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''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. After recording his commercially unsuccessful 1968 album ''Astral Weeks'', Morrison moved with his wife to an artistic hamlet in upstate New York and began writing songs for ''Moondance''. There, he met the musicians he would record the album with at New York City's A & R Studios in 1969. Morrison abandoned the abstract folk compositions of ''Astral Weeks'' in favor of more formally composed songs on ''Moondance'', which he wrote and produced himself. Its lively rhythm and blues music was the style he would become most known for in his career. The music incorporated soul, jazz, pop, and Irish folk sounds into ballads and songs about finding spiritual renewal and redemption in worldly matters such as nature, music, and romantic love. After ''Moondance'' was released in 1970 by Warner Bros. Records, it became both a critical and commercial success, helping establish Morrison as a major artist in popular music. It has since been cited by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2013, the album's remastered deluxe edition was released to similar acclaim. == Background == After leaving the rock band Them, Morrison met record producer Bert Berns in New York City and recorded his first solo single, "Brown Eyed Girl", in 1967. When it became a hit, Morrison was offered a recording contract from Warner Bros. Records and recorded his first album for the label, ''Astral Weeks'', in 1968.〔 Although it was later acclaimed by critics,〔 its collection of lengthy, acoustic, and revelatory folk-jazz songs was not well received by consumers at the time and the album proved to be a commercial failure. After recording ''Astral Weeks'', Morrison moved with his wife to a home on a mountain top in the Catskills near Woodstock,〔Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence. p. 229〕〔 a hamlet in upstate New York with an artistic community.〔 Because of the album's poor sales figures, Morrison wanted to produce a third record that would be more accessible and appealing to listeners: "I make albums primarily to sell them and if I get too far out a lot of people can't relate to it. I had to forget about the artistic thing because it didn't make sense on a practical level. One has to live."〔Rogan (2006), p. 248.〕 He began writing songs for ''Moondance'' in July 1969.〔Yorke, ''Into the Music''. pp. 70–83〕 The musicians who went on to record the album with Morrison were recruited from nearby.〔Hage, ''The Words and Music of Van Morrison'', p. 50〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Moondance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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