Why did Van Morrison deliberately write and record 31 terrible songs?
By late 1967, Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison was in a tight spot. At the start of that year, producer Bert Berns asked the musician to travel to New York to record his first single with Bang Records. Morrison, who had known Berns from his time with his band Thems, did exactly that, recording ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ after quickly scanning through and signing the contract that had been pushed under his nose. What he failed to realise was that, in singing the document, he’d agreed to record not one, not two, but 36 songs within a year of the contract coming into effect. Cripes.
Morrison, the poor sod, had no idea. He didn’t even know that Berns had released his debut album, Blowin’ You Mind!, without his consent. In fact, the first time the singer-songwriter heard about the album was when a friend mentioned he’d just picked up a copy in the local music store. Morrison didn’t have much time to be angry; Berns perished unexpectedly at the end of 1967 – the bastard.
Looking for a get-out, Morrison launched a contract dispute with Berns’ widow Ilene Berns and was subsequently banned from performing on stage or recording in the New York area. By this time, Morrison had started recording with Warner Bros, but being tied to his contract with Bang, he was obligated to write and record 31 new songs for the label before he could jump ship and sign with Warner. Unable to find another solution, Morrison churned out 31 god-awful ditties for his former label, each more apathetic than the last. Honestly, nobody has put less effort into an album than Morrison did in 1967.
The infamous session, which saw Morrison improvise songs about everything from sandwiches to ringworm, has since been dubbed Morrison’s Contractual Obligation album, though it’s frequently referred to as Payin’ Dues. Sadly, Berns’ knew exactly what Morrison was trying to do and refused to use the songs. In the end, Warner Bros executive Joe Smith was sent to a Manhattan warehouse to hand over $20,000 in cash to a group of what he would later describe as mobsters.
Whatever their involvement with Bang, the money worked a charm, freeing Morrison to make his first album on Warner, 1968’s Astral Weeks.
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