What's So Special About Van Morrison?
Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
Update, 2019. BELOW THIS update is the first of two pieces on Van's early albums. They were commissioned by Richard Williams as my Melody Maker editor, and ran in successive weeks in March 1971. Richard gave me scope not available in The Guardian to write long pieces for readers who knew who I was writing about and who would already have heard some of the music; so with Van I could give detailed accounts of his best tracks, and loving evocations of his ineffable genius.
Total word count of piece: 3047