Van Morrison 'Still On Top' album

More than 40 years since bursting out of Belfast with Them, Van Morrison continues to make great music, continues to tour the world, continues to inspire and engage new generations of fans and artists alike. Here on Still On Top – The Greatest Hits (Hip-O/Ume) are 21 classic tracks which chronicle Van’s incredible journey so far, all remaining true to his mantra “it’s always been about soul”.

Featuring 21 selections, spanning his work from 1964 to 2005, Still On Top-The Greatest Hits is the definitive collection of Van’s original recordings. There are musical milestones from five decades of prolific recording, including – for the first time on a Greatest Hits collection – his powerful songs from the 90s and new millennium. Among the gems included are 1995’s “Days Like This,” an alternative version of 1997’s “Healing Game” and already a classic from 2005, “Stranded.”

Still On Top-The Greatest Hits moves seamlessly across the genres, reflecting a career which began in the 60s with the hat-trick of “Here Comes The Night,” “Gloria” and “Brown-Eyed Girl” and has not faltered since. Highlights from the Seventies include “Domino,” “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile),” and “Warm Love.” Among those selected from the Eighties are the romantic ballad “Someone Like You” (one of many Van songs borrowed by the big screen, in this case for Bridget Jones’s Diary) and the glorious “Have I Told You Lately?.”

You could read the All Music Guide to learn that Van Morrison is “one of popular music’s true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues and Celtic folk produce perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon”. Or you could find out for yourself by listening to this definitive collection, soul music created for the ages by one of the great voices, one of the great artists of our time.

biography
Van Morrison was born in Belfast, in 1945, the son of a shipyard worker who collected American blues and jazz records. Van grew up listening to the music of Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson, Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. As a teenager he played guitar, sax and harmonica with a series of local Irish show bands, skiffle and rock ’n’ roll groups before forming an R&B band called Them, in 1964.

In 1967, he began his solo career in New York where he recorded an LP titled Blowin’ Your Mind with the producer Bert Berns, who had previously produced Them. Following Berns’ death in 1968, Morrison recruited a group of jazz musicians to record Astral Weeks, a timeless classic which brought together elements of Celtic music, improvised jazz and R&B.

Based initially in Boston and then California, Morrison produced a string of albums including Moondance, Tupelo Honey and St Dominic’s Preview while touring extensively with his band, the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. His 1974 live set, It’s Too Late To Stop Now, marked the end of this prolific early phase as Van returned to Ireland to further explore his Celtic roots. The ensuing album, Veedon Fleece (1974), featured a quieter, more pastoral sound and was to be his last release for three years.

He returned to the public eye in 1977 with the aptly titled A Period Of Transition, an album co-produced by Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack. Following his re-location to London, he released Wavelength (1978) and Into The Music (1979) by which time Morrison’s interest in spiritual matters was finding regular expression in his recordings.

The theme of spiritual quest came to prominence in the albums he made in the 1980’s: Common One, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart, A Sense Of Wonder, No Guru No Method No Teacher and Poetic Champions Compose established Morrison’s status as an artist of unrivalled integrity and vision.

In 1988, he revisited his Irish roots with The Chieftains on Irish Heartbeat. The following album, 1989’s Avalon Sunset, was his most commercially successful for many years and concluded what had been a remarkably productive decade for Van Morrison.

As prolific as ever, Van varied his musical approach in the 1990’s. Enlightenment (1990) and Hymns To The Silence (1991) continued down the road of spiritual self-discovery, while 1993’s Too Long In Exile leaned towards the blues, returning Van to the singles chart again with a re-working of “Gloria,” performed with his blues buddy John Lee Hooker.

After the acclaimed Days Like This (1995) came How Long Has This Been Going On (1996), an album of mostly jazz standards featuring his old sparring partner Georgie Fame.

Following the release of 1997’s The Healing Game came The Philosopher’s Stone (1998), an album containing 30 previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1971 and 1988, a mixture of new songs and interpretations of Morrison classics like “Wonderful Remark” and “Right Side Of The Road.” In the same year (1998), Van won a Grammy for his collaboration with John Lee Hooker on Don’t Look Back, which he also produced.

Back On Top was released in March 1999 and was widely heralded as one of Morrison’s most accomplished and successful albums in years, spawning his first solo Top 40 hit with the single “Precious Time.”

After a career spanning some four decades, it seemed appropriate that the year 2000 saw Van returning to his roots, a musical full-circle, with The Skiffle Sessions – Live In Belfast. Reuniting with the musical heroes of his youth, Van joined skiffle maestro Lonnie Donegan and Chris Barber on stage at Belfast’s Whitla Hall for a magical performance; and the energy and enthusiasm of both the performers and the crowd was captured in full on this album, which met with huge critical acclaim.

In 2002, Van Morrison returned to Polydor Records and released his new album, Down The Road. The album featured 13 brand new songs alongside a unique version of “Georgia On My Mind” and “Evening Shadows,” an Acker Bilk instrumental to which Van added his own lyrical magic.

In recognition of his unique position as one of the most important songwriters of the past century, Van Morrison was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony in New York City in June 2003.

Later in the same year (2003), he signed a worldwide deal with the legendary Blue Note Records, a natural home for one of music's most creative figures. Morrison’s debut release at the prestigious jazz label was What's Wrong With This Picture? This album draws upon the jazz & blues influences that he has explored consistently throughout his career. What’s Wrong with this Picture? received a Grammy Award nomination for Morrison in the “Best Contemporary Blues Album” category.

Magic Time, released on Van’s own Exile Music Recordings label in 2005, showcased some of his most powerful songs to date like “Stranded,” “Magic Time,” “Celtic New Year” and “Gypsy In My Soul.” It was followed by Pay The Devil, a seamless combination of three originals (including the title track) and 12 covers of classic country songs written by such masters as Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Merle Kilgore, Rodney Crowell, Curly Williams and Leon Payne.

Two originals, “Playhouse” and “This Has Got To Stop,” were among five songs reprised on a limited edition DVD filmed at the legendary Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, and packaged with Pay The Devil. This was the only Morrison footage available commercially at the time of its 2006 release, but was soon followed by Live At Montreux, a two-disc showcase of his performances at the Jazz Festival in 1974 and 1980. This was acclaimed by one reviewer as “the chance to see a legend in his prime” and by another as “a truly rewarding experience from one of music’s most distinguished figures.”

Van Morrison was honored at the US-Ireland Alliance Awards in early 2007 for his contribution to the film world. Presented by Al Pacino, the award highlighted the depth and breadth of Van's compositions as used by directors Scorsese, Hackford, Landis, Stone and others. The likes of “Brown Eyed Girl” through “Days Like These” and “Have I Told You Lately” were gathered for release as At The Movies– Soundtrack Hits, yet another U.K. chart album.

As Still The Top–The Greatest Hits hits the racks in November 6, 2007, its creator continued a busy schedule of concerts across the globe.

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Van Morrison - Still On Top