Celtic soul troubadour, VAN MORRISON received his long-awaited knighthood on Thursday 4th February. The award – conferred on the day by Prince Charles – was for services to the music industry and tourism in Northern Ireland.
After the ceremony “Sir Ivan Morrison” told press he was “amazed and exhilarated”. He added, “For 53 years I’ve been in the business – that’s not bad for a blue-eyed soul singer from east Belfast”. He also commented that he found Buckingham Palace full of “old world charm”. And he revealed that during the ceremony what Charles asked about: “He was just saying, was I still writing? And he said: ‘You’re not going to retire any time soon?’ And I said: ‘No, I’m not; I’m going to keep it going while I can.”
Interestingly the new knight revealed that the album he preferred most from his own extensive back catalogue was 1980’s ‘Common One’ : “It’s a mixture of different components – a bit of funk, blues, gospel – it’s quite a fusion, and plus I seemed to tap into something, and that particular band seemed to have a rapport.”
