Live At The Marquee - A Chancer's Guide to Van Morrison

Van Morrison plays Live At The Marquee tonight.

George Ivan Morrison was born in Belfast on August 31st 1945 as an only child to his parents. Morrison's father had what was at the time one of the largest record collections in Ulster which may explain where Morrison's love for music came from as he grew up listening to Jelly Roll Morton, Ray Charles, Lead Belly, and Solomon Burke. Morrison's father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was eleven and he started his first band aged 12 called "The Sputniks"

Morrison toured Europe for the first time aged 17 with the International Monarchs, visiting countries such as England, Scotland and Germany, where he recorded his first track under the name Georgie and The Monarchs. The song, called "Boozoo Hully Gully"/"Twingy Baby" got into the lower end of the German charts. When the band returned to Belfast in 1963, they went their separate ways. This didn't deter Morrison however, as he joined the Manhattan Showband.

In 1964, Morrison responded to an ad to join a band named Them who played in a R&B Club at The Maritime Hotel. It was during his time with Them that Morrison became recognised internationally for his music. It was during his stint with Them at The Martime Hotel that Morrison wrote Gloria, a song which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Them undertook a two-month tour of America in May and June 1966 that included a residency from 30 May to 18 June at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. Their support band for their residency was The Doors. It is reported that Van Morrison had a huge influence on singer Jim Morrison of The Doors. On the final night, the two Morrisons and the two bands jammed together on Gloria.

Towards the end of their US Tour, the band became in involved in a dispute with their management which resulted in the band breaking up soon after their return to Ireland.

Them's producer convinced Morrison to embark on a solo career which saw him return to New York and sign a record deal. His biggest single to date, Brown Eyed Girl, came from the early sessions of recording after Morrison signed his contract. The recordings were not to Morrison's liking and had been released without him even knowing. It all seemed to work out in his favour however as it produced another Grammy Hall of Fame song in Brown Eyed Girl.

Morrison changed record label and released an album named Astral and later released his third album Moondance which became his first million selling album.

After ten years of performing, Morrison developed stage fright by 1972 when performing in front of large audiences. His on stage anxiety resulted in him avoiding eye contact with the audience.

The 1990s also saw an upsurge in collaborations by Morrison with other artists, a trend continuing into the new millennium. He recorded with Irish folk band the Chieftains on their 1995 album, The Long Black Veil. Morrison's song, "Have I Told You Lately" would win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 1996.

The name "Caledonia" has played a prominent role in Morrison's life and career as some of his roots are Scottish. As well as being his daughter Shana's middle name, it is the name of his first production company, his studio, his publishing company, two of his backing groups, his parents' record store in Fairfax, California in the 1970s, and he also recorded a cover of the song "Caldonia" (with the name spelled "Caledonia") in 1974.

Three of Morrison's songs appear in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll: Brown Eyed Girl, Madame George and Moondance. He has won 6 Grammys and has also won an Ivor Novello Award Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting in 1995. He has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fame's and has received an OBE and honourary doctorates from University of Ulster and from Queen's University Belfast. Morrison has been announced as of the 2010 honorees listed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In August 2013, it was announced that Morrison would receive the Freedom of Belfast, the highest honour the city can give.

Morrison met Irish socialite Michelle Rocca in the summer of 1992, and they often featured in the Dublin gossip columns, an unusual event for the reclusive Morrison. Rocca also appeared on one of his album covers, Days Like This. The couple are married and have two children; a daughter was born in January 2006 and a son was born in August 2007.

In 2015, Morrison released his 35th studio album called Duets: Re-working the Catalogue.