Van Morrison

thumb|And I wanna rock your gypsy soul,Just like way back in the days of old,And magnificently we will foldInto the mystic.~ Into the Mystic thumb|Well it's a marvellous night for a moondance,With the stars up above in your eyes.A fantabulous night to make romance,'Neath the cover of October skies. ~ Moondance Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison, OBE (born August 31, 1945), generally known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He plays a variety of instruments, including the guitar, harmonica, keyboards, drums, and saxophone. Featuring his characteristic growl — a unique mix of throaty folk, blues, Irish, scat, and Celtic influences — Morrison is widely considered one of the most unusual and influential vocalists in the history of rock and roll. Quotes Music to me is spontaneous, writing is spontaneous and it's all based on not trying to do it. From beginning to end, whether it's writing a song, or playing guitar, or a particular chord sequence, or blowing a horn, it's based on improvisation and spontaneity. Interview by Dermot Stokes in Hot Press (March 1978) Where I feel this has cost me is in the personality situation, where you're expected to be a personality. You not only have to write and record, but you have to go out and sell it. Well, I'm not a salesman, and I'm very bad at selling things. If I had to do that for a living, I'd probably be completely broke. I can't sell myself. And I don't even want to. That's something that's not going to change. Interview in Musician magazine (1987) Someone once described me as a maverick and that's what I would say. I'm a maverick not by choice but by conviction. As quoted in Too Late to Stop Now (1993) by Steve Turner Like I say, the way I write songs is, you know, inspirational. I have to wait for it to happen. And when it happens I get lines, and I just write them down, you know. I'm not sort of a Tin Pan Alley sort of songwriter. I just sort of write down what I get - without censoring or questioning what it is and what it means, you know. Like later on I look at what it means, but not at the time. "Nights in Copenhagen with Van Morrison" (1985) interview by Al Jones Music is spiritual. The music business is not. The Times [London] (6 July 1990) With Moondance, I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That's the way I wrote that one. I don't really have any words to particularly describe the song, sophisticated is probably the word I'm looking for. For me, Moondance is a sophisticated song. Frank Sinatra wouldn't be out of place singing that. As quoted in Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison (1997) by Brian Hinton, p. 106 The odd time something happens and you go into some kind of enchantment (on stage). But you have to work very hard to get that. Most of the time you're just playing and singing the songs, and there's no guarantee that you are going to get anywhere.... As quoted in Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography (2003) by Clinton Heylin When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration As quoted in Van Morrison: No Surrender (2005) by Johnny Rogan When I was fifteen, I became a professional musician. I got involved with people and did certain things which led me to start making records and touring. And leaving Belfast and going to London and America, one thing led to another and I got caught up in the life that I'm living now...I was very young and i followed something. (1993) As quoted in Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography (2003) by Clinton Heylin An Oral History of Popular Music (1989) Smith, Joe, Off The Record An Oral History of Popular Music, Warner Books, Inc., 0-446-51232-X There is one thing I don't understand about Astral Weeks. Of all the records I have ever made that one is definitely not rock. You could throw that record at the wall, take it to music colleges, analyze it to death. Nobody is going to tell me that it is a rock album. Why they keep calling it one I have no idea. People think I'm eccentric, cranky. If I'm eccentric because I've never been into mainstream things, then I am eccentric. I've never been comfortable working live, and I'm still not. I was always more music-oriented and less star-oriented, which is why I've never been comfortable on big stages in big halls. The people I was listening to never sold a lot of records. John Lee Hooker was never on the charts, so I was never in it from a commercial point of view. Other people expected things from my records, but I never did. I don't think I will ever mellow out. I think if you mellow out, you get eaten up. You become like a commodity. So I don't think I will mellow out. It is not in my blood. Song lyrics Blowin' Your Mind! (1967) Hey where did we go,Days when the rains cameDown in the hollow,Playin' a new game,Laughing and a running hey, heySkipping and a jumpingIn the misty morning fog withOur hearts a thumpin' and youMy brown eyed girl,You my brown eyed girl. Brown