Van Morrison BBC Interview 2001.

This interview was filmed in 2001 for the BBC music series Walk On By. Van is talking to the producer Ian Pye. These rushes have only been very lightly edited to retain all Van's comments.
In this wide ranging and revealing interview Van talks about his musical influences, the tough years before he was successful, his development as a musician and singer and what he feels were the highlights of his career up to that time.
Rushes from the BBC series Walk On By filmed in 2001.

[@rodneylee4026]

I can't believe this was over twenty years ago and he's still going strong today.

[@carmelcrowley158]

A mixture of folk and jazz, wrote most of my songs in Belfast. Impressions, I knew, records came out. Independent company from the frying pan to fire. Critical acclaimed word of mind.

[@janhensley3617]

GOAT! Rave on Van! Much love. Much respect! 💚🎶❤️

[@lillianblessing]

❤❤❤🎉❤❤❤

[@cleartruth101]

Thank God that Van Morrison's light could not be hidden under a bushel. It is hard to hear how he like so many others were taken advantage of (well I am going to called it ripped off). While their energy and heart was being put into the beauty their work produced, some were in wait to unfairly take advantage of it. As far as Mr. Morrison saying he did not consider Brown Eyed Girl his best, the people who fell head over heels for it and still do, had yet to see that was just a small example of the talent buried within and yet to come. Yes, thank you for the years of sheer beauty and joy your music gives us. For it greatly moves us. Dawn

[@jeffkaufman9875]

@clear And yet they COULD put Baby’s nose in a corner!..

[@knockedoutloaded279]

He's wrote loads good songs..not just brown eyed girl..

[@ritadavis4165]

I would love to actually meet van . I'm going to the Albert Hall to see him in concert. Loved him since he was in Them. Still love him today

[@ronward3949]

He seems to be live that Irish lifestyle of fighting the System, yet, also, thriving with it. Grounded, Foundational, and somewhat so clear, gripping, and harmonizing with the Best of them.

[@davetrumpet1]

A poetic and musical genius.

[@MichaelDamianPHD]

52:02 Van says "I think there was probably more there than we needed... Maybe I said too much!" with a nervous chuckle. My God is he a classic introvert.

[@andrewarthurmatthews6685]

One of the best interviews with V M I have heard.

[@barblessable]

yes ,Van doesn't "suffer fools gladly" this interview was well done.

[@suzml8106]

He does keep moving on.. A genius in progress, for sure. ❤

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

But what a great body of work he is leaving on his way!

[@ronward3949]

When Wavelength hit my ears, Kingdom Hall opened, Natalia, and every song reverberated to my essence, not necessarily Radio Hits or whatever.

[@williamdukeofnormandy1403]

A legend.

[@ronward3949]

Oddly enough I find Van Morrison so interesting, he has a unique and personal way of telling his story, the first Van Morrison Album I heard from a friend's styling Stereo, was not only high fidelity, his Voice, the music was an anchor I rose to.

[@earlmcpherson6913]

Love the MAN❤

[@TeresaCAUBLE]

❤Van Morrison my all time favorite artist musician he is so multi talented ❤ Enlightenment is absolutely best song ever ❤Thank you Sir Van Morrison ❤

[@patrickohare4665]

Anyone else feel really anxious watching this lol?

[@susanacuratolo1200]

"SOMEONE LIKE YOU" IS ONE OF MY VAN MORRISON FAVORITES!, FROM THEM I LIKE "GLORIA, "IT'S ALL OVER NOW , BABY BLUE" -- VAN MORRISON IS A GREAT SONG WRITER AND SINGER... ! I LOVE HIS LYRICS !

[@FreshGrey-pm4vw]

me too- I listen to the cd all the time. every song on Poetic Champions is great.

[@HansBranderhorst]

KLOPT V IS THE BEST!!!

[@Canyon2023]

Beautiful lighting on Van ✨

[@nancypovey697]

Thank you so very much for posting this! It’s amazing for a true Vanantic like myself. Love the Man. SO INTERESTING. The humble genius.😇❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Thanks Nancy I agree that his music is very special. but I think he is often mid-understood. I found this interview refreshingly honest and humble for someone who has created so much good music.

