PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF’S SESSION FOR Van Morrison’s 1979 album, Into the Music, nearly never happened. “I met with him at his home in Northern California,” recalls Seeff, “and he took me on a crazy drive in his Porsche as we listened to the album.” But by the end of the day the quixotic artist expressed doubts about using his image on the album cover. Seeff turned to a mutual friend, who had played violin on one of Morrison’s previous records, for help. She assembled a makeshift band in a studio near Morrison’s home. “‘This is going to be fun,’ I told him,” says Seeff. “I explained he didn’t have to do anything special—just play music.” Morrison wound up performing for three hours, leading the band through much of his monumental catalog. “It was an amazing jam session,” recalls Seeff, who brought along a small film crew. “He was in the zone. I believe it’s one of the great pieces of music captured on film.”