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
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
.
As a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for several
Irish showband
The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...
s, covering the popular hits of that time. Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison rose to prominence in the mid 1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish
R&B and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
. With Them, he recorded the
garage band
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...
classic "
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
".
Under the pop-oriented guidance of
Bert Berns
Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece ...
, Morrison's solo career began in 1967 with the release of the hit single "
Brown Eyed Girl
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...
". After Berns's death,
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
bought out Morrison's contract and allowed him three sessions to record ''
Astral Weeks
''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Reco ...
'' (1968). While initially a poor seller, the album has become regarded as a classic. ''
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 ...
'' (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances.
Much of Morrison's music is structured around the conventions of
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
and early
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
. An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz and
stream-of-consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...
narrative, such as the album ''Astral Weeks''.
The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic soul".
His live performances have been described as "transcendental" and "inspired", and his music as attaining "a kind of violent transcendence".
Morrison's albums have performed well in Ireland and the UK, with more than 40 reaching the UK top 40. He has scored top ten albums in the UK in four consecutive decades, following the success of 2021's ''
Latest Record Project, Volume 1
''Latest Record Project, Volume 1 '' is the 42nd studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 7 May 2021 by Exile Productions and BMG. The 28-track album includes the songs "Why Are You on Facebook?", "They Own the ...
''. Eighteen of
his albums have reached the top 40 in the United States, twelve of them between 1997 and 2017. Since turning 70 in 2015, he has released - on average - more than an album a year. He has received two
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s,
the 1994
Brit Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017
Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and has been inducted into both the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
and the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
. In 2016, he was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland.
Life and career
Early life and musical roots: 1945–1964
George Ivan Morrison was born on 31 August 1945, at 125 Hyndford Street,
Bloomfield, Belfast
Belfast Bloomfield was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
Boundaries
Belfast Bloomfield was a borough constituency comprising part of eastern Belfast. It was created in 1929 when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and R ...
, Northern Ireland, as the only child of George Morrison, a
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
electrician, and Violet Stitt Morrison, who had been a singer and
tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
r in her youth. The previous occupant of the house was the writer
Lee Child
James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher'' novel series. The books follow the adventures of a former American ...
's father.
Morrison's family were working class
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
descended from the
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
* Ulster Scots dialect
Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots language, Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in North ...
population that settled in Belfast.
[Hinton (1997), page 18.][Heylin (2003), p. 4.] From 1950 to 1956, Morrison, who began to be known as "Van" during this time, attended
Elmgrove Primary School
Elmgrove Primary School (Sometimes referred to as simply Elmgrove and originally known as Elmgrove Elementary School) is a state-controlled Primary School situated in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1932 as Elmgrove Elementary Schoo ...
.
[Turner (1993), p. 20.] His father had what was at the time one of the largest record collections in Northern Ireland (acquired during his time in Detroit, Michigan, in the early 1950s)
[Hinton (1997), p. 19.] and the young Morrison grew up listening to artists such as
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...
,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
Lead Belly
Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
,
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
and
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Life and career
McGhee wa ...
and
Solomon Burke
Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...
;
[Hinton (1997), p. 20.] of whom he later said, "If it weren't for guys like Ray and Solomon, I wouldn't be where I am today. Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now."
His father's record collection exposed him to various musical genres, such as the
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
of
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
; the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
of
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
; the
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
of
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
; the
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
of
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
; and
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
from
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
and
Jimmie Rodgers
James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...
,
while the first record he ever bought was by blues musician
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
.
When
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...
had a hit with "
Rock Island Line
"Rock Island Line" is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins ...
", written by Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly), Morrison felt he was familiar with and able to connect with
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
music as he had been hearing Lead Belly before that.
[Collis (1996), page 33.]
Morrison's father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was eleven, and he learned to play rudimentary
chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord (as ...
from the song book ''The
Carter Family
Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...
Style'', edited by
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
.
[Turner (1993), p. 25.] In 1957, at the age of twelve, Morrison formed his first band, a skiffle group, "The Sputniks", named after the satellite,
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...
, that had been launched in October of that year by the Soviets.
[Hinton (1997), page 22.] In 1958, the band played at some of the local cinemas, and Morrison took the lead, contributing most of the singing and arranging. Other short-lived groups followed – at fourteen, he formed Midnight Special, another modified skiffle band and played at a school concert.
Then, when he heard
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...
playing saxophone on "The Train and The River", he talked his father into buying him a saxophone,
[Heylin (2003), page 34.] and took lessons in tenor sax and music reading.
[Turner (1993), page 26.]
Now playing the saxophone, Morrison joined with various local bands, including one called Deanie Sands and the Javelins, with whom he played guitar and shared singing. The line-up of the band was lead vocalist Deanie Sands, guitarist
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
, and drummer and vocalist Roy Kane.
Later the four main musicians of the Javelins, with the addition of Wesley Black as pianist, became known as the Monarchs.
[Turner (1993), page 28.]
Morrison attended
Orangefield Boys Secondary School, leaving in July 1960 with no qualifications.
As a member of a working-class community, he was expected to get a regular full-time job,
so after several short apprenticeship positions, he settled into a job as a
window cleaner
Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed and ...
—later alluded to in his songs "
Cleaning Windows
"Cleaning Windows" is a song written by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, recorded on his 1982 album ''Beautiful Vision''.
Recording and composition
The version of "Cleaning Windows" that was released as a single and was includ ...
" and "
Saint Dominic's Preview
''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
". However, he had been developing his musical interests from an early age and continued playing with the Monarchs part-time. Young Morrison also played with the Harry Mack Showband, the Great Eight, with his older workplace friend, Geordie (G. D.) Sproule, whom he later named as one of his biggest influences.
[Rogan (2006), pages 43–48.]
At age 17, Morrison toured Europe for the first time with the Monarchs, now calling themselves the International Monarchs. This
Irish showband
The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...
, with Morrison playing saxophone, guitar and harmonica, in addition to back-up duty on bass and drums, toured seamy clubs and US Army bases in Scotland, England and Germany, often playing five sets a night.
While in Germany, the band recorded a single, "Boozoo Hully Gully"/"Twingy Baby", under the name Georgie and the Monarchs. This was Morrison's first recording, taking place in November 1963 at Ariola Studios in Cologne with Morrison on saxophone; it made the lower reaches of the German charts.
Upon returning to Belfast in November 1963, the group disbanded,
[Turner (1993), pp. 33–38.] so Morrison connected with Geordie Sproule again and played with him in the Manhattan Showband along with guitarist Herbie Armstrong. When Armstrong auditioned to play with Brian Rossi and the Golden Eagles, later known as
the Wheels
The Wheels were a 1960s R&B and blues-influenced rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who came from the same music scene that produced the better-known band, Them, led by Van Morrison. Their best-known membership consisted of Brian Rossi ...
, Morrison went along and was hired as a blues singer.
Them: 1964–1966
The roots of Them, the band that first broke Morrison on the international scene, came in April 1964 when he responded to an advert for musicians to play at a new
R&B club at the Maritime Hotel in College Square North – an old Belfast hostel frequented by sailors. The new club needed a band for its opening night; however, Morrison had left the Golden Eagles (the group with which he had been performing at the time), so he created a new band out of the Gamblers, an
East Belfast group formed by Ronnie Millings, Billy Harrison and Alan Henderson in 1962.
Eric Wrixon, still a schoolboy, was the piano player and keyboardist. Morrison played saxophone and harmonica and shared vocals with Billy Harrison. They followed Eric Wrixon's suggestion for a new name, and the Gamblers morphed into
Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
, their name taken from the Fifties horror movie ''
Them!
''Them!'' is a 1954 American black-and-white science fiction film, science fiction monster film from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by David Weisbart, directed by Gordon Douglas (director), Gordon Douglas, and starring James Whitmore, Edmund ...
''
The band's strong R&B performances at the Maritime attracted attention. Them performed without a routine and Morrison
ad lib
In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation.
The ...
bed, creating his songs live as he performed.
[Hinton (1997), page 40.] While the band did covers, they also played some of Morrison's early songs, such as "Could You Would You", which he had written in
Camden Town
Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...
while touring with the Manhattan Showband. The debut of Morrison's "Gloria" took place on stage here. Sometimes, depending on his mood, the song could last up to twenty minutes. Morrison has said, "Them lived and died on the stage at the Maritime Hotel", believing the band did not manage to capture the spontaneity and energy of their live performances on their records.
[Turner (1993), page 44.] The statement also reflected the instability of the Them line-up, with numerous members passing through the ranks after the definitive Maritime period. Morrison and Henderson remained the only constants, and a less successful version of Them soldiered on after Morrison's departure.
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921 – 6 June 1986) was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period.
H ...
of
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
became aware of the band's performances, and signed Them to a standard two-year contract. In that period, they released two albums and ten singles, with two more singles released after Morrison departed the band. They had three
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
hits, "
Baby, Please Don't Go
"Baby, Please Don't Go" is a traditional blues song that was popularized by Delta blues musician Big Joe Williams in 1935. Many cover versions followed, leading to its description as "one of the most played, arranged, and rearranged pieces in ...
" (1964), "
Here Comes the Night
"Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the US. Them's single is listed at either No. 33 or No. ...
" (1965), and "
Mystic Eyes
A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult.
Mystic may also refer to:
Places United States
* Mistick, an old name for parts of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts
* ...
" (1965), but it was the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go", the
garage band
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...
classic "
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
",
[Turner (1993), pages 48–51] that went on to become a rock standard covered by
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poe ...
,
the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
,
the Shadows of Knight
The Shadows of Knight were an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, that played a version of British blues influenced by their native city. When they began recording in 1965, the band's self-description was "the Stones, Animals and the Ya ...
,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
and many others.
Building on the success of their singles in the United States, and riding on the back of the
British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
, Them undertook a two-month tour of America in May and June 1966 that included a residency from 30 May to 18 June at the
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...
in Los Angeles.
[Turner (1993), pages 65 – 66.] The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
were the supporting act on the last week, and Morrison's influence on the Doors singer
Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...
was noted by
John Densmore
John Paul Densmore (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band the Doors, and as such is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He appeared on every recordi ...
in his book ''Riders on the Storm''.
Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton, MBE (born 21 September 1950) is an English poet and musicologist. In June 2006 he was honoured in H. M. the Queen's Birthday Honours List with an MBE for services to the Arts.
Education
Born in Southampton, Hinton studied Englis ...
relates how "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks."
[Hinton (1997), page 67.] On the final night, the two Morrisons and the two bands jammed together on "Gloria".
[ from Van Morrison website. Photo of both Morrisons on stage. Access date 26 May 2007.]
Toward the end of the tour the band members became involved in a dispute with their manager, Decca Records'
Phil Solomon, over the revenues paid to them; that, coupled with the expiry of their work visas, meant the band returned from America dejected. After two more concerts in Ireland, Them split up. Morrison concentrated on writing some of the songs that would appear on ''Astral Weeks'', while the remnants of the band reformed in 1967 and relocated in America.
