Van Morrison: TB Sheets

I FOUND VAN MORRISON by a most tortuous, circumlocutory route: first (after the mediocrity of 'Here Comes The Night') there was, of course, 'Gloria', which I hated. It seemed to embody everything bad about the British beat-group boom – ragged incompetent three-chord musicianship, weedily raucous vocals. To my ears they sounded like a stand-in for the Animals in furious combat with a songer who sounded like a stand-in for Jagger. Give me Little Richard's 'True Fine Mama' anyday.