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Van Morrison

Van Morrison OBE (born August 31, 1945 as George Ivan Morrison) is a singer and songwriter 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. Famed critic Greil Marcus has gone so far as to note that "No white man sings like Van Morrison."

Known as "Van the Man" by his fans, Morrison first rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Northern Irish band Them, penning their seminal 1965 hit "Gloria". A few years later, Morrison left the band for a successful solo career.

Morrison has pursued an idiosyncratic musical path. Much of his music is tightly structured around the conventions of American soul and R&B, such as the popular singles "Brown Eyed Girl", "Moondance", and "Domino". An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz, and stream-of-consciousness narrative, such as his classic album Astral Weeks and lesser known works such as Veedon Fleece and Common One. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic Soul".

Morrison's career, spanning some four decades, has influenced many popular musical artists. In 1993 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2000, Morrison ranked number 25 on American cable music channel VH1's list of its 100 greatest artists of rock and roll. He currently lives in Killiney in South Dublin, Ireland.

Biography

Early life

George Ivan (Van) Morrison was born and grew up at 125 Hyndford Street[1] in Bloomfield, East Belfast as the pampered, only child of George, a shipyard worker and Violet, a singer. Morrison was exposed to music from an early age, as his father, having spent time working in Detroit, Michigan collected American jazz, country and western, and blues albums. His father's taste in music was passed on to him, and he grew up listening to artists such as Jelly Roll Morton, Ray Charles, Leadbelly and Solomon Burke. In a 2005 Rolling Stone article he said that "Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now."[2]

In a taped 1969 interview, his mother said that he was listening to recordings from the age of two, when he would tug at her apron strings urging her to play more records. (His grandmother) "used to come up and take turns because he'd have you play them morning, noon and night." His mother has also said, "One time Van said to me that it wasn't that he didn't want to talk, but tunes were running through his head all the time. He said he didn't know whether he'd been blessed or cursed because the words and music wouldn't leave him."

There were always sing-songs in the house on Saturday nights with family and friends and although shy, the young Morrison would always sing upon request. He gave his first performance as a child with a spirited rendition of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene". He would perform this same song years later with another of his boyhood idols, Lonnie Donegan on his album, The Skiffle Sessions - Live in Belfast 1998.

Many of the places of his childhood, such as "Cyprus Avenue", Fitzroy Avenue, Sandy Row and "Orangefield", (the boys' school he attended) would find their way into the lyrics of some of his most famous songs. His contented and self-absorbed childhood would be an important factor in the nostalgic and searching tone of much of his music throughout his long career.

After the death of his father in 1988, he would honor his memory, with the song "Choppin' Wood", which he often performs in concert.

Before becoming a sucessful musician, Morrison had a job as a window cleaner, [[3]] referenced in the autobiographical songs "Cleaning Windows" and "St. Dominics's Preview".

1960s

Morrison left home at age 15 to pursue a music career. He played in several local skiffle and rock 'n' roll bands, including playing saxophone for Clubsound during practise sessions, before joining the group The Monarchs and touring across Europe. He formed the group Them in April 1964 and came to prominence fronting the band. The band had a number of chart hits, most notably the rock standard, "Gloria", subsequently covered by many artists, including The Doors, Shadows of Knight and Jimi Hendrix. At one point in the mid-60's Van also played impromptu in Los Angeles at the Whisky a Go Go club with Jim Morrison, in which the two sang 'Gloria' together. He was quoted, years later during an interview saying, "Of my whole career, the shining moment was when I sang 'Gloria' onstage at the Whisky with Jim Morrison." [4]

Morrison became unhappy with increasing emphasis on the use of studio musicians, and left the band after a U.S. tour in 1966. He returned to Belfast, intending to quit the music business. Them’s one-time producer, Bert Berns, persuaded him to return to New York and record solo for the Bang Records label. From these early sessions emerged one of his best-known songs, "Brown Eyed Girl" (which reached #10 in the US in 1967). Master session drummer Gary Chester played on that song. The album that came from those sessions was Blowin' Your Mind!. Morrison later admitted he wasn't pleased with the results, claiming in a Rolling Stone interview in 1969, "It came out wrong and they released it without my consent." Recordings from these sessions have been occasionally re-released by Bang and in bootleg form, under various names. Most of these recordings were remixed and repackaged in 1991 as the Bang Masters. The compilation included an alternate take of "Brown Eyed Girl" as well as early versions of "Beside You" and "Madame George", songs that would appear with slightly different chord changes, instrumentation, and lyrics on Morrison's second album.

