The Green Man Review says that the Northern Irish singer and songwriter has spent the past 50 years fusing American jazz, pop, blues, soul and rhythm & blues with Anglo-Irish folk music to create something that's been dubbed Celtic Soul.

The Essential is a two-disc, 37-track collection from Sony Legacy celebrates that half-century of song, as part of a huge new reissue project.

It all starts with those early Them nuggets like "Gloria" and "Here Comes The Night" before moving onto to Morrsion's first solo hit "Brown Eyed Girl."

Of course, "Astral Weeks," the title track of his second solo album changed the game entirely, leading to a career of musical exploration that transcends those early R&B and pop flavorings to more organic strains of country music, jazz, Celtic folk and rock.

Roz Milner from Bearded Gentlemen Music says: What is about Van Morrison that inspires such loyalty and passion?