Eyed Girl So hard to find my way,Now that I'm all on my own.I saw you just the other day,My how you have grown,Cast my memory back there, LordSometimes I'm overcome thinking 'boutMaking love in the green grassBehind the stadium with youMy brown eyed girlYou my brown eyed girl. Brown Eyed Girl Astral Weeks (1969) If I ventured in the slipstream,Between the viaducts of your dream,Where immobile steel rims crack,And the ditch in the back roads stop,Could you find me?Would you kiss my eyes?To lay me down,In silence easy,To be born again.To be born again. Astral Weeks Got a home on highAin't nothing but a stranger in this worldI'm nothing but a stranger in this worldI got a home on highIn another landSo far away. Astral Weeks Way over on the railroad,Tomorrow all the tipping trucks will unload together,Every scrapbook stuck with glue,And I'll stand beside you,Beside you, child. Beside You The dynamo of your smile caressed a barefoot virgin child to wander. Beside You And I shall drive my chariotDown your streets and cry'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamiteAnd I don't know why'We shall walk and talkIn gardens all misty wet with rainAnd I will never, never, neverGrow so old again Sweet Thing Yonder comes my ladyRainbow ribbons in her hairYonder comes my ladyRainbow ribbons in her hairSix white horses and a carriageShe's returning from the fair Cyprus Avenue And you know you gotta goOn that train from Dublin up to Sandy RowThrowing pennies at the bridges down belowAnd the rain, hail, sleet, and snowSay goodbye to Madame GeorgeDry your eye for Madame GeorgeWonder why for Madame George Madame George And this time I forget to slip into your slumberThe light is on the left side of your headAnd I'm standing in your doorwayAnd I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head Ballerina Saw you early this morningWith your brand new boy and your CadillacSaw you early this morningWith your brand new boy and your CadillacYou're gone for somethingAnd I know you won't be back Slim Slow Slider Moondance (1970) Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance,With the stars up above in your eyes.A fantabulous night to make romance,'Neath the cover of October skies.And all the leaves on the trees are fallingTo the sound of the breezes that blow.And I'm trying to please to the callingOf your heart-strings that play soft and low.And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush,And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush.Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?Can I just make some more romance with you, my love? Moondance I can hear her heart beat from a thousand milesAnd the heavens open every time she smilesAnd when I come to her that's where I belongYet I'm running to her like a river's song. Crazy Love Turn up your radio and let me hear the songSwitch on your electric lightThen we can get down to what is really wrongI long to hold you tight so I can feel youSweet lady of the night I shall reveal you. Caravan And it stoned me to my soulStoned me just like Jelly RollAnd it stoned meAnd it stoned me to my soulStoned me just like goin' home.And it stoned me. And It Stoned Me Hark, now hear the sailors cry,Smell the sea and feel the sky.Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic. Into the Mystic And when that foghorn blows,I will be coming home,When that foghorn blows,I wanna hear it, I don't have to fear it,And I wanna rock your gypsy soul,Just like way back in the days of old,And magnificently we will foldInto the mystic. Into the Mystic My back was up against the wallAnd you slowly just walked awayYou never really heard my callWhen I cried out that wayWith my face against the sunYou pointed out for me to goThen you said I was the oneHad to reap what you did sow. These Dreams of You When all the dark clouds roll awayAnd the sun begins to shineI see my freedom from across the wayAnd it comes right in on timeWell it shines so bright and it gives so much lightAnd it comes from the sky aboveMakes me feel so free makes me feel like meAnd lights my life with love. Brand New Day I was lost and double crossed,With my hands behind my back.I was longtime hurt and thrown in the dirt,Shoved out on the railroad track.I've been used, abused and so confused,And I had nowhere to run.But I stood and looked,And my eyes got hookedOn that beautiful morning sun. Brand New Day By the winding stream we shall lie and dreamWe'll make dreams come true if we want them toYes all will come play the pipes and drumSing a happy song and we'll sing along. Everyone And they'll talk to you while you're in trancesAnd you'll visualize not taking any chancesBut meet them halfway with love, peace and persuasionAnd expect them to rise for the occasion. Glad Tidings His Band and the Street Choir (1970) Don't want to discuss it, I think it's time for a change.You may get disgusted, some think that I'm strangeIn that case I'll go underground, get some heavy restNever have to worry, about what is worst and what