Before he was a knighted grumpy old Irishman Sir George Ivan Morrison OBE was a young grumpy Irish commoner who from 1964 to 1966 was lead singer of the garage band Them.
During that period they released ten singles and two albums with a further two singles after Morrison's departure. Here are the pick of the bunch.
Even before he had left there were two different versions of the band with one having to call themselves The Other Them following legal action.
Van's people are notorious for scouring T'internet and taking exception to anything posted about him. Hopefully this does not extend as far back as Them.
Them - Gloria
Them - Baby Please Don't Go
Them -Here Comes the Night
The film of Van's 2015 Cyprus Ave gigs was an unexpected treat, he kind of slid off of my radar a bit at the end of the 1990s. So much of his music, including the early Them material, is unimpeachable.
ReplyDeleteBaby Please Don't Go is one of the finest rock'n roll records ever. It was everything a rock'n roll song should be. First time I saw Van and the band on "Ready, Steady, Go!", I was hooked.
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I saw Van play a number of times around "...Band and StreetChoir" and (the unfortunately forgotten) "St. Dominic's Preview". We tossed sugar packets on the stage when he sang "Domino". He threw them back. So Van. He spoke hardly a word. He usually ended with a rousing "Gloria" and/or "Brown Eyed Girl". So Van. "Gloria" by Them is a great classic rock and roll song, which Patti Smith made damn sure you were listening. So Patti. G L O R I A. (I know I'd get groans and eye rolls here so I won't mention my love for U2s "Gloria" which has nothing to do with this post...Must be my days as an altar boy serving Mass in Latin...) There's also a lovely doo wop "Gloria" by The Cadillacs. But I always think they're singing "But it's not Jer-ry". So Me. (Damn spellcheck keeps changing doo wop to doc top!!! Grrrr)
ReplyDeleteSt Dominic's Preview has to be one of my favourite Van songs. That and Tupelo Honey
DeleteThe addition of "Mystic Eyes" would have made this a grand slam, CC (baseball jargon for a four-run homer.) Excellent picks!!
ReplyDeleteCan we expect something from The Other Them? Is there a series coming up - two versions of a band eg you could have the Bay City Rollers.....
ReplyDeletePlus several versions of The Drifters!
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