Bang Masters

Performer: Van Morrison
Engineer: Brooks Arthur
Producer: Bert Berns
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: THE BANG MASTERS collects songs Van Morrison recorded for the Bang label shortly after he left Them in 1967. These tracks were previously released on the LPs BLOWIN' YOUR MIND, T.B. SHEETS and GREATEST HITS. THE BANG MASTERS includes a rare B-side, "Chick-A-Boom," and an alternate, uncensored take of "Brown Eyed Girl." All tracks were remixed from the original 4-track master tapes. Packaged a thousand ways under as many names (T.B. SHEETS, BLOWIN' YOUR MIND, BROWN EYED BEGINNINGS, etc.) these are the first solo sessions a young Morrison recorded after his departure from Irish R&B-rockers Them. In 1967, a 21-year-old Morrison embarked on a three-day recording session with American producer Bert Berns. Originally intended as a singles session (and producing Morrison's most successful song ever, "Brown Eyed Girl,"), this vital moment in rock history was something of a battle between Van's newly unfettered muse and Berns' more commercial leanings. Consequently, the tracks are split between more accessible, pop-leaning tracks like "Spanish Rose" and the aforementioned smash, and more introspective, bluesy workouts, like the nine-and-a-half minute "T.B. Sheets," still one of Morrison's most harrowing tunes. Shortly after this session, Van recorded and released the masterly ASTRAL WEEKS (it was only after that album's success that any of this material was issued in album form) and early versions of ASTRAL WEEKS' "Beside You" and "Madame George" are a special treat.

Van Morrison first came to notice as the powerful vocalist of the mid-1960s group Them ("Baby Please Don't Go," "Gloria"), and then with the solo hit "Brown-Eyed Girl." Morrison followed this success with two landmark albums, ASTRAL WEEKS and MOONDANCE, which masterfully combined folk, gospel, rock, and jazz. As complex a performer as any that rock & roll has produced, the soulful Irishman has produced numerous outstanding recordings in his long career, mixing his pensive and passionate R&B-inflected rock with a decidedly mystical bent.

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