Van Morrison has opened up on the hard realities of the music industry as he detailed struggles he faced as a young musician.
The 77-year-old gave an interview to The Times this weekend ahead of the release of his latest album next month.
In the chat with Will Hodgkinson, the East Belfast man spoke about his time in the band Them in the 1960s, his reasons for leaving and the difficulties he faced when he moved to America and ended up penniless.
READ MORE: Van Morrison 'very saddened' following passing of former manager John Rogers
Morrison, who had moved to America to sign a contract on a solo career, said there were "dark things going on" and he ended up stuck in America with no money at all.
He was in his twenties at the time and was living off little cash from the handful of gigs he landed while living in Boston.
"I had absolutely nothing,” he told The Times.
"After Bert Berns died, an Irish-American guy got me out of New York and I was in Boston, sleeping on a friend’s couch, no proper management set-up, and I was abroad so that made it worse. I was at the bottom. Game over. Total oppression.”
He said he had to fight his way out and the only way out was through his music.
"Astral Weeks came out of it because creativity comes out of chaos," he said.
"But you can go up or down in this business, and it all depends on whether you survive or not. Think of all the Sixties bands you never heard from again."
Addressing how hard the music industry is, Morrison spoke about the book The Business of Music which he said gives advice such as: don’t rely on anybody, trust nobody.
"Understand the business, the contracts. Does the producer or the manager own the recordings? That’s why you end up getting nothing — because someone else owns it all. I was forced to learn this stuff," he said.
Morrison added: “There is mythology and then there is reality. Rolling Stone magazine is only interested in selling the mythology, and promoting what they like and who is in their club. But they haven’t spent years schlepping up and down the road, facing hardship and trauma every day of their lives. It’s a hobby for them. And they’re making money off their hobby.”
- Moving on Skiffle by Van Morrison (Exile) is out on March 10
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