Van Morrison

Tupelo Honey is typical of Van Morrison's early-'70s work in both sound and structure; after dispensing with the requisite hit -- here, the buoyant, R&B-inflected "Wild Night" -- he truly gets down to business, settling into a luminously pastoral drift typified by the nostalgic "Old Old Woodstock." At the heart of the record are a pair of stunning love songs, "You're My Woman" and the hymn-like title cut, one of Morrison's most enduring and transcendent compositions. [As part of a massive remastering and reissue campaign, virtually every major Morrison title (and many minor ones) were reissued, like Tupelo Honey, with a pair of bonus cuts. These include a much longer alternative take of "Wild Night" (where you get a lot more Ronnie Montrose guitar and a popping, more elaborate horn chart). The other is, and no, we're not kidding, a raggedy, largely acoustic version of "Down by the Riverside" that feels more like a rehearsal for getting the band warmed up to play than something to actually be released.] ~ Jason Ankeny and Thom Jurek, All Music Guide