Van Morrison catalog going online Friday

Brian Mansfield | USA TODAY

For years, the catalog of Van Morrison has been one of digital music's gaping holes. The Irish singer's digital representation has been spotty at best, with only his most recent albums and a few early hits available at any given time.

A new deal with Sony Music's Legacy Recordings, though, will bring nearly all the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's catalog under one imprint. On Friday, Legacy will make available 33 Van Morrison albums, including such key '70s albums as Saint Dominic's Preview, Veedon Fleece and Wavelength, as well as heralded later albums like Poetic Champions Compose, Avalon Sunset and 1988's Irish Heartbeat, a collaboration with Irish group The Chieftains.

Also on Friday, Legacy will release Essential Van Morrison, a 37-track, two-CD compilation that contains highlights from across the catalog.

Lagacy's acquisition covers Morrison's solo works from 1971 to the present, as well as the album he made as frontman for the band Them from 1964 to 1966. The Them recordings will be available on Legacy later this year. Legacy also plans deluxe editions of Saint Dominic's Preview, It's Too Late to Stop Now, Hard Nose the Highway and Enlightenment.

The new agreement does not cover Morrison's first solo album, Blow Your Mind!, which was released in 1967 by Bang Records and included his hit Brown Eyed Girl. Nor does it include four albums made for Warner Bros. during the late '60s and early '70s: Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band and Street Choir and Tupelo Honey.

Morrison, who will turn 70 Aug. 31, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In June of this year, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II and received the Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala.

The following Morrison albums will be available for streaming and digital download beginning Friday:

St. Dominic's Preview (1972)

Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

It's Too Late to Stop Now (Live) (1974)

Veedon Fleece (1974)

A Period of Transition (1977)

Wavelength (1978)

Into the Music (1979)

Common One (1980)

Beautiful Vision (1982)

Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983)

Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast (Live) (1984)

A Sense of Wonder (1984)

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1984)

Poetic Champions Compose (1987)

Irish Heartbeat (w/the Chieftains) (1988)

Avalon Sunset (1989)

Enlightenment (1990)

Hymns to the Silence (1991)

Too Long in Exile (1993)

A Night in San Francisco (Live) (1994)

Days Like This (1995)

How Long Has This Been Going On? (1995)

Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison (1996)

The Healing Game (1997)

The Philosopher's Stone (two-CD outtakes compilation, 1998)

Back on Top (1999)

The Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast (Live) (2000)

Down the Road (2002)

What's Wrong with This Picture? (2003)

Magic Time (2005)

Pay the Devil (2006)

Keep it Simple (2008)

Astral Weeks "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" (Live) (2009)