The 1950s artist Van Morrison called the definition of soul: “I just felt his emotion”
Van Morrison, though best known for folk-inflected records made in Northern Ireland, has long drawn on soul music as a core influence, and he has named the artist he regards as its ultimate embodiment. Despite little cultural association between his homeland and the soul tradition, Morrison fused the two throughout his career, from the garage-rock energy of his early band Them to the expansive, emotionally charged solo work on albums such as Astral Weeks and Moondance. Understanding who he credits as soul's true definition sheds light on the vocal and emotional intensity that has shaped his own music.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2010, Morrison singled out Ray Charles as the greatest songwriter and vocalist of all time, recalling a 2004 duet on his song "Crazy Love" and saying he "just felt his emotion" when connecting with Charles on what he called a soul level. He also credited Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland and Solomon Burke with defining soul for him, stressing it was not just the singing but "what went into the singing" that mattered, describing them as artists who "put their souls on the line."
- Van Morrison named Ray Charles as soul music's ultimate embodiment.
- He recalled a 2004 duet with Charles on his song "Crazy Love".
- He also cited Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland and Solomon Burke as key influences.
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Van Morrison is one of the best-known singer-songwriters to come out of Northern Ireland, with a career stretching back to the 1960s through his band Them and then as a solo artist on albums like Astral Weeks and Moondance. Although his music is often described as folk-influenced, soul music has always run through it, shaping both his singing style and the emotional feel of his songs.
Soul is a style of music that grew out of African American gospel and rhythm and blues in the United States from the 1950s onwards, known for its passionate, expressive vocals. Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland and Solomon Burke were among the pioneering artists who helped define the genre in that era, and their influence spread widely across popular music in the decades that followed.
Morrison has spoken before about the artists who shaped his own approach to singing, pointing to a moment of connection he felt while performing with one of them as an example of what soul music, at its best, is about.