Home » Jazz Musicians » Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison was born in Belfast in 1945, the son of a shipyard worker who collected American blues and jazz records. Van grew up listening to the music of Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson, Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. Surrounded by every kind of musical influence - country, blues, jazz, and folk - from 13 he was playing guitar, sax and harmonica with a series of local Irish showbands, skiffle and rock'n'roll groups. By the time he rose to the fore of Britain’s nascent blues-rock scene as leader of Them, Morrison had already pulled years in the trenches, singing and playing with some of Belfast’s cagiest combos. His music has always incorporated the widely-varied influences he heard and absorbed since his childhood days on the streets of Belfast - long before the bands of his youth and his initial 1964 breakthrough with the band he formed, Them.

Backed by The Jim Daly Trio, Morrison began his solo career in Belfast supporting Alexis Korner. He toured Holland singing with Cuby and The Blizzards before, in 1967, going to New York where he recorded an LP titled Blowin Your Mind with the producer Bert Berns, who had previously produced Them. Following Berns' death in 1968 Morrison recruited a group of jazz musicians to record Astral Weeks, a timeless classic which brought together elements of Celtic music, improvised jazz and r&b.

Based initially in Boston and then California, Morrison produced a string of albums including Moondance, Tupelo Honey and St Dominic's Preview while touring extensively with his band the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. His 1974 live set It's Too Late To Stop Now marked the end of this prolific early phase as Van returned to Ireland to explore further his Celtic roots. The ensuing album Veedon Fleece (1974) featured a quieter, more pastoral sound and was to be his last release for three years.

He returned to the public eye in 1977 with the aptly titled A Period Of Transition, an album co-produced by Mac 'Dr John' Rebennack. Following his re-location to London he released Wavelength (1978) and Into The Music (1979) by which time Morrison's interest in spiritual matters was finding regular expression in his recordings.

The theme of spiritual quest came to prominence in the albums he made in the 1980's: Common One, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart, A Sense Of Wonder, No Guru No Method No Teacher and Poetic Champions Compose established Morrison's status as an artist of unrivalled integrity and vision.

Read more

Tags

10
Live Review

Michael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison at Carnegie Hall

Read "Michael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison at Carnegie Hall" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Michael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison Carnegie Hall New York, NY March 21, 2019 “I know he doesn't like this version, but I'm thanking him anyway," so stated a sly Patti Smith at New York City's Carnegie hall before launching into her classic version of Van Morrison's anthem “Gloria" at the tribute concert to Belfast's favorite son on a cool rain-soaked late March evening. The founder of City Winery, Michael Dorf, ...

1
Album Review

Van Morrison: The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition)

Read "The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition)" reviewed by Doug Collette


As enigmatic as Van Morrison is, the archiving of his vault reveals some logic with the reissue of The Healing Game in expanded form. Following on the heels of It's Too Late to Stop Now... Volumes II, III, IV (Legacy Recordings, 2016) and The Authorized Bang Collection (Legacy Recordings, 2017), this three-CD package of one of his better latter-day albums reaffirms an underlying theme of those previously-released titles--Morrison's predilection for spontaneity. The Healing Game is one of most ...

1
Film Review

BANG! The Bert Berns Story

Read "BANG! The Bert Berns Story" reviewed by Doug Collette


BANG! The Bert Berns Story Abramorama 2018 BANG! The Bert Berns Story compares favorably to The Terry Kath Experience (FilmRise, 2017), not just in the elevated quality of its conception and execution, but in its authorship by an offspring of the subject. Just as the Chicago guitarist's daughter, Michelle Sinclair, helmed the documentary she produced and directed in homage to her late father, this feature is the result of exhaustive research and collation by the late ...

5
Album Review

Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco: You're Driving Me Crazy

Read "You're Driving Me Crazy" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Van Morrison has been busy, releasing three recordings in quick succession, Roll With the Punches (Exile, 2017), Versatile (Exile, 2017), and presently You're Driving Me Crazy with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. At this point in his career, Morrison can pretty well sing what he damn well pleases. On his past several recordings, Morrison has revisited his catalog, recasting some of his older songs in new frames and You're Driving Me Crazy proves no exception. Revisited here are “The Way Young ...

