Van Morrison: Information from Answers.com

Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music's true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock roll canon. While a notoriously difficult and eccentric figure whose steadfast rejection of commercial trends and industry fashions kept him absent from the pop charts for decades at a stretch, Morrison nevertheless enjoyed a massive cult following that grew exponentially throughout the course of his lengthy and prolific career. Subject only to the whims of his own muse, his recordings cover extraordinary stylistic ground yet retain a consistency and purity virtually unmatched among his contemporaries, connected by the mythic power of his singular musical vision and his incendiary vocal delivery: spiralling repetitions of wails and whispers that bypassed the confines of language to articulate emotional truths far beyond the scope of literal meaning.

George Ivan Morrison was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on August 31, 1945; his mother was a singer, while his father ardently collected classic American jazz and blues recordings. At 15, he quit school to join the local R B band the Monarchs, touring military bases throughout Europe before returning home to form his own group, . Boasting a fiery, gritty sound heavily influenced by Morrison heroes like and , quickly earned a devout local following and in late 1964 recorded their debut single "Don't Start Crying Now.

" The follow-up, an electrifying reading of ' "Baby Please Don't Go," cracked the U.K. Top Ten in early 1965.

Though not a major hit upon its original release, 's Morrison-penned "Gloria" endures among the true classics of the rock pantheon, covered by everyone from to . Lineup changes plagued the band throughout its lifespan, however, and at the insistence of producer , over time session musicians increasingly assumed the lion's share of recording duties. A frustrated Morrison finally left following a 1966 tour of the U.

S., quitting the music business and returning to Belfast.

After relocated to New York City to form Bang Records, he convinced Morrison to travel stateside and record as a solo artist; the sessions produced arguably his most familiar hit, the jubilant "Brown-Eyed Girl" (originally titled "Brown-Skinned Girl"), a Top Ten smash in the summer of 1967.

By contrast, however, the resulting album, , was a bleak, bluesy effort highlighted by the harrowing "T.B. Sheets"; when released the LP against Morrison's wishes, he again retreated home to Ireland.

After suffered a fatal heart attack in late 1967, the singer was freed of his contractual obligations and began working on new material. His first album for new label Warner Bros., 1968's , remains not only Morrison's masterpiece, but one of the greatest records ever made.

A haunting, deeply personal collection of impressionistic folk-styled epics recorded by an all-star jazz backing unit including bassist and drummer , its poetic complexity earned critical raves but made only a minimal commercial impact. The follow-up, 1970's , was every bit as brilliant; buoyant and optimistic where had been dark and anguished, it cracked the Top 40, generating the perennials "Caravan" and "Into the Mystic."

The first half of the 1970s was the most fertile creative period of Morrison's career.

From onward, his records reflected an increasingly celebratory and profoundly mystical outlook spurred on in large part by his marriage to wife and the couple's relocation to California. After yielded his biggest chart hit, "Domino," Morrison released 1971's , a lovely, pastoral meditation on wedded bliss highlighted by the single "Wild Night." In the wake of the following year's stirring , he formed the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, featured both on the studio effort and on the excellent live set .

However, in 1973 he not only dissolved the group but also divorced and moved back to Belfast. The stunning 1974 LP chronicled Morrison's emotional turmoil; he then remained silent for three years, reportedly working on a number of aborted projects but releasing nothing until 1977's aptly titled .

Plagued for some time by chronic stage fright, Morrison mounted his first tour in close to five years in support of 1978's ; his performances became more and more erratic, however, and during a 1979 date at New York's Palladium, he even stalked off-stage in mid-set and did not return.

, released later that year, evoked a more conventionally spiritual perspective than before, a pattern continued on successive outings for years to come. Albums like 1983's , 1985's , and 1986's are all largely cut from the same cloth, employing serenely beautiful musical backdrops to explore themes of faith and healing. For 1988's , however, Morrison teamed with another of his homeland's musical institutions, the famed , for a collection of traditional folk songs.

Meanwhile, heralded a commercial rebirth of sorts in 1989. While "Whenever God Shines His Light," a duet with , became Morrison's first U.K.