File:VanMorrison AstralWeeks.jpg
Morrison's seminal 1968 album Astral Weeks

After Berns’ death in 1967, Morrison was involved in a contract dispute with Berns' widow which prevented him from performing on stage or recording in the New York area. He then moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He was soon confronted with personal and financial problems. He had entered an alcohol-induced depression and had trouble finding gigs. However, through the few gigs he could find, he regained his professional footing and started recording with the Warner Bros. label. The record company was able to buy out his contract with Bang Records and Morrison fulfilled a highly unusual clause that bound him to submit thirty-six original songs within a year, by recording thirty-six nonsense songs in one session. His first album for Warner Bros. was Astral Weeks (which he had already performed in several clubs around Boston), a mystical song cycle considered by many to be his best work. Released in 1968, the album was critically acclaimed, but received an indifferent response from the public. To this day, it remains in an unclassifiable genre and has been described as hypnotic, meditative and having a unique musical power. It has been compared to French Impressionism and mystical Celtic poetry. Perhaps the best known review in rock history was written by the late, but still highly influential music journalist, Lester Bangs, in 1979, describing the effect that Astral Weeks had on his life. ([5]) It has often been placed on the most authoratative lists of best albums of all time. In the 1995, MOJO list of 100 Best Albums, it was listed as #2, [[6]]and was #19 on the Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.[[7]] , [[8]]

1970s

Van Morrison in concert, mid 70s.

Morrison then moved to Woodstock, New York, ostensibly to be close to the area where Bob Dylan was residing, and released his next album, Moondance in 1970, which reached #29 on the Billboard charts. The style of this album was in great contrast to that of Astral Weeks. Whereas Astral Weeks was a sorrowful and vulnerable album, Moondance was a much more optimistic and cheerful affair. The title track, though never released in the US as a single, was heavily played in many radio formats. The evocative song "Into the Mystic" has also gained a wide following over the years. "That was the type of band I dig," Morrison said of the Moondance sessions. "Two horns and a rhythm section --they're the type of bands that I like best." He produced the album himself as he felt like nobody else knew what he wanted. Moondance was listed at #65 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [[9]] , [[10]]

Over the next few years, he released several acclaimed albums (particularly 1970's His Band and the Street Choir, 1971's Tupelo Honey and 1972's Saint Dominic's Preview"), which spawned the hits "Domino" (#9 in the US in 1970), "Wild Night" and "Tupelo Honey".

File:Vm4.jpg
Van Morrison, early 70s

By 1972, despite being a performer for nearly 10 years, he began experiencing stage-fright when performing for audiences of thousands, as opposed to the hundreds he experienced in his early career. He became anxious on stage and would have difficulty establishing eye contact with the audience. He once said on an interview about performing on stage, "I dig singing the songs but there are times when it's pretty agonizing for me to be out there.[[11]] After a brief break from music he started performing in clubs, regaining his ability to perform live, albeit with smaller audiences. He then formed the backing group, The Caledonia Soul Orchestra and ventured on a three month US tour with them. The tour was captured for posterity on the live double album, It's Too Late to Stop Now, regarded as one of the great live albums in rock history. Soon after recording the album, Morrison restructured the Caledonia Soul Orchestra into a smaller unit, the Caledonia Soul Express. For many years, his parents, George and Violet owned a record store in Fairfax, California named Caledonia Records.

In 1973 Morrison divorced his wife of seven years, actress and model, Janet (Planet) Rigsbee, with whom he had a daughter, the singer-songwriter Shana Morrison, with whom he has occasionally duetted. He then released the introspective and poignant album Veedon Fleece in 1974. Though it attracted little attention at the time of its release, its critical stature has grown over the years, and Veedon Fleece is now considered one of Morrison's best works. "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River", one of the album's side closers, exemplifies the long, hypnotic, cryptic Morrison, with its references to visionary poet William Blake and to the apparently Grail-like Veedon Fleece object.

Morrison would not release a follow-up album for the next three years. During this time, he was able to write and record a number of new songs, and in a KSAN radio interview in 1974, Van indicated plans to release a new album, Mechanical Bliss a mere 4-5 months after Veedon Fleece. The projected February 1975 street date came and went without a release as Morrison continued to work on the album. During this time the album title underwent a number of changes (at one time, it was to be called Stiff Upper Lip, another time it was retitled Naked In The Jungle), and the painter Larry Zox was commissioned to create the sleeve artwork. The project was ultimately abandoned, and much of the work done would have to wait until 1998's Philosopher's Stone to see official release.

