Van Morrison - Van Morrison Collection, Vol. 1

All Music Guide

Dressed to Kill's Van Morrison Collection, Vol. 1is comprised of the (much compiled) recordings Van Morrison made for Bang after his split from Them. Teaming with Brill Building vet producer Bert Berns, Morrison's wildeyed lyricism is often a tight fit with Berns' straight ahead commercial sound (See the silly but fun "ChickABoom" for an example). Still a number of great songs can be found here including the alltime great "Brown Eyed Girl," "The Back Room," "He Ain't Give You None" and "Ro Ro Rosey". Early versions of tracks from Astral Weeks, "Madame George" and "T.B. Sheets," also appear. Despite Van's objections to being a pop artist, the conflict between the two styles makes for some very interesting and invigorating listening. These sessions aren't vital to the casual Van Morrison fan but anyone whose love of the man goes beyond the hits needs to add them to their collection. The best place to go is Legacy's Bang Masters as it is a legitimate and wellmastered set that includes all the songs from the sessions. This collection for some reason only has 13 of the 18 making it sadly incomplete.

- Tim Sendra, All Music Guide