BIGSONG:
James Morrison Catchpole (born 13 August 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 2006, his debut single “You Give Me Something” became a hit in Europe, Australia, Japan and Iran, peaking in the top five in the UK and claiming the No. 1 spot in New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered (2006), debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart. In 2007, Morrison won the Brit Award for Best British Male.
In 2008, Morrison released his second album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, which entered the top five in the UK as well as topping the Irish Albums Chart. Songs for You, Truths for Me featured the top 10 singles “You Make It Real” and his critically acclaimed collaboration with Nelly Furtado titled “Broken Strings”. Morrison is also a songwriter for other artists, having written for of Demi Lovato, Olly Murs, Kelly Clarkson, and Clay Aiken. In 2010, he wrote a song for Italian singer Marco Carta entitled “Quello che dai”, which debuted at number one in Italy’s chart.
Early life
Morrison was born in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, where he was surrounded by the influence of his parents’ record collection; his mother was a fan of soul and his father enjoyed folk and country. He began playing guitar when his uncle Joe showed him how to play a blues riff. As a teenager he started busking when he lived in Porth, Newquay, Cornwall, in a local pub called the Phoenix, Watergate Bay. He used to practise playing his guitar on the promenade looking over Porth beach. He took GCSE music at Treviglas Community College. After some years of covering other musicians’ songs, he eventually started to write his own. He attributes his distinctive voice to a severe bout of whooping cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby.
Morrison has alluded to an unhappy childhood affected by poverty and illness; he said of his hometown, “The best thing is I’ve got memories of being a kid there, and the worst thing is I’ve got memories of being a kid there.” When Morrison was only a few weeks old, he contracted whooping cough and was given a 30% chance of survival from doctors, who believed that if he survived he would be severely brain damaged. He states that he “went blue and stopped breathing and [doctors] had to resuscitate me four times.” After the experience, his parents divorced when he was four years old, and he suffered from low self esteem at school, where he was ostracized for being involved in music rather than sports. He finally gained confidence when he moved to Cornwall as a teenager, where people were more accepting of his musical inclinations.
According to Morrison, he was influenced by music from a very young age, listening to artists such as Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Al Green. Morrison said that the first time he heard Stevie Wonder’s voice he was close to tears, and he has since been fascinated by the way he uses his voice.
Working in Derby, Morrison found an Irish bar called Ryan’s Bar & Scream, which runs an open mic night on Wednesdays and Sundays. Ben Wilson and Morrison became acquainted with Kevin Andrews, who produced Morrison’s first demo tape and co-wrote the song “One Last Chance,” which later was re-recorded and appeared on his debut studio album, Undiscovered. His demos were eventually picked up by Polydor Records.
Career
He achieved worldwide success with debut single “You Give Me Something”, which reached No. 2 in the Netherlands and the No. 5 spot in the UK. He released his debut album Undiscovered on 31 July 2006. The album received generally positive reviews, with The Sun claiming, “There isn’t a bad track on it”. An equally positive review by The Times stated that “Undiscovered may prove to be the least apposite album title for years”. It topped the UK Albums Chart on its first week of its release. The album sold over 1 million copies around the world by the end of 2006, making Morrison the best-selling male solo artist of 2006 in the UK.
The album’s second single was “Wonderful World”, which broke into the top ten in the UK after its CD single release, peaking at No. 8. The song fared just as well in the Netherlands, where it peaked at No. 8. This was his second top ten single after the success of “You Give Me Something”. On 18 December 2006 Morrison’s third single, “The Pieces Don’t Fit Anymore,” was released. It peaked at No. 30 in the UK. The fourth single from Undiscovered was the title song, “Undiscovered,” which was released on 13 March 2007. “Undiscovered” peaked at No. 63. The song fared better in the Netherlands, where it peaked at No. 30.
Morrison was scheduled to play at the 2006 V Festival in one of the smaller tents. However, the audience was much larger than expected and couldn’t fit into the tent allocated for him. As a result, 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 before Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall. He appeared on Live from Abbey Road after his live recording session at Abbey Road Studios on 5 January 2007.
After the release of Undiscovered, Morrison made his first appearance on national TV in the United States, on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, in addition to appearing on NBC’s Today Show on 16 March 2007, performing “You Give Me Something” with just guitar and Wurlitzer piano. The album debuted at No. 24 in the US, with 24,000 copies in its first week.
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 and Best British Single Shortlist.) On 4 April 2007, he was awarded the title of an AOL Breaker artist, a contest that was voted on by the British public.
At the Concert for Diana on 1 July 2007, he performed the songs “Wonderful World” and “You Give Me Something” in honour of Princess Diana. During the summer of 2007, Morrison headlined the Forestry Commission’s Forest Tour. His fifth UK single, One Last Chance, was released on 2 July 2007 as a download only. The video was shown on The Hits, The Box and Smash Hits music channels. The video was shot in Canada in April 2007. On 29 November 2007, he performed in KL Convention Center for the Acoustic Live&Loud KL ’07, a music festival in Malaysia. Morrison performed alongside Rick Price and local singer Dayang Nurfaizah.
