Morrison had written all of the songs in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin County, California, except for "You're My Woman", which he wrote during the recording sessions.

The namesake for the album and its title track is a varietal honey produced from the flowers of the tupelo tree found in the Southeastern United States.

The lyrics echo the domestic bliss portrayed on the album cover; they largely describe and celebrate the rural surroundings of Woodstock and Morrison's family life with then-wife Janet "Planet" Rigsbee.

The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics at the time of its release, but Morrison's biographers were less favourable towards it in later years.

[1] Some of the tracks planned for Tupelo Honey did appear on the album, but other more traditional country songs like "The Wild Side of Life", "Crying Time" and "Banks of the Ohio" were abandoned.

"[4] The Morrisons' new home was in a rural setting situated on a hillside close to San Francisco amid redwood trees.

[5] With the move, Morrison abandoned the idea of a full country album and exchanged some of the intended material for songs he had written earlier.

In an interview with journalist Sean O'Hagan in 1990, he described this period as being in contrast to the laid-back atmosphere pictured on the album cover: "When I went to the West Coast these people [the musicians he had been working with in Woodstock] weren't that available so I had to virtually put a completely new band together overnight to do [Tupelo Honey].

"[1][7][8] Due to the location of the recording sessions of Tupelo Honey, having moved from New York to California, the only musicians from Morrison's previous band that could work with him were saxophonist Jack Schroer and his wife Ellen (who contributed backing vocals).

[12] Only four of the songs recorded were chosen for Tupelo Honey: "Wild Night"; "Moonshine Whiskey"; "I Wanna Roo You" and "Like a Cannonball".

"[13] Morrison relocated in the late spring of 1971 to the Columbia Studios, San Francisco to record a second session of tracks for the album.

[14] The vocals on the album were always live after rehearsing each song five or six times, according to saxophonist and flautist "Boots" Houston, who further commented that when Morrison and the band went into the studio: "we would then just play a whole set straight through without repeating anything.

"[15] Ted Templeman remarked that he had to go through three engineers during the recording of the album, due to Morrison's "ability as a musician, arranger and producer": "When he's got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing ...

"[16] The rural setting in Marin County furnished the backdrop for the domestic bliss associated with the album,[5] and the songs' lyrics contained harmonious references to the "good life at home".

[19] The album opens with "Wild Night", a hybrid of R&B, soul and country music influences, which uses a moderate 44 time signature and features the lead guitar playing of Ronnie Montrose.

[13] "Wild Night", which has been described by biographer Ken Brooks as "a great start to the album",[9] was first recorded after the Astral Weeks sessions in Autumn 1968 and was re-recorded numerous times before its eventual release on Tupelo Honey.

[12] Morrison recalled during an interview that the song was originally "a much slower number, but when we got to fooling around with it in the studio, we ended up doing it in a faster tempo.

[28] Uncut reviewer David Cavanagh wrote: "On an album where the vocals are exultant to say the least, this song sees Morrison use larynx, diaphragm, teeth and tongue to find new ways of enunciating the lines 'she's as sweet as Tupelo honey' and 'she's all right with me', seemingly in ever-increasing adoration.

[29] Greil Marcus called the song "a kind of odyssey" evoking Elvis Presley (whose hometown was Tupelo, Mississippi), and "the most gorgeous number on the album" that "was too good not to be true.

"[30] "I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)" is a country-flavoured waltz that prominently features John McFee's steel guitar and Ronnie Montrose's mandolin.

[38] The title of the album derives from the varietal honey produced from the flowers of the tupelo tree found predominantly in Florida.

The first, "Wild Night", with a rare alternative take on "When That Evening Sun Goes Down" as the B-side,[6] proved popular enough to reach number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

"(Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball", with "Old Old Woodstock" as the B-side,[49] was the third single from the album and only reached number 119, just outside the Billboard Hot 100.

Jon Landau wrote in Rolling Stone: "Tupelo Honey is in one sense but another example of the artist making increased use of the album as the unit of communication as opposed to merely the song or the cut.

"[54] Tupelo Honey was later ranked the fourth best album of the year in the Village Voice's first annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.

"[60] Morrison was expected to tour to promote the album, but at this time he had developed a phobia about performing that was especially problematic when appearing before large audiences.

John Platania was playing in concerts with Morrison and spoke of noticing his confidence ebbing away: "There were many times when he literally had to be coaxed on stage.

After regaining his confidence by making regular and informal performances at a small club near his home (the "Lion's Share" in San Anselmo California), he began to tour coast-to-coast again in 1972.