Bang Masters [Original recording reissued]

Van Morrison | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 26, 1991)
• Original Release Date: February 26, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027GX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,457 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's a striking tension at work in these 18 tracks, which represent Van Morrison's first solo recordings. Conducted in New York in 1967 when the 21-year-old Morrison was formulating the spectral notions that took shape on the classic Astral Weeks, these sessions were helmed by hit-minded producer Bert Berns. Berns, who'd written and produced a successful single ("Here Comes the Night") for Morrison's old band, Them, came up with another worthy radio-friendly number with "Brown Eyed Girl." That oldies staple is an anomaly here, however. More representative is the diseased nine-minute-plus vamp "T.B. Sheets" and a couple of songs that turned up in more fluid form on Astral Weeks--"Beside You" and "Madame George." The latter two in nascent form are nearer to Morrison's gritty R&B roots than the dreamy, introspective path he'd soon explore. Bang Masters may be the work of a yearning visionary as reluctant pop star, but the friction feels right. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Wonderful 18 track collection of his BANG output includes an alternate take of BROWN EYED GIRL. Disc graded only FAIR due to scuffs that will not affect play. SM.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive early Van April 28, 2001

By William M. Feagin

Format:Audio CD

Van Morrison's early transitional recordings (between leaving Them in 1967 and signing with Warner Bros. in 1968) have been packaged and repackaged many times, four of them through Sony Music alone (this disc, "T.B. Sheets" in 1990, "Blowin' Your Mind!"--which was the original--in '95 and again in '98, and the "Super Hits" budget compilation). Of these now-redundant rehashes, "Bang Masters" is by far the most complete, and therefore the definitive collection, let no one tell you differently. The liner notes say that, at the time of the CD's release (in early '91), this was the fourth repackaging of the Bang Records sessions. One dares not consider all the imports from small European and Asian labels.

One of the reasons I chose this one was because it had the complete "Brown-Eyed Girl" (unlike the inexplicable single edit on "T.B. Sheets," wherein "Making love in the green grass" was replaced by "Laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey"). As I have a copy of "Astral Weeks" (also highly recommended), I thought it would be fun to hear the original versions of "Madame George" and "Beside You," as well. The version of "Madame George" presented here sounds like a Johnny Rivers track (and Rivers would cover Van's "Into the Mystic" in 1970), but has an extra verse left out of the "Astral Weeks" version of the song. (In trying to learn this song on guitar, I actually went to the trouble of learning the extra verse from the first version while playing like the second, jazzier version.) "T.B. Sheets" is an absolutely riveting track--Van nervously edging towards the door while Julie, his terminally ill girlfriend, begs him to stay and keep her company. It's been rumored that, at the end of the final take, Van broke down in tears and further sessions were postponed (since this song is based on a real-life experience, that would have been understandable), but there is no evidence here of emotional upheaval, impending or otherwise.

Ignore all the imitations. "Bang Masters" is the '67 sessions disc to get.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating glimpse at the beginning of his solo career- March 12, 2002

By J. Wade

Format:Audio CD

Since so many others have written quite well of the origins of these sessions, I won't rehash that. I simply wanted to say that these are excellent songs and the liner notes in this collection are concise in explaining the fact that Van did not intend for these songs to end up as an album by any title.

As it turned out, producer Bert Burns died and Van left Bang records through an escape "key man" clause. So that is why there have been endless repackagings of the 21 or 22 tracks that exist. "T.B. Sheets" is the most fascinating song in the Van Morrison collection as far as I'm concerned. It's almost like something Edgar Allan Poe or William Blake might have written had their art been music. The rest of the collection is a snapshot of the mindset of a 21 year old legend-in-the-making.

My only complaint with this album is the inclusion of an alternate version of "He Ain't Give You None". The better version appeared on the "T.B.Sheets" vinyl version. Presumably, that is also the version that Sony put on the CD, but I do not know. The other version is a more sinister reading, and the lyrics are altered slightly.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Packaging of Van's Bang Material September 21, 1999

By Chris Lauer([e-mail])

Format:Audio CD

Anyone interested in the work of Van Morrison is aware that Van recorded this material without planning for a studio album. Ironically, this work has been rereleased over and over again on one rip-off album after another. This is the only release that deserves merit. Historically, these recordings provide interesting insight into the way Van developed from the soulful pop/rock of Them into the stream-of-consciousness jazz/folk of "Astral Weeks". "T.B. Sheets" and the seminal "Brown Eyed Girl" stand out, but such lesser-known songs as "Spanish Rose" and "Joe Harper Saturday Morning" are what make this collection really enjoyable. Add the rarely heard "Chick-a-Boom",the original versions of "Beside You" and "Madame George", and an alternate take of "Brown Eyed Girl" and you get an important piece of music history. Avoid all other repackaging of this material!!!!