[Turner (1993), pages 72–73.]
Start of solo career with Bang Records and "Brown Eyed Girl": 1967
Bert Berns
Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include "Twist and Shout", "Piece ...
, Them's producer and composer of their 1965 hit "Here Comes the Night", persuaded Morrison to return to New York to record solo for his new label,
Bang Records
Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. The first letters of their names (Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, Gerald) formed the label's name.
Forming the ...
.
[Rogan (2006), page 188.] Morrison flew over and signed a contract he had not fully studied. During a two-day recording session at A & R Studios starting 28 March 1967, he recorded eight songs, originally intended to be used as four singles. Instead, these songs were released as the 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 o ...
'' without Morrison's consultation. He said he only became aware of the album's release when a friend mentioned that he had bought a copy. Morrison was unhappy with the album and said he "had a different concept of it".
[Rogan (2006), page 204.]
One of the songs from ''Blowin' Your Mind!'', "
Brown Eyed Girl
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...
", was released as a single in mid-June 1967, reaching number ten in the US charts. "Brown Eyed Girl" became Morrison's most-played song. The song spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart. It is considered to be Morrison's
signature song
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
.
An evaluation in 2015 of downloads
since 2004 and airplay since 2010 had "Brown Eyed Girl" as the most popular song of the entire 1960s decade. In 2000, it was listed at No. 21 on the ''Rolling Stone''/MTV list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs and as No. 49 on
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs. In 2010, "Brown Eyed Girl" was ranked No. 110 on the ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine list of
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
.
In January 2007, "Brown Eyed Girl" was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
.
Following the death of Berns in 1967, Morrison became involved in a contract dispute with Berns' widow,
Ilene Berns
Ilene Berns ('' née'' Holub; May 1, 1943 – February 20, 2017) was a record company director.
Born to a Jewish family in Cleveland, Ohio, Berns worked as a go-go dancer in New York City nightclubs before meeting her husband Bert Berns, the so ...
, that prevented him from performing on stage or recording in the New York area.
[Rogan (2006), pages 212–215.] The song "Big Time Operators", released in 1993, is thought to allude to his dealings with the New York
music business
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
during this period.
[Rogan (2006) page 216.] He moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, and faced personal and financial problems; he had "slipped into a malaise" and had trouble finding concert bookings.
[Rogan (2006) page 217.] He regained his professional footing through the few gigs he could find, and started recording with
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
.
[Heylin (2003), page 170.][Heylin (2003), pages 176–177.]
Warner Bros bought out Morrison's Bang contract with a $20,000 cash transaction that took place in an abandoned warehouse on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan.
[Walsh (2018), pages 15–19.] A clause required Morrison to submit 36 original songs within a year to Berns' music publishing company. He recorded them in one session on an out-of-tune guitar, with lyrics about subjects including
ringworm
Dermatophytosis, also known as ringworm, is a fungal infection of the skin. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the area affected. Symptoms begin four to fourteen days after exposure. Multiple a ...
and sandwiches. Berns thought the songs were "nonsense" and did not use them.
[Rogan (2006), pages 212–222.] The throwaway compositions came to be known as the "revenge" songs, and did not see official release until the 2017 compilation ''
The Authorized Bang Collection
''The Authorized Bang Collection'' is a compilation album by Van Morrison containing every track that Morrison recorded for Bang Records in the 1960s. It was released on April 28, 2017 by Legacy Recordings on the Bang label.
The first disc, ''The ...
''.
''Astral Weeks'': 1968
Morrison's first album for Warner Bros Records was ''Astral Weeks'' (which he had already performed in several clubs around Boston), a mystical
song cycle
A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online''
The songs are either for solo voice ...
, often considered to be his best work and one of the best albums of all time.
[Rogan (2006), page 223.] Morrison has said, "When ''Astral Weeks'' came out, I was starving, ''literally''."
[Hinton (1997), page 100.] Released in 1968, the album eventually achieved critical acclaim, but it originally received an indifferent response from the public. It was described by
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 ...
's William Ruhlmann as hypnotic, meditative, and as possessing a unique musical power.
It has been compared to French
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
and mystical Celtic poetry.
[Hinton (1997), pages 88–89.]
A 2004 ''Rolling Stone'' magazine review begins with the words: "This is music of such enigmatic beauty that thirty-five years after its release, ''Astral Weeks'' still defies easy, admiring description."
Alan Light
Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for ''Rolling Stone'' and the editor-in-chief for ''Vibe,'' '' Spin,'' and ''Tracks''.http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/11/18/new_music ...
later described ''Astral Weeks'' as "like nothing he had done previously—and really, nothing anyone had done previously. Morrison sings of lost love, death, and nostalgia for childhood in the Celtic soul that would become his signature."
It has been placed on many lists of best albums of all time. In the 1995 ''Mojo'' list of 100 Best Albums, it was listed as number two and was number nineteen on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's ''
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
'' in 2003.
In December 2009, it was voted the top Irish album of all time by a poll of leading Irish musicians conducted by ''
Hot Press
''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes.
History
''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
'' magazine.
''Moondance'' to ''Into the Music'': 1970–1979
![Van Morrison (1972)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Van_Morrison_%281972%29.png)
Morrison's third solo album, ''
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 ...
'', which was released in 1970, became his first million selling album and reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard charts.
[Turner (1993), page 95.][Turner (1993), page 98.] The style of ''Moondance'' stood in contrast to that of ''
Astral Weeks
''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Reco ...
''. Whereas ''Astral Weeks'' had a sorrowful and vulnerable tone, ''Moondance'' restored a more optimistic and cheerful message to his music,
[Yorke (1975), page 69.] which abandoned the previous record's abstract folk compositions in favour of more formally composed songs and a lively
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
style he expanded on throughout his career.
The title track, although not released in the US as a single until 1977, received heavy play in
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
formats.
[Rogan (2006), page 250.] "
Into the Mystic
"Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album ''Moondance''. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now''.
Recording and composition
"Int ...
" has also gained a wide following over the years.
"
Come Running
"Come Running" is a song written by singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1970 album ''Moondance''.
"Come Running" was also the only song to survive the ''Astral Weeks'' demos for Warner Bros. in 1968.
Recording
The song was first ...
", which reached the
American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
, rescued Morrison from what seemed then as Hot 100 obscurity.
''Moondance'' was both well received and favourably reviewed.
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, critic, author, and musician. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock music c ...
and
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
had a combined full page review in ''Rolling Stone'', saying Morrison now had "the striking imagination of a consciousness that is visionary in the strongest sense of the word."
"That was the type of band I dig," Morrison said of the ''Moondance'' sessions. "Two horns and a rhythm section – they're the type of bands that I like best." He produced the album himself as he felt like nobody else knew what he wanted.
[Heylin (2003), page 226.] ''Moondance'' was listed at number sixty-five on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's ''The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time''.
In March 2007, ''Moondance'' was listed as number seventy-two on the
NARM NARM was the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, now renamed as the Music Business Association. NARM may also refer to:
*North American Reciprocal Museums
*North American Registry of Midwives, a certifying organization for Midwifery#Ce ...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
list of the "Definitive 200".
Over the next few years, he released a succession of albums, starting with a second one in 1970. ''
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'' ...
'' had a freer, more relaxed sound than ''Moondance'', but not the ''perfection'', in the opinion of critic
Jon Landau
Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen in all three capacities. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and recei ...
, who felt like "a few more numbers with a gravity of 'Street Choir' would have made this album as perfect as anyone could have stood."
It contained the hit single "
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
", which charted at number nine in the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
[Collis (1996), page 122.]
In 1971, he released another well-received album, ''
Tupelo Honey
''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York, before his move to ...
''.
[Rogan (2006), page 259.] This album produced the hit single "
Wild Night
"Wild Night" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the opening track on his fifth studio album ''Tupelo Honey''. It was released as a single in 1971 and reached number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. ...
" that was later covered by
John Mellencamp
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...
and
Meshell Ndegeocello
Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...
. The title song has a notably country-soul feel about it and the album ended with another country tune, "
Moonshine Whiskey
"Moonshine Whiskey" is a song written by singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the concluding track of his 1971 in music, 1971 album ''Tupelo Honey''.
It was a popular tune with Morrison in the 1970s and he regularly performed it in concert. Bri ...
". Morrison said he originally intended to make an all country album.
[Rogan (2006), pages 267–268.] The recordings were as live as possible – after rehearsing the songs the musicians would enter the studio and play a whole set in one take. His co-producer,
Ted Templeman
Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American record producer. Among the acts he has a long relationship with are the rock bands Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced multiple criticall ...
, described this recording process as the "scariest thing I've ever seen. When he's got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing."
[Hinton (1997), page 137.]
Released in 1972, ''
Saint Dominic's Preview
''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
'' revealed Morrison's break from the more accessible style of his previous three albums and moving back towards the more daring, adventurous, and meditative aspects of ''Astral Weeks''. The combination of two styles of music demonstrated a versatility not previously found in his earlier albums.
Two songs, "
Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
"Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, ''Saint Dominic's Preview''. It was released by Warner Bros. in July 1972 as the fir ...
" and "
Redwood Tree
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world.
Description
The three redwood subfamily genera are '' Sequoia'' from co ...
", reached the Hot 100 singles chart.
The songs "
Listen to the Lion
"Listen to the Lion" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his sixth album, ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' (1972). Its poetic musings and "bass-led shuffle" lead back to ''Astral Weeks'' territory.
Record ...
" and "
Almost Independence Day
"Almost Independence Day" is the closing song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1972 album ''Saint Dominic's Preview''. The song is ten minutes long and features Morrison trading guitar licks with Ron Elliott.
Recording
"Almost ...
" are each over ten minutes long and employ the type of poetic imagery not heard since ''Astral Weeks''.
[Heylin (2003), pages 255–256.] It was his highest-charting album in the US until his Top Ten debut on
''Billboard'' 200 in 2008.
He released his next album, ''
Hard Nose the Highway
''Hard Nose the Highway'' is the seventh studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1973. It is his first solo album since his 1967 debut ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' to contain songs not written by Morrison. A cover ver ...
'', in 1973, receiving mixed, but mostly negative, reviews. The album contained the popular song "
Warm Love
"Warm Love" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison.
The song was included on his 1973 album '' Hard Nose the Highway''. It was a Top Forty single hit when released in April 1973.Yorke, Into the Music, p. 102 Jack ...
" but otherwise has been largely dismissed critically.
[Heylin (2003), pages 265–267.] In a 1973 ''Rolling Stone'' review, it was described as: "psychologically complex, musically somewhat uneven and lyrically excellent."
During a three-week vacation visit to Ireland in October 1973, Morrison wrote seven of the songs that made up his next album, ''
Veedon Fleece
''Veedon Fleece'' is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 5 October 1974. Morrison recorded the album shortly after his divorce from wife Janet (Planet) Rigsbee. With his broken marriage in the pa ...
