| One of the very
most talented figures in all of rock 'n' roll, Van Morrison
(b. George Ivan Morrison, Aug. 31, 1945, Belfast, Ireland)
is an extraordinary performer whose artistic consistency during
his 30-plus-year career is virtually unmatched by any other
pop artist. He is a spectacularly emotive vocalist whose influence
has been felt since his early days as leader of the Irish
rock group Them, and whose records--especially his 1968 masterpiece
Astral Weeks--are commonly regarded by critics as among the
finest of the rock era. From the '60s through the '90s, many
of the most revered artists in pop--including Bruce Springsteen,
Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, and Patti Smith--have drawn inspiration
from Morrison's rich recorded legacy.
Like other rockers of his generation, Morrison cut his
teeth performing rock and R&B in clubs near American
army bases in Germany during the early '60s. Following a
stint playing saxophone with the Monarchs, Morrison returned
to Belfast and formed Them in 1964. While together for only
two years, the band scored several hits, including "Here
Comes The Night," a top 25 single given to the band
by writer/producer Bert Berns, and the Morrison-penned "Mystic
Eyes," which cracked the Top 40 in December 1966. Oddly,
though Morrison's "Gloria" is one of the best
known songs in all of rock 'n' roll, Them's original version
of the track spent only one week at the bottom of Billboard
Top Rock'N'Roll Hits 1965's Hot 100 in May 1965; instead,
Chicago rockers the Shadows Of Knight had a top 10 hit with
it a year later.
Morrison's recognition
as a solo artist came after Them had disbanded in 1966 and
producer Berns sent the singer a one-way plane ticket to
New York to do some recording. Out of those sessions came
Morrison's first solo hit--1967's top 10 single "Brown
Eyed Girl"--and an accompanying album of alleged "demos"
on Berns's Bang Records label called Blowin' Your Mind.
A disgruntled Morrison still maintains that the record should
not have been released; regardless, it is a superb set that
features some of his most fascinating work--including the
tracks "T.B. Sheets," written about a friend with
tuberculosis, the bluesy "He Ain't Give You None,"
and initial versions of two songs that would later pop up
on Astral Weeks, "Madame George" and "Cypress
Avenue."
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