Singer-Songwriters Codexery

Van Morrison

Northern Irish musician known for soul, R&B, and Celtic-influenced music.

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George Ivan Morrison was born on 31 August 1945 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as the only child of a shipyard electrician and a former singer and tap dancer.[1] A knighthood was conferred upon him in 2016, recognizing his contributions to music and Northern Ireland's tourism sector.[2]

Life and work

In April 1964, he responded to an advert for musicians to play at a new R&B club at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast, creating the band Them.[3] Them had three chart hits, "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1964), "Here Comes the Night" (1965), and "Mystic Eyes" (1965).[4] Bert Berns persuaded Morrison to return to New York to record solo for his new label, Bang Records, in 1967.[5] During his teenage years in the late 1950s, Morrison started his performing career, handling guitar, harmonica, keyboards, and saxophone across multiple Irish showbands.[6]

Decca Records' Dick Rowe learned about Them's live shows and subsequently signed the group to a customary two-year agreement.[4] With the 1970 album Moondance, Morrison achieved major-artist status, and during the 1970s he strengthened that standing through a string of well-regarded albums and concerts.[7] Thanks to the 2021 release Latest Record Project, Volume 1, Morrison has achieved top-ten albums in the UK across four successive decades.[8]

What the cited sources add

A BBC News report from 2003 states that a claim against Morrison ended after Linda Gail Lewis dropped claims of sex discrimination at an employment tribunal.[9] The same report notes that Lewis had earlier lost a claim of unfair dismissal, having said she was sacked with three months left of a tour.[9] Morrison's solicitor stated that Morrison accepted a full apology and comprehensive retraction from Lewis.[9] A 2016 BBC News article describes Morrison as describing becoming a Sir as "amazing" and "exhilarating" after receiving a knighthood from Prince Charles.[10]

When he stepped forward to receive his knighthood, the announcement referred to him as Sir Ivan Morrison.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Rogan, "Van Morrison: No Surrender", Vintage Books, 2006, p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rayner, "Queen's Birthday Honours: Van Morrison knighted", The Daily Telegraph, 13 June 2015; "The Queen's Birthday Honours 2015", Government of the United Kingdom (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Van Morrison – In His Own Words", Superseventies.com; 'The Maritime Hotel'. Ulster History Circle, 15 April 2015, retrieved 3 June 2022. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buckley, "The rough guide to rock – Google Book Search", Rough Guides, 2003; Turner (1993), pages 48–51; Janovitz, "Gloria: Them – song review", AllMusic (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rogan (2006), page 188.; Heylin (2003), pages 144–147; Turner (1993), page 76 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sir Van overjoyed at knighthood", BBC News, 4 February 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Turner (1993). pages 86 – 90; "Van Morrison: Astral Weeks", BBC Radio 6 Music; Eskow, "Classic Tracks: Van Morrison's Moondance", Mix (magazine), 1 April 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Van Morrison" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Van Morrison", Official Charts Company; "Van Morrison" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Linda Gail Lewis, "UK | Van Morrison case over", BBC News, 14 January 2003. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  10. "Sir Van overjoyed at knighthood", BBC News, 4 February 2016. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Van Morrison (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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