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Van Morrison
Weaned on Hank Williams, Leadbelly and his father's blues and jazz
records, Van Morrison became lead singer with Them in his teens. A
gritty, R&B-influenced beat band, Them had a hit in 1965
with Here Comes The Night, followed by one of rock's
hardiest anthems, Gloria.
After the band's demise, Morrison relocated to the USA where
he recorded another enduring classic, Brown Eyed Girl (1967).
The track had to be censored before some American radio
stations would play it. The objectionable lyrics "making love
in the green grass behind the stadium" had to be changed to
the more palatable "laughin' and a-runnin' behind the
stadium".
After 1968's Astral Weeks his stream of consciousness
narrative and spiritual digressions earned Morrison his own genre:
Celtic soul. With Moondance he expanded his musical
versatility into the service of beautiful, concise songcraft (Crazy
Love, Into The Mystic, Moondance).
The double-barrelled punch of Astral Weeks and Moondance established
Van Morrison as the most individual songwriter since Bob Dylan,
and an incomparable singer and bandleader.
Morrison's career then became a model of artistic consistency.
On such albums as St Dominic's Preview, Beautiful
Vision and Into The Music - and up to 1991's Hymns
To The Silence - Morrison has explored his inimitable terrain
with increasing complexity.
At times arcane and idiosyncratic, Morrison's music always
retains its expansive vision and sense of daring. Van Morrison has
never compromised and never bent to commercial demands or fashion.
Whether as an obvious musical influence on artists like Bruce
Springsteen, Graham Parker and Bob Seger, or as an inspiration for
younger generations of singer/songwriters and groups (including Sinead O'Connor
and U2), Morrison consistently remained a beacon of musical
excellence and integrity.
Morrison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in
1993.
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