[@nancypovey697]

@@chewvalleyfilms2020 I agree. Also as he’s often said what he says is not set in stone. He’s talked about what he’s appreciated about Bert Burns in teaching him the ropes and being in studios in the early days giving him good suggestions. He’s also said that he takes with him on the road a picture of himself with Them as well as Lead Belly. He lives in the now as he suggest we do. He doesn’t mention Hymns to the Silence. There’s always been an element of lifting ourselves up to a higher level.And the connection of the heart and the soul. Blessings to you. We need each other.🙏

[@peterbaruxis2511]

How funny, Van Morrison "can't relate to the songs on the Moondance album anymore" and so many of us can't imagine our past without that music. Actually I do understand that from his point of view it makes sense- he created it, we just found it and and associate it with our own experience.

[@McGrogansSchool]

He is a genius:) Great interview. Going to share this a lot.

[@simonmhood69]

Great interview from a man that is a true Irish poetical genius.

[@andzwe]

20:19 It's remarkable how often artists got the most success with songs that they (initially) didn't think much of (at all), or even had difficulty with. However, these became the kind of signature songs that helped to build a career on.

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

This is flipping great to hear, Van talking about his music life, It is a great shame that the excellent BBC did not get a better mike on Van, his voice is low and muffled and yet the interview is crystal clear

[@jedmackay5346]

What a fantastic interview! Thanks for making it available.

[@maxthepupp]

Thank you for this! Rock on Van. I love you man.🤘😎🤘

[@realgone222]

Extraordinary moment in this interview around 43:00 where Van discusses his voice change over the years. I've never heard him describe or make recognition that his vocals have changed before now.

[@OnceTheyNamedMeiWasnt]

I heard him (about 15 years ago when he was interviewed by Jonny Walker on radio 2) say something to this effect. Some old stuff was featured and JW asked him something like do you still appreciate/like what you've done previously and he mentioned something to the effect of he likes hearing how he was singing differently at different times and how his voice has changed. I've often thought that while Van does generally sound like Van all the way through, there are periods/stretches where he actually sings differently, right down to his inflections, the way he pronounces things, accentuates syllables, vocal noises. They are quite subtle, but once you notice them, I think you'll hear them clearly afterwards.

[@pulsarlights2825]

@@OnceTheyNamedMeiWasnt Father Time gets everyone sooner or later

[@OnceTheyNamedMeiWasnt]

@@pulsarlights2825 If you haven't worked out time and space don't exist, you got a long way to go, man.

[@JeffSchreiber99]

Even though there are obvious differences in the voice of Van 1970 and Van 2024, there’s something in him that’s so unique and unmistakable that no other artist comes close to copying. There are very few others on his level.

[@dobleclanger]

whenever I hear Crazy Love sung way high like falsetto dont think its Van. Its Marvin Gay perhaps. But really i know it must be Van. Other songs hes just like Mick Jagger shouting the blues. Never knew such closeness withe the Doors existed doing Gloria. Now i know why they both recorded it.​@OnceTheyNamedMeiWasnt

[@noreenohare9367]

Met his father in fairfax music store. He was a very nice man.

[@user-uc1jg8jr2c]

Love VAN Vegas 2023 , he is awesome

[@BelfastBoxingNBlues]

I heard the Leadbelly influence at last on an old LP I’d got at St George’s Market. He sang a children’s song and there was something very distinct in his rhythmic, melodic, free time phrasing. Even better than the real thing…

[@Hard-Nose-the-Highway]

excellent conversation

[@tomsiebert1941]

Unexpectedly informative interview. Thanks for this!

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Thanks Tom, yes he was on good form that day.

[@janemaher6765]

Brilliant interview on Van the Man

[@mjclark641]

Great interview, thanks for sharing.

[@rebecca8527]

I picture sitting and conversating with Van "In a restaurant 'cross a table top Looking into a glass of wine Whispering in the evening breeze Green leaves glistening eucalyptus trees Can you hear them ... Can You FEEL them ....maybe not even saying a word. And no words would describe the joy his music has brought to my life. I send good thoughts and feelings of happiness to him often. Thank you Van

[@martinnewtonholmes]

Santa Fe ?

