Van Morrison

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

When you consider the work of Van Morrison over the course of his career you may instantly conjure up thoughts of gorgeous blue-eyed soul, spiky rhythm and blues, alt-folk ecstasy and an easy listening palette.

Dig a little deeper into his back story, though, and you’ll see that Van’s musical identity was forged in the flames of 50s rock’n’roll.

During his seven-decade career, he’s paid tribute to the likes of Fats Domino (on 1970’s playful Domino) and Chuck Willis (via a heartbreaking version of the 1958 lament What Am I Living For?).

With his 45th – yes, you read that correctly – studio LP Accentuate The Positive, the 78-year-old Morrison drives the point home across 19 red-hot ragers culled from his early days as a Belfast teenager who’d graduated from skiffle and onto the harder stu¢.

The record is a testament to the genre obsessive’s crate-digging ethos. You won’t find a single Elvis track here, but there is more Willis, as Van triumphantly tackles the King of the Stroll’s defiant Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes.

Here, too, is Johnny Kidd’s spindly Shakin’ All Over and – with a little help from the much-missed

EXILE PRODUCTIONS

late guitar wizard Je¢ Beck – Johnny Burnette’s influential Lonesome Train. It’s largely a compilation of tracks that became anthems in a parallel universe.

That’s not to say the celebrated greats don’t get a look-in, as Van also tries out Fats’ towering Blueberry Hill, Little Richard’s Lucille and Chuck Berry’s epic

Bye Bye Johnny. He applies his trademark smooth style throughout, proving there’s plenty of sparkle left in these old gems.

Accentuate The Positive follows this March’s Moving On Skiffle, which saw Van the Man take a similar tack with earlier music from the 1950s. In each instance, it’s a revealing reminder of the rock’n’roll spirit that’s always shone through Morrison’s serene sound. Jordan Bassett

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