Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music’s true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced what is regarded as perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon. Having penned iconic songs such as “Gloria,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” and “Moondance,” Morrison has, from the very beginning — as frontman for Irish blues rockers Them during the early 1960s to a solo career that has lasted more than 50 years — been subject only to the whims of his own muse. His swinging meld of jazz, pop, folk, blues, and Celtic soul fueled the albums of his Warner Bros. period from the late ’60s (Moondance) to the early ’80s (Common One). From the late ’80s to the end of the century with Mercury, he connected the spiritual power of his musical vision to a re-engagement with his Belfast roots on Irish Heartbeat (accompanied by the Chieftains) and to the blues wails and gospel whispers of his youth on Too Long in Exile, Healing Game, and Back on Top. During the 21st century, his recordings underscored his indelible singing style that bypasses the confines of language to articulate emotional truths far beyond the scope of literal meaning, whether recording pop (Magic Time), country (Pay the Devil), Celtic R&B (Keep Me Singing), folk (Moving on Skiffle), or fingerpopping jazz (You’re Driving Me Crazy and The Prophet Speaks, both with organist Joey DeFrancesco). Morrison also cultivated a reputation as an outspoken contrarian in his later years, a side that was showcased on such modern-day protest albums as 2021’s Latest Record Project, Vol. 1 and the following year’s What’s It Gonna Take? Yet, he still found time to celebrate his roots, interpreting rock & roll and R&B classics on 2023’s Accentuate the Positive and revisiting his own songs alongside those of singers like Willie Nelson and Joss Stone, as on 2024’s New Arrangements and Duets, further underscoring his reputation as both a beloved pillar and an unpredictable rock maverick.
George Ivan Morrison was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on August 31, 1945; his mother was a singer, while his father ardently collected classic American jazz and blues recordings. At 15, he quit school to join the local R&B band the Monarchs, touring military bases throughout Europe before returning home to form his own group, Them. Boasting a fiery, gritty sound heavily influenced by Morrison heroes like Howlin’ Wolf, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Little Walter, Them quickly earned a devout local following, and in late 1964 recorded their debut single, “Don’t Start Crying Now.” The follow-up, an electrifying reading of Big Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go,” cracked the U.K. Top Ten in early 1965. Though not a major hit upon its original release, Them’s Morrison-penned “Gloria” endures among the true classics of the rock pantheon, covered by everyone from the Doors to Patti Smith. Lineup changes plagued the band throughout its lifespan, however, and at the insistence of producer Bert Berns, session musicians increasingly assumed the lion’s share of recording duties. A frustrated Morrison finally left Them following a 1966 tour of the U.S., quitting the music business and returning to Belfast.
After Berns relocated to New York City to form Bang Records, he convinced Morrison to travel stateside and record as a solo artist; the sessions produced arguably his most familiar hit, the jubilant “Brown-Eyed Girl” (originally titled “Brown-Skinned Girl”), a Top Ten smash in the summer of 1967. By contrast, however, the resulting album, Blowin’ Your Mind, was a bleak, bluesy effort highlighted by the harrowing “T.B. Sheets.” The sessions were originally intended to produce only material for singles, so when Berns released the LP against Morrison’s wishes, he again retreated home to Ireland while the album tanked on the charts. Berns suffered a fatal heart attack in late 1967, which freed Morrison of his contractual obligations and energized him to start working on new material.