Van Morrison
New York Sessions
A&R and Century Sounds Studios
Studio Sessions
New York City, New York
March and November, 1967

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CD 1

These are songs from the studio sessions for Bang records that never became released except on unofficially released albums “T.B Sheets” and “Bang Masters”. After further research i notice that the times and takes on these song tracks do not match any of these albums either. The closest would be the “Bang Masters”.But there are some differences and that does not include cd 2 at all. Furthermore i know the first 8 tracks are in the same order of the commercially released “Blowin Your Mind” that was recorded on March 28,29 1967. Yes that album came out of these sessions but those commercially released takes are not included and do not even come close to the track times and or sound the same that is included here. Also PLEASE NOTE if you look at the original info. the setlist for CD 1 is in a different order than what is presented here. i changed the tracklist order to match the artwork and what i found when i researched these New York Sessions. The only thing that matches this (meaning having all of these tracks included) is the bootleg “Brown Eyed Beginnings” released 4-28-1998 (see below for notes). That bootleg matches thes these tracks but i can not tell how it matches in sound. i do not have that bootleg. I can tell you the “New York Sessions sounds awesome and is one of the Best early Van out there.

01. Brown Eye Girl (3:05)
02. He Ain’t Give You None [alternate take] (5:49)
03. T.B. Sheets (9:36)
04. Spanish Rose [alternate take] (3:53)
05. Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye) [written by Bert Berns,Wes Farrell] (2:58)
06. Ro Ro Rosey (3:04)
07. Who Drove The Red Sports Car [alternate take, possible take #6] (5:35)
08. Midnight Special [traditional] (2:40)
09. Beside You [longer take] (6:06)
10. It’s Alright (4:58)
11. Madame George [shorter take] (5:16)
12. Send Your Mind (2:50)
13. The Smile You Smile [alternate take] (2:56)
14. The Back Room (5:29)
15. Joe Harper Saturday Morning [alternate take] (4:16)
16. Chick-A-Boom [written with Bert Berns] (3:12)
17. I Love You (The Smile You Smile) [acoustic take] (2:22)
18. Brown Eye Girl [alternate take possbile take #6] (3:35)

Bert Russell – American songwriter and record producer of the 1960’s
Wes Farrell – also wrote “Come On, Get Happy” (theme song for The Partridge Family TV series) and produced

CD 2

This the second disc contains the notorious “Contractual Obligation” session thirty-one improvised nonsense songs Morrison recorded in order to fulfill his contract with Bang Records. This is just great vintage Van the Man. Listen to the lyrics to theses songs they are just flat out amusing and one of a kind

Jamming Sessions with just Van and his acoustic guitar

01. Twist and Shake (1:18)
02. Shake and Roll (0.57)
03. Stomp and Scream (1:13)
04. Scream and Holler (1:14)
05. Jump and Thump (1:08)
06. Drivin’ Wheel (1:12)
07. Just Ball (0.59)
08. Shake It Mable (1:12)
09. Hold on George (1:29)
10. The Big Royalty Check (1:36)
11. Ring Worm (1:31)
12. Savoy Hollywood (1:00)
13. Freaky If You Got This Far (1:04)
14. Up Your Mind (1:12)
15. Thirty Two (0:59)
16. All the Bits (0:53)
17. You Say France and I Whistle (0:53)
18. Blow Your Nose (1:24)
19. Nose in Your Blow (1:01)
20. La Mambo (0:51)
21. Go for Yourself (1:20)
22. Want a Danish (1:04)
23. Here Comes Dumb George (0:55)
24. Chickee Coo (1:10)
25. Do It (1:00)
26. Hang on Groovy (0:56)
27. Goodbye George (1:16)
28. Dum Dum George (1:27)
29. Walk and Talk (1:06)
30. The Wobble (1:02)
31. Wobble and Ball (1:06)

Personnel during these sessions includes:
Van Morrison (vocals, guitar); Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken, Al Gorgoni, Donald Thomas (guitar); Artie Kaplan, Seldon Powell (flute, saxophone); Artie Butler, Paul Griffin (keyboards); George Devins (vibraphone, percussion); Bob Bushnell, Russell Savakas (bass); Herbie Lovelle (drums); Jeff Berry (tambourine, background vocals); Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Myrna Smith (background vocals).

CD Description
BROWN EYED BEGINNINGS is essentially THE BANG MASTERS (which includes all the songs Morrison recorded on his first solotrip into the studio with American producer Bert Berns, plus an extra disc of strange, one-minute tunes. While the first disc, which comprises the Bang sessions proper, shows Morrison to be an already-formidable progressive blues/R&B artist, the second disc demonstrates that he was also quite the willful chap, even as early as 1967. Embroiled in legal/contractual disputes with Berns over the amount of material Morrison owed Bang, the singer recorded an album’s worth of short, commercially unusable nonsense cuts. These make up disc number two of BROWN EYED BEGINNINGS, and while notable mostly for their novelty value, they are early evidence that Morrison was a man to be reckoned with.