Equal multi -talent: singer van Morrison turns 80 and does his own thing

A few years ago, van Morrison worried his fans when he said the music magazine “uncut” that he no longer wanted to make albums. “I enjoy taking up the pieces,” he said, “but then mixing this off and all the rest is so boring.”

Anyone who feared that Morrison would now be less productive was wrong. The British singer has published a total of eleven studio albums since the 2017 interview. It is an impressive 47 in total.

This Sunday (August 31) Van Morrison, whose optical trademark of the hat, sunglasses and the mostly dark suit are 80 years old. And after six decades in the music business, he does not make any institutions to shorten – neither in the studio nor on the concert stage. Around his birthday and the day itself, the restless Irish gives a handful of concerts in his hometown of Belfast. The next album is just a matter of time.

Return backlog with the publications

The man, whom the “Rolling Stone” magazine once nestled as “King of Irish soul singers”, takes up so much music that he does not come after the publication.

“There are new arrangements and projects that just lie around and set dust,” he said in an interview published on his website. “Sales can only cope with a certain amount at once. Two plates per year would be difficult, one is feasible.”

Most recently, in June he published “Remembering Now”, his first album with its own compositions for three years. These songs had also been around for a while. “That should have come out a long time ago,” said Morrison. “It is simply due to priorities and the right timing.”

Only a few musicians are as productive on their old days as George Ivan Morrison. The singer, who was born in Belfast on August 31, 1945, has always been a kind of workaholic. There was hardly a perceptible longer break since his father bought a guitar for the then eleven -year -old and thus laid the foundation for a great music career.

Morrison founded his first band at the tender age of twelve. After the guitar he learned to play saxophone. Later the vocals were added – and rather unintentional. “Originally I wasn’t a singer at all, but nobody could sing,” Morrison told the “Independent”, “that’s how I became the lead singer.”

The father’s extensive collection of records – with everything from blues, gospel and jazz to folk and country – was an important inspiration. His role models were called Mahalia Jackson, Ray Charles and Muddy Waters, but also Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams.

No copy of a copy

Over time, he developed his own style. “Nobody wants a copy of a copy,” he emphasized in the “Guardian”, “you have to put your own stamp on the music.” This has succeeded in the loner, who is sometimes perceived as stubborn and concealed. Morrison is considered the best white rhythm-& blues singer.

The school ended Morrison without a degree. He initially earned his money as a window cleaner. Later he sang about it. But his musical talent quickly wore the first fruits. With the group The Monarchs “van the Man” toured through Germany as a teenager. In Cologne they even recorded a first single. There is said to have been cognac as a payment.

Later Morrison with the band Them he founded, despite several change of cast change, some hits, including “Here Comes The Night”, “Mystic Eyes” and the cover version of the blues classic “Baby, please don’t go”. Their B-side “Gloria” was a surprise success. Jimi Hendrix, Patti Smith and the Doors, who were temporarily the opening act of them, later covered “Gloria”.

Difficult start as a solo artist

With “Brown Eyed Girl” he achieved his first own hit in 1967. But the start of the solo career was difficult. Morrison was almost bankrupt when his second album “Astral Weeks” was released in 1968. The progressive mix of folk, jazz and soul sounded very different from the moody “Brown Eyed Girl”, but it became a success and is considered pioneering for Morrison’s career.

The “Moondance” millionder finally made the Irish a star two years later. From then on he produced one album after the other and toured tirelessly. “It’s Too Late to Stop Now” from 1974 is a compilation of concerts that he had given in his then adopted home of California and in London. It is considered a classic among the live discs of the 1970s.

He doesn’t worry about how his music arrives at the audience. “This is not my job,” he emphasized in the interview on his website. “My job is to make music.” Most of the time they liked their audience.

Great success as a cuddly singer against will

In addition, the multi -talent has been unintentionally supplier to cuddly songs since the late 1980s, which occasionally landed on soundtracks of romantic films, including the hitballade “Have I Told You Lately”. Morrison had written the song as prayer. But it also works as a earthly love song. Morrison is spiritual privately, he does not belong to a religion.

Again and again Sir Van, who was ennobled by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016, experimented, and was not considerate of common musical conventions. He always remained true to his Celtic roots. In 1988 he recorded an album with traditional Irish folk songs.

Van Morrison explains that he was still successful after such a long time that he has never created it for commercial success. “I pursue a jazzy approach,” he said, “not trying to be popular for a certain time and not to be manipulated. If you do your own thing right from the start, you will not even get into this machine.”