Van Morrison's Childhood Weekend Ritual That Shaped His Love for Music

George Ivan 'Van' Morrison was born at 125 Hyndford Street in Bloomfield, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in August 1945. He was given his first guitar at the age of 11 and taught himself to play from a songbook containing tunes laid down by the famous country folk group, The Carter Family. 

MORRISON'S MUSICAL JOURNEY

The young Morrison also learned harmonica, piano, and saxophone, playing in various cover bands before joining the rock band Them in 1964. That group scored a handful of modest hits, most notably the influential garage rock anthem “Gloria” and performed in America before disbanding in 1966. Morrison went on to carve out a highly successful solo career, beginning with his 1967 debut album, Blowin' Your Mind!, which spawned the hit single, "Brown Eyed Girl" – a song Morrison penned himself. Since then, the singer has enjoyed numerous successes over an astonishing seven decades, including two prestigious Grammy Awards.

Most kids’ first taste in music comes filtered down through older siblings, or passed on via peer groups, but for Morrison, his gateway to the world of music was his father. Also named George, Morrison Sr. worked as an electrician in the shipyards and could claim the unusual feat of owning one of the largest record collections in the country. Many of these he acquired during his time spent living in Detroit, Michigan during the 1950s. Surrounded by this treasure trove of music, Morrison Jr. grew up exposed to all sorts of sounds that he might otherwise not have experienced. 

A COLLECTION THAT FUELED A CAREER

Nothing quite gets the excitement racing more than starting a collection of your own, however, and it was Morrison's Sr.'s ritual of taking his son to a local record store every weekend that truly shaped Van's love for the art form. Speaking in a 2015 interview with The Guardian, the singer-songwriter explained: "…he used to take me to this record shop every Saturday when I was a kid. Atlantic Records, on the High Street in Belfast. Solly Lipsitz was the guy who ran it. His sister lived in New York, and he was importing records from there."

Among the amazing musicians that caught his ear during this time, and who later informed his own work, Van cites blues and jazz piano player Jelly Roll Morton, soul/blues singers Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, the great Ray Charles, country artists Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers, and folk blues legend Lead Belly, as being of prime importance. The passion Morrison Sr. instilled in his son helped make Van Morrison one of the most successful artists of his time.

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