"Spanish Rose" is a song written by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

that was written and recorded for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns and released on his 1967 album ''

Blowin' Your Mind! ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' is the debut studio album by Northern Irish musician Van Morrison, released in 1967. It was recorded 28–29 March 1967 and contained his first solo pop hit " Brown Eyed Girl". It was included by ''Rolling Stone'' as one ...

'' and several subsequent

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s. It was also released as one of the follow-up singles to " Brown Eyed Girl" and reached #18 in the Netherlands.

Writing and recording

"Spanish Rose" was written and recorded for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns on 29 March 1967. Morrison and Berns clashed during these sessions as Berns wanted Morrison to record more commercial music resembling

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hits like "Spanish Rose" while Morrison wanted to record more challenging music like " T.B. Sheets."

Music and lyrics

Several commentators have described the song as having a Spanish or

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...

feel. More specifically, music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

describes it as having a

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

style. The song incorporates Spanish guitar,

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s and a "two-step Latin rhythm."

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Matthew Greenwald notes similarities to "Brown Eyed Girl" in that "Spanish Rose" also uses a three chord melody and lyrics that present a "remembrance of romance past, including names, times, and locations." Morrison biographer Peter Mills sees a resemblance to Ben E. King's hit single written by Brill Building composer

Jerry Leiber Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

, "

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

Reception

Greenwald assessed "Spanish Rose" as being possibly Morrison's last safe, commercial

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-style song before moving on to the more

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-oriented material that he became known for. ''

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'' called it "great stuff." ''Rolling Stone Album Guide'' contributor Paul Evans stated that while "Spanish Rose" is not as memorable as "Brown Eyed Girl," it has a "catchy perfection that most bands never achieve." In his review of ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' in 1995, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' critic Bob Cannon stated that "Spanish Rose" had "held up better than the album’s tie-dyed title." On the other hand, Morrison biographer Erik Hage regarded the song as being "downright poor." "Spanish Rose" was re-released as a single in 1971 and reached #18 on the charts in the Netherlands. It has also been re-released on several Morrison compilation albums, including '' The Essential Van Morrison'' in 2015 as well as many compilations covering the Bang Records sessions.

References

{{Van Morrison singles 1967 songs Van Morrison songs Songs written by Van Morrison Song recordings produced by Bert Berns 1971 singles 1968 singles Bang Records singles