Them was the band that introduced Van Morrison to the world beyond Belfast. A three-CD set, The Complete Them includes their two albums plus previously unissued demos, alternate versions and live tracks plus an interesting bonus: an essay booklet by Morrison, who reminisces over the band’s formation and short run.
The original Them leaped from Belfast’s Maritime Hotel onto London’s club scene in 1964. They were signed quickly, swept up in the post-Beatles frenzy. Morrison was the constant factor throughout the recording sessions, which were populated by some of London’s best studio musicians, including drummer Alan White (later with Plastic Ono Band and Yes) and keyboardist Peter Bardens (who went on to form Camel). Some of the band’s repertoire of hyper-kinetic R&B covers made their way on their debut album, The Angry Young Them (1965). The most distinctive of those numbers, “Baby Please Don’t Go,” which Morrison learned from a John Lee Hooker record, made Top-10 on the British charts. The propulsive rendition was fueled by Jimmy Page’s guitar, tuned down to sound like a bass.
Morrison was already writing songs inspired by the testifying style of American R&B or the grittier cadences of urban blues. However, his memorable early songs were the ones furthest removed from those roots. “Gloria” (1964) paved the way to the garage rock of the 1960s and became a touchstone for many young American bands. Built on a pounding beat, “Gloria” vividly evoked a youthful sexual encounter. The letter-by-letter recitation of the song’s title in the refrain was a countdown to ecstasy.
“Gloria” was a U.K. hit but in the U.S. a cover by The Shadows of Knight rose higher in the charts. Later, with the rise of FM rock radio and the ascent of Morrison’s solo career, Them’s “Gloria” became the familiar stateside version.
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Another original Morrison song from Angry Young Them became an unlikely hit single. “Mystic Eyes” was a wailing blues number but unlike any blues that had been heard before. With “Mystic Eyes,” Morrison transliterated his American influences into something distinct. As the rhythm slipped into a hypnotic groove, the brief enigmatic lyric faded into the mist without resolution. Them’s producer Bert Berns wrote their other major hit, “Here Comes the Night” (1965), a pop song whose jealously fretting lyric was invested with pain by Morrison and elevated by Page’s shimmering guitar.
In 1966 Them toured the American West Coast with The Doors as opening act. Jim Morrison listened intently; his vocals sometimes echoed Van Morrison’s youthful yelp and “Gloria” became part of The Doors’ stage show. By this time, some of the songs released on Them Again (1966) already began showing the jazz vocal inclinations that Morrison would explore through his solo years.
Them was clearly Morrison’s show and the pretense of being a band member made no sense. By 1967 Morrison embarked on his own path in music.