In 1976, Morrison performed at the farewell concert for The Band, which took place on Thanksgiving Day. It was his first live performance in quite some time, and Morrison considered skipping his appearance until the last minute.

Morrison was on good terms with The Band. They were near-neighbours in Woodstock and they had shared experience of stage-fright. At the concert, Van performed two songs, one of them being "Caravan", from his 1970 album, Moondance; which was described by All Movie Guide as "a rousing performance".[12] The concert was filmed and later issued in Martin Scorsese's 1978 film, The Last Waltz, which is considered a landmark concert film. A highlight is Morrison's out-of-character exuberance, exemplified by extraordinary high-kicks.

In 1977, Morrison finally released A Period of Transition, a collaboration with Dr. John, who also appeared at The Last Waltz. It received a mild critical reception, and began a very prolific period of song making. The following year, Morrison released Wavelength; It was the fasting selling album of his career at the time and soon went gold. The engaging title track became a modest hit and peaked at #42. The opening track, "Kingdom Hall" (about Morrison's own childhood experience around Jehovah's Witnesses), also foreshadowed the religious turn in Morrison's next album, Into the Music.

Released in 1979, Into the Music was hailed as a masterpiece: "An erotic/religious cycle of songs that culminates in the greatest side of music Morrison has created since Astral Weeks" (Dave Marsh, The Rolling Stone Album Guide, 2nd Edition). This album for the first time alludes to the healing power of music, which had become an abiding interest of Morrison's and would dominate his music from this point on. The last four songs show Morrison almost completely free from self-conciousness and at his innovative best, lyrically and vocally. "Bright Side of the Road" was a joyful, uplifting song that would be appear on the soundtrack of the popular movie, Michael (1996 film).

1980s

The new decade saw Morrison following his own muse regardless of the commercial consequences. He took a group of outstanding musicians with him to Super Bear, a studio in the French Alps on the site of a former abbey, to record his most daring and unclassifiable album to date. The album, Common One although not well received critically is perhaps one of Morrison's greatest achievements and began his journey in an entirely new musical direction in the 1980's.

His next album, Beautiful Vision was released in 1982 and saw him returning once again to his Irish lineage. It was well received by the critics and public and produced a popular single, "Cleaning Windows" that documented one of Morrison's first jobs after leaving school. Several other songs on the album, "Vanlose Stairway", "She Gives Me Religion", and the instrumental "Scandinavia" (Morrison plays piano on this) show the presence of a new physical muse, a Danish PR agent who would share Morrison's spiritual interests and serve as a steadying influence on him throughout most of the 80's. He had quit drinking alcohol in the mid-70's and now drank "gallons" of coffee a day according to friends. (He would once again have problems with alcohol, beginning later in the decade after his father's sudden death.)

In the early 1980's Morrison moved back to Europe and at first settled in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. Later, he moved to Bath, where he bought Wool Hall Studios. He became increasingly more in control of the music which he produced.

Much of the music Morrison released throughout the 80s continued to focus on themes of spirituality and faith as Morrison's compositions steered towards New Age territory. He gave a special thanks to L. Ron Hubbard on his 1983 album, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, although he has never been formally associated with Scientology or any other Church. [13]

Morrison's 1986 release, No Guru, No Method, No Teacher earned enthusiastic reviews from many, but not all critics. During the recording, the artist's characteristic deep growl was in grand form and the album featured some of the grittiest acoustic arrangements since the days of Astral Weeks, but not all critics were comfortable with the increasingly religious content.

Unflustered, Morrison was slightly less gritty and more adult contemporary with the well received Poetic Champions Compose, considered to be one of his highlights of the '80s.[14] The romantic ballad, "Someone Like You" from this album was featured in the soundtrack of several popular movies, including 1995's French Kiss, and in 2001, both Someone Like You (film) and Bridget Jones's Diary (2001 film).

In 1988, he released Irish Heartbeat with the Irish group, The Chieftains; a popular-selling record, which demonstrated the full range Morrison's unique vocal power on a collection of traditional Irish folk songs.

