MAJOR MUSIC ARTISTS - UK
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| Van Morrison |
DESCRIPTION: Van Morrison
ACTIVITY STATUS: Active
ACTIVITY PERIOD: 1958 - Current
MUSIC GENRE: Rock, Rhythm and Blues, Folk, Blues, Soul, Celtic, Jazz, Country, Gospel
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: NORTHERN IRELAND, UK
RECORD COMPANIES / LABELS (Current & Past): Decca, Bang, Warner Bros., London, Mercury, Exile/Polydor, Verve, Point Blank, Virgin, Universal, Blue Note, Lost Highway, Listen to the Lion, EMI, Manhattan, RCA
OFFICIAL WEB SITE: http://www.vanmorrison.com
ABOUT HIM:
Van Morrison (George Ivan Morrison) (1945 - Current)
Belfast-born Morrison dropped out of high school to become the great soul singer he was always destined to be. He performed with Belfast R&B bands until in his late teens until he formed the band Them. Like the Animals, they quickly became one of the great British R&B bands of the Mid-Sixties. They had a big hit with Baby Please Don’t Go in 1965, but it was their song Gloria which entered the annals of all-time R&B greats, and (like the Animals’ House of the Rising Sun) went into the repertoire of every gigging young band of the era. Morrison went solo in 1967, and had an instant hit with Brown Eyed Girl. His mellow-toned voice could croon or growl, and he brought enormous assurance to his recorded work, as evidenced by his classic album of 1968, the almost mystically beautiful Astral Weeks. Two years later he released the Moondance album - the title track still perhaps his best known song - and in 1971 Tupelo Honey, full of great Morrison tracks and featuring Wild Night. Despite a hiatus in the mid 1970s, he maintained a regular output of quality work, though he didn’t chart quite the way he used to. He made the Heartbeat album in 1988 with the legendary Irish instrumental band The Chieftains, and in 1993 penned the hit ballad Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. His 1999 album Back On Top did see him back at the top of his game, with tracks including an authentic late classic, the wrenching beauty The Philosopher’s Stone. It is indeed “a hard road, daddy-o”, but Morrison has walked it with the very best of them.
By Larry Buttrose
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