is best. Domino Someone to hold ontoAnd keep me from all fearSomeone to be my guiding lightAnd keep me ever dearTo keep me from my selfishnessTo keep me from my sorrowTo lead me on to givingnessSo I can see a new tomorrow. If I Ever Needed Someone Why did you leave America?Why did you let me down?And now that things seem better off,Why do you come around?You know I just can't see you nowIn my new world crystal ball.You know I just can't free you now,That's not my job at all. Street Choir Tupelo Honey (1971) And all the girls walk byDressed up for each otherAnd the boys do the boogie-woogieOn the corner of the streetAnd the people passin' byJust stare in wild wonderAnd the inside juke-boxRoars out just like thunder. Wild Night Waiting for the sun to shineAnd you know sometimes it gets so painfulJust like talking to yourselfWhen everything don't seem to have no rhyme or reason we all goDo do loo do do, do do loo do doWaiting for the sun to shine. (Straight to Your Heart) Like a Cannonball Oh don't it get youGet you when you're throughFeel the breezes blowing all around your coatOh don't it get youWhen you gotta roamHear the children singingMy daddy's coming home Old Old Woodstock, written by Morrison & George Ivan You can't stop us on the road to freedomYou can't stop us 'cause our eyes can seeMen with insight, men in graniteKnights in armor intent on chivalryShe's as sweet as Tupelo honeyShe's an angel of the first degreeShe's as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey, baby, from the bee Tupelo Honey Saint Dominic's Preview (1972) I'm in heaven, I'm in heavenI'm in heaven when you smile, when you smile. Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile) Laying underneath the starsCan be so much funEspecially when you're feeling goodWhen you're with the one you love. Gypsy And I shall search my soul,I shall search my very soul,For the lion,For the lion,For the lion,For the lion inside me. Listen to the Lion And we're sailing, we're sailing,Way up to Caledonia,We're from Denmark. Listen to the Lion Oh redwood tree,Please let us under,When we were young we used to go,Under the redwood tree,And it smelled like rain,Maybe even thunder,Won't you keep us from all harm,Wonderful redwood tree. Redwood Tree Hard Nose the Highway (1973) Look at the ivy on the cold clinging wallLook at the flowers and the green grass so tallIt's not a matter of when push comes to shoveIt's just an hour on the wings of a dove. Warm Love Put your money where your mouth isThen we can get something goingIn order to win you must be prepared to lose sometimeAnd leave one or two cards showing. Hard Nose the Highway Did you ever hear about the great deception?Well the plastic revolutionaries take the money and run.Have you ever been down to love city?Where they rip you off with a smile,And it don't take a gun. The Great Deception Leaves of brown they fall to the ground.And it's here, over there leaves around.Shut the door, dim the lights and relax.What is more, your desire or the facts? Autumn Song Veedon Fleece (1974) Fair play to you,Kilarney's lakes are so blue,And the architecture I'm taking in with my mind,So fine. Fair Play And there's only one man knows way to go,And we say 'Geronimo.' Fair Play Hi-ho, silver! Tit for tat!And I love you for that. Fair Play Linden Arden stole the highlightsWith one hand tied behind his back.Loved the morning sun and whiskeyRan like water in his veins.Loved to go to church on Sunday,Even though he was a drinkin' man.When the boys came to San Francisco,They were looking for his life.But he found out where they were drinking,Met them face to face outside.Cleaved their heads off with a hatchet,Lord, he was a drinkin' man.And when somebody tried to get above him,He just took the law into his own hands.Linden Arden stole the highlights,And they put his fingers through the glass.He had heard all those stories many, many times before,And he did not care, nor know, to ask.And he loved the little children like they were his very own.You say 'Someday, he may get lonely,Now he's livin', livin' with a gun.' Linden Arden Stole the Highlights When the ghost comes round at midnightWell you both can have some funHe can drive you mad, he can make you sadHe can keep you from the sunWhen they take him down, he'll be both safe and soundAnd the hand does fit the gloveAnd no matter what they tell you,There's good and evil in everyone. Who Was That Masked Man Come here my loveAnd I will lift my spirits high for youI'd like to fly away and spend a day or twoJust contemplating the fields and leaves and talking about nothingJust layin' down in shades of effervescent, effervescent odorsAnd shades of time and tide. Come Here My Love A Period of Transition (1977) Well let them take you for a clownAnd they're bound to bring you down.You got to make it through the world if you can.Think they're doing you wrongBut you got here on your own.You got to make it through the world if you can. You Gotta Make It Through the World In the land of a thousand