His Band and the Street Choir
| Van Morrison
His Band and the Street Choir
His Band and the Street Choir (also referred to as Street Choir) is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 15 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.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
February 4, 1971. His Band and the Street Choir is a free album. It was recorded with minimal over-dubbing and was obviously intended to show the other side of Moondance. And if it has a flaw it is that, like Moondance, it is too much what it set out to be. A few more numbers with a gravity of “Street Choir” would have made this album as close to perfect as anyone could have stood.
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Pitchfork
November 6, 2015. His Band and the Street Choir stands as something of a counter, a record all about the rough and tumble joy of living.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
November 16, 2015. Who knows how Street Choir would have sounded without a backing band. Either way, the album stands today as one of Morrison's best efforts, and fully realizes the soulful R&B vibe that he was starting to settle into during the era.
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All Music
As an album, His Band & the Street Choir may not equal Astral Weeks or Moondance, but the aim was never that lofty. That most of these songs have endured as fan favorites is testament enough to their quality.
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RTE
December 7, 2015. In sum, His Band and The Street Choir is a curious album, self-consciously the sum of its influences - a liitle country, a little soul, a little rock n roll. but it is also elusive, a tower of gold in the distance.
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Best Classic Bands
October 15, 2015. Van’s third solo album, November 1970’s His Band and the Street Choir, will never be considered one of Van’s grand statements, but it holds its place as a necessary piece of the Morrison puzzle. And is cherished by many Van the Man fans, who should enjoy this remastered and expanded near gem.
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Pop Matters
November 12, 2015. . . . while His Band and the Street Choir is the grittier, more unassuming showcase for Morrison’s love of R&B in its most ingratiating form.
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The Bluze
November 10, 2015. This album brings Morrison’s influences and references from Bobby Bland, John Lee Hooker and Sam Cooke up through Curtis Mayfield and James Brown. The band is incredibly tight and complimentary. Van’s singing is exquisite, his references to gypsies are authentic, as he grew up being exposed to Irish Travelers and their caravans, and his emotions are real. He shows that he can transition between the stream of consciousness writing of Astral Weeks and more conventional songwriting (as he also did on Moondance).
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Blog Critics
June 7, 2016. Like all of rock’s best albums, from What’s Going On to Blood on the Tracks to Graceland and The Rising, this one is life affirming.
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American Songwriter
November 4, 2015. nothing sounds hurried or incomplete on Morrison’s most soulful offering to date.
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The Morton Report
October 26, 2015. The album is much more mainstream than Astral Weeks and not nearly as groundbreaking or distinctive, but it is loaded with solid performances.
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OoCities
November 15, 1970. His Band and the Street Choir covers much of the same ground as Moondance: tightly constructed songs, an overpowering and, in this case, somewhat strained sense of hopefulness, and a sound that hearkens back to earlier forms of R&B, rock, and soul; namely, Otis Redding . . ., Smokey Robinson . . . , late 50's Elvis . . ., and Fats Domino . . . .
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Uncut
December 1, 2015. Also reissued here is an expanded edition of His Band And The Street Choir, often downgraded largely due to its being just brilliant rather than perfect, like its two immediate predecessors. Heard again after a long hiatus, it’s a wonderful resolution of the lighter R’n’B elements of Moondance, with barely a misstep – although the worldly, less mystical nature of the material leaves it more enjoyable, rather than magical.
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Paste Magazine
October 30, 2015. His Band and the Street Choir is a very different album, in both form and feel. There’s no track that’s over five minutes, for example (in contrast, six of Astral Weeks’ nine songs were five minutes or longer). There’s more a bright and breezy pop feel, which makes it far more immediately accessible, from the opening “Domino” (the lyric itself states “I think it’s time for a change”) to the gentle finish of “Street Choir.”
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Relix
December 18, 2015. . . . the rushed-out His Band and the Street Choir doesn’t so much glow as radiate, as if from a mirror ball. Transcendence comes (“I’ll Be Your Lover, Too”), but the goal is glittering pre-disco soul, which “Domino” delivers immortally.
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Spectrum Culture
November 29, 2015. Where Astral Weeks felt like a sprawling dreamscape full of free-associations and loosely structured arrangements heavily indebted to jazz, His Band and the Street Choir saw Morrison returning to his R&B roots with opening track “Domino” and its instantly recognizable and incessantly catchy pentatonic hook.
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Basss Player
August 27, 2015. While Astral Weeks and Moondance contemplate the cosmos and love's rich conundrums, Street Choir resonates with a purposefully loose ebullience on songs like the Top Ten hit "Domino," "Blue Money," and "Call Me Up In Dreamland."
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Classic Rock
November 1, 2015. The pieces on HIS BAND AND THE STREET CHOIR (1970) are more in the classic pop song format - in favor of the hit potential. Domino is an irresistible R'n'B explosion with a good mood guarantee.
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Sounds & Books
October 30, 2015. But the Belfast genius brought out another, substantial and pulsating soul folk rock album that year with His Band And The Street Choir. But he also excelled on His Band And The Street Choirwith some very wonderful songs . . . .
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Rock Times
November 18, 2015. "His Band And The Street Choir" may not be as brilliant as "Moondance" and not quite as intense as "Astral Weeks", which is primarily due to the more introverted production. But if it takes a bit longer (similar to "Astral Weeks") to 'get into' the album, it's still phenomenal in terms of songs, vocals and music. Another milestone in the career of Northern Ireland, which should be followed by some.
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The Top 100 Canadian Singles
November 21, 2015. After the huge success of Moondance, Morrison got right back on the horse and did a fun album, nothing too intense on the surface but full of brilliance just the same. It's the home of Domino after all, and the hit Blue Money too. If this was Morrison having a lark with the group, he showed it could be serious fun too.
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Adrian's Album Reviews
'His Band And The Street Choir' is probably a Van Morrison album you can miss altogether, thinking about it, but it does have its moments and as I said earlier, is very easy to listen to. It's certainly not offensive or terrible or anything. That voice of Mr Morrison is the best thing about the album, certainly.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
Morrison was still fully in control at this point, carefully composing and arranging everything, and making efficient use of his slightly jazzy horn section, sparingly employed chorus, and Stax-Volt influenced rhythm section. He's shorter on ideas this time, but he still ends up with another mild-mannered, tasteful, occasionally exciting, and tuneful blend of R & B, jazz, folk, light blues, and pop - he even literally goes with 50's doo-wop on "Give Me A Kiss."
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Aphoristic Album Reviews
There’s enough of Van Morrison’s enjoyable early sound to make His Band And The Street Choir interesting to fans, but it’s easily one of his weaker albums in his early solo career.
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TIDAL Read
August 27, 2015. Although, His Band and the Street Choir received at positive reception, it’s largely considered lyrically simpler and less innovative compared to the preceding Astral Weeks and Moondance. But as a straight-forward and folky R&B record, His Band and the Street Choir still has a lot to offer.
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Derek's Music Blog
November 3, 2015. . . . His Band and Street Choir is a very good album, and for too long, has been understated. It’s one of the finest albums Van Morrison released during the seventies.
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Joseph's Reviews
December 14, 2015. Like all of rock’s best albums, from What’s Going On to Graceland to The Rising, this one is life affirming.
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