Van Morrison

The diversity of types of music Van Morrison has written and performed staggers the imagination. Everything from straight-garage rock to jazz to celtic to r&b to jazz to skiffle. And all delivered with a voice and a style that cannot be described any other way than unique and unmistakable.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, he first made his mark as the lead singer and key writer with the group Them in 1964-5. Together they produced “G-L-O-R-I-A,” one of rock’s true anthems, and a song that everyone from Patti Smith to the Doors has performed. He relocated to the United States and took off as a solo artist, releasing the buoyant “Brown-Eyed Girl” and the introspective “T.B. Sheets” In 1968, backed by some of the finest jazz musicians, he recorded “Astral Weeks,” considered by many one of the best singer-songwriter albums of all time. He shifted from its sensitive grooves to a more upbeat and r&b-influenced style on his next several albums that featured such dance-inducing sides as “Domino” and “Wild Night Is Calling.”

Moving back to Ireland in 1974, his music took on a more folk-influenced acoustic sound, and his lyrics during this period possessed some of their most affecting poetry to date. In the many, many records he has released since, Morrison has explored the complete palette of his talents. Several of his recent songs - such as “Whenever Gold Shines His Light” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Loved You” - have brought his unique talents to the top of the charts.