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
. Songs like
"Who Drove the Red Sports Car"
look to that song cycle, even as
"Midnight Special"
nods to
Morrison
's
R&B
past. But it's the agonizing
"T.B. Sheets"
-- all nine-plus minutes of it -- that dominates this record and belies its trendy title and
association.
takes the
blues
and reinvents it as noble tragedy and humiliating mortality. It's where
emerges as an artist. [
was superseded in 1991 by
Bang Masters
, which contains all of its tracks except
"He Ain't Give You None,"
presented in an alternate take, plus
's other recordings for
Bang
.] ~ William Ruhlmann