Van Morrison
(Updated 08/31 – setlist and link to concert recording)
Van Morrison celebrates his 70th birthday today (08/31) with 2 concerts on Cyprus Avenue, the tree-lined Belfast street that gave its name to a song from his Astral Weeks album. Reportedly, fans from around the world have descended on Morrison’s home city for the shows, taking place a short distance from where he spent his childhood. BBC Radio Ulster will broadcast the first concert live from Cyprus Avenue today from 2:45pm BST (10:45am EDT). Update: Listen to rebroadcast of concert through September by clicking here. UK fans can view one hour of concert highlights by clicking here (through September).
Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In June of this year, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II and received the Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala.
Until recently, Morrison’s music has been notably absent in the digital music world. Last Friday, 33 Morrison albums became available for streaming and digital download. (Not included: his first solo album, Blow Your Mind!, which included “Brown Eyed Girl,” and four Warner Bros. albums from the late ’60s and early ’70s: Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band and Street Choir and Tupelo Honey.) 1968’s Astral Weeks and 1970’s His Band and the Street Choir will be expanded, remastered and reissued on October 30th, available digitally and on CD.
Update: 08/31 Setlist – Cyprus Avenue, Belfast
Celtic Swing
Close Enough for Jazz
Moondance / So What / 42nd Street
Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?
Born to Sing
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Mystic of the East
Brown Eyed Girl
Days Like This
Baby Please Don’t Go / Parchman Farm / Don’t Start Crying Now
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light On Me
Enlightenment
The Things I Used To Do
And the Healing Has Begun
Ballerina
In the Garden
“Being Famous is Not Great for the Creative Process” The Irish Times interview
“Rave On Van Morrison” The Irish Times
“A Troubador for a Troubled Soul” Belfast Telegraph
Van Morrison “Slim Slow Slider”