• Track Listing

When songwriter/producer Bert Berns asked Van Morrison to record for his Bang label in March 1967, what happened next was a mess—and so was what transpired in the future with bootleg releases and tracks spread across all kinds of compilations in various forms. Berns had promised that only singles would be issued, but then turned around and put out the "Blowin’ Your Mind!" LP without Van’s permission. A contract dispute followed, as did "contractual obligation" recordings that have become the stuff of legend (and scattershot release). Bang went on to put out more of the 1967 tracks on a "best-of" LP and on the "T.B. Sheets" LP (’73). Between those releases and various Columbia/Legacy reissues and collections, Morrison fans have heard a dizzying array of alternate mixes and versions; now, though, we have this much-needed new collection featuring the Bang recordings in their original mixes plus a slew of alternate takes and early versions as well as the first legit release of those "contractual obligation recordings." That might sound convoluted, but this sounds great and represents the final word on Van Morrison’s first solo (post-Them) recordings: "Brown Eyed Girl" (original stereo mix, original mono edited single mix and 11 additional takes!), "Spanish Rose" (original stereo mix, take 14), "It’s All Right" (original stereo mix), "Midnight Special" (original stereo mix, take 7), "The Smile You Smile" (original stereo mix), "Ro Ro Rosey" (original stereo mix and original mono single mix with backing vocals), "B. Sheets" (original stereo mix, take 2), the obligation tracks (bratty? Maybe a bit) "You Say France and I Whistle," "Blowin’ Your Nose," "Nose in Your Blow," "Want a Danish," "Dum Dum George") and more early solo-career documents from the soulful, irascible, legendary Van Morrison! Sony Legacy.