[@rebecca8527]

@@martinnewtonholmes I have an awesome imagination

[@martinnewtonholmes]

@@rebecca8527 You have a Beautiful Obsession

[@rebecca8527]

@@martinnewtonholmes I think so 😊💓

[@DowntownSRQ]

It’s no wonder Van is so cranky. Same questions again and again. I’d rather hear him talk about his favorite food, or what he listens to in the car on road trips, or the artist he’s most likely to put on the stereo when he wants to make out.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Van is very particular about what he is happy to discuss and I think he is more comfortable talking about his musical influences than anything else.

[@kylestead6657]

Great interview

[@jeanetteheinen8562]

I'm not sure if Van Morrison knows what a Musical Genius he is? Interesting that he has one of the most prolific Catalog of Music Singer/Songwriter our generation. He is an enigma and always moving on. .I think that explains it. You can't take it personal, just how he rolls.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Hi Jeanette I think he is sure of his ability but he sees it as a job, nothing more. Underneath the image I feel There is a very humble and extraordinary man.

[@lucillehein]

I am glad for the person put this interview on youtube.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

@@lucillehein Thank you. I was glad I found it.

[@russellbrown3800]

Very good interviewer. It strikes me that Van Morrison wouldn't have been out of place in a Martin Scorcese film, or Eastenders.

[@JeffSchreiber99]

Speaking of Scorcese, I heard last year that he’s interested in making a documentary about Van. Now that sounds delicious!

[@knockedoutloaded279]

He was in eastenders and emmerdale

[@russellbrown3800]

@@JeffSchreiber99 I think that might be worthwhile but it would be difficult, even for Martin Scorcese, to make anything truthful about a subject from Northern Ireland.

[@pamzavada5269]

Yessss!​@@JeffSchreiber99

[@paintingtosser3814]

Terrible how Van and all those other musicians were ripped off in the sixties by those con artists. The mafia were involved in the music biz back then. He never gave up though and became one of the immortals.

[@JeffSchreiber99]

But there’s a silver lining to it. Being subject to all that abuse and neglect left an imprint on Van and some of his contemporaries (not all. Some became jerks). Besides being one of the greatest musicians of our time, Van has an unbelievable work ethic even at age 78. He knows things don’t come easy in this rat race world. But rather than join in with all the rats he chose to beat them at their own game.

[@pulsarlights2825]

Don Arden was in the mafia?

[@paintingtosser3814]

Not too sure about that Don but the Mafia were into the music biz in America. Music biz can be very exploitative, and just like a bad job in a kitchen, you can be worked like a hamster till you drop. Morrissey explains the music biz in his autobiography.

[@pamzavada5269]

He definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer.​@JeffS

[@danwebb4418]

I don't understand why people say he's a grumpy old man, he smiled a lot in this interview..

[@harry1babs]

I didn't see him smile once. He is completely serious. I see him wincing but no smiling??

[@jeffkaufman9875]

@harry Well, one man’s wince is apparently another man’s smile…

[@carmelcrowley158]

They picked up where I was at. Inext album of xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[@jeaniechampagne8831]

I love his older voice!

[@dobleclanger]

Lol. Do you mean the older voice he has now or the older voice he had earlier? I don't get you.😂

[@dobleclanger]

I like both. But unfortunately, he can't do both now.

[@jimdee9801]

I notice the WEF oops I mean BBC didnt interview him after or during his tracks like No More Lockdown. Rave on indeed Van 👍

[@JeffSchreiber99]

Actually that’s not true. After Latest Record Project Vol 1 he was interviewed by the BBC. Of course they didn’t discuss any of his views but he talked about how he handled the lockdown. Still waiting for Vol 2 which he said was in the works at that time.

