Why everyone’s talking about... Van Morrison
Van Morrison has been causing a Covid commotion. What’s the deal?
The 75- year- old has released three protest songs claiming scientists are ‘making up crooked facts’ about Covid19 to help ‘fascist bullies’ ‘enslave’ the population – with proceeds from sales helping musicians suffering from the lockdown. In response, rock bible Rolling Stone carried what must be its first article from a Northern Irish Health Minister, denouncing ‘dangerous’ lyrics which give ‘great comfort to the tin foil hat brigade’. Even worse, Morrison annoyed Irish pop twins Jedward.
Does ‘Van The Man’ make a habit of annoying people?
There’s a saying in the music business: ‘There are two types of people: those who like Van Morrison, and those who’ve met him.’ He has a reputation for being grouchy, to say the least. (He gruffly told one reporter after just three questions: ‘ Is it OK if I go to sleep?’) Nor is this the first time he’s flirted with unconventional beliefs. One album thanked Scientology inventor L. Ron Hubbard – although Morrison denies ever joining the sect.
Wasn’t he knighted?
Yes, in 2016. ‘That’s not bad for a blueeyed soul singer from east Belfast,’ said Sir Van at the time. Asked if fans could still call him ‘Van The Man’, he laughed and replied: ‘Well, take your pick.’
So why’s he so grumpy?
After splitting with the band Them in 1966, having written the classic Gloria aged 18, he signed a solo deal with a US record producer. But he complained he never earned a penny from his hit Brown Eyed Girl (which Boris Johnson chose as a ‘cheery song’ on Desert Island Discs). Warner Bros eventually rescued Morrison – his real first names are George Ivan – from the deal by handing him $20,000 cash in an abandoned New York warehouse. His next album, Astral Weeks, is considered his masterpiece – even though reviewers hated its enigmatic stream of consciousness. He lay low for years after his album Veedon Fleece was trashed as ‘pompous tripe’ by Rolling Stone. But he’s released 41 studio albums and attracted an army of fans, or ‘Vanatics’.
So he’s been a big inspiration.
I’d say. Though he’s not always been gracious about it, grumbling that Bruce Springsteen ‘ripped off’ his stage routine. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Morrison’s latest controversy comes after The Boss rebuked Donald Trump for not wearing a ‘f****** mask’.