dances,I dance with you.I was out I was taking my chancesWhen dreams came trueWhen you came into my dreamLike from a whisper to a scream. Heavy Connection Wavelength (1978) And I shall get to know youIn these lifetimesIn awe and wonderOn down through the yearsThe nighttime angel spreads her wings around meI feel the silenceAnd my doubts are cleared. Lifetimes To Santa FeDo you need it?Can you feel it in the same old way?I can feel it from the mountain topRunnin' down to the foamy brineIn a rest'rant 'cross a table topLooking into a glass of wineWhispering in the evening breezeGreen leaves glist'ning eucalyptus treesCan you hear them?Or get near them? Santa Fe/Beautiful Obsession Men saw the stars at the edge of the seaThey thought great thoughts about libertyPoets wrote down words that did fitWriters wrote booksThinkers thought about it. Take It Where You Find It Into the Music (1979) From the dark end of the streetTo the bright side of the roadWe’ll be lovers once again on theBright side of the road Bright Side of the Road Some people spend their time just runnin' round in circlesAlways chasing some exotic birdI prefer to spend some time just listening for that special somethingThat I've never ever heardI like a new song to sing, another show or somewhere entirely different to beBut baby you make me feel so free. You Make Me Feel So Free Walkin' on a city street who would think you could ever be touchedBy a total stranger, not meBut when you came up to me that day and I listened to your storyIt reminded me so much of myselfIt wasn't what you said but the way it felt to meAbout a search and a journey just like mine. Angeliou When you hear the music ringin' in your soulAnd you feel it in your heart and it grows and growsAnd it comes from the backstreet rock & roll and the healing has begunI want you to put on your pretty summer dressYou can wear your Easter bonnet and all the restAnd I wanna make love to you yes, yes, yes and the healing has begun. And the Healing Has Begun You know what they're writing aboutBaby you know what they're writing aboutIt's a thing called love down through the agesMakes you wanna cry sometimesMakes you feel like you wanna lay down and die sometimesMakes you high sometimesBut when you really get in it lifts you right up. You Know What They're Writing About Common One (1980) Beside the garden walls,We walk in haunts of ancient peace.At night we rest and go to sleepIn haunts of ancient peace.The love and light we seek,The words we do not need to speak,Here in this wondrous way we keepThese haunts of ancient peace. Haunts Of Ancient Peace Open your arms in the early mornin'When the light comes shinin' throughCan't you hear my heart beat just for you?It's beating so wild, honey.And light comes shinin'Singin' my songAnd the band is playin'And the music is tried and true. Wild Honey Beautiful Vision (1982) I have seen without perceivingI have been another manLet me pierce the realm of glamourSo I know just what I am. Dweller on the Threshold. What's my line?I'm happy cleaning windowsTake my timeI'll see you when my love growsBaby don't let it slideI'm a working man in my primeCleaning windows... Cleaning Windows Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983) Rave on, down through the industrial revolutionEmpiricism, atomic and nuclear ageRave on down through time and space down through the corridorsRave on words on printed page. Rave On, John Donne Oh won't you stayStay a while with your own onesDon't ever strayStray so far from your own ones'Cause the world is so coldDon't care nothing for your soulThat you share with your own ones. Irish Heartbeat Your street, rich street or poorUsed to always be sure, on your streetThere's a place in your heart you know from the startCan't be complete outside of the streetKeep moving on through the joy and the painSometimes you got to look backTo the street againWould you prefer all those castles in Spain?Or the view of your street from your window pane? The Street Only Knew Your Name A Sense of Wonder (1985) Showed me pictures in the galleryShowed me novels on the shelfPut my hands across the tableGave me knowledge of myself.Showed me visions, showed me nightmaresGave me dreams that never endShowed me light out of the tunnelWhen there was darkness all around instead. Tore Down a la Rimbaud. I walked in my greatcoatDown through the days of the leaves.No before after, yes after beforeWe were shining our light into the days of blooming wonderIn the eternal presence, in the presence of the flame. A Sense of Wonder There's an angel that's watching right over youAll your trials have not been in vainWon't you lift your head up to the starry nightFinding strength in the things that remain. A New Kind of Man When a man comes throughHe must do what he's supposed to doWhen a man comes through.He can't do what everyone expects him to. A New Kind of Man No Guru (1986) Got my ticket at the airportWell I guess I've been marking timeI've been living in another countryThat operates along