Finally released in their original form, and fully authorized by Van the Man, this 3 cd set includes the original 16 songs/masters of his original 1967 album after leaving the hit group Them, as well as a series of outtakes and studio musings that fulfilled his contractual obligations in order to pursue his career with the larger label Warner Brothers. What you get here is an insight into the creative mind of one of the world’s most important rock artists, as well as some fly-on-the-wall intimacy of his dealings within a recording studio.
Morrison’s original Blowin’ Your Mind album included the classic “Brown Eyed Girl,” and it’s included here in its original “stereo” mix as well as an edited mono “single” version. What is fascinating about the rest of the album and the outtakes as how this all sounds like a preparation for the Desert Island Disc that became Astral Weeks a year later. The original mono mix of “Madame George” is here, and it gives an artist’s draft of things to come, as does “Beside You,” while the almost ten minute “T.B. Sheets” is as good as anything from his later years. Other material such as “Spanish Rose,” “Ro Ro Rosey” and “He Ain’t Give You None” have Morrison sounding like a howling wind.
The third disc, which has been around in bootleg form, has Morrison and company relaxed and having a good time, cracking jokes while also dealing with his moving on from this label. Lots of fun and casual things like “Shake and Roll” and “Hang On Groovy” while things like “The Big Royalty Check” reflects his frustration with this point in his career. Still, an essential piece of marble in the Morrison mosaic.