Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland, born in 1945. He records in styles including blue-eyed soul, chamber folk, contemporary folk, folk, folk pop, folk rock, classic rock, blues and rock. He is also known as Sir George Ivan Morrison, and is often referred to by fans as “Van the Man”.

Early career

Morrison begins performing as a teenager in the late 1950s, playing guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone with Irish showbands that cover popular songs of the time. In the mid-1960s he becomes the lead singer of the Belfast R&B group Them, where he co-writes and records “Gloria”, a song that becomes a garage rock standard. His associated groups include Georgie and the Monarchs, Them and The Caledonia Soul Orchestra.

Solo work

His solo recording career starts in the 1960s under producer Bert Berns. “Brown Eyed Girl” appears in 1967 as an early hit single. After Berns dies, Warner Bros. Records takes over Morrison’s contract and gives him three sessions for Astral Weeks (1968), an album that is initially a commercial failure but later becomes one of his best-known works. Moondance (1970) further establishes him as a major artist. His work often combines soul and early rhythm and blues with long, spiritually inclined pieces influenced by Celtic tradition, jazz and stream-of-consciousness writing. This approach is strongly associated with Astral Weeks and is sometimes described as “Celtic soul”.

Albums and recording output

Morrison releases a long run of studio albums across the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond, including His Band and the Street Choir, Tupelo Honey, Saint Dominic's Preview, Hard Nose the Highway, Veedon Fleece, A Period of Transition, Wavelength, Into the Music, Common One, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, A Sense of Wonder, No Guru, No Method, No Teacher, Poetic Champions Compose, Irish Heartbeat, Avalon Sunset, Enlightenment, Hymns to the Silence, Too Long in Exile, Days Like This, How Long Has This Been Going On, Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison, The Healing Game, Back on Top, You Win Again, Down the Road, What's Wrong with This Picture?, Magic Time, Pay the Devil, Keep It Simple, Born to Sing: No Plan B, Duets: Re-working the Catalogue, Keep Me Singing, Roll with the Punches, Versatile, You're Driving Me Crazy, The Prophet Speaks, Three Chords & the Truth, Latest Record Project, Volume 1, What's It Gonna Take?, Moving On Skiffle, Beyond Words: Instrumental, Accentuate the Positive, New Arrangements and Duets, Remembering Now and Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge.

Recognition

Morrison’s albums achieve major commercial success in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK Top 40. He also places in album charts in countries including Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and has top ten albums in the UK across four consecutive decades. In the United States, 18 of his albums reach the Top 40. His awards include two Grammy Awards, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1994, the Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting in 2017, and induction into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is knighted in 2016 for services to the music industry and tourism in Northern Ireland.

Labels

His recordings are associated with labels and imprints including Caledonia Soul Music, Exile Productions Ltd., Listen to the Lion Records, Caledonia Productions Ltd., Exile, Orangefield Records Ltd., Exile Publishing Ltd., Exile Publishing UK and Van-Jan Music.