though it attracted scant initial attention, its critical stature grew markedly over the years—with ''Veedon Fleece'' now often considered to be one of Morrison's most impressive and poetic works.<ref name="RoganPage301">Rogan (2006), page 301.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r13462|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|title=Veedon Fleece: Review|author1=Ankeny, Jason |author2=Jurek, Thom |name-list-style=amp |access-date=13 May 2009}}</ref> In a 2008 ''Rolling Stone'' review, Andy Greene writes that when released in late 1974: "it was greeted by a collective shrug by the rock critical establishment" and concludes: "He's released many wonderful albums since, but he's never again hit the majestic heights of this one."<ref name="Veedon Fleece">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/7910/38434|last=Greene|first=Andy|title=Veedon Fleece Music Review|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=14 July 2008|access-date=23 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210035114/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/7910/38434|archive-date=10 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> "[[You Don't Pull No Punches, but You Don't Push the River]]", one of the album's side closers, exemplifies the long, hypnotic, cryptic Morrison with its references to visionary poet [[William Blake]] and to the seemingly [[Holy Grail|Grail]]-like Veedon Fleece object.<ref name="RoganPage300">Rogan (2006), page 300.</ref>

Morrison took three years to release a follow-up album. After a decade without taking time off, he said in an interview, he needed to get away from music completely and ceased listening to it for several months.<ref name="RoganPage306">Rogan (2006), page 306.</ref> Also suffering from [[writer's block]], he seriously considered leaving the music business for good.<ref name="HeylinPage305">Heylin (2003), page 305.</ref> Speculation that an extended [[jam session]] would be released either under the title ''Mechanical Bliss'', or ''Naked in the Jungle'', or ''Stiff Upper Lip'', came to nothing,<ref name="RoganPages304-306">Rogan (2006), pages 304–306.</ref> and Morrison's next album was ''[[A Period of Transition]]'' in 1977, a collaboration with [[Dr. John]], who had appeared at ''[[The Last Waltz]]'' concert with Morrison in 1976. The album received a mild critical reception and marked the beginning of a very prolific period of song-making.
{{listen
 |filename = Van Morrison-Wavelength.ogg
 |title=Wavelength|description=Morrison sings the opening lines in falsetto and synthesisers mimic the sounds of the short wave radio stations that he listened to as a boy.
}}{{Quote box
| quote = ''[[Into the Music]]'': The album's last four songs, "Angelou", "And the Healing Has Begun", and "It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About" are a veritable tour-de-force with Morrison summoning every vocal trick at his disposal from Angelou's climactic shouts to the sexually-charged, half-mumbled monologue in "And the Healing Has Begun" to the barely audible whisper that is the album's final sound.
| source = Scott Thomas Review
| align = left
| width = 30%
}}
The following year, Morrison released ''[[Wavelength (album)|Wavelength]]''; it became at that time the fastest-selling album of his career and soon went gold.<ref name="HintonPage210">Hinton (1997), page 210.</ref> The title track became a modest hit, peaking at number forty-two. Making use of 1970s synthesisers, it mimics the sounds of the [[shortwave]] radio stations he listened to in his youth.<ref name="Wavelength song review">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t1621843|pure_url=yes}}|title=Wavelength:song review|author=Janovitz, Bill|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=11 September 2008}}</ref> The opening track, "Kingdom Hall"—the name given by [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] to their [[Kingdom Hall|places of worship]]—evoked Morrison's childhood experiences of religion with his mother,<ref name="HintonPage210" /> and foretold the religious themes that were more evident on his next album, ''[[Into the Music]]''.<ref name="Timepieces ITM">{{cite web|url=http://www.timepieces.nl/Albums-M/VanMorrisonIntoTheMusic.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107162617/http://www.timepieces.nl/Albums-M/VanMorrisonIntoTheMusic.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 November 2007|author=Cocks, Jay|date=1 November 1979|website=Timepieces.nl|title=Van Morrison: Into the Music|access-date=29 April 2010}}</ref>

Considered by [[AllMusic]] as "the definitive post-classic-era Morrison",<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r13465|pure_url=yes}}
| title=Into the Music Review
| publisher=[[AllMusic]]
| access-date=21 May 2010
| last=Erlewine
| first=Stephen Thomas
}}</ref> ''Into the Music'' was released in the last year of the 1970s. Songs on this album for the first time alluded to the healing power of music, which became an abiding interest of Morrison's.<ref name="HagePage89">Hage (2009), page 89.</ref> "[[Bright Side of the Road]]" was a joyful, uplifting song that is featured on the soundtrack of the movie, ''[[Michael (1996 film)|Michael]]''.<ref name="Van Morrison at IMDb">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607341/|title=Van Morrison at IMDb|publisher=IMDb|access-date=12 January 2009}}</ref>