Happened to listen to the Bang Records Contratual Obligation Sessions today. What a hoot.1
Van Morrison records one of the first punk albums: every song on here is less than 2 minutes long, and many contain enough vitriol for Johnny Rotten to surf on.
WFMU’s Beware of the Blog: Van Morrison’s Contractual Obligation Album
…And then there is Van Morrison’s Bang Records Sessions.In order to fulfill his obligation to his early solo label Bang Records,Van Morrison sat down in 1967 or so and cranked out 31 songs on the spot, on topics ranging from ringworm to wanting a danish, to hating his record label and a guy named George. Make sure you get past the first few tunes – it takes him a few to get cooking.
Some very funny titles included here
Music here
Oh, and the lyrics are here, worth another giggle.
Unfortunately, WFMU had to take down the tracks. If you are looking for a copy, contact me privately or leave a comment, I might know where to direct you.
Jump And Thump – 1:09
Shake And Roll – 0:59
Stomp And Scream-1:14
Scream And Holler-1:16
Ring Worm-1:33
Drivin Wheel-1:14
Just Ball-1:00
Shake It Mable-1:14
Hold On George-1:31
The Big Royalty Check-1:37
Savoy Hollywood-1:01
Freaky If You Got This Far-1:06
Up Your Mind-1:14
Thirty Two-1:00
All The Bits-0:55
Twist And Shake-1:17
You Say France And I Whistle-0:55
Blow In Your Nose-1:26
Nose In Your Blow-1:03
La Mambo-0:53
Go For Yourself-1:21
Want A Danish-1:05
Here Comes Dumb George-0:57
Chickee Coo-1:11
Do It-1:01
Hang On Groovy-0:58
Goodbye George-1:18
Dum Dum George-1:27
“Complete Bang Sessions” (Van Morrison)
Apparently, these 30 tracks have since been actually released on CD. Wow, not sure I’d pay actual money for these songs, most are best heard infrequently. Funny to hear once a year, more than that, not so much.
Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic writes:
Footnotes:The Bang Sessions, as most fans of Van the Man know, present Morrison when he is very good and when he is absolutely wretched. The good, of course, is his first solo album, Blowin’ Your Mind, an engaging set of ambitious folk-rock which borrows equally from R&B and jazz, winding up with songs as ebullient as “Brown Eyed Girl” and as haunting as “T.B. Sheets,” with a lot of ground covered in between. The bad is the songs that he wrote and recorded in a bid to get out of his contract with Bang — obstinate, stream-of-conscious ditties and nonsense that he wrote on the spot; it’s interesting in theory, but nearly unlistenable in practise.
- reposted from a 2005 entry [↩]
I’d be much obliged if you could direct me to a copy of this. I’ve been scouring the net for almost two hours, to no avail.
yeah, me too if that’s okay. would really like to listen to it
I found a source for these songs; check here
Yes, I am the offshore promoter that has scammed people in the past and provided client records to the FBI, IRS and Senate Finance Committee. My companies, of Rockford Global Solutions and Equity Development Group were put in place to soley to capture people trying to flee the U.S. tax system. I am sorry for what I have done and those I have hurt.
Thanks, Metropolitan!