T.B. Sheets
	Directed and produced by Bert Berns
	Released on December 1973
	US CHART POSITION #181
	Find it at GEMM
00867-2 cover [high resolution scan]

K ronomyth 7.5: MORE BUCKS FOR BANG. Columbia compiled eight of the better tracks from Van’s 1967 Bang sessions in New York, a good half of which had already appeared on Blowin’ Your Mind (you can even spot the album cover in this artwork), and repackaged it as T.B. Sheets. The album is otherwise interesting for the inclusion of pre-Astral versions of “Madame George” and “Beside You.” Of course, if you already own his first album, you don’t know to be blowin’ your dough on this compilation. Those early Bert Berns sessions were surprisingly fruitful after all and have multiplied; I’d wager no less than a dozen albums re-purpose the same dozen-and-a-half tracks, so best to pick one that covers the whole set in one shot. Albums like T.B. Sheets are more of historical interest, since record buyers in the mid 70s were just as likely to encounter this in the record shelves as the original Blowin’ Your Mind (the two records charted about the same in the US), and so Sheets served as a second introduction to songs like “Brown-Eyed Girl” and “Ro Ro Rosey.” Unlike a lot of artists, Van’s early recordings are at least a rich field of research. It’s true that his early songs were often stream of consciousness (“It’s All Right” and, to some extent anyway, “Madame George” and “T.B. Sheets” for examples), but a flowing river of consciousness is more like it. The backing band, assembled by Berns, is also surprisingly solid for an ad-hoc outfit: Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken, Paul Griffin, The Sweet Inspirations. With some rolling thunder behind him, Morrison is rarely less than electric, whether he’s resurrecting the past (“Who Drove The Red Sports Car?”) or burying it (“T.B. Sheets”). You can leave this under the covers for now, with a mental note to buy one of those big Bang compilations one of these days.

TRACK LISTING

1. HE AIN'T GIVE YOU NONE
2. BESIDE YOU
3. IT'S ALL RIGHT
4. MADAME GEORGE
5. T.B. SHEETS
6. WHO DROVE THE RED SPORTS CAR?
7. RO RO ROSEY
8. BROWN EYED GIRL
   
   All songs written by Van Morrison
   

CREDITS

VAN MORRISON -- vocals, guitar
Jeff Berry -- background vocals, tambourine
Bob Bushnell -- bass
Artie Butler -- keyboards
Gary Chester -- drums
George Devins -- percusison, vibraphone
Eric Gale -- guitar
Al Gorgoni -- guitar
Paul Griffin -- keyboards
Artie Kaplan -- flute, saxophone
Herbie Lovelle -- drums
Hugh McCracken -- guitar
Seldon Powell -- flute, saxophone
Russell Savakas -- bass
The Sweet Inspirations -- background vocals
  Cissy Houston
  Myrna Smith
  Dee Dee Warwick
Donald Thomas -- guitar
Brooks Arthur -- engineer
Eddie Biscoe -- art direction
John Van Hamersveld -- cover design
Mark Finkelstein -- cover design
Tomas Burzinski -- cover painting

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