1
Book Review

Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968

Read "Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968" reviewed by Doug Collette


Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 Ryan H. Walsh 368 Pages ISBN: # 978-0735221345 Penguin Press 2018 Before thoroughly delving into Ryan H. Walsh's Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, a reader can thumb randomly through its three-hundred fifty-some pages and find nary a reference to Van Morrison or the epochal album after which this story of a pivotal year in Boston, Massachusetts is named. But that perception is as ...

2
Film Review

Van Morrison In Concert

Read "Van Morrison In Concert" reviewed by Doug Collette


Van Morrison In Concert Eagle Rock Video 2018 The video equivalent of last fall's pair of albums, Versatile (Legacy, 2017) and Roll with the Punches (Caroline, 2017), Van Morrison's In Concert is comprised of not just one, but two concerts. The main feature was recorded for the BBC Music In Concert Series in 2016, while Up On Cypress Avenue is a slightly shorter hour-long bonus (sic) commemorating the Belfast cowboy's seventieth birthday (hence its ...

6
Multiple Reviews

Van Morrison: Roll With The Punches & Versatile

Read "Van Morrison: Roll With The Punches & Versatile" reviewed by Doug Collette


Van Morrison's disenchantment with the business underpinnings of his creative output has been a continuing theme of his work over the years. It's always been something of a self-serving state of mind, but never so much so with the release of two very similarly-conceived and executed albums, on two different labels, within three months of each other. Roll With the Punches is the Belfast cowboy's second album on the Caroline Records label (following 2016's Keep Me Singing), while Versatile extends ...

Read more articles

Music Industry

Inside Music Analytics: Chris Stapleton Has More In Common With Etta James, Van Morrison, Otis Redding Than You Think

Inside Music Analytics: Chris Stapleton Has More In Common With Etta James, Van Morrison, Otis Redding Than You Think

Source: HypeBot

In this piece Glenn Peoples looks at the rise of Chris Stapleton's cross genre success with is cover of “Tennessee Whiskey" and how the soulful country number has been able to capture the attention of audiences typically more focused on R&B/soul legends. Guest post by Glenn Peoples, Music Insights and Analytics at Pandora, of Medium “Tennessee Whiskey” plays well with songs in the country, Americana, singer-songwriters, rock, R&B, and soul genres.  Stapleton’s music has a close relation to Etta James ...

2

Festival

David Sanborn And Van Morrison Headline Limerick Jazz Festival September 25-28

David Sanborn And Van Morrison Headline Limerick Jazz Festival September 25-28

Source: All About Jazz

The Limerick Jazz Festival returns for another eagerly anticipated edition between September 25th and 28th. For its third edition the LJF has upped the stakes by bringing in some big names, not the least of which are Belfast’s legendary Van Morrison, American saxophonist David Sanborn and English saxophonist Julian Siegel. The festival opens at 8pm on Thursday 25th with the sold out concert of Van the Man at the University College Hall. There’s nothing to say that hasn’t already been ...

1

Recording

Van Morrison Moondance Deluxe Five Disc & Expanded Two Disc Editions Available October 22 From Warner Bros. Records

Van Morrison Moondance Deluxe Five Disc & Expanded Two Disc Editions Available October 22 From Warner Bros. Records

Source: 1888 Media

Moondance Shines Brighter Van Morrison’s Classic Revisited With Five-Disc Deluxe Edition Loaded With Unreleased Takes From The Sessions, Including The Lost Track “I Shall Sing” The Newly Remastered Album Also Available As Single Disc And As Double Disc Featuring 11 Unreleased Tracks All Three Available October 22 From Warner Bros. Records LOS ANGELES, CA – In the fall of 1969, Van Morrison entered the studio to record MOONDANCE, the album that would soon become his commercial breakthrough and one of ...

281

Festival

Pearl Jam to Join Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin at New Orleans

Pearl Jam to Join Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin at New Orleans

Source: Michael Ricci

They may call it the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but a lineup of pop and rock performers including Pearl Jam, Drake and My Morning Jacket will be making their debuts at that annual Louisiana music series next year.