Top 20 hit in over two decades, the gorgeous "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" emerged as something of a contemporary standard, with a cover cracking the U.S. Top Five in 1993.

Further proof of Morrison's renewed popularity arrived with the 1990 release of Mercury's best-of package; far and away the best-selling album of his career, it introduced the singer to a new generation of fans. A new studio record, , appeared that same year, followed in 1991 by the ambitious double set , widely hailed as his most impressive outing in years.

Following the uniformity of his 1980s work, the remainder of the decade proved impressively eclectic: 1993's returned Morrison to his musical roots with covers of blues and R B classics, while on 1995's he teamed with daughter for a duet on "You Don't Know Me.

" For the Verve label, he cut 1996's , a traditional jazz record co-credited to longtime pianist , while for the follow-up , he worked with guest of honor himself. Morrison continued balancing the past and the future in the years to follow, alternating between new studio albums (1997's , 1999's ) and collections of rare and live material (1998's and 2000's and ). It wasn't until 2002 that an album of new material surfaced, but in May his long-anticipated was released.

Three years later, Morrison issued . , a country-tinged set, appeared in 2006 on Lost Highway Records. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide Being famous was extremely disappointing for me.

When I became famous it was a complete drag and it is still a complete drag. For more famous quotes by Van Morrison, visit Van Morrison (born , as George Ivan Morrison) is a from , . He plays a variety of instruments, including the , , , unique mix of throaty folk, blues, Irish, scat, and Celtic influences — Morrison is widely considered one of the most unusual and influential vocalists in the history of rock and roll.

Famed critic has gone so far as to say that "no white man sings like Van Morrison."
Known as "Van the Man" by his fans, Morrison first rose to prominence as the lead singer of the band, , penning their seminal 1964 hit " ". A few years later, Morrison left the band for a successful solo career.

Morrison has pursued an idiosyncratic musical path. Much of his music is tightly structured around the conventions of consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of tradition, , and narrative, such as his classic album and lesser known works such as Morrison's career, spanning some four decades, has influenced many popular musical artists. In he was inducted into the and the in 2003.

In , Morrison ranked number 25 on American cable music channel 's list of its 100 greatest artists of rock and roll, and in 2004, ranked him 42nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He George Ivan (Van) Morrison was born and grew up at 125 Hyndford Street in Bloomfield, as the pampered, only child of George, a shipyard worker and Violet, a singer. Morrison was exposed to music from an early age, as his father, having spent time working in , collected , article he said, "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."

" There were always sing-songs in the house on Saturday nights with family and friends and although shy, the young Morrison would always sing upon request. He gave his first performance as a child with a rendition of Lead Belly's " ". He would perform this same song years later with another of his boyhood idols, on his album, The Skiffle Sessions - Live in Belfast 1998.

Young Morrison's father, noting his son's genuine interest, bought him his first , at , The Carter Family Style. He soon formed a named the Sputniks with school friends. They played at some of the local and even at this young age, Van was already taking the lead and doing most of the singing and arranging.

At fourteen, he formed another modified skiffle band called Midnight Special and played at a school concert. This band soon broke up though and he wanted to join the Thunderbolts. They turned him down because they already had a guitar player.

After talking his father into buying him a (and learning to play by practicing non-stop for a month) he then played with the Thunderbolts, in church dance halls and hospitals around town. The young Morrison was already noted for his uncommunicative nature and his inadequate social skills, by his fellow band members, who said his parents were remarkably patient with their only child. His mother said she took him aside one day to tell him he needed to learn to talk to people.

According to his mother, "Van said to me that it wasn't that he didn't want to talk but tunes were running through his head all the time. He said he didn't know whether he'd been blessed or cursed because the words and from a hard working family, he was expected to get a regular full-time job. After several short apprenticeship positions, he settled into a job as a window cleaner, referenced in the autobiographical songs "Cleaning Windows" and "St.

Dominics's Preview".
Many of the places of his childhood, such as "Cyprus Avenue", Fitzroy, Hyndford Street, Sandy Row and " ", (the boys' school he attended) would find their way into the lyrics of some of his most famous songs. His contented and self-absorbed childhood would be an important factor in the nostalgic and searching tone of much of his music throughout his long career.

