Britain is a country where old men say "Happy Birthday" to Van Morrison and remember his songs and the hair they had when they were young

Van Morrison is 66 today. Like me, Van had a lot of hair when he was young and I suspect that, like me, his hair has departed from his head. In my case, I wear a baseball hat for warmth and sun protection and in his case he has adopted a trilby hat.

Things you possibly didn't know about him, that :

* he was born George 'Ivan' Morrison in Hynford Street Belfast, Northern Ireland.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=125+hyndford+street+east+belfast&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&oe=&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x486109730ff99ec5:0x56fc91f31ea3355a,125+Hyndford+St,+Belfast,+County+Antrim+BT5+5JF&gl=uk&ei=8DJdTo6xJ8ap8AOe75WbAw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ8gEwAA

* his father was a shipyard electrician and his mother had been a singer and tap dancer in her youth.

* he listened to his father's huge record collection, amassed during his stay in Detroit in the 1950's and grew up listening to Jelly Roll Morton, Ray Charles, Lead Belly, and Solomon Burke and later said : "Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now".

* he had his first acoustic guitar when he was 11 and at 12 formed his first band, a skiffle group called 'The Sputniks', named after the recently launched Soviet satellite and played at some of the local cinemas with him doing most of the singing and arranging.

* at 14, talked his father into buying him a saxophone, took lessons in tenor sax and music reading, left school at 16 in 1960 with no qualifications and settled into a job as a window cleaner while he continuing to play part-time.

* at 17, toured Europe for the first time with 'The International Monarchs'.

* helped to create the band 'Them' in 1964 which took its name after the 1950's horror movie 'THEM !

* had 3 chart hits with : "Baby, Please Don't Go" in 1964
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4263979960220415007#

and "Here Comes the Night" and "Mystic Eyes" in 1965,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7njnkLKZVM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVKKHcHKYa4

though it was the b-side of the first called "Gloria" which became the classic :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_j7i_ZVfxw

* when 'Them' split up he started his solo career with "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967 and 40 years forty years later in 2007, it was the fourth most requested song of DJs in the US.

Here it is performed by an older Van :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6-dp6RkEY8

My favourite : "Have I told you lately" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HYqay2gbdU

and those beautiful lyrics :

Have I told you lately that I love you ?
Have I told you there's no one above you ?
Fill my heart with gladness,
Take away my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.

Oh the morning sun in all its glory,
Greets the day with hope and comfort too.
And you fill my life with laughter,
You can make it better,
Ease my troubles that's what you do.

There's a love that's divine,
And it's yours and it's mine.
Like the sun at the end of the day,
We should give thanks and pray to the One.

Have I told you lately that I love you ?
Have I told you there's no one above you ?
Fill my heart with gladness,
Take away my sadness,
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.

There's a love that's divine,
And it's yours and it's mine,
And it shines like the sun.
At the end of the day we will give thanks,
And pray to the One.

What shall I buy myself to celebrate Van's birthday ? A new basebell cap or a trilby hat ?