Van Morrison's 'Magic Time' Debuts Top 25 In The U.S. and Tops The Charts Around The World

SANTA MONICA, (Geffen Records) - Ireland's legendary vocalist and songwriter is back in action with his new CD Magic Time. The self-produced set was released on Geffen Records May 17th and debuted this week on the Billboard Top 200 chart at No 25. It also debuted at No 3 in the U.K., Van's highest U.K. debut of his career.
Elsewhere around the world Magic Time topped the charts; No 4 in Denmark, No 5 in Spain, No 6 in Norway, No 6 in Sweden,. No 10 in Italy, No 10 in Holland, No 12 in Germany, and No 15 in Australia. Magic Time also debuted at No 5 on the Soundscan Digital Album chart for this week.

Magic Time is Van's first new album of originals since 2003's grammy-nominated What's Wrong With This Picture? and is the 38th solo release of his illustrious career. The CD's 2005 release also marks the 40th anniversary of Van's first hits with the band THEM.

With such songs as "Stranded," "Celtic New Year," "Gypsy In My Soul" and the title track, Van Morrison has created one of his most powerful albums in years. Other tracks on the new album include "Keep Mediocrity At Bay," "Evening Train," "Just Like Greta," "The Lion This Time," "They Sold Me Out," "Carry On Regardless" as well as interpretations of three jazz classics, "'This Love Of Mine," "I'm Confessin," and "'Lonely And Blue."

Van Morrison will be playing a string of dates in the U.S. in June before he heads back overseas for dates in England, including the Glastonbury Festival on June 26th. .See below for complete U.S. tour dates:

June 8 Santa Rosa, CA Luther Burbank Theatre
June 9 San Francisco, CA Masonic Theatre
June 10 Denver, CO Red Rocks
June 11 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Taj Majal

A 1993 inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a 2003 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Van Morrison has been one of the most consistently admired musicians of the last 40 years. As a member of the 60's Irish band Them, he created indelible hits like "Gloria" and "Here Comes the Night."
Early solo albums like "Astral Weeks," "Tupelo Honey," "Saint Dominic's Preview" and the immortal "Moondance" yielded hit after hit - among them "Wild Night," "Domino" and "Blue Money" - cementing Morrison's standing as a peerless innovator. Latter projects with the Chieftains brought Van back to his Irish roots, but he has always been a universally beloved artist.
His last CD "What's Wrong with this Picture?" earned a Grammy Award nomination in the 'Best Contemporary Blues Album' category.