''.
[Turner (1993), page 122.] Though it attracted scant initial attention, its critical stature grew markedly over the years—with ''Veedon Fleece'' now often considered to be one of Morrison's most impressive and poetic works.
[Rogan (2006), page 301.] In a 2008 ''Rolling Stone'' review, Andy Greene writes that when released in late 1974: "it was greeted by a collective shrug by the rock critical establishment" and concludes: "He's released many wonderful albums since, but he's never again hit the majestic heights of this one."
"
You Don't Pull No Punches, but You Don't Push the River
"You Don't Pull No Punches, but You Don't Push the River" is a nine-minute song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album ''Veedon Fleece'', released in 1974.
Writing and song origins
"You Don't Pull No Punches, bu ...
", one of the album's side closers, exemplifies the long, hypnotic, cryptic Morrison with its references to visionary poet
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
and to the seemingly
Grail
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraf ...
-like Veedon Fleece object.
[Rogan (2006), page 300.]
Morrison took three years to release a follow-up album. After a decade without taking time off, he said in an interview, he needed to get away from music completely and ceased listening to it for several months.
[Rogan (2006), page 306.] Also suffering from
writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
, he seriously considered leaving the music business for good.
[Heylin (2003), page 305.] Speculation that an extended
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...
would be released either under the title ''Mechanical Bliss'', or ''Naked in the Jungle'', or ''Stiff Upper Lip'', came to nothing,
[Rogan (2006), pages 304–306.] and Morrison's next album was ''
A Period of Transition
''A Period of Transition'' is the ninth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music). It was his first album in two-and-a-half years. At the time of its release it was received with some dis ...
'' in 1977, a collaboration with
Dr. John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B.
Active as a session musician from t ...
, who had appeared at ''
The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...
'' concert with Morrison in 1976. The album received a mild critical reception and marked the beginning of a very prolific period of song making.
''Into the Music
''Into the Music'' is the 11th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and was released in August 1979. It includes "Bright Side of the Road", which peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and other songs in which Mor ...
'': The album's last four songs, "Angelou", "And the Healing Has Begun", and "It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About" are a veritable tour-de-force with Morrison summoning every vocal trick at his disposal from Angelou's climactic shouts to the sexually-charged, half-mumbled monologue in "And the Healing Has Begun" to the barely audible whisper that is the album's final sound.
--Scott Thomas Review
The following year, Morrison released ''
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
''; it became at that time the fastest-selling album of his career and soon went gold.
[Hinton (1997), page 210.] The title track became a modest hit, peaking at number forty-two. Making use of 1970s synthesisers, it mimics the sounds of the
shortwave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
radio stations he listened to in his youth.
The opening track, "Kingdom Hall" – the name given by
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
to their
places of worship
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
– evoked Morrison's childhood experiences of religion with his mother,
and foretold the religious themes that were more evident on his next album, ''
Into the Music
''Into the Music'' is the 11th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and was released in August 1979. It includes "Bright Side of the Road", which peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and other songs in which Mor ...
''.
Considered by
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 ...
as "the definitive post-classic-era Morrison", ''Into the Music'', was released in the last year of the 1970s. Songs on this album for the first time alluded to the healing power of music, which became an abiding interest of Morrison's.
[Hage (2009), page 89.] "
Bright Side of the Road
"Bright Side of the Road" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1979 album ''Into the Music''. It was also one of the outtakes that made up the 1998 compilation album, '' The Philosopher's Stone'' ...
" was a joyful, uplifting song that featured on the soundtrack of the movie, ''
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
''.
''Common One'' to ''Avalon Sunset'': 1980–1989
With his next album, the new decade found Morrison following his
muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
into uncharted territory and sometimes merciless reviews.
[Heylin (2003), page 364.][Rogan (2006), page 330.] In February 1980, Morrison and a group of musicians travelled to Super Bear, a studio in the
French Alps
The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...
, to record (on the site of a former
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
) what is considered to be the most controversial album in his discography; later "Morrison admitted his original concept was even more esoteric than the final product."
[Hinton (1997), page 230.][Heylin (2003), page 365.] The album, ''
Common One
''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...
'', consisted of six songs; the longest, "
Summertime in England
"Summertime in England" is the longest song on Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison's 1980 album, ''Common One'', and is approximately fifteen minutes long. Although the album on which the song appeared was not critically or commercially ...
", lasted fifteen and a half minutes and ended with the words ''"Can you feel the silence?"''. ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' magazine's
Paul Du Noyer
Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at the London School of Economics. He has written and edited for the music magazines ''NME'', '' ...
called the album "colossally smug and cosmically dull; an interminable, vacuous and drearily egotistical stab at spirituality: Into the muzak."
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
, whose previous writings had been favourably inclined towards Morrison, critically remarked: "It's Van acting the part of the 'mystic poet' he thinks he's supposed to be."
Morrison insisted the album was never "meant to be a commercial album."
Biographer
Clinton Heylin
Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan.
Education
Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College, University of London, ...
concludes: "He would not attempt anything so ambitious again. Henceforth every radical idea would be tempered by some notion of commerciality."
Later, critics reassessed the album more favourably with the success of "Summertime in England".
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, critic, author, and musician. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock music c ...
wrote in 1982, "Van was making holy music even though he thought he was, and us rock critics had made our usual mistake of paying too much attention to the lyrics."
Morrison's next album, ''
Beautiful Vision
''Beautiful Vision'' is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from rhythm and blues, R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American ...
'', released in 1982, had him returning once again to the music of his Northern Irish roots.
[Rogan (2006), page 338.] Well received by the critics and public, it produced a minor UK hit single, "
Cleaning Windows
"Cleaning Windows" is a song written by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, recorded on his 1982 album ''Beautiful Vision''.
Recording and composition
The version of "Cleaning Windows" that was released as a single and was includ ...
", that referenced one of Morrison's first jobs after leaving school.
[Rogan (2006), pages 337–338.] Several other songs on the album, "
Vanlose Stairway
"Vanlose Stairway" is a song written by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and included on his 1982 album ''Beautiful Vision''. It has remained a popular concert performance throughout Morrison's career and has become one of his mo ...
", "She Gives Me Religion", and the instrumental, "
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
" show the presence of a new personal muse in his life: a Danish public relations agent, who would share Morrison's spiritual interests and serve as a steadying influence on him throughout most of the 1980s.
[Heylin (2003), page 371.] "Scandinavia", with Morrison on piano,
was nominated in the ''Best Rock Instrumental Performance'' category for the 25th Annual
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
.
Much of the music Morrison released throughout the 1980s continued to focus on the themes of
spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
and faith. His 1983 album, ''
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' is the fourteenth studio album by People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983. Morrison said he arrived at the title from a Shavian saying: "that idea of commun ...
'', was "a move towards creating music for meditation" with synthesisers, uilleann pipes and flute sounds, and four of the tracks were instrumentals.
[Turner (1993), page 153.] The titling of the album and the presence of the instrumentals were noted to be indicative of Morrison's long-held belief that "it's not the words one uses but the force of conviction behind those words that matters."
During this period of time, Morrison had studied
Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
and gave "Special Thanks" to
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...
on the album's credits.
[Turner (1993), page 150]
''
A Sense of Wonder
''A Sense of Wonder'' is the fifteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1985. On first release, original pressings had to be recalled when the W. B. Yeats estate refused to allow Morrison's musical versi ...
'', Morrison's 1985 album, pulled together the spiritual themes contained in his last four albums, which were defined in a ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' review as: "rebirth (''Into the Music''), deep contemplation and meditation (''Common One''); ecstasy and humility (''Beautiful Vision''); and blissful, mantra like languor (''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'')."
The single "
Tore Down a la Rimbaud" was a reference to
Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
and an earlier bout of
writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
that Morrison had encountered in 1974.
[Heylin (2003), page 308.] In 1985, Morrison also wrote the musical score for the movie ''
Lamb
Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:
* A young sheep
* Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep
Arts and media Film, television, and theatre
* ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut
* ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
'' starring
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
.
[Collis (1996), page 162.]
Morrison's 1986 release, ''
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' is the sixteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986 on Mercury.
Upon release in 1986, it was well received by critics and charted at number twenty-seven in the UK a ...
'', was said to contain a "genuine holiness ... and musical freshness that needs to be set in context to understand."
[Hinton (1997), page 255.] Critical response was favourable with a ''Sounds'' reviewer calling the album "his most intriguingly involved since ''Astral Weeks''" and "Morrison at his most mystical, magical best."
[Heylin (2003), page 396.][Rogan (2006), page 360.] It contains the song "
In the Garden
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Independ ...
" that, according to Morrison, had a "definite meditation process which is a 'form' of transcendental meditation as its basis. It's not TM".
He entitled the album as a rebuttal to media attempts to place him in various creeds.
[Hinton (1997), page 253.] In an interview in the Observer he told Anthony Denselow:
After releasing the "No Guru" album, Morrison's music appeared less gritty and more
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
with the well-received 1987 album, ''
Poetic Champions Compose
''Poetic Champions Compose'' is the seventeenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1987 on Mercury Records. It received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom viewed it as adequate mood music ...
'', considered to be one of his recording highlights of the 1980s. The romantic ballad from this album, "
Someone Like You", has been featured subsequently in the soundtracks of several movies, including 1995's ''
French Kiss
A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...
'', and in 2001, both ''
Someone Like You'' and ''
Bridget Jones's Diary
''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies (writer), Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding. A co-production of the United Kingdom, United States and France, it is ...
''.
In 1988, he released ''
Irish Heartbeat
''Irish Heartbeat'' is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group the Chieftains, released in 1988. It was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Du ...
'', a collection of traditional
Irish folk songs
Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...
recorded with the Irish group
the Chieftains
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...
, which reached number 18 in the UK album charts. The title song, "
Irish Heartbeat
''Irish Heartbeat'' is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group the Chieftains, released in 1988. It was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Du ...
", was originally recorded on his 1983 album ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart''.
The 1989 album, ''
Avalon Sunset
''Avalon Sunset'' is the nineteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 1989 by Mercury Records to both commercial and critical success.
In 2008, ''Avalon Sunset'' was reissued and remastered, featuri ...
'', which featured the hit duet with
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
"
Whenever God Shines His Light
"Whenever God Shines His Light" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released on his 1989 album ''Avalon Sunset'' as a duet with Cliff Richard. Although the album was released in June 1989, this song was release ...
" and the ballad "
Have I Told You Lately
"Have I Told You Lately" is a song written and recorded by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison for his nineteenth studio album ''Avalon Sunset'' (1989). It is a romantic ballad that is often played at weddings, although it was ori ...
" (on which "earthly love transmutes into that for God" (
Hinton)),
[Hinton (1997), page 278.] reached 13 on the UK album chart. Although considered to be a deeply spiritual album, it also contained "Daring Night", which "deals with full, blazing sex, whatever its churchy organ and gentle lilt suggest"(Hinton).
