Van Morrison has always been an artist clearly enamoured with the first wave of rockin’ talent. Funnily enough, my own introduction to a Van album came with 1990’s Enlightenment – and one of its highlights is the wonderful In The Days Before Rock ‘N’ Roll. Also featuring poet Paul Durcan, the epic song sees Morrison regaling us with teenage memories of trawling the airwaves to find Radio Luxembourg and listening to Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Little Richard and more. It’s clear that those musical heroes have stayed with Van ever since and his love for them has never waned.
Its fullest expression, though, undoubtedly comes via his new studio album Accentuate The Positive, a 19-song 50s and 60s rock’n’roll covers LP that returns Morrison to his boyhood in Belfast as he thrills to the sounds of Johnny Burnette, The Everly Brothers, Bill Haley, Johnny Kidd et al.