James Morrison .Net

James Morrison - who, aping Stevie Wonder in You Give Me Something, sold an incredible 1.5 million copies of his debut single.

James who is barely of drinking age in the country from which he pilfered his sound, is blessed with an undeniably strong voice. It projects all the necessary grit and range to lend sincerity to even the most banal of lyrics.

Morrison, now 22, can’t help but be genuinely bewildered by his annus mirabilis. A penniless van washer less than two years earlier, in 2006 he released a No. 1 album (Undiscovered), won a Brit Award for best male solo artist and filled his passport chock-full of stamps.

Asked to list the most incredible moments, Morrison, who hails from a town called Rugby, is lost for words.

“Bloody hell, I’ve got a long list,” he says, genially. “Getting the Brit [award] was amazing. I’ve never thought I’d get a Brit award. I never thought I’d have an album let alone a Brit award.” The award was won at the expense of some of England’s best loved sons - including Radiohead’s enigmatic Thom Yorke and the suave Jarvis Cocker.

“When they called my name out I was like, ‘What?’” Morrison says, like an excited school kid. “It all kind of went into slow motion,” he says, mimicking a 45 record played at 33. “Everything was like Jaaaaaaammess Mooorissonn and I was like, ‘nooooo waaaay’.”

The publicity machine behind Morrison (Universal Records) has gone to great lengths to compare his voice, incredible as it is, to the great standards of the soul canon. The likes of Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder are often cited.

“It’s a bit silly, man,” Morrison says. “There’s only one Otis Redding, only one Stevie Wonder. It is kind - and I totally take it as a compliment - but it’s too much.

“I’m just a singer-songwriter, y’know, who likes soul music and sings with passion.”

The same publicity machine has also made much of Morrison’s less-than-ideal upbringing, born into a splintered family, moving regularly from town to town. His husky vocal cords are credited to both a bad case of whooping cough as a child and a strict diet of “best of” records. Again, the likes of Stevie Wonder and Al Green were among them.
Source: brisbanetimes/