[Hinton (1997), page 280.] Morrison's familiar themes of "God, woman, his childhood in Belfast and those enchanted moments when time stands still" were prominent in the songs.
[Turner (1993), page 163.] He can be heard calling out the change of
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
at the end of this song, repeating the numbers "1 – 4" to cue the
chord changes
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
(the first and fourth chord in the key of the music). He often completed albums in two days, frequently releasing first takes.
[Heylin (2003) pages 429–463.]
''The Best of Van Morrison'' to ''Back on Top'': 1990–1999
The early to middle 1990s were commercially successful for Morrison with three albums reaching the top five of the UK charts, sold-out concerts, and a more visible public profile; but this period also marked a decline in the critical reception to his work.
[Heylin (2003), pages 450–458.] The decade began with the release of ''
The Best of Van Morrison
''The Best of Van Morrison'' is a compilation album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It compiles songs spanning 25 years of his recording career. Released in 1990 by Polydor Records, the album was a critical and commercial succes ...
''; compiled by Morrison himself, the album was focused on his hit singles, and became a multi-platinum success remaining a year and a half on the UK charts.
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 ...
determined it to be "far and away the best selling album of his career."
In 1991 he wrote and produced four songs for
Tom Jones released on the ''Carrying A Torch'' album and performed a duet with
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
on BBC Arena special.
The 1994 live double album ''
A Night in San Francisco
''A Night in San Francisco'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1994. Guest artists were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. ...
'' received favourable reviews as well as commercial success by reaching number eight on the UK charts.
1995's ''
Days Like This'' also had large sales – though the critical reviews were not always favourable.
[Heylin (2003), page 458.] This period also saw a number of side projects, including the live jazz performances of 1996's ''
How Long Has This Been Going On
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical ''Funny Face'' in 1927.
History
According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', after the premiere of ...
'', from the same year ''
Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison'', and 2000's ''
The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998'', all of which found Morrison paying tribute to his early musical influences.
In 1997, Morrison released ''
The Healing Game
''The Healing Game'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1997 by Polydor. It reached the Top Ten in four countries, and the Top Twenty in three more. Following two overtly jazz albums, it ...
''. The album received mixed reviews, with the lyrics being described as "tired" and "dull",
[Rogan (2006), page 450.] though critic Greil Marcus praised the musical complexity of the album by saying: "It carries the listener into a musical home so perfect and complete he or she might have forgotten that music could call up such a place, and then populate it with people, acts, wishes, fears."
[Marcus (2010), page 111.] The following year, Morrison finally released some of his previously unissued studio recordings in a two-disc set, ''
The Philosopher's Stone''. His next release, 1999's ''
Back on Top'', achieved a modest success, being his highest-charting album in the US since 1978's ''
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
''.
''Down the Road'' to ''Keep It Simple'': 2000–2009
Van Morrison continued to record and tour in the 2000s, often performing two or three times a week.
He formed his own independent label, Exile Productions Ltd, which enables him to maintain full production control of each album he records, which he then delivers as a finished product to the recording label that he chooses, for marketing and distribution.
[Collis (1996), page 181.]
In 2001, nine months into a tour with
Linda Gail Lewis
Linda Gail Lewis (born July 18, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She has recorded with Stephen Ackles, Van Morrison, and with her brother, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an A ...
promoting their collaboration ''
You Win Again'', Lewis left the tour, later filing claims against Morrison for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. Both claims were later withdrawn, and Morrison's solicitor said, "(Mr Morrison's) pleased that these claims have finally been withdrawn. He accepted a full apology and comprehensive retraction which represents a complete vindication of his stance from the outset. Miss Lewis has given a full and categorical apology and retraction to Mr Morrison." Lewis' legal representative Christine Thompson said both parties had agreed to the terms of the settlement.
The album ''
Down the Road'', released in May 2002, received a good critical reception and proved to be his highest-charting album in the US since 1972's ''Saint Dominic's Preview''.
It had a nostalgic tone, with its fifteen tracks representing the various musical genres Morrison had previously covered—including R&B, blues, country and folk; one of the tracks was written as a tribute to his late father George, who had played a pivotal role in nurturing his early musical tastes.
Morrison's 2005 album, ''
Magic Time'', debuted at number twenty-five on the US
''Billboard'' 200 charts upon its May release, some forty years after Morrison first entered the public's eye as the frontman of Them. ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as number seventeen on ''The Top 50 Records of 2005''. Also in July 2005, Morrison was named by
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
as one of their top twenty-five all-time best-selling artists and inducted into the Amazon.com Hall of Fame. Later in the year, Morrison also donated a previously unreleased studio track to a charity album, ''
Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now'', which raised money for relief efforts intended for
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
victims devastated by hurricanes
Katrina
Katrina or Katrine may refer to:
People
* Katrina (given name)
* Katrine (given name)
Meteorology
* List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina
** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrican ...
and
Rita
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...
. Morrison composed the song, "Blue and Green", featuring
Foggy Lyttle
David 'Foggy' Lyttle (13 May 1944, in Belfast, Northern Ireland – 25 December 2003), was a guitarist, best known for his work with Van Morrison. Morrison's 2005 album '' Magic Time'' was dedicated to him, as he had died within weeks of complet ...
on guitar. This song was released in 2007 on the 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 as a single in the UK. Van Morrison was a headline act at the international Celtic music festival, The
Hebridean Celtic Festival
The Hebridean Celtic Festival (Scottish Gaelic: Fèis Cheilteach Innse Gall) or HebCelt is an international Scottish music festival, which takes place annually in Stornoway on Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Headliners to date inclu ...
in
Stornoway
Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...
, Outer Hebrides in the summer of 2005.
He released an album with a country music theme, entitled ''
Pay the Devil
''Pay the Devil'' is the thirty-second studio album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 2006 by Lost Highway. The album features twelve cover versions of American country and western tunes and three original ...
'', on 7 March 2006 and appeared at the
Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...
, where the tickets sold out immediately after they went on sale. ''Pay the Devil'' debuted at number twenty-six on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number seven on Top Country Albums. Amazon Best of 2006 Editor's Picks in Country listed the country album at number ten in December 2006. Still promoting the country album, Morrison's performance as the headline act on the first night of the
Austin City Limits Music 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 reviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as one of the top ten shows of the 2006 festival.
In November 2006, a 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 ...
'', was issued by Exile Productions, Ltd. A later deluxe CD/DVD release of ''Pay the Devil'', in the summer of 2006, contained tracks from the Ryman performance. In October 2006, Morrison had released his first commercial DVD, ''
Live at Montreux 1980/1974
''Live at Montreux 1980/1974'' is the first official DVD by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 16 October 2006. The films consist of two separate performances by Van Morrison at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switz ...
'', with concerts taken from two separate appearances at the
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
.
A new double CD
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, ''
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 ...
'', was released in June 2007 containing thirty-one tracks, some of which were previously unreleased. Morrison selected the tracks, which ranged from the 1993 album ''Too Long in Exile'' to the song "
Stranded" from the 2005 album ''Magic Time''. On 3 September 2007, Morrison's complete catalogue of albums from 1971 through 2002 were made available exclusively at the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
in Europe and Australia and during the first week of October 2007, the albums became available at the US iTunes Store.
''
Still on Top – The Greatest Hits
''Still on Top – The Greatest Hits'' is the third compilation album to be issued by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 2007. It was released
22 October 2007 in the UK in a two-CD album with 37 tracks and with a three-CD Digipak l ...
'', a thirty-seven-track double CD compilation album, was released on 22 October 2007 in the UK on the Polydor label. On 29 October 2007, the album charted at number two on the Official UK Top 75 Albums—his highest UK charting. The November release in the US and Canada contains twenty-one selected tracks. The hits released on albums with the copyrights owned by Morrison as Exile Productions Ltd. — 1971 and later – had been remastered in 2007.
''
Keep It Simple
''Keep It Simple'' is the thirty-third album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, released in March 2008. It was Morrison's first US Top 10 album, and made the Top 10 in the UK, Canada and in some European countries. It was his firs ...
'', Morrison's 33rd studio album of completely new material, was released by Exile/Polydor Records on 17 March 2008 in the UK and released by Exile/
Lost Highway Records
Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...
in the US and Canada on 1 April 2008. It comprised eleven self-penned tracks. Morrison promoted the album with a short US tour including an appearance at the
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
music conference, and a UK concert broadcast on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
. In the first week of release ''Keep It Simple'' debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number ten, Morrison's first Top Ten charting in the US.
''Born to Sing'' to ''Three Chords'': 2010–2020
Morrison released two albums in the first half of the decade, followed by a further six in just five years, his productivity increasing noticeably at he turned 70. ''
Born to Sing: No Plan B'' was released on 2 October 2012 on
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...
. The album was recorded in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Morrison's birthplace and hometown. The first single from this album, "Open the Door (To Your Heart)", was released on 24 August 2012. A selection of Morrison's lyrics, ''Lit Up Inside'', was published by
City Lights Books
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected tit ...
in the US and
Faber & Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
in the UK. The book was released on 2 October 2014 and an evening of words and music commenced at the Lyric Theatre, London on 17 November 2014 to mark its launch. Morrison himself selected his best and most iconic lyrics from a catalog of 50 years of writing.
In 2015, Morrison sold the rights to most of his catalogue to
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...
, the catalog division of
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
. This resulted in 33 of his albums being made available as digital releases and through all streaming services for the first time that August. His first album recorded with Sony under the new contract was ''
Duets: Re-working the Catalogue'', released on 24 March 2015 on the subsidiary,
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. Morrison's 70th birthday in 2015 was marked by celebrations in his hometown of Belfast, commencing with
BBC Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...
presenting programs including "Top 70 Van Tracks" between 26 and 28 August. As the headline act ending the Eastside Arts Festival, Morrison performed two 70th-birthday concerts on
Cyprus Avenue
"Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In perfor ...
on his birthday 31 August. The first of the concerts was broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster and a 60-minute BBC film of highlights from the concerts, entitled ''Up On Cyprus Avenue'', was first shown on 4 September.
The following year, on 30 September, Morrison released ''
Keep Me Singing'', his 36th studio album. "Too Late", the first single, was released on the same day. The songs are twelve originals and one cover and the album represents his first release of originals since ''Born to Sing: No Plan B'' in 2012. A short tour of the U.S. followed with six dates in October 2016,
followed by a short tour of the U.K. with eight dates in October–December 2016, including a London show at ''
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...
'' on 30 October. The U.S. tour resumed in January 2017 with five new dates in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...
.
