Album of the Day

On this day in 2003, Van Morrison was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, an honor the singer-songwriter's Warner Bros. years alone would justify. Following MOONDANCE's breakthrough success, HIS BAND AND THE STREET CHOIR arrived in November 1970. While its predecessors contemplated the cosmos and love's rich conundrums, the collection resonates with a purposefully loose ebullience on songs like the Top Ten hit “Domino,” “Blue Money” and “Call Me Up In Dreamland.” If the cover art suggests a dive into the mystic, the music here is simpler and earthier, informed by R&B of the American South (New Orleans, in particular), and Van's matchless vocals brim with Belfast soul. HIS BAND AND THE STREET CHOIR offers further proof that in the early 1970s, Morrison could do no wrong.