[@xavieralexandre8120]

You re so Serons i adoré you love

[@carmelcrowley158]

2001, what's to be nervous of ?. Mastro, first single, help me stands out, lonesome cavern, playing guitar, he was playing the 12 string then learning music before that, Jimmy Rodgers, Hank Williams, a friend had records. It wasn't a , pre scufal, when others things came in. I was still playing my father's records. Emotional delivery. I can't explain it intellectually. Not right away it was later till the 70s then I was in a four a piece for , way before. The mamor.. don't start crying now, extremely hard. Didn't get paid when we should have. Appears for awhile. When in Germany, till, before that five years. You could say some of them were great. The last five years songs. Seventies, I put up made sense, a grip, a scripts, I just wanted to sing, just sing this song. Went to the states, made another record, contract, demo here comes the night. ? For , hit record, didn't pay me, nightmare, did not appear. Jackel as nd Hyde. Sony compilation promotion, that was then, that was not my repertoire, I needed that then, didn't get it. Astral weeks, came to light cause

[@breezycovergirl]

Can you meet me in the summertime in England, can you meet me❤

[@jamesfreeman7067]

looks like Van was about to Explode, Chill out Van .

[@jansmith8080]

I love it !! Lol

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Thanks Jan, I think it’s quite a revealing interview. I glad you liked it.

[@TheJewellian]

Van is almost human here!

[@runstant1]

phew, that was hard work for the interviewer !

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Actually I know he really enjoyed it. Van was on good form that day!

[@elainegoring4227]

🦩🦩🦩🦩✈️

[@mikedubs9940]

This one tells the truth.. and slept in the streets in his early days

[@joetodaro4183]

Unbelievable the sh*t this guy went through in the beginning sheeeeeesh

[@joanraven363]

Sorry . Necessito subtitols català o castellà.

[@DennisMiller50]

I wore out a lot of Van's records.

[@xavieralexandre8120]

If you don t love the clash that just mean i would rathet not i m so bord with you sa

[@geraldtanderson9044]

Kind of a dry interview but informative. Interviewers get stuck in an artists past to much. Morrison, "some of Them were great records for then, but that's were it ends for me". Talking about the 1960's and here it's 2001. He wrote "Gloria" and considers songs he's written in the past five years even better. I get that. I write poetry. You write a poem and move on. It being better than the last poem you wrote isn't always the goal, but that maybe you're growing in how you write. I don't imagine it's much different for a Songwriter. Writing is a life long endeavor always striving for better written material. An example, "When the Leaves Come Falling Down" from his 1998 "Back on Top" Album. It's as well written as "Gloria" from 1964, IMO.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

I agree. What I like is that even after all these years composing and creating he still wants to move forward and create new songs.

[@R1mahem1]

Very talented man; genius. But the personality of a box of hair when not performing. This was like watching paint dry.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

Van is certainly an inigma! His personality is part of who he is and has never changed. In my humble opinion his creative genius far outshines his perceived coldness.

[@xavieralexandre8120]

If you re à genius i m too i don t love you anémone funky you exept Thatcher would you unknown

[@ronward3949]

True grit, Van Morrison, Lawsuits to get out the red, enough said, take it out the head, sorry my own trials eluded the Suits( Lawsuits) seemed too cliche, it is sorry state of affairs, explanations do follow suit, ready for something new, yet leaving amazing Tracks, unwilling to live on the past, the rolling stone gathers no moss, yet mossy rocks signify Black Swifts to this Ancient and Old Growth Forests fan, do the research, personally seeing a black swift in a full dive was extraordinary!

[@xavieralexandre8120]

Try this on the style life for buzz the sxinging neck breakers i will break ever9ything you re not rock and roll

[@robinmork2828]

I canbrestore his youthful looks . He will feel forty years younger . What medical does to these musicians is gross.

[@chewvalleyfilms2020]

This was filmed in 2001, 23 years ago. I cannot believe Van is vain enough to go under the knife. But he does like to hide his baldy bit!

[@JustLikeGreta]

I think everyone is sick of hearing how Van was taken advantage of. It's a goddam obsession with him. A sixty year long obsession. Let it fukking go Van.

[@jeaniechampagne8831]

Betrayal is what it was. You just don't get over that. It's about trust and also naivity. Runs deep.

[@martinnewtonholmes]

His obsession doesn`t make for great music that`s for sure