Morrison's album ''
Roll with the Punches'' was released on 22 September 2017. That July, he and Universal Music Group were sued by former professional wrestler
Billy Two Rivers
Billy Two Rivers (Mohawk name ''Kaientaronkwen''), born May 5, 1935, is a Mohawk retired professional wrestler. He began wrestling professionally in 1953 and competed until 1977. During his career, he wrestled in the United States, United Kingdom, ...
for using his likeness on its cover and promotional material without his permission. On 4 August, Two Rivers' lawyer said the parties had reached a preliminary agreement to settle the matter out of court. He released his 38th studio album, ''
Versatile'', on 1 December 2017. It features covers of nine classic jazz standards and seven original songs including his arrangement of the traditional "Skye Boat Song".
He quickly followed up with his 39th studio album, ''
You're Driving Me Crazy
"You’re Driving Me Crazy" is an American popular song composed (music and lyrics) by Walter Donaldson in 1930 and recorded the same year by Lee Morse, Rudy Vallée & His Connecticut Yankees and Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (with vocal b ...
'', released on 27 April 2018 via Sony Legacy Recordings. The album features a collaboration with
Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...
on a mixture of blues and jazz classics that include eight Morrison originals from his back catalog.
In October 2018, Morrison announced that his 40th studio album, ''
The Prophet Speaks'', would be released by Caroline International on 7 December 2018. A year later, in November 2019, he released his 41st studio album, ''
Three Chords & the Truth''. On 5 March 2020
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
published ''Keep 'Er Lit'', the second volume of Van Morrison's selected lyrics. It features a foreword of fellow poet
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Pr ...
and comprehends 120 songs from across his career. In November 2020 Morrison and
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
collaborated on a single called "Stand and Deliver", whose profits from sales will be donated to Morrison's Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund.
Morrison will release a double album, ''Moving on Skiffle'', in March 2023, according to his official website.
Coronavirus controversy
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Morrison made numerous statements against
social distancing measures which affected live music events, and made calls to "fight pseudo-science". Continuing with this narrative, Morrison released three new songs in September 2020, which had messages of protest against
COVID-19 lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
in the UK. Morrison accused the UK government of "taking our freedom".
He had performed socially distanced concerts previously, but said that the shows were not a sign of "compliance".
There have been calls in Belfast for Belfast City Council to revoke his
Freedom of the City
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
honour following the intervention: city councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said that his lyrics were "undermining the guidance in place to protect lives and are ignorant of established science as we grapple with Covid-19." In addition, the Northern Ireland health minister,
Robin Swann
Robin Swann (born 24 September 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's
Minister of Health from Jan 2020 to Oct 2022, he was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2017 to 2019. , accused Morrison of smearing public health practitioners
and called Morrison's anti-lockdown songs "dangerous".
In November 2021, Swann sued Morrison for
defamation
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
, over his comments that Swann was a "fraud" and "very dangerous" during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. In 2022, Morrison issued legal proceedings against Swann over an opinion piece in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that was critical of Morrison's anti-lockdown songs and actions.
2020s
In March 2021, Morrison announced that his 42nd album, ''
Latest Record Project, Volume 1
''Latest Record Project, Volume 1 '' is the 42nd studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 7 May 2021 by Exile Productions and BMG. The 28-track album includes the songs "Why Are You on Facebook?", "They Own the ...
'', would be released by Exile Productions and
BMG BMG may refer to:
Organizations
* Music publishing companies:
** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008
*** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...
on 7 May. The 28-track album includes songs such as "Why Are You on Facebook?", "They Own The Media" and "Western Man". In addition to digitally, it was released as a 2-CD set and on triple vinyl. The album marked a return to the UK Top Ten for Morrison, making the 2020s the fourth consecutive decade in which he has achieved such success.
The following year, ''
What's It Gonna Take?'' explored many of the same themes, but was less successful commercially.
Van Morrison's songs were used extensively in
Kenneth Branagh
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...
's Oscar-winning 2021 film ''
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
''. Several tracks were also featured in ''
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
'', released the same year.
Live performances
1970s
![VanMorrison smiling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/VanMorrison_smiling.jpg)
By 1972, after being a performer for nearly ten years, Morrison began experiencing
stage fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...
when performing for audiences of thousands, as opposed to the hundreds he had experienced in his early career. He became anxious on stage and had difficulty establishing eye contact with the audience. He once said in an interview about performing on stage, "I dig singing the songs but there are times when it's pretty agonising for me to be out there." After a brief break from music, he started appearing in clubs, regaining his ability to perform live, albeit with smaller audiences.
The 1974 live double album ''
It's Too Late to Stop Now
''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, ...
'' has been called one of the greatest recordings of a live concert and has appeared on lists of greatest live albums of all time.
Biographer
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. ...
wrote, "Morrison was in the midst of what was arguably his greatest phase as a performer." Performances on the album were from tapes made during a three-month tour of the US and Europe in 1973 with the backing group
the Caledonia Soul Orchestra
The Caledonia Soul Orchestra was the band created by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison in 1973. The band was named after an eighteen-minute instrumental outtake on the ''His Band and the Street Choir'' album.
Tour in 1973
In 1973 Van ...
. Soon after recording the album, Morrison restructured the Caledonia Soul Orchestra into a smaller unit, the Caledonia Soul Express.
[Heylin (2003), page 284.]
![The Last Waltz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/The_Last_Waltz.jpg)
On
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
1976, Morrison performed at the farewell concert for
the Band. It was his first live performance in several years, and he considered skipping his appearance until the last minute, even refusing to go on stage when they announced his name. His manager,
Harvey Goldsmith
Harvey Goldsmith (born 4 March 1946 in Edgware, Middlesex) is an English performing arts promoter. He is best known as a promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenage ...
, said he "literally kicked him out there."
[Heylin (2003), page 313.] Morrison was on good terms with the members of the Band as near-neighbours in
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
, and they had the shared experience of stage fright. At the concert, he performed two songs. His first was a rendition of the classic Irish song "
Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral
"Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)" is a classic Irish-American song that was written in 1913 by composer James Royce Shannon (1881–1946) for the Tin Pan Alley musical '' Shameen Dhu''. The original recording of the song, by Chaunc ...
". His second song was "
Caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
", from his 1970 album ''Moondance''.
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
, in attendance at the concert, wrote: "Van Morrison turned the show around ... singing to the rafters and ... burning holes in the floor. It was a triumph, and as the song ended Van began to kick his leg into the air out of sheer exuberance and he kicked his way right offstage like a
Rockette
The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the Ra ...
. The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left."
[''Rolling Stone'': "That Train Don't Stop Here Anymore." Greil Marcus. 30 December 1976] The filmed concert served as the basis for
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
's 1978 film, ''
The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...
''.
During his association with the Band, Morrison acquired the nicknames "Belfast Cowboy" and "Van the Man".
On the Band's album ''
Cahoots'', as part of the duet "4% Pantomime" that Morrison sings with
Richard Manuel
Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and ...
(and that he co-wrote with
Robbie Robertson
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...
), Manuel addresses him, "Oh, Belfast Cowboy". When he leaves the stage after performing "Caravan" on ''The Last Waltz'', Robertson calls out "Van the Man!"
1990s
On 21 July 1990, Morrison joined many other guests for
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
' massive performance of ''
The Wall – Live in Berlin
''The Wall – Live in Berlin'' was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album ''The Wall'', itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin ...
''. He sang "
Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd from their eleventh album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with " Hey You" as the B-side. The music was composed by guitarist David Gilmour. The lyrics were ...
" with Roger Waters and several members from The Band:
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...
,
Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
and
Rick Danko
Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
During ...
. At concert's end, he and the other performers sang "
The Tide Is Turning
"The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)" is the closing track from Roger Waters' second studio album, ''Radio K.A.O.S.'' It was released as the album's third single, in November 1987. A live version of the song was released as the second single from ...
". The live audience was estimated at between three hundred thousand and half a million people, and it was broadcast live on television as well.
Morrison performed before an estimated audience of sixty to eighty thousand people when US President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
visited Belfast, Northern Ireland on 30 November 1995. His song "
Days Like This" had become the official
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
for the
Northern Irish peace movement.
[Rogan (2006), page 437.]
2000s and live albums
Van Morrison continued performing concerts throughout the year, rather than touring.
Playing few of his best-known songs in concert, he has firmly resisted relegation to a nostalgia act.
During a 2006 interview, he told Paul Sexton:
On 7 and 8 November 2008, at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
in Los Angeles, California, Morrison performed the entire ''Astral Weeks'' album live for the first time. The ''Astral Weeks'' band featured guitarist
Jay Berliner
Jay Berliner (born May 24, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist who has worked with Harry Belafonte, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, and Van Morrison, among others.
Career
Berliner had his first television experience at age seven w ...
, who had played on the album that was released forty years previously in November 1968. Also featured on piano was
Roger Kellaway
Roger Kellaway (born November 1, 1939) is an American composer, arranger and jazz pianist.
Life and career
Kellaway was born in Waban, Massachusetts, United States. He is an alumnus of the New England Conservatory. Kellaway has composed commissio ...
. A live album entitled ''
Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl
''Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' is the fifth live album recorded by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, and released in the UK on 9 February 2009, and in the United States on 24 February 2009. It was recorded during two li ...
'' resulted from these two performances. The new live album on CD was released on 24 February 2009, followed by a DVD from the performances. The DVD, ''
Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl: The Concert Film'' was released via Amazon Exclusive on 19 May 2009.
In February and March 2009, Morrison returned to the US for ''Astral Weeks Live'' concerts, interviews and TV appearances with concerts at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and at the
Beacon Theatre in New York City. He was interviewed by
Don Imus
John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, ''Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various stat ...
on his ''
Imus in the Morning
''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octob ...
'' radio show and put in guest appearances on ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon.[ About pag ...](_blank)
'' and ''
Live with Regis and Kelly
''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...
''. Morrison continued with the ''Astral Weeks'' performances with two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April and then returned to California in May 2009 performing the ''Astral Weeks'' songs at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, the Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles, California), Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California and appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. Morrison filmed the concerts at the Orpheum Theatre so they could be viewed by Farrah Fawcett, confined to bed with cancer and thus unable to attend the concerts.
In addition to ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' and ''Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl'', Morrison has released three other live albums: ''Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast'' in 1984; ''
A Night in San Francisco
''A Night in San Francisco'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1994. Guest artists were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. ...
'' in 1994 that ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine felt stood out as: "the culmination of a career's worth of soul searching that finds Morrison's eyes turned toward heaven and his feet planted firmly on the ground";
and ''
The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998'' recorded with
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...
and Chris Barber and released in 2000.
![Moondance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Moondance.jpg)
Morrison was scheduled to perform at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
's 25th anniversary concert on 30 October 2009, but cancelled. In an interview on 26 October, Morrison told his host,
Don Imus
John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, ''Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various stat ...
, he had planned to play "a couple of songs" with
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
(who had cancelled on 22 October due to gallstone surgery), and they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".
2010s to present
Morrison performed for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 4 August 2010 as the headline act for the fundraiser and scheduled as second day headliner at the Feis 2011 Festival in London's Finsbury Park on 19 June 2011. He appeared in concert at Odyssey Arena in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
on 3 February and at The O2 (Dublin), the O2 in Dublin on 4 February 2012. He appeared at the 46th
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
as a headliner on 7 July 2012.
