TB sheets 'Madame George' V Astral Weeks ' Madame George'

And as you're about to leave
She jumps up and says "Hey love
You forgot your gloves

Astral Weeks hands down, but I do think the earlier Bang recording of "Beside You" is better than the Astral Weeks version. (There's also a hypnotic, circular guitar riff that drives "Besides You," but I never really noticed it on Astral Weeks because the mix buries it into oblivion. It wasn't until I heard the live rendition from 2008/2009 that I finally noticed it because they made it the center of the recording - I wish they had done that on Astral Weeks because without it, it feels too slow and too thin.)

I don't know that I'd call the earlier version of "Beside You" better, but it is easier to follow the structure. In the earlier take, Van seems to lose faith that he's getting the song across, like he surrenders the song to the band. But then on the Astral Weeks take, it sounds like everyone's confused about the time signature.

the mix buries it into oblivion

...possibly because if you turned up Van's guitar in the mix, you'd have his vocal come through the guitar mic as well, disrupting the balance. Also his finger-picking is pretty sloppy.

On TB Sheets you’re at the party with the narrator. On Astral Weeks you are the narrator.

The fact there are two versions of this song on consecutive albums that, without significantly changing the lyrics, present such different perspectives on the same story, is something like a little miracle.

(Still, forced to pick, Astral Weeks hands down.)