In 1989, Morrison released an even more popular seller, Avalon Sunset, which featured the hit duet with Cliff Richard, "Whenever God Shines His Light"; and the ballad, "Have I Told You Lately" (also popularised by Rod Stewart). A critical and commercial success, Morrison was able to capitalize on its success with the release of The Best of Van Morrison. Not to be mistaken with a similarly-titled compilation released in 1967 (and long out-of-print), this was the first collection ever to survey his entire career. Compiled by Morrison himself and focusing on his hit singles, it became a multi-platinum success and remains the most popular item in Van Morrison's catalogue.

1990s

In 1990, Morrison joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. He sang "Comfortably Numb" with Roger Waters, old friend Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. This version of the song was included in the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese's 2006 film, The Departed.

Although Morrison's commercial success would continue throughout the 1990s, the critical reception to his work began to decline. 1990's Enlightenment yielded one hit single, "Real Real Gone" (first recorded ten years earlier), and 1991's double-CD Hymns to the Silence was one of his most ambitious works, but 1993's Too Long in Exile and 1995's Days Like This were not well received by some music critics.

In contrast, the live (double) album A Night in San Francisco (1994) was a "tour-de-force", showing Morrison's talents and his influences in equal measure.

In June 1996, Morrison was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his service to music.

This period was also marked by a number of side projects, including the live, jazz performances of 1996's How Long Has This Been Going On, 1997's Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison, and 2000's The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast 1998, all of which found Morrison paying tribute to his long-time favourites.

In 1997, Morrison released The Healing Game, arguably his best album of the 1990s. The following year, Morrison finally released some of his unissued studio recordings in a warmly received two-disc set, The Philosopher's Stone. His next release, 1999's Back on Top, was a modest success, being his highest charting album in the US since 1978's Wavelength.

During this decade, Morrison developed a close association with two vocal talents at opposite ends of their careers. Georgie Fame (with whom Morrison had already worked occasionally) lent his smooth voice and Hammond organ skills; and the sweet sound of Brian Kennedy's vocals complemented the grizzled voice of Morrison, both in studio and live performances.

Taking this concept of association a stage further, the 90s saw an upsurge in Morrison's collaborations with other artists, a trend that has continued into the new millennium.

These include:

2000s

Van Morrison continued to record and tour in the 2000s, performing two or three times a week. Playing fewer of his well-known songs in concert than almost any other artist from his era, Morrison refuses to be relegated into a nostalgia act.

In July 2001, Morrison received an honorary degree as a doctor of music from Queen's University in his hometown of Belfast, Ireland. Nine years earlier, in 1992, he had received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of Ulster.

File:CanYouFeelTheSilenceCover.gif
Clinton Heylin's biography of Morrison, Can You Feel the Silence?, published in 2003.

In 2000, Morrison released a collaboration with Linda Gail Lewis (Jerry Lee Lewis's sister), You Win Again. Another side project, this time focusing on R&B and country-and-western standards, Lewis proved to be an excellent duet partner, and the project set the stage for Morrison's next album, Choppin' Wood. Clinton Heylin's book, Can You Feel the Silence?, discusses this period in great detail, but due to legal issues surrounding the matter, not everything could be divulged. By the end of 2000, the album was essentially finished when Lewis and Morrison had a falling out.

File:VanMorrison-WavelengthCoverMay2005.jpg
The cover of the May 2005 edition of Wavelength, a magazine dedicated to Van Morrison

As a result, Morrison went back and re-recorded and/or remixed most of the tracks, removing Lewis's contributions in the process. A few songs were removed from the final running order and more new ones were added in. The result was released in 2002 as Down the Road. Arguably Morrison's strongest release since Avalon Sunset, Heylin contends that the original version, Choppin' Wood, would have been a true return to form. It is doubtful if that notion will ever be put to the test because the original recordings have yet to circulate, privately or publicly.

"In recognition of his unique position as one of the most important songwriters of the past century," Van Morrison was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony in New York City in June 2003. Ray Charles presented the award, following a performance in which the pair performed Morrison's "Crazy Love" from the album, Moondance.

In the same year, Morrison released What's Wrong with This Picture? on the legendary jazz record label, Blue Note Records. The album would later receive a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

In 2004, his song "Bright Side of the Road" from his 1979 album Into the Music was featured in the UNESCO ads for the World Press Freedom Day.

Morrison still remains popular with the public; his 2005 album, Magic Time debuted at #25 on the US Billboard 200 charts upon release in May 2005, some 40 years after first entering the public's eye as the frontman of Them.