entirely different linesKeep me away from porter or whiskeyDon't play anything sentimental it'll make me cryI've got to go back my friendIs there really any need to ask why? Got to Go Back No Guru, no method, no teacherJust you and I and natureAnd the Father and theSon and the Holy GhostIn the garden wet with rain. In the Garden Thanks for the informationNever give a sucker an even breakWhen he's breaking throughTo a new level of consciousnessThere always seems to be moreObstacles in the wayThanks for the information I knowIt's only a combat zoneThanks for the memory,I'll just haveTo carry on on my own. Thanks For the Information When you come downFrom your Ivory TowerYou will see how it really must beTo be like me, to see like me,To feel like me. Ivory Tower Poetic Champions Compose (1987) Let go into the mysteryLet yourself goYou've got to open up your heartThat's all I knowTrust what I say and do what you're toldBaby, and all your dirt will turnInto gold. The Mystery There's a dream where the contents are visibleWhere the poetic champions composeWill you breathe not a word of this secrecy, andWill you still be my special rose? Queen of the Slipstream I forgot that love existed, troubled in my mind.Heartache after heartache, worried all the time.I forgot that love existedThen I saw the lightEveryone around me make everything alright. I Forgot That Love Existed I've been travellin' a hard roadBaby lookin' for someone exactly like youI've been carryin' my heavy loadWaiting for the light to come shining throughSomeone like youMake it all worth whileSomeone like youMake me satisfiedSomeone exactly like you. Someone Like You Well I've got to get out of the rat-race nowI'm tired of the ways of mice and menAnd the empires all turning into rust again.Out of everything nothing remains the sameThat's why I'm cloud hiddenCloud hiddenWhereabouts unknown. Alan Watts Blues Won't you guide me through the dark night of the soulThat I may better understand your wayLet me be just and worthy to receiveAll the blessings of the Lord into my life. Give Me My Rapture. Sometimes, when the spirit moves meI can do many wondrous thingsI wanna know when the spirit moves youDid ye get healed? Did Ye Get Healed? Avalon Sunset (1989) Whenever God shines his light on meOpens up my eyes so I can seeWhen I look up in the darkest nightI know everything's going to be alrightIn deep confusion, in great despairWhen I reach out for him he is thereWhen I am lonely as I can beI know that God shines his light on me. Whenever God Shines His Light I'd love to write another songBaby especially for youI'd love to write another songAnd feel things bright and newIn poetry I'd carve it wellI'd even make it rhymeI'd love to write another songJust to get some peace of mind. I'd Love to Write Another Song Have I told you lately that I love you?Have I told you there's no one above you?Fill my heart with gladness,Take away my sadness,Ease my troubles, that's what you do. Have I Told You Lately I look at the side of your face as the sunlight comesStreaming through the window in the autumn sunshineAnd all the time going to Coney Island I'm thinking,Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time. Coney Island Ambition will take youAnd ride you too far andConservatism bring you to boredom once moreSit down by the riverAnd watch the stream flowRecall all the dreamsThat you once used to knowThe things you've forgottenThat took you awayTo pastures not greener but meaner. I'm Tired Joey Boy Whatever it takes to fulfill his missionThat is the way we must goBut you've got to do it your own wayTear down the old, bring up the new. When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God? These are the days of the endless summerThese are the days, the time is nowThere is no past, there's only futureThere's only here, there's only now.Oh your smiling face, your gracious presenceThe fires of spring are kindling brightAnd the radiant heart and the song of glory Crying freedom, freedom in the night These Are the Days These are the days now that we must savourAnd we must enjoy as we canThese are the days that will last foreverYou've got to hold them, hold them in your heart These Are the Days Enlightenment (1990) Some people sayYou can make it on your ownOh you can make it if you tryI know better nowYou can't stand up aloneOh baby that is why.I'm real real goneI can't stand up by myselfDon't you know I need your helpYou're a friend of mineAnd I'm real real gone. Real Real Gone Enlightenment says the world is nothingNothing but a dream, everything's an illusionAnd nothing is real. Enlightenment The warm look of radiance on your faceAnd your heart beating close to mineAnd the evening fading in the candle glowThis must be what it's all aboutOh this must be what it's all aboutThis must be what paradise is likeSo quiet in here. So peaceful in hereSo quiet in here, yeah, so peaceful in here. So Quiet In Here The way you see me walking onThat's why I'm telling you in songThere's only one way to