The 30 Best Van Morrison Covers Ever

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20. Gov’t Mule – Ballerina

Gov’t Mule start “Ballerina” slow. The opening, featuring just lead singer/guitarist Warren Haynes on his own for over 40 seconds, makes it feel like this is going to be a cover that takes its time. But once the rest of the band kicks it, the tempo resembles the original’s. The band’s known for their jamming, but there is actually remarkably little in Gov’t Mule’s cover. Sure, Haynes delivers a spirited slide guitar solo; that’s what he’s here to do. But that comes at the very end. Mostly, the focus is on his singing. And does he ever sing it. Haynes sings Morrison’s lyrics like he feels them in his soul, delivering an absolutely impassioned vocal performance that might be a shock to those who only know him as an Allman Brothers Band guitarist. It’s a deeply felt and passionate cover of one of Van Morrison’s greatest songs. — Riley Haas

19. Secret Machines – Astral Weeks

The title track to one of the greatest complete pieces of media in the twentieth century (oh yeah, I went there), Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” opens the door to its home and draws you in. The Secret Machines cover does just the opposite – it opens the door and sends you out. The song is no longer introspective, but outward-looking, marveling at what’s before it. As it grows bigger and bigger, it takes on the mythic sheen of a great creature slowly emerging in another time, in another place, nothing but a stranger in this world. “Astral Weeks” turned inside out is still “Astral Weeks,” and the little sampled flits of Van’s vocals at the end proves the original threads still belong in this cover’s fabric. — Patrick Robbins

18. Marianne Faithfull – Madame George

“He’s like my mentor, I tell him about my personal problems and he gives me advice. It’s like having a hotline to God. Better than God, because he’s here.” So said Marianne Faithfull in her f-ing fabulous 1994 autobiography Faithfull (Fun fact: Immediately following that declaration was an anecdote about Van having a run-in with her breasts because you know, Marianne ruled).

Her 1994 cover of “Madame George”, from the Van-produced-and-curated 1994 tribute album to himself (!), No Prima Donna: the Songs of Van Morrison, is an absolute stunner. As disturbing as it sounds, I confess that I was not familiar with “Madame George” until this album came out, meaning Marianne’s cover was the first version of the song I ever heard. I was so (over)taken by her languorous, lovely and one of a kind delivery and the (incredible) song itself that I finally woke up to her work and his. I bought albums and went to shows, I discovered, all because of this cover. It is reverential and gorgeous. God bless the aforementioned God…and beautiful Marianne too. “Hey love, you forgot your glove.” — Hope Silverman

17. Counting Crows – Caravan

When Adam Duritz and the Counting Crows hit the scene in 1993 with their massively popular album August and Everything After (my first ever CD, coincidentally), there were numerous comparisons to Van Morrison. Like Morrison, Duritz was both a poet in terms of his lyricism, but also not afraid to sing some gibberish (“sha la la la la la la, yeah, uh huh” anyone?). Most fans and reviewers didn’t realize that the band had actually covered Morrison, as a Rock Hall induction fill-in, before they had even recorded their debut album. The comparisons are not unfounded: Duritz uses his voice as an instrument, and in this live performance he lets it run wild. Backed by some organ, soft acoustic, and a bouncy mandolin, he wraps his voice around the words. From the jump he uses subtle vocal bends and volume dynamics to bring the listener in. With the super simple backing instrumentation, his voice takes center stage in unexpected ways, especially as this song approaches the 4-minute mark. He starts vamping like the pro he would later become, throwing out random snippets of lyrics and syllables, slurring his words at times not from drunkenness but for musical effect. It’s an early glimpse into a band that would become a household name and a fitting tribute to one of the band’s influences. — Mike Misch

