Blowin' Your Mind!
Blowin' Your Mind! | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Van Morrison | ||||
Released | September 1967 | |||
Recorded | 28–29 March 1967 | |||
Genre | Rock, R&B, blue-eyed soul, blues | |||
Length | 35:32 | |||
Label | Bang | |||
Producer | Bert Berns | |||
Van Morrison chronology | ||||
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Singles from Blowin' Your Mind! | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Tom Hull | A[2] |
Blowin' Your Mind! is the debut studio album by Northern Irish musician Van Morrison, released in 1967. It was recorded 28–29 March 1967 and contained his first solo pop hit "Brown Eyed Girl". It was included by Rolling Stone as one of the 40 Essential Albums of 1967.[3]
Recording and release history
Morrison does not regard this record as a true album, as Bert Berns compiled and released it without his consent. A few months previously, Morrison had carelessly signed a contract that he had not fully studied and it stipulated that he would surrender virtually all control of the material he would record with Bang Records. The songs were recorded in March 1967, intended to be released on four separate singles.
Months later, Morrison recorded another batch of songs to fulfill his contract with Bang Records, which were never planned to be released, and were largely nonsensical joke songs.[4] This session was widely bootlegged and eventually given an official release in 2017 as part of The Authorized Bang Collection.
The album jacket's psychedelic design was strongly disliked by Morrison and his fans, who felt it misrepresented his musical style. Greil Marcus described it as a "monstrously offensive, super psychedelic far out out-of-sight exploding" design.[5] Morrison's then-wife, Janet Planet, said "He never has been, never will be anything approaching a psychedelic user – wants nothing to do with it, wants nothing to do with any drug of any kind".[6] As the singer recalls, "I got a call saying it was an album coming out and this is the cover. And I saw the cover and I almost threw up, you know."[7]
Songs and reviews
Of the eight songs on the album, all were composed by Morrison except "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" and the last song, "Midnight Special". Clinton Heylin contends that the first side of the album "makes for one of the great single-sided albums in rock",[6] whereas Greil Marcus, the album's most hostile critic, found it "painfully boring, made up of three sweet minutes of 'Brown Eyed Girl' and... the sprawling, sensation-dulling 'T.B. Sheets'".[8] "He Ain't Give You None" is an urban tale of "lust, jealousy and sexual disgust." It references Notting Hill Gate and Curzon Street in London, England, places Morrison would have been familiar with when he lived there during his earlier touring days. It contains the words, "You can leave now if you don't like what is happening." Brian Hinton compares "the delighted contempt of the singer, the song's graveyard pace, the stately organ and stinging guitar" to the Highway 61 period of Bob Dylan.[9]
Reception
Allmusic gave the album a 3-star rating and wrote that "Although Van Morrison's first solo album is remembered for containing the immortal pop hit "Brown Eyed Girl," Blowin' Your Mind! is actually a dry run for his masterpiece, Astral Weeks."[1]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Van Morrison, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Brown Eyed Girl" | 3:03 |
2. | "He Ain't Give You None" | 5:13 |
3. | "T.B. Sheets" | 9:44 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Spanish Rose" | 3:06 | |
2. | "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" | Wes Farrell, Bert Russell | 2:57 |
3. | "Ro Ro Rosey" | 3:03 | |
4. | "Who Drove the Red Sports Car?" | 5:35 | |
5. | "Midnight Special" | Traditional; arranged by Bert Berns | 2:51 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
9. | "Spanish Rose" | 3:38 |
10. | "Ro Ro Rosey" | 3:09 |
11. | "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" | 2:39 |
12. | "Who Drove the Red Sports Car?" | 3:49 |
13. | "Midnight Special" | 2:46 |
Personnel
- Musicians
- Van Morrison - vocals, guitar, harmonica on "T.B. Sheets"
- Eric Gale, Al Gorgoni, Hugh McCracken - guitars
- Russ Savakus - bass
- Paul Griffin - piano
- Garry Sherman - organ
- The Sweet Inspirations - backing vocals on "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Midnight Special"
- Gary Chester - drums
- Production
- Vic Anesini – mastering
- Brooks Arthur – engineer
- Bert Berns – arranger, director, producer, liner notes
- Adam Block – project director
- Bob Irwin – liner notes, reissue producer
- John Jackson – project director
- Garry Sherman – actual arranger, conductor, musical supervisor
- Rodriguez of Los Angeles - cover photography
Charts
Album
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1967 | Pop Albums | 182 |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1967 | "Brown Eyed Girl" | Pop Singles | 10 |
References
- ^ a b Allmusic review
- ^ Hull, Tom (June 2016). "Rhapsody Streamnotes (June 2016)". tomhull.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "40 Essential Albums of 1967". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Van Morrison Millennium Collection". starpulse.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ Hinton. 1997. p78
- ^ a b Heylin. 2003. p158
- ^ Rogan. 2006. p204
- ^ Hinton. 1997. p79
- ^ Hinton. 1997. p80
Sources
- Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7
- Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074-169-X
- Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London:Vintage Books ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1
External
- WFMU'S: Beware of the Blog Morrison's Contractual Obligation Album
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- Blowin' Your Mind!
- Astral Weeks
- Moondance
- His Band and the Street Choir
- Tupelo Honey
- Saint Dominic's Preview
- Hard Nose the Highway
- Veedon Fleece
- A Period of Transition
- Wavelength
- Into the Music
- Common One
- Beautiful Vision
- Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
- A Sense of Wonder
- No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
- Poetic Champions Compose
- Irish Heartbeat
- Avalon Sunset
- Enlightenment
- Hymns to the Silence
- Too Long in Exile
- Days Like This
- How Long Has This Been Going On
- Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
- The Healing Game
- Back on Top
- You Win Again
- Down the Road
- What's Wrong with This Picture?
- Magic Time
- Pay the Devil
- Keep It Simple
- Born to Sing: No Plan B
- Duets: Re-working the Catalogue
- Keep Me Singing
- Roll with the Punches
- Versatile
- You're Driving Me Crazy
- The Prophet Speaks
- Three Chords & the Truth
- Latest Record Project, Volume 1
- What's It Gonna Take?
- Moving On Skiffle
- Accentuate the Positive
- Van Morrison in Ireland
- Van Morrison The Concert
- Live at Montreux 1980/1974
- Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl: The Concert Film
- No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison
- Vanthology: A Tribute to Van Morrison
- Discography
- Albums
- Songs
- List of artists who have covered Van Morrison songs
- Related topics
- List of awards and nominations received by Van Morrison