and lazy journalists need to get a sense of humour

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/en...-31053994.html

Who doesn't love Van the man?

I think it's a bit of an act at times, he once warned Gerry Anderson just before going on air he wasn't going to say anything.

Someone I worked with has gone to many of his gigs over the years. She says sometimes he really interacts with the audiences and other times ignores them to point of standing with his back to them throughout the whole thing.

I've read some curmudgeonly interviews with Van where he acted like saying anything meaningful was a major imposition. Usually an interview is to promote a new record, so the interviewer would ask something like "Is the photo on the cover of you on your farm?" and Van would say, "People think that what you look like in a photo is what you're really like". You can imagine the interviewer thinking, why can't he just answer the question?

I was at one of the latter, it was many years ago, it was a 1 day festival type thing, was Blind Boys of Alabama, him & Paul Simon and others. After about 20 mins my husband & I went to get food, his non participation just made it all boring especially on a festival stage.

Heard he'd got a Knighthood the other day linky, I don't know a lot about the fella.
There was a 2 or 3 part doc about him on Radio 4, I downloaded it but haven't managed to get through it.
What's he done in the service of music?
I suspect that contractual obligation album, featuring gems such as 'Ringworm' won't be part of his services.

As for him been grumpy, Danny Baker usually makes a crack about him, when his name is mentioned, that 'nobody will ever mistake Van Morrison for a Ray of Sunshine', and calls him the most curmudgeonly man in rock.
He says he saw Van smile once, when he got the last baked potato at the canteen that he had his eye on, at a TV studio, I presume.