Unlike nearly all of their Brit Invasion brethren, there never was a Them reunion. For at least a couple of good reasons: Lead vocalist Van Morrison's fame as a solo artist quickly transcended the acclaim he earned as a bandleader. Then, too, Them didn't really have a solid, identifiable lineup to reanimate. The ever-in-flux Belfast-based ensemble nevertheless ranks with the Animals and the Rolling Stones as fine purveyors of bullish, non-American '60s rhythm and blues. The Story of Them is the definitive account of the short-lived outfit. Fifty remarkably consistent tracks are spread out over two discs, including R&B standards ("Stormy Monday," "Turn on Your Lovelight," "I Got a Woman") and Morrison originals that laid the groundwork for his early live repertoire ("Gloria," "Mystic Eyes"). Other highlights include a powerhouse version of "Baby Please Don't Go" (with Jimmy Page soloing), fearless takes on Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Beck fans will recognize the sample that turns up on Odelay) and Paul Simon's "Richard Cory." Morrison's grown-up work is unassailable, but there's much to be said for what he accomplished as a snot-nosed rocker. --Steven Stolder
The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison,Them,Polydor / Pgd,Blues-Rock,British Blues,British Invasion,Pop,Popular Music,Rock,Rock & Roll,Rock/Pop
The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison
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The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison
Them Manufacturer: Polydor / Umgd ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Blues Rock
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
British Invasion
| Classic Rock
| Styles
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ASIN: B000003TWA Release Date: 1998-01-13 |
Tracks:
- The Story Of Them (Parts 1 & 2)
- Don't Start Crying Now
- Gloria
- Philosophy
- One Two Brown Eyes
- Baby Please Don't Go
- Here Comes The Night
- All For Myself
- One More Time
- Little Girl
- I Gave My Love A Diamond
- Go On Home Baby
- My Little Baby
- Mystic Eyes
- Don't Look Back
- If You And I Could Be As Two
- I Like It Like That
- I'm Gonna Dress In Black
- (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
- Just A Little Bit
- You Just Can't Win
- Bright Lights, Big City
- Baby What You Want Me To Do
- I'm Gonna Dress In Black (Alternate Mix)
- One More Time (Alternate Stereo Mix)
- Little Girl (Alternate Version)
Tracks:
- How Long Baby
- (It Won't Hurt) Half As Much
- Something You Got
- Call My Name
- Turn On Your Lovelight
- I Put A Spell On You
- I Got A Woman
- Out Of Sight
- It's All Over Now Baby Blue
- Bad Or Good
- Hello Josephine
- Don't You Know
- Hey Girl
- Bring 'Em On In
- Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough
- Stormy Monday
- Friday's Child
- Richard Cory
- My Lonely Sad Eyes
- I Can Only Give You Everything
- Could You, Would You
- Bring 'Em On In (Alternate Version)
- Richard Cory (Alternate Version)
- Call My Name (Alternate Single Version)
Amazon.com
Unlike nearly all of their Brit Invasion brethren, there never was a Them reunion. For at least a couple of good reasons: Lead vocalist Van Morrison's fame as a solo artist quickly transcended the acclaim he earned as a bandleader. Then, too, Them didn't really have a solid, identifiable lineup to reanimate. The ever-in-flux Belfast-based ensemble nevertheless ranks with the Animals and the Rolling Stones as fine purveyors of bullish, non-American '60s rhythm and blues. The Story of Them is the definitive account of the short-lived outfit. Fifty remarkably consistent tracks are spread out over two discs, including R&B standards ("Stormy Monday," "Turn on Your Lovelight," "I Got a Woman") and Morrison originals that laid the groundwork for his early live repertoire ("Gloria," "Mystic Eyes"). Other highlights include a powerhouse version of "Baby Please Don't Go" (with Jimmy Page soloing), fearless takes on Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Beck fans will recognize the sample that turns up on Odelay) and Paul Simon's "Richard Cory." Morrison's grown-up work is unassailable, but there's much to be said for what he accomplished as a snot-nosed rocker. --Steven StolderCustomer Reviews:
THEM CD featuring Van Morrison.......2007-02-23
a rare album of the past.......2006-11-06
Amazing music....but there's a number of MAJOR errors.......2005-12-02
5 of the tracks are horribly rechanneled with "stereo" percussion on one channel that was added for a 1970's US Parrot 2-LP set:
"Mystic Eyes"
"Don't Look Back"
"I Like It Like That"
"Route 66"
"Little Girl" (alternate)
None of these bits of percussion are on the original mono versions and since all of the above tracks are rechanneled, you can see the error (who at US London back then allowed this to happen?...and why are all of the subsequent reissues containing these songs using these horrible rechanneled "stereo" versions??)
Also, there are an additional 5 tracks that are rechanneled for stereo:
"Turn On Your Love Light"
"Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough"
"Stormy Monday"
"My Lonely Sad Eyes"
"I Can Only Give You Everything"
"Stormy Monday" and "Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough" have always been rechanneled, but the other three were only issued this way on the US Parrot "Them Again" vinyl LP and nowhere else in the world. Even the "Them Again" CD from the 1990's had these three in mono.
The remainder of the tracks are either clean mono or terrific stereo.
Oh yea, finally, "Philosophy", an amazing and obscure track, was recorded at the same stereo session as "Gloria" and "One Two Brown Eyes", yet it's mono here. That, too, is a disappointment.
So...everything good about this 2-CD set written above is right, but these errors are very annoying and you have a right to know up front.
garage rock greatness .......2005-09-21
Good old raw blues / garage in the vein of Animals or Shadows of the Night. Real straight up orginals and some old rockabilly and blues covers.
One of the greatest rock bands ever... .......2005-01-22
The boys from Belfast somehow managed to make it in the US as part of the "British Invasion", but wound up collapsing in a short period of time, but the legacy left behind makes the 2 albums they did (a majority of which is on this collection minus a song or 2) as important as anything the Stones, Animals, Kinks, and Who did around that time.
Van proves his worth as a songwriter with originals "Gloria", "One Two Brown Eyes" and "Mystic Eyes", but also dives into Bob Dylan and Paul Simon material (amazing covers of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" and "Richard Cory") doing it the only way Them do it... and tips a nod to Americans like Jimmy Reed and Fats Domino with "Bright Lights Big City" and "Hello Josephine") as well as hit classics "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Here Comes The Night", the band pulls off the songs (and years later Van would do 2 of the songs with John Lee Hooker(!).
Surprisingly, Them didn't have the hit with "Gloria" in the states. That band was Shadows of Knight, providing the first of many covers that people have done of Van's songs.
All this and he hadn't even done "Brown Eyed Girl" yet! Let alone "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance"...
This to me is a must-own for fans of 60s music or if you picked up the "Nuggets" box set and love the rawness of 60s garage rock, you'll truly love this one. A lot of it holds up 40 years later when most music out today barely makes it past 1 month. If you love Northern Soul music, The Animals, Kinks and The Who's early stuff and want proof that Ireland had a great band long before U2 and Thin Lizzy, look no further.
This is Van's true "Philosopher's Stone".
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