Written on July 13th, 2009 by Hamish Johnstonno shouts
Born in Belfast in the 1945, in Northern Ireland George Ivan Morrison was an only child. His father George was a ship worker, and mother Violet a housewife, and a competent tap dancer and entertainer in her youth. Fortuitously, his father had acquired a large record collection during a trip to the United States and Van grew up listening to blues artists such as Ray Charles and Leadbelly who were to influence his style later in life.