Van Morrison in Ireland

Van Morrison in Ireland
Video by
Released1981
RecordedFebruary 1979
GenreVarious
Length56:28
LabelHendring Ltd./Angle Films Ltd.
DirectorMike Radford
ProducerRex Pyke
Van Morrison chronology
Van Morrison in Ireland
(1981)
Van Morrison The Concert
(1990)

Van Morrison in Ireland is the first official video by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1981 of a concert Morrison recorded in Northern Ireland in 1979. It was directed by Michael Radford who later became a noted filmmaker. The video includes footage of the band whilst touring in Ireland and images of Belfast, including Hyndford Street and Cyprus Avenue. Tony Stewart of the NME states, "The band display a range of textures reminiscent of The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, first with the dark resonance of Toni Marcus' violin, then Pat Kyle's bright sharp tenor sax and finally Bobby Tench's prickly electric guitar".[1]

This concert featured the band with which Morrison recorded his 1978 album Wavelength, augmented by a horn section and violinist. The concert included two songs from Wavelength, the title track and "Checkin' It Out". The rest of the songs had originally been recorded at least seven years earlier, the latest of these being "Saint Dominic's Preview" from 1972. Also on the video are two songs Morrison had recorded when fronting the band Them in the mid 1960s — "Don't Look Back" and "Gloria".

  1. ^ Hinton, (1997), pp. 215–216