Moonshine Whiskey
Encyclopedia
"Moonshine Whiskey" is a song written by singer-songwriter
, Van Morrison
and is the concluding track of his 1971 album
, Tupelo Honey
.
It was a popular tune with Morrison in the 1970s and he regularly performed it in concert. Brian Hinton
writes that Morrison later admitted that he had written this song "for Janis Joplin
or something" but Hinton goes on to say "though it is not autobiographical in the same way as Leonard Cohen
's 'Chelsea Hotel Number Two'".
In Tupelo Honeys Rolling Stone
review Jon Landau
says the song "is a joyful statement about the existence and continuation of love and the stability it offers."
. The introduction features both electric
and steel guitar
s, in what Allmusic reviewer Tom Maginnis calls "a halting country vamp". Bruce Springsteen
would later use this passage of music to inspire him to write the introduction of "Blinded by the Light
". The song changes tempo
many times in its six and a half minute duration, changing from a fast 4/4 time
to a slow 6/8 sauteuse waltz and back to 4/4 time on various occasions. At the end of the song, Tom Maginnis concludes that "the arrangement kicks into a full-scale gospel rave-up complete with call and response backing vocal, group handclaps, pumping piano, and blaring horns all at breakneck speeds before pulling up to a slamming halt."
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and is the concluding track of his 1971 album
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
, Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey is the fifth solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York before his move to Marin County, California, except for "You're My Woman", which...
.
It was a popular tune with Morrison in the 1970s and he regularly performed it in concert. Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton, MBE is an English poet and musicologist. In June 2006 he was honoured in H. M. the Queen’s Birthday Honours List with an MBE for services to the Arts.-Education:...
writes that Morrison later admitted that he had written this song "for Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
or something" but Hinton goes on to say "though it is not autobiographical in the same way as Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
's 'Chelsea Hotel Number Two'".
In Tupelo Honeys Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
review Jon Landau
Jon Landau
Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.He is currently the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
says the song "is a joyful statement about the existence and continuation of love and the stability it offers."
Music
The song contains the two main genres Morrison used on Tupelo Honey: country-rock and soulSoul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. The introduction features both electric
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
s, in what Allmusic reviewer Tom Maginnis calls "a halting country vamp". Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
would later use this passage of music to inspire him to write the introduction of "Blinded by the Light
Blinded by the Light
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1977 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. It was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976, where it reached No...
". The song changes tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
many times in its six and a half minute duration, changing from a fast 4/4 time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
to a slow 6/8 sauteuse waltz and back to 4/4 time on various occasions. At the end of the song, Tom Maginnis concludes that "the arrangement kicks into a full-scale gospel rave-up complete with call and response backing vocal, group handclaps, pumping piano, and blaring horns all at breakneck speeds before pulling up to a slamming halt."
Filmed performances
- The song was included in the 1974 broadcast of Morrison's July 23 1973 performance at the Rainbow TheatreRainbow Theatre (Finsbury Park)The Rainbow Theatre is a Grade II*-listed building, in the Finsbury Park area of North London. Built as a cinema in 1930, it later became well known as a music venue and is now a Pentecostal church.-Cinema:...
, London that featured The Caledonia Soul OrchestraThe Caledonia Soul OrchestraThe Caledonia Soul Orchestra was the band created by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 1973. The band is often considered one of the tightest performing backup groups of the 1970s...
. - "Moonshine Whiskey" is also one of the songs performed in 1979, on Morrison's first video Van Morrison in IrelandVan Morrison in IrelandVan Morrison in Ireland is the first official video by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1981 of a concert Morrison recorded in Northern Ireland two years earlier. The video also shows footage of the band whilst touring in Ireland and images of Belfast, including Hyndford...
, released in 1981. - There is black and white footage of Morrison performing "Moonshine Whiskey" at Passaic, New JerseyPassaic, New JerseyPassaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...
in 1979.
Personnel
- Van Morrison - acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, vocals - Ronnie MontroseRonnie MontroseRonnie Montrose, is an Amercian rock guitarist who has headed his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hartman, Edgar...
- electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Bill ChurchBill ChurchWilliam 'Bill' Church , started out playing bass in a band called Sawbuck in 1969, with Mojo Collins, Starr Donaldson, Ronnie Montrose and Chuck Ruff. As the band was beginning to record their first album, Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Van Morrison on his Tupelo Honey album...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Luis Gasca - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Mark Jordan - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Gary MallaberGary MallaberGary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
- percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - John McFeeJohn McFeeJohn McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long time member of the Doobie Brothers.-Biography:...
- pedal steel guitarPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"... - Janet Planet - background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Rick ShlosserRick ShlosserRick Shlosser is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, has been a member ofVan Morrison's band and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He's also been a varied sessions drummer.-Discography:* Andy Pratt - Records Are Like Life...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Ellen Schroer - background vocals
- Jack SchroerJack SchroerJohn Henry "Jack" Schroer was a saxophonist, pianist and arranger best known for his work with Van Morrison in the 1970s as a member of his band The Caledonia Soul Orchestra....
- alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
External links
- [ Moonshine Whiskey] at Allmusic