In 2014, Morrison's former high school Orangefield High School, formerly known as Orangefield Boys' Secondary School closed its doors permanently. To mark the school's closure Morrison performed in the school assembly hall for three nights of concerts from 22 to 24 August. The performance on 22 August was exclusively for former teachers and pupils and the two remaining concerts were for members of the public The first night of the Nocturne Live concerts at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, UK on 25 June 2015, featured Morrison and Grammy Award-winning American Jazz vocalist and songwriter Gregory Porter.
In June 2021, The Times noted that "fittingly for someone who has been so vocally opposed to the lockdown" resulting from the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic, "Van Morrison played one of the first big-scale concerts in London since events, albeit tentatively, started up again." Will Hodgkinson wrote that the show "was as good an argument for the return of live music as you could wish for."
Collaborations
Van Morrison has collaborated extensively with a variety of artists throughout his career. He has worked with many legends in soul and blues, including John Lee Hooker,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, George Benson,
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, Bobby Womack, and B.B. King, BB King, along with The Chieftains, Gregory Porter, Michael Bublé, Micheal Bublé, Joss Stone, Natalie Cole and Mark Knopfler.
1980s
Morrison and the internationally renowned Irish folk band The Chieftains recorded the album ''
Irish Heartbeat
''Irish Heartbeat'' is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group the Chieftains, released in 1988. It was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Du ...
'' (1988). Consisting of Irish folk songs, it entered the UK Top 20. "
Whenever God Shines His Light
"Whenever God Shines His Light" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released on his 1989 album ''Avalon Sunset'' as a duet with Cliff Richard. Although the album was released in June 1989, this song was release ...
", on ''
Avalon Sunset
''Avalon Sunset'' is the nineteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 1989 by Mercury Records to both commercial and critical success.
In 2008, ''Avalon Sunset'' was reissued and remastered, featuri ...
'' (1989), is a duet with
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
, which charted at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 on the Irish Singles Chart.
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 ...
critic Jason Ankeny found it to be a "standout opener" on the album. For critic Patrick Humphries, it was "the most manifest example of Morrison's Christian commitment," and while "not one of Morrison's most outstanding songs" it works as "a testament of faith".
1990s
The decade saw an upsurge in Van Morrison's collaborations. He developed a close association with two vocal talents at opposite ends of their careers: Georgie Fame (with whom Morrison had already worked occasionally) lent his voice and Hammond organ skills to Morrison's band; and Brian Kennedy (singer), Brian Kennedy's vocals complemented the grizzled voice of Morrison, both in studio and live performances. He reunited with The Chieftains on their 1995 album, ''The Long Black Veil (album), The Long Black Veil'', with a reworking of Morrison's song "
Have I Told You Lately
"Have I Told You Lately" is a song written and recorded by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison for his nineteenth studio album ''Avalon Sunset'' (1989). It is a romantic ballad that is often played at weddings, although it was ori ...
" winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. He produced, and was featured on, several tracks with blues legend John Lee Hooker on Hooker's 1997 album, ''Don't Look Back (John Lee Hooker album), Don't Look Back''. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1998, and the title track "Don't Look Back (John Lee Hooker song), Don't Look Back", a duet with Morrison, took the Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The project capped a series of Morrison and Hooker collaborations that began in 1971 when they performed a duet on the title track of Hooker's 1972 album ''Never Get Out of These Blues Alive''. On this album, Hooker also recorded a cover of Morrison's "T.B. Sheets". Morrison collaborated with
Tom Jones on his 1999 album ''Reload (Tom Jones album), Reload'', when the pair sang on Morrison's song, "Sometimes We Cry".
2000s to present
Morrison delivered vocals on "The Last Laugh" on Mark Knopfler's ''Sailing to Philadelphia'' (2000), and that year also recorded a classic country music duet album, ''
You Win Again'' with
Linda Gail Lewis
Linda Gail Lewis (born July 18, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She has recorded with Stephen Ackles, Van Morrison, and with her brother, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an A ...
.. The album received a three-star review from AllMusic, who called it "a roots effort that never sounds studied".
In 2004, Morrison was one of the guests on Ray Charles' album ''Genius Loves Company''. The pair performed Morrison's "Crazy Love (Van Morrison song), Crazy Love". In 2015 he recorded an album of collaborations,
Duets: Re-working the Catalogue, which featured, among others, Steve Winwood, Taj Mahal (musician), Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples, Mick Hucknall, and Morrison’s daughter Shana Morrison. Morrison also developed a partnership with
Joey DeFrancesco
Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...
, with the pair collaborating on a number of albums. During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID pandemic Morrison recorded tracks with Eric Clapton criticising harm-reduction measures.
Artistry
Vocals
Featuring his characteristic growl—a mix of folk music, folk,
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
, soul music, soul,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, gospel music, gospel, and
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
* Ulster Scots dialect
Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots language, Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in North ...
Celtic music, Celtic influences—Morrison is widely considered by many rock historians to be one of the most unusual and influential vocalists in the history of rock and roll.
Critic
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
has said "no white man sings like Van Morrison." In his 2010 book, Marcus wrote, "As a physical fact, Morrison may have the richest and most expressive voice pop music has produced since Elvis Presley, and with a sense of himself as an artist that Elvis was always denied."
As Morrison began live performances of the 40-year-old album ''Astral Weeks'' in 2008, there were comparisons to his youthful voice of 1968. His early voice was described as "flinty and tender, beseeching and plaintive".
Forty years later, the difference in his vocal range and power were noticeable but reviewers and critic's comments were favourable: "Morrison's voice has expanded to fill his frame; a deeper, louder roar than the blue-eyed soul voice of his youth – softer on the diction – but none the less impressively powerful."
Morrison also commented on the changes in his approach to singing: "The approach now is to sing from lower down [the diaphragm] so I do not ruin my voice. Before, I sang in the upper area of my throat, which tends to wreck the vocal cords over time. Singing from lower in the belly allows my resonance to carry far. I can stand four feet from a mic and be heard quite resonantly."
[Neil, Chris, ''Performing Songwriter'', Issue 116, March/April 2009, Pages 44–50]
Songwriting and lyrics
Morrison has written hundreds of songs during his career with a recurring theme reflecting a nostalgic yearning for the carefree days of his childhood in Belfast.
Some of his song titles derive from familiar locations in his childhood, such as "
Cyprus Avenue
"Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In perfor ...
" (a nearby street), "Orangefield (song), Orangefield" (the boys school he attended), and "On Hyndford Street" (where he was born). Also frequently present in Morrison's best love songs is a blending of the sacred-profane as evidenced in "
Into the Mystic
"Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album ''Moondance''. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now''.
Recording and composition
"Int ...
" and "So Quiet in Here".
[Hinton (1997), page 13.]
Beginning with his 1979 album, ''
Into the Music
''Into the Music'' is the 11th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and was released in August 1979. It includes "Bright Side of the Road", which peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and other songs in which Mor ...
'', and the song "And the Healing Has Begun", a frequent theme of his music and lyrics has been based on his belief in the healing power of music combined with a form of mysticism, mystic Christianity. This theme has become one of the predominant qualities of his work.
[Collis (1996), page 149.]
His lyrics show an influence of the visionary poets
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
and W. B. Yeats
[Hinton (1997), page 12.] and others such as Samuel Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.
[Turner (1993), page 145] Biographer
Brian Hinton
Brian Hinton, MBE (born 21 September 1950) is an English poet and musicologist. In June 2006 he was honoured in H. M. the Queen's Birthday Honours List with an MBE for services to the Arts.
Education
Born in Southampton, Hinton studied Englis ...
believes "like any great poet from Blake to Seamus Heaney he takes words back to their origins in magic ... Indeed, Morrison is returning poetry to its earliest roots – as in Homer or Old English epics like Beowulf or the Psalms or folk song – in all of which words and music combine to form a new reality."
Another biographer, John Collis, believes Morrison's style of jazz singing and repeating phrases preclude his lyrics from being regarded as poetry or as Collis asserts: "he is more likely to repeat a phrase like a mantra, or burst into scat singing. The words may often be prosaic, and so can hardly be poetry."
[Collis (1996), page 10.]
Morrison has described his songwriting method by remarking: "I write from a different place. I do not even know what it is called or if it has a name. It just comes and I sculpt it, but it is also a lot of hard work doing the sculpting."
Performance style
Critic
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
argues that, given the truly distinctive breadth and complexity of Morrison's work, it is almost impossible to cast his work among that of others: "Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of rock & roll, a singer who cannot be pinned down, dismissed, or fitted into anyone's expectations."
[Marcus (1992), page 447.] Or in the words of Jay Cocks: "He extends himself only to express himself. Alone among rock's great figures—and even in that company he is one of the greatest—Morrison is adamantly inward. And unique. Although he freely crosses musical boundaries—
R&B, Celtic melodies, jazz, rave-up rock, hymns, down-and-dirty blues—he can unfailingly be found in the same strange place: on his own wavelength."
His spiritually themed style of music first came into full expression with ''
Astral Weeks
''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Reco ...
'' in 1968 and he was noted to have remained a "master of his transcendence (religion), transcendental craft" in 2009 while performing the ''Astral Weeks'' songs live.
This musical art form was based on stream of consciousness songwriting and emotional vocalising of lyrics that have no basis in normal structure or symmetry. His live performances are dependent on building dynamics with spontaneity between himself and his band, whom he controls with hand gestures throughout, sometimes signalling impromptu solos from a selected band member. The music and vocals build towards a hypnotic and trance-like state that depends on in-the-moment creativity. Scott Foundas with ''LA Weekly'' wrote "he seeks to transcend the apparent boundaries of any given song; to achieve a total freedom of form; to take himself, his band and the audience on a journey whose destination is anything but known."
Greil Marcus wrote an entire book devoted to examining the moments in Morrison's music where he reaches this state of transcendence and explains: "But in his music the same sense of escape from ordinary limits – a reach for, or the achievement of, a kind of violent transcendence – can come from hesitations, repetitions of words or phrases, pauses, the way a musical change by another musician is turned by Morrison as a bandleader or seized on by him as a singer and changed into a sound that becomes an event in and of itself. In these moments, the self is left behind, and the sound, that "yarragh," becomes the active agent: a musical person, with its own mind, its own body." A book reviewer further described it as "This transcendent moment of music when the song and the singer are one thing not two, neither dependent on the other or separate from the other but melded to the other like one, like breath and life ..."
Morrison has said he believes in the
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
improvisational technique of never performing a song the same way twice and except for the unique rendition of the ''Astral Weeks'' songs live, doesn't perform a concert from a preconceived set list.