After the death of his father in 1988, he would honour his memory, with the song "Choppin' Wood", which he often performs in concert.
Morrison left home at age 17, to pursue a music career. He played in several local and bands, including playing saxophone for ^[] during practise sessions, before joining the group, The Monarchs and touring across group, in April 1964 and came to prominence fronting the band.

The band had a number of chart hits, most notably the rock standard, " ", subsequently covered by many artists, including , and . In June 1966, while Them were headlining a three-week stint at the famed , and The Doors were the opening act on the last week. Van's influence on Jim's developing stagecraft was noted by , in his book, Riders On The Storm.

"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 Morrison and the other Them band members became involved in a dispute with their manager, Phil Solomon, over the revenues paid them on the two month west coast tour. He returned to Belfast, intending to quit the music business. Them’s one-time producer, , persuaded him to return to New York and record solo for the label.

From these early sessions emerged one of his best-known songs, " " (which reached No.10 in the US charts in 1967). Master session drummer Gary Chester played on that song.

The album that came from those sessions was . Morrison later admitted he wasn't pleased with the results, claiming in a Rolling Stone interview in 1969, "It came out wrong and they released it without my consent.

Most of these recordings were remixed and repackaged in 1991 as the . The compilation included an alternate take of "Brown Eyed Girl" as well as early versions changes, instrumentation and lyrics on Morrison's second album.
After Berns’ death in 1967, Morrison was involved in a contract dispute with Berns' widow which prevented him from performing on stage or recording in the area.

The song "Big Time Operators" released in 1991 chronicled his dealings with the New York music business during this time period. He then moved to , . He was soon confronted with personal and financial problems.

He had "slipped into a through the few gigs he could find, he regained his professional footing and started recording with the label. The record company was able to buy out his contract with Bang Records and Morrison fulfilled a highly unusual clause that bound him to submit thirty-six original songs within a year, by recording thirty-two His first album for Warner Bros. was (which he had already performed work.

Morrison has said, "When Astral Weeks came out, the album was critically acclaimed but received an indifferent response from the public. To this day, it remains in an unclassifiable genre and has been described as hypnotic, meditative and having a unique musical power. It has been compared to French and mystical Celtic poetry.

^{100 Best Albums, it was listed as #2, and was #19 on the 's in 2003.}

The title track, though never released in the US as a single, was heavily played in many . The evocative song, " " has also gained a wide following over the years. The single released was "Come Running" which reached the US Top 40.

Moondance was both well received and favourably reviewed. Lester Bangs and Greil Marcus even had a combined full page review in Rolling Stone Magazine, stating 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 Over the next few years, he released several acclaimed albums, among them a second one in 1970. had a freer, more relaxed sound than Moondance ( but not the perfection, in many critics' opinions) and contained the hit single, "Domino".

The last song "Street Choir" took on a more serious tone.
In 1971, he moved with his family to a hilltop home in and released another popular album, . This album produced the hit single, " " and the catchy title song that has a very feel about it.

It ended with another country tune, "Moonshine Whisky." Morrison said he originally intended to make an all country with Morrison's ability as a musician, arranger and producer, describing it at the time 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.

" He claimed later, "I'd never work with Van Morrison again as long as I live, even if he offered me two million dollars in cash. I aged ten years producing three of his albums."^{Astral Weeks.}

The combination of two styles of music gave it a versatility that had been lacking before. Two of the songs, "Listen to the Lion" and "Almost Independence Day" were ten and eleven minutes long, and employed the same poetic imagery not heard since Astral Weeks. It was his highest charting album ever.

By 1972, despite being a performer for nearly 10 years, he began experiencing when performing for audiences of thousands, as opposed to the hundreds he experienced in his early career. He became anxious on stage and would have 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 agonizing for me to be out there.

After a brief break from music, he started performing in clubs, regaining his ability to perform live, albeit with smaller audiences. He then formed the backing group, them. The tour was captured for posterity on the live , , regarded as one of the great in rock history.