On Tuesday, organizers of the 41st edition of Jazz Fest said that Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, the Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, the Black Crowes and B.B. King would be among the festival veterans returning in the spring; ...

221

TV / Film

Van Morrison Rediscovers "Astral Weeks" in "To Be Born Again" Doc

Van Morrison Rediscovers "Astral Weeks" in "To Be Born Again" Doc

Source: All About Jazz

What started as a few shows to revisit Van Morrisons 1968 classic Astral Weeks an album hed never previously performed live has blossomed into a much larger celebration of the LP.

First, Morrison turned a November 2008 performance in Los Angeles into the live film/album Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Now hes on a full-blown “Astral Weeks" tour that will run at least through this fall, and there are more related releases in the near future: Morrison is ...

211

Performance / Tour

Van Morrison Will Bring 'Astral Weeks' Show Back to California

Van Morrison Will Bring 'Astral Weeks' Show Back to California

Source: Michael Ricci

The resurrection of Van Morrisons watershed 1968 album Astral Weeks in concert continues to expand with the Irish singers announcement of plans to bring it back to California in May for several more performances.

Morrison will present the work in its reconfigured entirety at Berkeleys Greek Theatre on May 2 and 3 and then will return to Los Angeles for three more nights at the 2,000-seat Orpheum Theatre downtown May 7-9. The band and orchestra that will accompany him includes ...

192

Recording

Van Morrison:Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Van Morrison:Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Source: JamBase

By: Dennis Cook

The current trend in recreating classic albums in concert is a mixed blessing. At a base level, these are pure nostalgia exercises. Without overt sentiment there wouldn't be so many assess in seats or merch sold. Being blunt, rare is the artist/band that can remotely reproduce the magic of their original recordings. Try as they might Roger Waters and David Gilmour are never going to nail the enduring grandeur of Dark Side of the Moon in a ...

176

Recording

A Precise, but Mirthless, Tribute to ‘Astral Weeks’

A Precise, but Mirthless, Tribute to ‘Astral Weeks’

Source: Michael Ricci

Van Morrison was shouting his way through “A Fool for You” — “Ray Charles!” he yelled after the song’s opening line — when the cord fell out of his microphone, leaving the Irish soul man singing unaided for a brief spell before musing, “We’ll have to do that again, right?”

But even when the mic was rebuilt, he held it far from his mouth, roaring the words while still leaving the audience straining to hear. Everyone in the room was ...

95

Technology

Ask Van Morrison

Ask Van Morrison

Source: All About Jazz

10 QUESTIONS With his signature growl and unique blend of blues, jazz and celtic folk, Van Morrison is consistently ranked as one of the most iconic and influential rock artists of all time.

Writer of such classic songs as “Gloria", “Moondance" and “Brown Eyed Girl", his 1968 masterwork, Astral Weeks, is listed by almost every major music publication as one of the most essential albums ever made.

A newly recorded, live version Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood ...

202

Performance / Tour

Van Morrison on Bringing 'Astral Weeks' Shows to NYC

Van Morrison on Bringing 'Astral Weeks' Shows to NYC

Source: Michael Ricci

Van Morrison said that his Hollywood Bowl shows in November would be the only time he would perform his classic 1968 album Astral Weeks live.

But that was before the two performances, which he says in an exclusive Times interview, “was more than I could have hoped for." The whole thing just worked, he told The Times by e-mail. One rehearsal -- that was not even that good -- and we hit the stage and the Magi or whoever just ...

Walt Pitts
guitar and vocals
Forest Sun
vocals
Chris Lowry
vocals

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Healing Game...

Legacy Recordings
2019

buy

The Prophet Speaks

Caroline International
2018

buy

The Authorized Bang...

Legacy Recordings
2017

buy

Keep Me Singing

Caroline International
2016

buy

Similar

Bob Dylan
guitar and vocals
Bruce Springsteen
composer / conductor
James Taylor Quartet
organ, Hammond B3
Paul Simon
composer / conductor
Tim Buckley
guitar and vocals

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.