His Band and the Street Choir

His Band and the Street Choir
A young man with shoulder-length hair and beard wearing a shirt and tie. The man is translucent and behind him is another image of the same man wearing a white kaftan. Above the images of the man is written his name (Van Morrison) in white block capitals. "His Band and the Street Choir" is written in the same writing next to it.
CD and UK album cover: The original US album cover is title-less.
Studio album by
Van Morrison
ReleasedNovember 1970
RecordedMarch–July 1970
StudioA&R Recording Studios in New York City
GenreRhythm and blues, folk-rock
Length41:40
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerVan Morrison
Van Morrison chronology
Moondance
(1970) 		His Band and the Street Choir
(1970) 		Tupelo Honey
(1971)
Singles from His Band and the Street Choir
  1. "Domino"
    Released: 14 October 1970
  2. "Blue Money"
    Released: 13 January 1971
  3. "Call Me Up in Dreamland"
    Released: 28 April 1971

His Band and the Street Choir (also referred to as Street Choir)[1] is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. Originally titled Virgo's Fool, Street Choir was renamed by Warner Bros. without Morrison's consent. Recording began in early 1970 with a demo session in a small church in Woodstock, New York. Morrison booked the A&R Studios on 46th Street in New York City in the second quarter of 1970 to produce two sessions of songs that were released on His Band and the Street Choir.

Reviewers praised the music of both sessions for its free, relaxed sound, but the lyrics were considered to be simple compared with those of his previous work. Morrison had intended to record the album a cappella with only vocal backing by a vocal group he called the Street Choir, but the songs released on the album that included the choir also featured a backing band. Morrison was dissatisfied with additional vocalists to the original quintet that made up the choir, and these changes and others have led him to regard Street Choir poorly in later years.

His Band and the Street Choir was as well received as Morrison's previous album, Moondance, peaking at number 32 on the Billboard 200 and number 18 on the UK Album Chart. It owes its success mainly to the US Top Ten single "Domino", which was released before the album and surpassed Morrison's 1967 hit, "Brown Eyed Girl". As of 2019, "Domino" remains the most successful single of Morrison's solo career. Two other singles were released from the album, "Blue Money" and "Call Me Up in Dreamland"; although less successful, they still managed to reach the Billboard Hot 100.

  1. ^ Turner 1993, p. 107