Soon after recording the album, Morrison restructured the Caledonia Soul Orchestra into a smaller unit, the Caledonia Soul Express. For many years, his parents, George and Violet owned a record store in Fairfax, California named Caledonia Records.
In 1973, Morrison divorced his wife of five years, actress and model, Janet (Planet) Rigsbee, with whom he had a daughter, the occasions and has duetted with him on his albums, A Night in San Francisco and Days Like This.

Morrison then released the introspective and poignant album in 1974. Though it attracted little attention at the time of its release, its critical stature has grown over the years and Veedon Fleece is Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River", one of the album's side closers, exemplifies the long, hypnotic, cryptic Morrison, with its references to visionary poet and to the apparently -like Veedon Fleece object.
Morrison would not release a follow-up album for the next three years.

After ten years without taking time off, he said in an interview that he just needed to get away from music completely and even ceased listening to it for several months. Also suffering from writer's block, he later confessed that he seriously considered leaving the music business for good. During this time, he lived in isolation "far from the beaten path.

" Greil Marcus said he drove by on the road one time and there was this big sign that said, Van Morrison's Self-Improvement Camp. "I have no idea if someone put it up there as a prank or if he'd put it up (nor whether) you went there to improve yourself or whether you went there to improve him, but it somehow struck me as very appropriate." A new album was often rumoured to be later was to say the project was nothing more than an extended jamming session.

In 1976, Morrison performed at the farewell concert for , which took place on Morrison considered skipping his appearance until the last minute, even refusing to go on stage when his name was called. His manager, , said he "literally kicked him out there." Morrison was on good terms with The Band.

They were near-neighbours in and they had shared experience of . At the concert, Van performed two songs, one of them being, " ", from his 1970 album, Moondance which was described by 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 rocket.

The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left." The concert was filmed and later issued in 's film, , which is considered a landmark concert film.
In 1977, Morrison finally released , a critical reception, and began a very prolific period of song making.

The following year, Morrison released ; It was the fastest selling album of his career at the time and soon went gold. The engaging title track became a modest hit and peaked at #42. The opening track, "Kingdom Hall", about Morrison's own childhood Morrison's next album, Into the Music.

The album's last four songs, "Angeliou", "When the Healing Has Begun", and "It's All disposal from "Angeliou"'s climactic shouts to the sexually-charged, half-mumbled monologue in "When the Healing Has Begun" to Released in 1979, was hailed as a masterpiece: "An erotic/religious class="reference"> This album for the first time alludes to the healing power of music, which had become an abiding interest of Morrison's and would dominate his music from this point on. Bright Side of the Road was a joyful, uplifting song that would be appear on the soundtrack of the popular movie, .
With his next album, the new decade saw Morrison following his own muse into uncharted territory and merciless reviews.

In 1980, he took a group of musicians with him to Super Bear, a studio in the on the site of a former abbey, to record his "most daring and unclassifiable" album since Astral Weeks. The album, consisted of only six songs of varying lengths. The longest - Summertime In England was fifteen and one-half minutes long and ended with the words,"Can you feel the silence?

" magazine's Graham Locke called the album, "colossally smug and cosmically dull; an interminable, vacuous and drearily egotistical stab at spirituality." Even Greil Marcus, who had formerly supported Morrison, said "It's Van acting the part of the 'mystic poet' he thinks he's supposed to be." Morrison insisted that the album was never "meant to be a commercial album.

" But perhaps stung by the harsh reviews, "he would not attempt anything so live performance. Lester Bangs 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, was released in 1982 and saw him returning once again to his Belfast roots.

It was well received by the critics and public and produced a popular single, "Cleaning Windows" that documented one of Morrison's first jobs after leaving school. Several other songs on the album, "Vanlose Stairway", "She Gives Me Religion" and the instrumental "Scandinavia", on which Morrison plays piano, show the presence of a new physical muse, a Danish agent who would share Morrison's spiritual interests and serve as a steadying influence on him throughout most of the 80's. He had "gallons" of coffee a day according to friends.

