James Morrison (singer)
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| James Morrison | |
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 Morrison performing at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival.
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 13, 1984 Rugby, Warwickshire, England |
| Origin | Rugby, Warwickshire, England |
| Genre(s) | Pop, soft rock, soul, Blue-eyed soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Label(s) | Polydor (worldwide except North America) Interscope (North America) |
| Website | JamesMorrisonMusic.com |
James Morrison (born James Morrison Catchpole on 13 August 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
In 2006, he debuted with the single "You Give Me Something" which became a huge hit around Europe, Australia, and Japan. His debut album, Undiscovered, went straight to number one in the UK and has sold more than two million copies worldwide.[citation needed]
Morrison performed at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. He performed the songs "Wonderful World" and "You Give Me Something" in honour of Princess Diana.
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[edit] Early life
At age 13, Morrison began to learn guitar, inspired by local artist Alan Deane, when his uncle Joe showed him how to play a blues riff. He started busking when he lived in the village of Porth, near Newquay, Cornwall. After several years of playing other musicians' songs, he eventually started to compose his own. His favourite artists are Otis Redding, Al Green, Cat Stevens, The Kinks and Van Morrison.[1] He puts his distinctive, tender voice down to a severe bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.[2]
[edit] Music career
Whilst visiting Derby with his long time girlfriend from the city, he came across a now-renowned Open Mic night at Ryans Bar. Morrison spent the best part of two years developing there a platform. He was spotted by local composer/guitarist Kevin Andrews, who ran the night. Mr Andrews recorded the first demos and introduced James to his first manager, Spencer Wells. Andrews went on to Work for Warner Bros publishers. Polydor Productions took the chance and signed him. He became the supporting artist for Corinne Bailey Rae on her tour supporting her debut album.
He got his worldwide success with début single "You Give Me Something", which reached the #2 spot in Holland and the #5 spot in the UK. He released his debut album Undiscovered on July 31, 2006. He got great reviews from different papers. "There isn't a bad track on it" (The Sun),[3] "Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years" (The Times).[3] It topped the UK album chart in its first week of its release. The album has sold over 1 million copies around the world (as of December 24, 2006).
The album’s second single was "Wonderful World", which has already been a top-10 hit in the UK, reaching the #8 spot; it also reached #8 in the Netherlands.
He also performed at the 2006 V Festival. He was due to only play one of the smaller tents but, due to the number of people wanting to get into the tent, he had a ten-minute set on the main stage before HARD-Fi came on (Weston Park). At the 2007 V Festival he played his full set on the main stage.
He also performed "You Give Me Something" at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance in front of Prince Charles and The Duchess Of Cornwall.
On December 18, 2006 James Morrison's third single, "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore" was released. It peaked at #30 in the UK, which made it the lowest peak of all his singles until "Undiscovered", which peaked at #63, was released.
James Morrison appeared on Live from Abbey Road following his live recording session at Abbey Road Studios on January 5th 2007.
His album's U.S. release, which he is currently promoting, was March 13, 2007. He made his first appearance on national TV at the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. He also appeared on NBC Today show on March 16, 2007, performing "You Give Me Something" with just guitar and Wurlitzer piano. The album debuted at #24 in the US with 24,000 copies in its first week. He still has yet to release a second single in the US.
In 2007, Morrison was nominated for 3 BRIT Awards and won the Best British Male Solo Artist category. (Other nominations were for the Best British Breakthrough Act, Best British Single Shortlist).
His fourth single in the UK was "Undiscovered". It was released on March 12, 2007, a day before his American album debut. The song peaked at #63 but it is still in the charts.
On April 4, 2007, he was awarded the title of an AOL Breaker artist,[4] a contest that was voted by fans.
During the summer of 2007, Morrison headlined the Forestry Commission's Forest Tour.
His fifth UK single, One Last Chance was released on July 2, 2007 as a download only. The video is being shown on The Hits, The Box and Smash Hits music channels. The video was shot in Canada in April 2007.
On November 29, 2007, he performed in KL Convention Center for the Acoustic Live&Loud KL '07; a music festival in Malaysia. James had performed alongside Rick Price and local singer Dayang Nurfaizah. The audiences had gotten more than they expected when he performed a brand new song that is going to be in his next album.
James is currently writing and producing music for his new album, which will feature songs that have been co-written by Gary Barlow, lead singer of Take That, Tim Kellett, songwriter and former trumpeter with Simply Red and legendary singer and song writer Judie Tzuke (now co-writer for many of Polydor's young song writers).
James performed a duet with Jason Mraz called "Details In The Fabric" on Mraz's new studio album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, which was released on May 13, 2008.[5]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
All released albums and their chart positions in the United World Chart (UWC), United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), the Netherlands (NL), New-Zealand (NZ), Norway (NO), Denmark (DK), Ireland (IR) and Germany (GER).
| Year | Album | Chart positions[6] | Sales | ||||||||||
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| UWC | UK | US | AUS | NL | NZ | NO | DK | IR | GER | ITA | |||
| 2006 | Undiscovered |
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US Sales: 82,973 UK Sales: 1,200,000+ World Sales: 3,500,000 [citation needed] |
[edit] Singles
All released singles and their chart positions in the United World Chart (UWC), United Kingdom (UK), Australia (AUS), the Netherlands (NL) and Norway (NO).
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Sales | |||||
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| UWC | UK | AUS | NL | NZ | EUR | |||
| 2006 | "You Give Me Something"[7]
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| 2006 | "Wonderful World"[8]
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| 2006 | "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"[9]
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| 2007 | "Undiscovered"[10]
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| 2007 | "One Last Chance"
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[edit] B-sides
- From "You Give Me Something"
- "Is Anybody Home"
- "Burns Like Summer Sun"
- From "Wonderful World"
- "My Uprising"
- From "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
- "Don't Close Your Eyes
[edit] References
- ^ MySpace.com - James Morrison - UK - Soul / Rock / Alternative - www.myspace.com/jamesmorrisonmusic
- ^ Speaking on Channel 4 television show Richard and Judy on 13 February 2007.
- ^ a b James Morrison
- ^ AOL Breaker Winner: James Morrison
- ^ Jasonmraz.com - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things Jason Mraz Official Store Pre-Order
- ^ James Morrison - Undiscovered Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ James Morrison - You Give Me Something Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ James Morrison - Wonderful World Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ James Morrison - The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ James Morrison - Undiscovered Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
[edit] External links