Morrison has said he prefers to perform at smaller venues or symphony halls noted for their good acoustics. His ban against alcoholic beverages, which made entertainment news during 2008, was an attempt to prevent the disruptive and distracting movement of audience members leaving their seats during the performances. In a 2009 interview, Morrison stated: "I do not consciously aim to take the listener anywhere. If anything, I aim to take myself there in my music. If the listener catches the wavelength of what I am saying or singing, or gets whatever point whatever line means to them, then I guess as a writer I may have done a day's work."
Genre
The music of Van Morrison has encompassed many genres since his early days as a
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and rhythm and blues, R&B singer in Belfast. Over the years he has recorded songs from a varying list of genres drawn from many influences and interests. As well as blues and R&B, his compositions and cover versions, covers have moved between pop music,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, rock, folk music, folk, country music, country, gospel music, gospel, folk music of Ireland, Irish folk and Irish traditional music, traditional, big band,
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
, rock and roll, New-age music, new age, classical and sometimes spoken word ("Coney Island (Van Morrison song), Coney Island") and instrumentals.
[Hinton (1997), page 15.] Morrison defines himself as a soul singer.
Morrison's music has been described by music journalist Alan Light as "Celtic soul",
or what biographer Brian Hinton referred to as a new alchemy called "Caledonian soul."
Another biographer, Ritchie Yorke quoted Morrison as believing that he has "the spirit of Caledonia in his soul and his music reflects it."
[Yorke (1975), page 159.] According to Yorke, Morrison claimed to have discovered "a certain quality of soul" when he first visited Scotland (his Belfast ancestors were of
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
* Ulster Scots dialect
Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots language, Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in North ...
descent) and Morrison has said he believes there is some connection between soul music and Caledonia. Yorke said Morrison "discovered several years after he first began composing music that some of his songs lent themselves to a unique major modal scale (without sevenths) which of course is the same scale as that used by bagpipes, bagpipe players and old Irish and Scottish folk music."
'Caledonia' theme
The name "Caledonia" has played a prominent role in Morrison's life and career. Biographer Ritchie Yorke had pointed out already by 1975 that Morrison has referred to Caledonia so many times in his career that he "seems to be obsessed with the word".
In his 2009 biography, Erik Hage found "Morrison seemed deeply interested in his paternal Scottish roots during his early career, and later in the ancient countryside of England, hence his repeated use of the term ''Caledonia'' (an ancient Roman name for Scotland/northern Britain)". As well as being his daughter Shana Morrison, Shana's middle name, it is the name of his first production company, his studio, his publishing company, two of his backing groups, his parents' record store in Fairfax, California in the 1970s, and he also recorded a cover of the song "Caldonia" (with the name spelled "Caledonia") in 1974.
Morrison used "Caledonia" in what has been called a quintessential Van Morrison moment in the song, "
Listen to the Lion
"Listen to the Lion" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his sixth album, ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' (1972). Its poetic musings and "bass-led shuffle" lead back to ''Astral Weeks'' territory.
Record ...
" with the lyrics, "And we sail, and we sail, way up to Caledonia". Morrison used "Caledonia" as a mantra in the live performance of the song "Astral Weeks (song), Astral Weeks" recorded at the two
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
concerts.
As late as 2016's ''
Keep Me Singing'' album, he recorded a self-penned instrumental entitled "Caledonia Swing."
Influence
Morrison's influence can readily be heard in the music of a diverse array of major artists. According to ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll'' (Simon & Schuster, 2001), "his influence among rock singers/song writers is unrivaled by any living artist outside of that other prickly legend,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
. Echoes of Morrison's rugged literateness and his gruff, feverish emotive vocals can be heard in latter day icons ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Costello".
He has influenced an array of top tier performers, including U2, with Bono recalling, "I am in awe of a musician like Van Morrison. I had to stop listening to Van Morrison records about six months before we made ''The Unforgettable Fire'' because I didn't want his very original soul voice to overpower my own". He has inspired
John Mellencamp
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...
("
Wild Night
"Wild Night" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is the opening track on his fifth studio album ''Tupelo Honey''. It was released as a single in 1971 and reached number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. ...
");
Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...
;
Joan Armatrading (the only musical influence she will acknowledge); Nick Cave; Rod Stewart; Tom Petty; Rickie Lee Jones (recognises both Laura Nyro and Van Morrison as the main influences on her career); Elton John; Graham Parker;
Sinéad O'Connor; Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy; Bob Seger ("I know Bruce Springsteen was very much affected by Van Morrison, and so was I")
Kevin Rowland of Dexys Midnight Runners ("Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile), Jackie Wilson Said");
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
("
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
"); Jeff Buckley ("The Way Young Lovers Do", "Sweet Thing (Van Morrison song), Sweet Thing"); Nick Drake;
[Moon (2008), page 238.] and numerous others, including Counting Crows (their "sha-la-la" sequence in ''Mr Jones'' is a tribute to Morrison).
Morrison's influence reaches into the country music genre, with Hal Ketchum acknowledging, "He (Van Morrison) was a major influence in my life." Ray Manzarek of the Doors described Van Morrison as "our [the Doors] favourite singer".
Morrison has typically been supportive of other artists, often willingly sharing the stage with them during his concerts. On the live album ''
A Night in San Francisco
''A Night in San Francisco'' is a live album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1994. Guest artists were Candy Dulfer, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as Morrison's daughter, Shana Morrison. ...
'', he had as his special guests, among others, his childhood idols: Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker and Junior Wells.
Although he often expresses his displeasure (in interviews and songs) with the music industry and the media in general, he has been instrumental in promoting the careers of many other musicians and singers, such as James Hunter (singer), James Hunter, and fellow Belfast-born brothers Brian Kennedy (singer), Brian and Bap Kennedy. He has also influenced the visual arts: the German painter Johannes Heisig created a series of lithographs illustrating the book ''In the Garden – for Van Morrison'', published by Städtische Galerie Sonneberg, Germany, in 1997.
Next generation
Morrison's influence on a younger generation of singer-songwriters is pervasive. The list of such singer-songwriters influenced by Morrison includes Irish singer Damien Rice, who has been described as on his way to becoming the "natural heir to Van Morrison"; Ray Lamontagne; James Morrison (singer), James Morrison; Paolo Nutini; Eric Lindell David Gray (musician), David Gray and Ed Sheeran are also several of the younger artists influenced by Morrison. Glen Hansard of the Irish rock band the Frames (who lists Van Morrison as being part of his holy trinity with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen) commonly covers his songs in concert. American rock band the Wallflowers have covered "
Into the Mystic
"Into the Mystic" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album ''Moondance''. It was also included on Morrison's 1974 live album, ''It's Too Late to Stop Now''.
Recording and composition
"Int ...
". Canadian blues-rock singer Colin James also covers the song frequently at his concerts. Actor and musician Robert Pattinson has said Van Morrison was his "influence for doing music in the first place". Morrison has shared the stage with Northern Irish singer-songwriter Duke Special, who admits Morrison has been a big influence.
Recognition and legacy
Morrison has received several major music awards in his career, including two
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, with five additional nominations (1982–2004);
inductions into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
(January 1993), the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
(June 2003), and the Irish Music Hall of Fame (September 1999); and a The Brit Awards, Brit Award (February 1994). In addition he has received Civil decoration, civil awards: an Order of the British Empire, OBE (June 1996) and an Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1996). He has honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster (1992) and from Queen's University Belfast (July 2001).
Halls of Fame
The Hall of Fame inductions began in 1993 with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Morrison was the first living inductee not to attend his own List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, ceremony,
[Rogan (2006), page 411.] –
Robbie Robertson
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...
from
the Band accepted the award on his behalf.
[Turner (1993), page 177.] When Morrison became the initial musician inducted into the Irish Music Hall of Fame, Bob Geldof presented Morrison with the award. Morrison's third induction was into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
for "recognition of his unique position as one of the most important songwriters of the past century".
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
presented the award, following a performance during which the pair performed Morrison's "Crazy Love (Van Morrison song), Crazy Love" from the album ''Moondance''. Morrison's The BRIT Awards, BRIT Award was for his ''Outstanding Contribution to British Music''. Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy (journalist), John McCarthy presented the award; while testifying to the importance of Morrison's song "Wonderful Remark" McCarthy called it "a song ... which was very important to us."
[Rogan (2006), page 419.]
Three of Morrison's songs appear in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll: "
Brown Eyed Girl
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...
", "Madame George" and "Moondance (song), Moondance". The Songwriter's Hall of Fame awarded Morrison the Johnny Mercer Award on 18 June 2015 at their 46th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner in New York City.
Civil awards and honours
Morrison received two civil awards in 1996: he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to music,
[Rogan (2006), page 443.] and was also recognized with an award from the French government which made him an ''Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres''. Along with these state awards he has two honorary degrees in music: an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of Ulster,
[Rogan (2006), page 409.] and an honorary doctorate in music from Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University in his hometown of Belfast.
In 2013, Morrison was awarded the Freedom of the City#Freedom of the City of Belfast, Freedom of Belfast, the highest honour the city can bestow.
On 15 November 2013, Morrison became the 79th recipient of the award, presented at the Waterfront Hall for his career achievements. After receiving the award, he performed a free concert for residents who won tickets from a lottery system.
In August 2014, a "Van Morrison Trail" was established in East Belfast by Morrison in partnership with the Connswater Community Greenway. It is a self-guided trail, which over the course of leads to eight places that were important to Morrison and inspirational to his music.
Morrison was made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. The ceremony was performed by Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Charles.
Industry recognition
Other awards include an Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1995, the Broadcast Music Incorporated, BMI ICON award in October 2004 for Morrison's "enduring influence on generations of music makers", and an ''Oscar Wilde: Honouring Irish Writing in Film'' award in 2007 for his contribution to over fifty films, presented by Al Pacino, who compared Morrison to Oscar Wilde – both "visionaries who push boundaries". He was voted the Best International Male Singer of 2007 at the inaugural International Awards in Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London.
In 2010, Morrison was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On 2 September 2014, Morrison was presented with the ''Legend'' award at the ''GQ'' Men of the Year ceremony at Royal Opera House in London. On 13 October 2014, Morrison received his fifth Broadcast Music, Inc., BMI Million-Air Award for 11 million radio plays of the song "Brown Eyed Girl", making it one of the Top 10 Songs of all time on US radio and television. Morrison has also received Million-Air awards for "Have I Told You Lately". In 2017, the Americana Music Association gave Van Morrison the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting.
Morrison was chosen to be honoured by Michael Dorf (entrepreneur), Michael Dorf at his annual charity concert at Carnegie Hall. The Music of Van Morrison was performed on 21 March 2019 by twenty musical acts including Glen Hansard,
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poe ...
and Bettye LaVette. In 2019, Morrison received the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement presented by Jimmy Page during the International Achievement Summit in New York City.
In 2022, Morrison and his song "Down to Joy" for "
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
" were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 94th Academy Awards.