He was to once again have , beginning later in the decade after his father's sudden death.
In the early 1980's Morrison moved back to Europe and at first settled in the area of . Later, he moved to , where he bought

compositions steered towards territory. He gave a special thanks to on his 1983 album, , although he has never been formally associated with or any other Church.
In 1985 he released a new album, that contained the opening track, "Tore Down A La Rimbaud".

Morrison said he had been reading about in 1974, when he was suffering through a period of writer's block. He then carried this song around with him for eight years before he enthusiastic reviews from many but not all critics. During the recording, the artist's characteristic deep growl was in grand were comfortable with the increasingly religious content.

Unflustered, Morrison was slightly less gritty and more adult contemporary with the well received 1987 album, , considered to be one of his highlights of the 1980s. The romantic ballad, "Someone Like You" from this album was featured in the soundtrack of several popular movies, including 1995's and, in 2001, both and .
In 1988, he released with the Irish group, ; a popular-selling record, which demonstrated the full range of Morrison's unique vocal power on a collection of traditional Irish folk songs.

Morrison played drums on this album.
In 1989, Morrison released an even more popular seller, , which ballad, (also popularised by ). This is often said to be his most spiritual album but it also contained the sensual song, Daring Night.

"It deals with full, blazing sex, whatever it's churchy organ and gentle lilt might suggest." Showing again, Morrison's preoccupation with the erotic/religious theme. He can be heard calling out the change of tempo in the ending of this song, indicative of his belief that music should be spontaneous.

He often completed albums in two days time, with first takes being the norm.

Compiled by Morrison himself and focusing on his hit singles, it became a multi-platinum success and was one of the best selling albums of the nineties.

This version of the song was included in the soundtrack of 's 2006 film, .
Although Morrison's commercial success would continue throughout the 1990s, the critical reception to his work began to decline. 1990's yielded one hit single, Real Real Gone (first recorded ten years earlier), and 1991's double-CD was one of his most ambitious works, but 1993's and 1995's had large sales even though the In contrast, the live double album " " (1994) was a "tour-de-force", showing Morrison's talents and his influences in equal measure.

On February 14th, 1994, Van Morrison was awarded the for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music. He was presented with the award by former Beirut hostage, who testified to the importance of Morrison's song, Wonderful In June 1996, Morrison was awarded an by at for his service to music.
This period was also marked by a number of side projects, including the live, jazz performances of 1996's , 1997's , and 2000's which found Morrison paying tribute to his long-time favourites.

In 1997, Morrison released , arguably his best album of the 1990s. The following year, Morrison finally released some of his unissued studio recordings in a warmly received two-disc set, . His next release, 1999's , was a modest success, being his highest charting album in the US since In September 1999, Morrison became the first musician to be inducted into the newly opened .

presented Morrison with the award saying, "I believe there is only one genius in Irish music, and that's Van Morrison."
During this decade, Morrison developed a close association with two vocal talents at opposite ends of their careers. , with whom Morrison had already worked occasionally, lent his voice and vocals complimented the grizzled voice of Morrison, both in studio and live performances.

Taking this concept of association a stage further, the 90s saw an upsurge in Morrison's collaborations with other artists, a album, Don't Look Back .

Van Morrison continued to record and tour in the 2000s, performing two or three times a week. Playing fewer of his well-known songs in concert than almost any other artist from his era, Morrison refuses to be relegated into a nostalgia act.
In July 2001, Morrison received an as a doctor of from in his hometown of .

Nine years earlier, in 1992, he had received an in from the - at the time being the only other university in his native .
Clinton Heylin's biography of Morrison, Can You Feel the Silence?, published in In 2000, Morrison released a collaboration with ( 's sister), .

Another side project, this time focusing on R B and country-and-western standards, Lewis proved to be an excellent duet partner, and the project set the stage for Morrison's next album, Choppin' Wood. Clinton Heylin's book, Can You Feel the Silence?, discusses this period in great detail, but due to legal issues surrounding the matter, not everything could be divulged.

By the end of 2000, the album was essentially finished when The cover of the May 2005 edition of Wavelength, a magazine dedicated to Van Morrison