"Crazy Love" is a romantic ballad written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1970 album, Moondance. The song was originally released as the B-side to "Come Running" in May 1970 before it was released as a single in the Netherlands, "Come Running" as the B-side.[2] The cover of the single shows Morrison with his then-wife, Janet "Planet" Rigsbee. The photograph was taken by Elliot Landy, the official photographer of the 1969 Woodstock festival.[3]
| "Crazy Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Artwork for German vinyl single | ||||
| Single by Van Morrison | ||||
| from the album Moondance | ||||
| B-side | "Come Running" | |||
| Released | April 1970[1] | |||
| Recorded | August–November 1969 | |||
| Genre | Blue-eyed soul | |||
| Length | 2:34 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Van Morrison | |||
| Producer(s) | Van Morrison and Lewis Merenstein | |||
| Van Morrison singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Moondance track listing | ||||
10 tracks
| ||||
Duets with Van Morrison
editRay Charles introduced Van Morrison by starting the first verse before Van's appearance when he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2003. Morrison and Charles then finished with a duet of "Crazy Love". Ray Charles remarked about this performance: "It meant a lot to sing 'Crazy Love' on stage that evening."[4] Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles' 2004 album, includes this duet featuring the two singers. Van Morrison and Bob Dylan sang a duet of "Crazy Love" on the BBC film, One Irish Rover in 1991.
Reception
edit"Crazy Love" was listed as No. 198 on the All Time 885 Greatest Songs compiled in 2004 by WXPN from listener's votes.[5]
Other releases
editThe duet featuring Ray Charles and Van Morrison as performed at the 2003 SHOF awards is one of the 31 songs on the compilation album The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 released in 2007. The original version from Moondance is one of the hits included on the 2007 compilation album, Still on Top - The Greatest Hits.
Notable cover versions
edit"Crazy Love" has been performed by many artists. Versions by Brian Kennedy, Aaron Neville and Robbie Robertson were featured in films. Helen Reddy had considerable chart success with the song as she scored her first Adult Contemporary Billboard Top 10 hit with her cover version [6][7] released in July 1971.[8] The highest charting version of “Crazy Love” came in 1995 from R&B singer Brian McKnight, whose cover was a Top 10 hit on Billboard’s R&B Chart, and peaked at #45 on the Hot 100.
Bryan Ferry recorded a cover version for the "She's Having A Baby" soundtrack. It's also on his compilation album "Slave to Love: Best of the Ballads".
Personnel
edit- Van Morrison – vocals
- John Klingberg – bass guitar
- Jeff Labes – piano
- Gary Mallaber – drums, vibraphone
- John Platania – guitar
- Judy Clay – background vocals
- Emily Houston – background vocals
- Jackie Verdell – background vocals
Michael Bublé version
edit| "Crazy Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Michael Bublé | ||||
| from the album Crazy Love | ||||
| B-side | "Pennies from Heaven" | |||
| Released | 16 May 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009–2010 | |||
| Genre | Jazz, pop | |||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | 143 Records, Reprise | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Van Morrison | |||
| Michael Bublé singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Crazy Love" on YouTube | ||||
"Crazy Love" was later covered by Canadian singer Michael Bublé, and released as the fourth single from his fourth studio album, Crazy Love (2009). The single was released on 29 June 2010, accompanied by a number of bonus tracks and mixes from the album.[9]
Background
editThe single was released on 16 May 2010, accompanied by the bonus tracks "Pennies from Heaven", originally an iTunes Store bonus track on Crazy Love, "Relax Max", featuring Naturally 7, an Amazon exclusive bonus track on Crazy Love, and an instrumental version of "Haven't Met You Yet".[10] The release was accompanied by a music video for the track, again directed by Rich Lee. The video premiered on YouTube on 1 May 2010.
Track listing
edit- Digital download[9]
- "Crazy Love" – 3:31
- "Pennies from Heaven" – 3:15
- "Relax Max" (featuring Naturally 7) – 3:29
- "Haven't Met You Yet" (Instrumental) – 4:05
- Promotional CD single[11]
- "Crazy Love" (Edit) – 3:08
moweddatum===Charts===
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[12] | 122 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[13] 2005 release |
Silver | 200,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Notes
edit- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ DeWitt. The Mystic's Music. p.64
- ^ "Van Morrison and his wife Janet, Woodstock, NY, 1969". landyvision.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
- ^ "Ray Charles". Concord Music Group. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ "WXPN 88.5 FM :: Public Radio from the University of Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
- ^ "Bio-Helen Reddy". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ^ "Grateful Dead Family discography:Crazy Love". deaddisc.com. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ "Discography". Billboard. Vol. 86, no. 31. 3 August 1974. p. 52. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ a b "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Crazy Love by Michael Bublé". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ [1] Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Radio 1 – Chart – The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ "British single certifications – Van Morrison – Crazy Love". British Phonographic Industry.
References
edit- DeWitt, Howard A. (1983). Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music, Horizon Books, ISBN 0-938840-02-9