Morrison's influence on Iggy?

VAN Morrison, that is!

I'm sure I remember Iggy saying something once about the influence Van Morrison had on him, in the early Stooges days, both in singing style and also in the relative simplicity and lack of structure in songs by Them!. Now I don't know much about Van and/or Them!, except for hearing the brilliant 'Gloria' of course, anyone got anything more to add to this? I wish I could remember just where I came across these comments, they were made by Iggy himself, all I can remember it was a documentary on radio a few years back, I should've taken note, as I haven't heard Iggy talking about Van Morrison anywhere else.

On the early Them recordings, Van is really aggressive singer/screamer....He influenced Jim Morrison too. Van was also really aggressive performer in Them, throwing his mic stand around the stage...and running around the stage like a lunatic. Kinda like Jim and Iggy.

In John Densmoreś (Doors drummer) book "Riders on The Storm", Densmore wrote that the Doors had a jam session with Them (They did "Gloria" together at Whiskey A Go Go, in the early days...before the Doors got a record deal with Elektra)
Van is really good singer....I dont really care about his solo recordings but the early Them stuff is great.

So maybe, Van's influence is his early vocal style (and through Jim, cause Jim Morrison took lot of ideas from Van...
I know that Jim Morrison was big influence on Iggy)

Found a little thing about Them in an Iggy interview (not on the internet) :

"... Them was also a very important band at that time. The first album, The Angry Young Them, was especially good, with songs like One Two Brown Eyes, which was a poem in the beginning, emphasized by a rather strange music, with no chord changes. They used a blues basis and took it easy, not changing those fucking chords. I loved that. Ain't it great? Why change chords when you can write a good song with only one? And Mystic Eyes, what a song! The text is amazing."

thanks for the info angusyd and aku!

Van's influence on Jim Morrison ... really interesting. I've heard of Them! really only very vaguely, they never seem to get mentioned much in any context...except as Van's 'early band' of course. I don't really care for Van solo either, but 'Gloria' is such a blast. I don't know any of Them's other songs though

Nadja wrote:

thanks for the info angusyd and aku!

Van's influence on Jim Morrison ... really interesting. I've heard of Them! really only very vaguely, they never seem to get mentioned much in any context...except as Van's 'early band' of course. I don't really care for Van solo either, but 'Gloria' is such a blast. I don't know any of Them's other songs though

Both Ray Manzarek (on his biography "Light My Fire) and John Densmore (in his biography "Riders on the storm") have stated that Jim Morrison was blown away by Van`s performance at Whiskey A Go Go Club. Jim said in some interviews at the time that "Van Morrison is the best white blues singer ever!"

The reason The Doors played a cover version of "Gloria" was because they were big fans of THEM and Jim idolized Van as wild blues singer.

Ray Manzarek and John Densmore have also stated that Jim Morrison and Van Morrison got really drunk together after the Whiskey A Go Go gigs and became close friends.

They were both heavy drinkers.

When Them was on stage at the Whiskey, Jim was in front row, right in front of Van...and mesmerized by the drunken, Irish bluesman. The Doors asked a permission from Van to play a cover version of "Gloria" as a tribute to Van...and Van had no probleam with that...

Van and Jim remained friends untill Jim´s death in Paris...

I know that Iggy is a Doors fan, so maybe that's why he checked the Them albums too...

what are the Them albums? how long did the band last for anyway?

don't know the Doors' cover of 'Gloria'

Nadja wrote:

don't know the Doors' cover of 'Gloria'

Check this out ( it kicks ass)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbSFvYq26Gs

cheers Aku!