Dimensions
166 x 240 x 50mm
In this ground-breaking biography - surprisingly, the first major biography to have been written - Clinton Heylin, the acclaimed biographer of Bob Dylan and Sandy Denny, explores the paradox that is Van Morrison.
Based on over 100 interviews conducted specially for the book in England, Ireland and the United States, as well as a detailed knowledge of music, Heylin explores Morrison's musical and social roots in Belfast, and the hard times that awaited him in London, New York and Boston.
He describes the making of 'Astral Weeks', one of the truly seminal rock albums, and the role of his early mentor Lewis Merenstein, as well as the catastrophic business arrangements that brought Morrison few rewards for his creative efforts.
He details the breakdown of Morrison's marriage, the long creative drought that followed, and then his triumphant re-emergence with albums like 'Into The Music', 'No Guru' and 'Avalon Sunset'. And he attempts to explain why the music 'brings happiness to other people, not him'.