Lists
Morrison has also appeared in a number of "Greatest" lists, including the ''Time (magazine), TIME'' magazine list of The All-Time 100 Albums, which contained ''Astral Weeks'' and ''Moondance'', and he appeared at number thirteen on the list of WXPN's 885 All Time Greatest Artists. In 2000, Morrison ranked twenty-fifth on American cable music channel
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's list of its "100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll". In 2004, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine ranked Van Morrison forty-second on their list of "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
''Paste (magazine), Paste'' ranked him twentieth in their list of "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" in 2006. ''Q (magazine), Q'' ranked him twenty-second on their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in April 2007 and he was voted twenty-fourth on the November 2008 list of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Tribute albums
* ''No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison'' (1994)
* ''The Van Morrison Songbook'' (1997)
* ''Into the Mystic: An Instrumental Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2000)
* ''Vanthology: A Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2003)
* ''The String Quartet Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2003)
* ''Smooth Sax Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2005)
* ''Mystic Piano: Piano Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2006)
Personal life
Family and relationships
Morrison lived in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
from birth until 1964, when he moved to London with the rock group
Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
. Three years later, he moved to New York after signing with
Bang Records
Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. The first letters of their names (Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, Gerald) formed the label's name.
Forming the ...
. Facing deportation due to visa problems, he managed to stay in the US when his American girlfriend Janet (Planet) Rigsbee, who had a son named Peter from a previous relationship, agreed to marry him.
[Heylin (2003), page 168.] Once married, Morrison and his wife moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he found work performing in local clubs. The couple had one daughter in 1970, Shana Morrison, who has become a singer-songwriter. Morrison and his family moved around America, living in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
; Woodstock, New York; and a hilltop home in Fairfax, California. His wife appeared on the cover of the album ''
Tupelo Honey
''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York, before his move to ...
''. They divorced in 1973.
[Heylin (2003), page 260.][Rogan (2006), page 280.]
Morrison moved back to the UK in the late 1970s, first settling in London's Notting Hill Gate area.
[Rogan (2006), page 342.] Later, he moved to Bath, Somerset, Bath, where he purchased the Wool Hall studio in January 1994.
[Rogan (2006), page 400.] He also has a home in the Irish seaside village of Dalkey near Dublin, where legal actions were taken against Morrison by two neighbours who objected to Morrison attempting to widen his driveway. The case was taken to court in 2001, with the initial rulings going against Morrison. Morrison pursued the matter all the way to the Irish Supreme Court, but his appeal was denied. A separate case in 2010, in which Morrison's then-wife Michelle took legal action against a different neighbour, who was building a balcony that she felt would overlook the Morrison home and intrude on their privacy, was withdrawn in 2015.
Morrison met Irish socialite Michelle Rocca in the summer of 1992, and they often featured in the Dublin gossip columns, an unusual event for the reclusive Morrison. Rocca also appeared on one of his album covers, ''
Days Like This''. The couple married and have two children;
a daughter was born in February 2006 and a son in August 2007. According to a statement posted on his website, they were divorced in March 2018.
In December 2009, Morrison's tour manager Gigi Lee gave birth to a son, who she asserted was Morrison's and named after him. Lee announced the birth of the child on Morrison's official website, but Morrison denied paternity. Lee's son died in January 2011 from complications of diabetes, and Lee died soon after from throat cancer in October 2011.
Morrison's father died in 1998, and his mother, Violet, died in 2016.
Religion and spirituality
Morrison and his family have been affiliated with St Donard's Parish Church, an Anglican congregation of the Church of Ireland located in east Belfast. During the Troubles, the area was described as "militantly Protestant", although Morrison's parents have always been freethinkers, with his father openly declaring himself an atheist and his mother being connected to
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
at one point. Van Morrison had been linked to
Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
in the early 1980s and even thanked its founder,
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...
, in one of his songs. Later, he became wary of religion, saying: "I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole." He also said it is important to distinguish
spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
from religion: "Spirituality is one thing, religion ... can mean anything from soup to nuts, you know? But it generally means an organisation, so I don't really like to use the word, because that's what it really means. It really means this church or that church ... but spirituality is different, because that's the individual."
The Troubles
Morrison left Northern Ireland before The Troubles started and distanced himself from the conflict, although later "yearned for" Protestant and Catholic reconciliation. In 1972, he gave an interview with the Dublin-based magazine ''Spotlight'', in which he said, "I'm definitely Irish ... I don't think I want to go back to Belfast. I don't miss it with all the prejudice around. We're all the same and I think it's terrible what's happening. But I'd like to get a house in Ireland ... I'd like to spend a few months there every year."
[Johnny Rogan, ''Van Morrison: No Surrender'' (London: Secker & Warburg, 2005), p. 273.]
Discography
* ''
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 o ...
'' (1967)
* ''
Astral Weeks
''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Reco ...
'' (1968)
* ''
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 ...
'' (1970)
* ''
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'' ...
'' (1970)
* ''
Tupelo Honey
''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs on the album in Woodstock, New York, before his move to ...
'' (1971)
* ''
Saint Dominic's Preview
''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
'' (1972)
* ''
Hard Nose the Highway
''Hard Nose the Highway'' is the seventh studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1973. It is his first solo album since his 1967 debut ''Blowin' Your Mind!'' to contain songs not written by Morrison. A cover ver ...
'' (1973)
* ''
Veedon Fleece
''Veedon Fleece'' is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 5 October 1974. Morrison recorded the album shortly after his divorce from wife Janet (Planet) Rigsbee. With his broken marriage in the pa ...
'' (1974)
* ''
A Period of Transition
''A Period of Transition'' is the ninth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music). It was his first album in two-and-a-half years. At the time of its release it was received with some dis ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
'' (1978)
* ''
Into the Music
''Into the Music'' is the 11th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and was released in August 1979. It includes "Bright Side of the Road", which peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and other songs in which Mor ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Common One
''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...
'' (1980)
* ''
Beautiful Vision
''Beautiful Vision'' is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from rhythm and blues, R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American ...
'' (1982)
* ''
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' is the fourteenth studio album by People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1983. Morrison said he arrived at the title from a Shavian saying: "that idea of commun ...
'' (1983)
* ''
A Sense of Wonder
''A Sense of Wonder'' is the fifteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison released in 1985. On first release, original pressings had to be recalled when the W. B. Yeats estate refused to allow Morrison's musical versi ...
'' (1985)
* ''
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' is the sixteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986 on Mercury.
Upon release in 1986, it was well received by critics and charted at number twenty-seven in the UK a ...
'' (1986)
* ''
Poetic Champions Compose
''Poetic Champions Compose'' is the seventeenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1987 on Mercury Records. It received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom viewed it as adequate mood music ...
'' (1987)
* ''
Irish Heartbeat
''Irish Heartbeat'' is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group the Chieftains, released in 1988. It was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Du ...
''
(In collaboration with The Chieftains) (1988)
* ''
Avalon Sunset
''Avalon Sunset'' is the nineteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 1989 by Mercury Records to both commercial and critical success.
In 2008, ''Avalon Sunset'' was reissued and remastered, featuri ...
'' (1989)
* ''Enlightenment (Van Morrison album), Enlightenment'' (1990)
* ''Hymns to the Silence'' (1991)
* ''Too Long in Exile'' (1993)
* ''
Days Like This'' (1995)
* ''
How Long Has This Been Going On
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical ''Funny Face'' in 1927.
History
According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', after the premiere of ...
'' (1995)
* ''
Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison'' (1996)
* ''
The Healing Game
''The Healing Game'' is the twenty-sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1997 by Polydor. It reached the Top Ten in four countries, and the Top Twenty in three more. Following two overtly jazz albums, it ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Back on Top'' (1999)
* ''
You Win Again'' (2000)
* ''
Down the Road'' (2002)
* ''What's Wrong with This Picture? (Van Morrison album), What's Wrong with This Picture?'' (2003)
* ''
Magic Time'' (2005)
* ''
Pay the Devil
''Pay the Devil'' is the thirty-second studio album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 2006 by Lost Highway. The album features twelve cover versions of American country and western tunes and three original ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Keep It Simple
''Keep It Simple'' is the thirty-third album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, released in March 2008. It was Morrison's first US Top 10 album, and made the Top 10 in the UK, Canada and in some European countries. It was his firs ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Born to Sing: No Plan B'' (2012)
* ''
Duets: Re-working the Catalogue'' (2015)
* ''
Keep Me Singing'' (2016)
* ''
Roll with the Punches'' (2017)
* ''
Versatile'' (2017)
* ''
You're Driving Me Crazy
"You’re Driving Me Crazy" is an American popular song composed (music and lyrics) by Walter Donaldson in 1930 and recorded the same year by Lee Morse, Rudy Vallée & His Connecticut Yankees and Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (with vocal b ...
'' (2018)
* ''
The Prophet Speaks'' (2018)
* ''
Three Chords & the Truth'' (2019)
* ''
Latest Record Project, Volume 1
''Latest Record Project, Volume 1 '' is the 42nd studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 7 May 2021 by Exile Productions and BMG. The 28-track album includes the songs "Why Are You on Facebook?", "They Own the ...
'' (2021)
* ''
What's It Gonna Take?'' (2022)
* ''Moving on Skiffle'' (2023)
See also
* List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland
References
Bibliography
* Collis, John (1996). ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', Little Brown and Company,
* Erik Hage, Hage, Erik (2009). ''The Words and Music of Van Morrison'', Praeger Publishers,
* Clinton Heylin, Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press,
* Brian Hinton, Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary,
* Greil Marcus, Marcus, Greil. 1992. "Van Morrison." In: ''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll''. Anthony DeCurtis and James Henke, with Holly George-Warren, eds. (original ed. Jim Miller): pp442–447. New York: Random House,
* Greil Marcus, Marcus, Greil (2010). ''When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison'', Public Affairs,
* Moon, Tom (2008). ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'', Workman Publishing Company,
* Johnny Rogan, Rogan, Johnny (2006). ''Van Morrison: No Surrender'', London: Vintage Books
* Rosenthal, Elizabeth. (2001) ''His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John'', Billboard Books,
*
* Steve Turner (writer), Turner, Steve (1993). ''Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now'', Viking Penguin,
*
* Walsh, Ryan H. (2018) ''Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968'', Penguin Press,
* Ritchie Yorke, Yorke, Ritchie (1975). ''Into The Music'', London: Charisma Books,
Further reading
* Brooks, Ken (1999). ''In Search of Van Morrison'', Agenda,
* Buzacott, Martin; Andrew Ford (composer), Ford, Andrew (2005) ''Speaking in Tongues: The Songs of Van Morrison'', ABC,
* Dawe, Gerald (2007). ''My Mother-City, Belfast'':Lagan Press – (Includes section on Van Morrison from previous edition, The Rest is History, Newry:Abbey Press, 1998)
* DeWitt, Howard A. (1983). ''Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music'', Horizon Books,
* Mills, Peter (2010). ''Hymns to the Silence (book), Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Music and Lyrics of Van Morrison'', Continuum,
External links
* – official site
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Van
Van Morrison,
1945 births
Living people
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