"Back on Top" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and the title track on his 1999 album, '' Back on Top''. It was released as a single in the UK and charted at number sixty-nine.

Recording and composition

"Back on Top" was recorded in 1998 at Wool Hall Studios in

Beckington Beckington is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, across the River Frome from Lullington about three miles north of Frome. According to the 2011 census the parish, which includes the hamlet of Rudge, which ...

, with Walter Samuel as engineer. It has a happy upbeat melody and the optimistic lyrics may be about being successful in personal relationships as well as professionally successful. :"''Always strivin', always climbing way beyond my will''" :"''It's the same old sensation, isolation at the top of the hill''" The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review for the album, says that "'Back on Top', the title track, swings along with such ease that you're tempted to check and make sure you didn't put in ''

Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album ''Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morris ...

'' by mistake." In his live concerts, Morrison has often entered on stage playing harmonica as the band starts up this song.

Appearance on other albums

A live performance version from Morrison's appearance at the

Austin City Limits Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-based ...

on 15 September 2006 was included on the limited edition album, ''

Live at Austin City Limits Festival ''Live at Austin City Limits Festival'' by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison is a limited edition live album recorded from the Austin City Limits Festival concert at which he was the first night headliner on 15 September 2006. It has ...

''. It was included on the 2007 compilation album, ''

The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 ''The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3'' is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, that was released on 11 June 2007 in the UK with a digital version released in the U.S. on iTunes Store, on 12 June 2007. Manhattan/EM ...

'' and also on the 2007 compilation album, ''

Still on Top - The Greatest Hits A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

''.

Personnel

– vocals, harmonica *

Fiachra Trench Fiachra Terence Wilbrah Trench (born 7 September 1941, in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician and composer from Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. Trench first studied Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin, before moving on to t ...

– piano *

Geraint Watkins Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Mick Green Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. Biograp ...

– electric and acoustic guitars *Ian Jennings – double bass *Bobby Irwin – drums *

Pee Wee Ellis Alfred James Ellis (April 21, 1941 – September 23, 2021), known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 196 ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

* Brian Kennedy – backing vocals

Notes

References

* Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence?'', Chicago Review Press {{authority control 1999 singles Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison 1988 songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Van Morrison