Later in the year, Morrison also donated a previously unreleased studio track to a charity album, Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now, which raised money for relief efforts intended for Gulf Coast victims devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The song, "Blue & Green", was composed by Morrison and featured the late Foggy Lyttle on guitar.

Van appeared in The Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway Outer Hebrides in the summer of 2005, where he was a headline act at the growing international Celtic music festival.

He released an album with a country music theme, entitled Pay the Devil on March 7, 2006. [15] On the day of it's release, Van Morrison Day was declared in Nashville by the Mayor, and Morrison appeared for the very first time, at the historic Ryman Auditorium that evening, to a sold-out crowd. In fact, the entire Ryman was sold out twelve minutes after the tickets went on sale. Pay the Devil debuted at #26 on The Billboard 200 and peaked at #7 on Top Country Albums. Morrison promoted the album throughout 2006 with one of his most successful and favorably reviewed tours in years. The country album was listed as #10 on Amazon Best of 2006 Editor's Picks in Country in December 2006.

In August 2006, his longtime partner, Michelle Rocca, Miss Ireland 1980, revealed that Van Morrison was the father of her seven month old baby. [16] Morrison, a very private person, has neither confirmed nor denied the newspaper account publicly. He began a close (and initially highly publicized) relationship with Ms. Rocca in 1993, but in recent years they have seldom been seen in public together, although they are reportedly sharing a home in Dublin.

In September 2006, Morrison was the headline act on first night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Rolling Stone Magazine reviewed this performance as one of the top 10 shows of the 2006 festival. [17]

In October 2006, Live at Montreux 1980 and 1974 was the first ever DVD released by Morrison. This two DVD set illustrates how his songwriting evolved over this period, and includes some of his best- loved tracks including "Moondance", " Street Choir", "Tupelo Honey", "Ballerina" and other classics. Pee Wee Ellis, Mark Isham and David Hayes are among some of the exemplary musicians featured in the 1980 show. The 1974 show has a line-up that features Pete Wingfield, Dallas Taylor and Jerome Rimson.

In November 2006, CNN published their list of The All-Time 100 Albums. Two of Van Morrison's albums, 1968's Astral Weeks and 1970's Moondance were on the list of 100.

On February 22, 2007, Morrison is to be honored at the Second Annual Oscar Wilde: Honoring Irish Writing in Film Pre-Academy Awards Party, in Los Angeles,California for his contribution to over fifty films. [18] He will be presented with the award by Al Pacino. Van Morrison at the Movies: The Soundtrack Hits, [[19]] (a new 19 song album) will be released by Morrison's record label ManhattanEMI on February 13, 2007 to coincide with this event.

Influence

Morrison's influence can be readily seen in the music of many major artists, including U2 (much of The Unforgettable Fire), Bruce Springsteen ("Spirit in the Night", "4th of July (Sandy)", "Backstreets"), John Mellencamp ("A Little Night Dancin'", a cover of Morrison's "Wild Night"), Joan Armatrading, Rickie Lee Jones, Rod Stewart, Tom Petty, Patti Smith (her poetic-proto-punk "Gloria" most explicitly), Elvis Costello (who later toured with Morrison), Graham Parker, Daryl Hall, Thin Lizzy, Bob Seger ("I know Springsteen was very much affected by Van Morrison, and so was I." - interview in Creem), Dexys Midnight Runners, Jimi Hendrix ("Gloria"), Jeff Buckley ("The Way Young Lovers Do", "Sweet Thing") and numerous others, including Counting Crows (the "sha-la-la" sequence in Mr Jones, is a tribute to Morrison).

Over the years, Morrison has expressed some grudges regarding his pervasive influence. In 1984, Bill Flanagan asked Van Morrison, "so many artists imitate you... but among the people obviously in your debt are some who are fine artists in their own rights. Do you take their borrowings as a compliment or a rip-off?"[20]

Morrison replied, "Well, it's both. And I'm flattered by the compliment. Especially since a lot of these people have said it. Springsteen's acknowledged it, and he's doing his own thing. Seger's acknowledged it. But at the same time you feel sort of ripped off – not in the way one would think you would feel, but in the way that there's just people who 'don't know.' That's the way you feel ripped off – in an academic context."