16. Greg Brown – Moondance

Is the title track of one of the great rock albums of all time a jazz song? It certainly seems so, although critics are split. But who really cares, because it is simply a great song. Morrison has performed the song live more than any other, and it is, as one reviewer has noted, “one of those rare songs that manages to implant itself on the collective consciousness of popular music, passing into the hallowed territory of a standard, a classic.” Greg Brown, an often-covered songwriter in his own right, released a live album in 1995 called The Live One, recorded in Traverse City, Michigan the prior year. In addition to a selection of his originals, Brown demonstrated significant chutzpah by tackling two pretty serious covers—Richard Thompson’s beloved “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” and “Moondance.” His version of the song is still jazzy, but stripped down to only guitar and what sounds like congas, puts more emphasis on Brown’s distinctive voice and jazz-hipster style delivery. I’m not sure he needed the long middle section with original lyrics, but it is, nevertheless, a compelling cover. — Jordan Becker

15. Dusty Springfield – Tupelo Honey

Dusty Springfield wasn’t always held with the sort of belated and posthumous acclaim that she is today. In the 1970s, she was sometimes seen as a slightly faded purveyor of ’60s pop pap. But even back then, there was one song her naysayers could all unite on, in agreement that she absolutely nailed “Tupelo Honey.” The classy thing is that she does so little with it, yet renders it so much her own. All the “Celtic Soul”® of Sir Ivan is retained, with delicate drafts of brass billowing behind her and the exquisite exhortations, repeated lines and coos of the backing singers. Yet Springfield gifts it with a mellowness that the writer himself can never quite find, try as he might, and the song becomes near her own. Anyone who thought her Dusty In Memphis set was a one-off could breathe again. Wonderful version and duly deserving its stellar presence here in this chart. — Seuras Og

14. Elvis Costello – Full Force Gale

The official credits simply read “Elvis Costello,” but backing singers The Voice Squad deserve equal billing. The traditional Irish vocal group make this song sound instantly distinct among both Elvis Costello performances and Van Morrison covers. There are no other instruments—it’s Elvis-goes-acapella, the Squad singing a gorgeous arrangement while Costello’s vocal plays around on top. There’s a (perhaps apocryphal) Elvis quote about Van that goes like, “He’s this short, dumpy, balding guy, but he opens his mouth and God comes out.” Whether or not he ever actually said that, the same sentiment applies here. — Ray Padgett

13. P.P. Arnold – Brand New Day

Go West was a musical imperative for European artists for decades, including Morrison. Familiar with the music from records off boats he nevertheless wanted to immerse himself in the American musical milieu. Coming on the less well trodden route East from California was P.P. Arnold. She arrived in London for the Swinging Sixties and became an important fixture of it. Her hard-won, authentic Gospel knowledge illuminated the Mod Scene. The UK music industry has had a synergistic relationship with her since. She has brought her R&B roots and classical soul voice, along with impeccable style, to musicians to this day. This is a fine example of the illumination that she has brought. — Mike Tobyn

12. John Mellencamp feat. Meshell Ndegeocello – Wild Night

Speaking as someone who had this one on a cassette tape recorded off the radio, John Mellencamp’s cover of Morrison’s “Wild Night” has always been the definitive version for me. Considering its #3 placement on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994, as opposed to Morrison’s #28, this is probably true for a lot of listeners. The ’90s heavy drum intro and Ndegeocello’s front and center bass riff get this one grooving immediately, recalling the original but shifting away from the ’70s jam band sound. Mellencamp and Meshell Ndegeocello’s voices complement each other well – they can sound very similar at times, but their harmonization on “flying, crying” is seared into the memories of everyone who heard this one coming out of the car radio back in the day. — Mike Misch

11. Bettye LaVette – Real Real Gone

Vanthology was a tribute album, wherein a host of the sort of singers that you’d think Van took his inspiration from came together to sing his songbook. Yet he was said to not have liked it, so much so that it became an album unsupported and hard to discover, following its 2003 release. Bettye LaVette, a veteran of ’60s soul, was then at the beginning of her still-flourishing second life, and gifts “Real Real Gone” with more sass than a spicy succotash. The organ heavy arrangement is pure Muscle Shoals, if in facsimile, but it is her howl that is the star, a soul lost in near religious raptures. I am sure this was a major staging post on her elevation to the center stage, where she has become one of our more reliable and revered artists, whose specialty is to buff up the back catalog gems you may have forgotten, issuing albums dedicated to Dylan, the Great (and great) British Rock songbook and to other female singers, amongst others. A true star. — Seuras Og

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