Van Morrison celebrates his 64th birthday today. I thought I’d feature a few of my favorites from his vast library of songs as a sort of tribute to this one of a kind troubadour.

From all accounts Van is a prickly guy and doesn’t suffer fools gladly – or many other folks, for that matter. And he’s very diligent about keeping anything “unofficial” off of YouTube and other media sites. He wishes to control his art and I can respect that, even if I don’t quite understand his reasoning. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Taylor Hicks’ generosity in allowing his fans to gather and share so much media from his tour stops and shadow gigs.

The one thing Van can’t control is the way in which his songs and his performance of them have inspired so many musicians who’ve followed, and perhaps none more than Taylor Hicks. Rarely does one of his gigs go by that some of Van’s work doesn’t make an appearance in a song or two. Most times it’s a tiny piece – an incomplete verse or the turn of a phrase, a tag. Less often it’s a full-out cover like Naked In the Jungle or Moondance.

I have no idea when Taylor made his musical connection with Van, but the results of his discovery, and its impact on Taylor’s own style of writing, singing and performing, is significant. Anyone who’s listened to the Open Door Cafe set from 2004 or the Nashville set of ‘05 and who then pops in Van’s A Night In San Francisco (or vice versa) can tell you that.

I’ve long suspected that while Ray Charles may have been the musical root of Taylor’s growth as an artist, the work of Van Morrison brought unique and beautiful blooms to the tree that sprung forth.

Taylor covers Van …

credit to Lh1100

credit to edjorg

And tags him, too ..

credit to Skeeter226

credit to Skeeter226

credit to GailCC

Audio of an interview with Van that aired earlier this month on NPR.