Van Morrison's baby: Suddenly it's interesting

The mild diversion of Van Morrison's baby-that-never was has suddenly become more interesting. You'll have read elsewhere the announcement that Van had become a father again, only for the story to be denied as a malicious posting on his website. Why, said Van, I've never even heard of this Gigi Lee, who's supposed to be the mother.

It turns out, though, that not only does Van know Lee, but she was his tour manager. Oh, and a director of 14 Morrison-related companies.

Now, Morrison's lawyers - ah, they're involved now - have admitted he was "incorrect" when he claimed he'd never heard of Lee. Either Van's memory is fading surprisingly fast, or he's going to have people going through his bins for the next few months.

It's not going to end well for anyone involved, is it?

You should wait to see what he's got planned for the MusicPass version

Van Morrison prepares a live version of Astral Weeks. Pitchfork don't like the sleeve.

To be fair, it does look like a flier for a Mike Reid gig. But what would Pitchfork have suggested instead? (Actually, how about creating a new version of the old one?)

Van Morrison 'grumpy' reports surprised website

Van Morrison's reputation clearly doesn't precede him to quite the extent you'd have thought, as ContactMusic sounds a note of surprise that he came onstage at SXSW in a bad mood:

He curtly told the audience, "We'd like to do the next album. If someone turns off that mobile phone we can start it."

ContactMusic also reports, breathlessly:

Cameras and recording equipment were also banned from the venue.

No, really? Unlike every other gig in the world which has tickets carrying a rule banning the use of cameras or recording equipment.

We mentioned this in passing yesterday

But that Van Morrison sexual harassment tribunal has been settled - there's a full report on icWales. Jerry Lee Lewis' sister Gail Lewis has withdrawn her allegations; Van has made a big cash payment. Luckily, the out of court settlement was reached the day before five counts of sex discrimination were going to be heard.