The Bang material

AN FIRST RECORDED FOR BERT BERNS' BANG LABEL in New York, on March 28th, 1967. The sessions took place in the A & R Recording Studios on 112 West 48th Street over two days, after which Van flew back to Belfast. Out of these sessions came Van's first single for Bang: "Brown-Eyed Girl". The success of this single prompted Berns to call Van back to New York for a second studio session in November of 1967, from which The Best of Van Morrison and many of the subsequent reissues were culled.

Relations between Van and Berns quickly became strained, however, due to differences in how to best present Van's material. Bang's release of the Blowin' Your Mind album (without Van's knowledge, while he was on the road, touring), only exacerbated this. Bang followed up with the oddly-titled Best of Van Morrison album (which Van derisively referred to as The Worst of Van Morrison), which probably killed any chance of Van and Bang reconciling.

But Bang still had the rights to Van's next 10 tracks. Following Bert Berns' death on December 30, 1967, Van was able to get released from his contract when he handed in a tape including a selection of throw-away nonsense "songs" - these tracks later appeared as part of The Lost Tapes set(s), in its various forms. Of interest, perhaps, only to collectors...

The various incarnations of the Bang material are described in separate Discography entries below:

And that's not all! The Bang material keeps getting re-issued under various names on various labels around the world. The examples below (most of them reported to me by Diana De Roo in Belgium) are but a small sampling. If anyone can send a cover scan for these or any others, they may even get their own Discography entry someday:

  • Brown Eyed Girl (Prism Leisure, England - PLATCD 600 - 2000)
    Brown Eyed Girl / He Ain't Give You None / T.B. Sheets / Spanish Rose / Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) / Ro Ro Rosey / Who Drove the Red Sports Car? / Midnight Special / Beside You / It's Alright / Madame George / Send Your Mind / The Smile You Smile / The Back Room / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / Chick-a-Boom / I Love You (The Smile You Smile) / Brown Eyed Girl (alternative version)

  • Thanks to Judy Daviduk of Nanaimo, BC
    for the Jameson mini-CD
    Jameson: The Spirit of Ireland (©1997/98 Musiques & Solutions / Irish Distillers Ltd)
    A 5-track mini-CD included with bottles of Jameson Irish Whisky: Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) / Past The Point of Rescue (Mary Black) / The Fisher King (Anuna) / Whisky In The Jar - live (The Dubliners) / The Trip To Sligo (The Chieftains)

  • Brown Eyed Girl (Sony Music Special Products - 1997)
    Brown Eyed Girl / Send Your Mind / The Back Room / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / Madame George / Ro Ro Rosey / Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) / He Ain't Give You None / Spanish Rose / Who Drove The Red Sports Car

    Spanish Rose cover

  • Spanish Rose (Golden Stars, SPA GSS 5137 - Belgium)
    Spanish Rose / Chick-A-Boom / The Smile You Smile / It's Alright / T. B. Sheets / Beside You / I Love You (The Smile You Smile) / Send Your Mind

  • Brown Eyed Girl (Audiophile Legends - SAP APH 102.805 - Belgium)
    Brown Eyed Girl / Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) / Ro Ro Rosey / The Back Room / Midnight Special / He Ain't Give You None / Who Drove The Red Sports Car / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / Madame George / Spanish Rose / Chick-A-Boom / The Smile You Smile / It's Alright / T. B. Sheets / Beside You / I Love You (The Smile You Smile) / Send Your Mind / Brown Eyed Girl

  • The Very Best of Van Morrison (Arcade, 99 02 143 - France)
    Brown Eyed Girl / Spanish Rose / Madame George / Beside You / Who Drove The Red Sports Car / Midnight Special / Ro Ro Rosey / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / It's Alright / He Ain't Give You None / Chick-A-Boom / T. B. Sheets

    The Great Van Morrison cover

  • The Great Van Morrison (Goldies - SPA GLD 63191 - Portugal)
    Brown Eyed Girl / Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) / Ro Ro Rosey / The Back Room / Midnight Special / He Ain't Give You None / Who Drove The Red Sports Car / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / Madame George

  • Van Morrison - Diamond Star Collection (Arcade - 8800240 - Germany)
    Brown Eyed Girl / Spanish Rose / Madame George / Beside You / Who Drove The Red Sports Car / Midnight Special / Ro Ro Rosey / Joe Harper Saturday Morning / It's Alright / He Ain't Give You None / Chick-A-Boom / T. B. Sheets

  • Van Morrison (Bellaphon - Germany)
    Album (LP): 220 07 037 Stereo. MusiCassette: 20 07 037)
    Pressed: 1967. Cover Design: H Wenske
    Cover Printed in Germany by: Johannes Alt GmbH, 6369 Niederdorfelden
    Side 1: Spanish Rose / It's All Right / Send Your Smile / The Smile You Smile / The Back Room
    Side 2: Brown Eyed Girl / Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) / Ro Ro Rosey / He Ain't Give You None / Joe Harper Saturday Morning

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