In a later interview taken for the August 1985 edition of New Age magazine, Van Morrison gave a more negative reaction when Stephen Davis asked a similar question. "You see, for a long time I'd never even heard of these people, because I don't really listen to pop radio or any of that," Morrison said. "I have my own preferences for music and my own albums that I play. So I'm not really influenced by what the media are running through. For years people have been saying to me....you know, *nudge, nudge*...'have you heard this guy Springsteen? You should really check him out!' I just ignored it. Then four or five months ago I was in Amsterdam, and a friend of mine put on a video. Springsteen came on the video, and that was the first time I ever saw him, and he's definitely ripped me off. There's no doubt about that...he's even ripped my movements off as well. My seventies movements, you know what I mean? 'This' stuff [demonstrates]...SD: What do you feel about this? VM: Well, I feel pissed off now that I know about it. I'd never seen it before, so I didn't know." [21]

A year later in 1986, Morrison referenced this topic on No Guru, No Method, No Teacher. One of the album's songs, "A Town Called Paradise", opened with the words, "Copycats ripped off my words / Copycats ripped off my songs / Copycats ripped off my melody..."

Overall, however, Morrsion has typically been supportive of other artists. Athough he often expresses his displeasure (in interviews and songs) with the music business and the press in general, he has been instrumental in promoting the careers of many other musicians and singers, such as Brian Kennedy [[22]]and James Hunter[[23]]. In an interview with Jazziz, he was generous with his praise of artists that have covered his work, and the many artists that have infuenced him. [[24]]

References

  • Can You Feel The Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Clinton Heylin, 2003, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
  • Van Morrison:No Surrender, Johnny Rogan, 2006, Vintage Books London, ISBN 9780099431831

John Minihan

The best known pictures of Morrison were taken by Irish photographer John Minihan, who has photographed him since the mid 1960s and developed such a good relationship with the singer that he has become, in effect, his official photographer.

Awards and Recognition

Grammy Awards:

Other recognition:

Discography

Albums

  1. Blowin' Your Mind! (1967) #182 US
  2. Astral Weeks (1968) did not chart in US
  3. Moondance (1970) #29 US
  4. His Band and the Street Choir (1970) #32 US
  5. Tupelo Honey (1971) #27 US
  6. Saint Dominic's Preview (1972) #15 US
  7. Hard Nose the Highway (1973) #27 US
  8. It's Too Late to Stop Now (1974) #53 US
  9. Veedon Fleece (1974) #53 US
  10. A Period of Transition (1977) #43 US
  11. Wavelength (1978) #28 US
  12. Into the Music (1979) #43 US
  13. Common One (1980) #73 US
  14. Beautiful Vision (1982) #44 US
  15. Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983) #116 US
  16. Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast (1984)
  17. A Sense of Wonder (1985) #61 US
  18. No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986) #70 US
  19. Poetic Champions Compose (1987) #90 US
  20. Irish Heartbeat (1988); with The Chieftans #102 US
  21. Avalon Sunset (1989) #91 US
  22. Enlightenment (1990) #62 US
  23. Hymns to the Silence (1991) #99 US
  24. Too Long in Exile (1993) #29 US
  25. A Night in San Francisco (1994) #125 US
  26. Days Like This (1995) #33 US
  27. How Long Has This Been Going On (1996) #55 US
  28. Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison (1996) did not chart in US
  29. The Healing Game (1997) #32 US
  30. Back on Top (1999) #28 US
  31. The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast 1998 (2000; with Lonnie Donegan) #??? US
  32. You Win Again (2000) #161 US
  33. Down the Road (2002) #25 US
  34. What's Wrong with This Picture? (2003) #32 US
  35. Magic Time (2005) #25 US
  36. Pay the Devil (2006) #26 US

Compilations

  1. The Best of Van Morrison (1990)
  2. Bang Masters (1991)
  3. The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two (1993)
  4. The Philosopher's Stone (1998)
  5. Super Hits (1999)
  6. Brown Eyed Girl (2000)

Selected Singles

  1. "Brown Eyed Girl" (1967) #10 US
  2. "Moondance" (1970) #92 US
  3. "Sweet Thing" (1968) #? US
  4. "Come Running" (1970) #39 US
  5. "Domino" (1970) #9 US
  6. "Blue Money" (1971) #23 US
  7. "Call Me Up In Dreamland" (1971) #95 US
  8. "Wild Night" (1971) #28 US
  9. "Tupelo Honey" (1972) #48 US
  10. "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)" (1972) #61 US
  11. "Redwood Tree" (1972) #98 US
  12. "Wavelength" (1978) #42 US
  13. "Have I Told You Lately" (1989) #12 US
  14. "Real Real Gone" (1990) #18 US

See also

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