get aheadYou've got to give it up insteadStart all over again. Start All Over Again Back on Top (1999) Say que sera, whatever will beBut then I keep on searching for immortalityShe's so beautiful but she's going to die some dayEverything in life just passes awayBut, precious time is slipping awayYou know she's only queen for a day It doesn't matter to which God you pray Precious time is slipping away And it's a hard road, it's a hard road daddy-oWhen my job is turning lead into goldHe was born in the back street, born in the back street jelly rollI'm on the road again and I'm searching forThe philosophers stoneCan you hear that engineCan you hear that engine droneWell I'm on the road again and I'm searching for... The Philosopher's Stone I saw you standing with the wind and the rain in your faceAnd you were thinking 'bout the wisdom of the leaves and their graceWhen the leaves come falling downIn September when the leaves, come falling downOh, the last time I saw Paris in the streets, in the rainAnd as I walk along the boulevards with you, once againAnd the leaves come falling downIn September, when the leaves come falling down When the Leaves come Falling Down Quotes about Morrison Alphabetized by author Van Morrison is interested, obsessed with how much musical or verbal information he can compress into a small space, and, almost, conversely, how far he can spread one note, word, sound, or picture. Lester Bangs in Stranded (1979) They asked me to come to New York to help celebrate Van's induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. I went because I see Van as one of the cats that has kept the faith. Like me, he's always himself — he stays true to the music that means the most to him. It meant a lot to sing "Crazy Love" on stage that evening. Ray Charles, as quoted in About Ray Charles (Genius Loves Company) by David Ritz He extends himself only to express himself. Alone among rock's great figures — and even in that company he is one of the greatest — Morrison is adamantly inward. And unique. Although he freely crosses musical boundaries —R. and B., Celtic melodies, jazz, rave-up rock, hymns, down-and-dirty blues — he can unfailingly be found in the same strange place: on his own wavelength. Jay Cocks, in "Listen to the Lion" in TIME magazine (28 October 1991) I love Van Morrison because he always seems to be searching, never found. I don't know about his personal life but in his music he gives the listener only a question. The answer lies elsewhere to be attained someday. Glen Hansard in interview with Steve Stockman in The Phantom Tollbooth Van Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music. Greil Marcus, When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison (2010) Van Morrison should be friggin' canonized. Sinead O'Conner at the 1994 Brit awards My first impression of Van Morrison was that he was a terrific singer. No, I take that back. I thought he was a really dirty singer. Everything he did had a real big pair of balls to it. Jimmy Page, who played as a session musician with Van Morrison's band Them A great Irish poet Tom Petty in concert at Capital Centre Washington D.C. concert (24 September 1991) He has this great poetic and fantastic voice and what I love about Van, and what I forget to do sometimes is, well I can tell when Van is just like drifting into sort of a zone he just drifts into a place where the whole world is shut out and you can tell that he's in that spot. It's almost a dream-like, trance-like state, singing sometimes. That's really what music is all about. It's almost a jazz concept if you know what I mean — you just kinda go out and you're just wingin' it and I love that about Van, he will risk that, he will go on and on and on and he won't fade the ending before the magic happens, as it were. Bob Seger, in interview on Later with Bob Costas There was a definite charisma when Van performed. Van always had something about him. Whether you liked it or not, you could never take away from the fact that he was different from all other human beings, and here he is today, still being different. John Wilson, as quoted in Celtic Crossroads : The Art of Van Morrison (1997) by Brian Hinton, p. 60. Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other performer in the history of rock 'n' roll, a singer who can not be pinned down, dismissed or fitted into anyone's expectations. He is a conundrum. The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll External links http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk/ Category:Blues singers Category:Country singers Category:Folk singers Category:Gospel singers Category:Multi-instrumentalists Category:Guitarists Category:Saxophonists Category:Drummers from Northern Ireland Category:Jazz singers Category:Rock singers Category:Songwriters from Northern Ireland Category:Singer-songwriters Category:Music producers from the United Kingdom Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:People from Belfast Category:Brit Award winners