Many singers disappear without a trace from the pages of the charts and from the memory of listeners. Van Morrison is not like that, he is still a living legend of music.
Childhood of Van Morrison
Van Morrison (real name - George Ivan Morison) was born on August 31, 1945 in Belfast. This unconventional vocalist, known for his growling manner, absorbed Celtic chants with his mother's milk, adding both blues and folk to them, becoming one of the most original rock performers.
Vana Morrison Special Style
A talented multi-instrumentalist equally and superbly plays the saxophone, guitar, drums, keyboards, harmonica.
To define his music, critics even invented a special designation - "Celtic soul" or "Celtic rock", "blue-eyed soul". May he start to his glory in Them. His flowing curls and fiery eyes were symbols.
His childhood was spent in the eastern part of Ireland Belfast. The only child of a working port and a singer, instead of going to school, the boy listened to his father's collection of blues and jazz records by American artists for days.
Morrison gathered a school band, where he played the guitar donated by his father in his free time from part-time jobs.
In the early 1960s, he founded his group Them, whose hit Gloria was later taken by Jimi Hendrix and Pati Smith for cover versions. Unfortunately, the first album turned out to be weak, although some songs reached the leading positions of the charts.
Solo career
Van Morrison began his solo career as a performer in the mid-1960s, signing with Warner Brothers after the death of producer Bertie Burns. Here the level of his talent "flyed" high, allowing him to create the Astral Weeks album, which was one of the best in the singer's discography.
Wonderful, meditative, hypnotic music did not leave indifferent either the critics or the emerging admirers of Morrison's talent.
He defied all definitions, was original and charming in an Irish way. The subsequent optimistic album Moondance entered the top 40 of the time.
The successes and failures of the artist
The singer moved to California with his beautiful young wife Janet. Happiness accompanied him - commercially successful works were created, which both critics and fans liked.
Then Morrison began to look at life as a show, a holiday, wrote even more compositions, his single "Domino" reached the top 10 charts. Bob Dylan noticed that the singer's ingenious compositions have always existed, it's just that Morrison helped bring them to the audience as an ideal earthly vessel.
However, not everything was rosy. Then followed a divorce from his wife, the songs acquired a depressive state (album Veedon Fleece (1974). In the late 1970s, he saw the meaning of his creative activity only in live performances.
Then there was a three-year silence, ending with the release of several successful works. The Wavelength disc was a good success, but stage fright accompanied the musician. At one of the performances at the stadium, he paused the song and did not return.
The end of the 1980s was vigorous and active, but the work was mostly introspective. The 1990s were marked by experimental compositions and a duet with Cliff Richard. A new generation of listeners fell in love with the singer for the violin ballad Have I Told You Lately (later included in Rod Stewart's repertoire).
History of one song
All Morrison's songs are still heard by rock lovers. However, one of them is special. It is included in the album Moondance, it is a ballad of the same name, which became an international hit. Originating from a jazz solo on the saxophone, she is most liked by the singer himself.
He called this melody "refined", emphasizing its subtlety and precision. The song was recorded in August 1969. Dozens of variations of the melody have been created, but still the author settled on the first version. The ballad single was released in 1977, and the composition was used by many musicians. Morrison performed it most often at concerts.
Van Morrison - father
The producer of the singer Gigi Lee gave birth to his son when Morrison was 64 years old. They named the boy George Ivan Morrison. It turned out that he is very similar to his father.
The child has dual citizenship - British and American. Morrison also has a daughter from his first marriage, who devoted her life to music and is no less talented than her father.
Glory of the performer
Time has passed ... And now the singer is working hard on creativity. Already in each of the albums of the 1990s, Van Morrison opens up to fans in different ways.
In 2006, he worked in the direction of country music with the album Pay the Devl, which is multifaceted and does not repeat itself in compositions. He travels and performs with Bob Dylan, creates interesting duets with bluesmen, he is back on horseback.
He was joined by a talented daughter, increasing his fame. He greatly influenced such vocal stars as Bono, Jeff Buckley. He received several Grammy Awards in 1996 and 1998. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was replenished with the name of this famous musician in 1993.
He made a huge contribution to the history of music, primarily as an original creator of many interesting musical compositions. Turn on his music, listen, and you will see for yourself. Like fine wine, it only gets better with age.
