The Angry Young Them

First album by the group Them

The Angry Young Them

Studio album by

Them

Released| 11 June 1965
Recorded| 1964–1965
Studio| Decca Studios, West Hampstead, North London, England
Genre|

* Blues rock[1]
* garage rock[2]
* rhythm and blues[1]
* proto-punk[3]

Length| 35:26
Label| Decca
Producer|

* Tommy Scott
* Bert Berns ("I Gave My Love a Diamond", "Go On Home Baby", "My Little Baby")
* Dick Rowe ("Gloria")

Them chronology
|  | The Angry Young Them
(1965)  | Them Again
(1966)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
Record Mirror| [5]
Them

Studio album by

Them

Released| July 1965 (1965-07)
Recorded| 1964–1965
Studio| Decca Studios, West Hampstead, North London, England
Genre|

* Blues rock
* garage rock
* rhythm and blues
* proto-punk

Length| 34:17
Label| Parrot
Producer|

* Tommy Scott
* Bert Berns ("Go On Home Baby")
* Dick Rowe ("Gloria")

Them American chronology
|  | Them
(1965)  | Them Again
(1966)

|
|

The Angry Young Them is the first album by the Northern Irish rhythm and blues group Them, whose lead singer and songwriter was Van Morrison. The album was released in the UK in June 1965. In the U.S., the album was released as Them with partly different tracks.

## Cover

[edit]

As with several Decca releases of the period, the name of the group was conspicuously absent from the front cover. On the back of the LP they were introduced as The Angry Young Them with an essay on this theme declaring: "These five young rebels are outrageously true to themselves. Defiant! Angry! Sad! They are honest to the point of insult!"

## Release history

[edit]

Six of the songs on the album were Morrison originals, including the famous garage band anthem "Gloria". Another song on the album, "Mystic Eyes", was a spontaneous creation that came out of the band just "busking around" in Morrison's words and after seven minutes of instrumental playing he impulsively threw in the words of a song he had been working on. The lengthy versions of "Gloria" that the band performed at the Maritime and the 10-minute recording of "Mystic Eyes" have never surfaced. All that is left of the "Mystic Eyes" performance is the little over 21⁄2 minutes on the album that remained after splicing out from the beginning and ending. "You Just Can't Win" was a Bob Dylan-inspired song about a gold digger, set in specific places in London such as Camden Town. "Little Girl" was about a boy's obsession with a 14-year-old school girl (an earlier take on Lord's Taverners charity album had been deleted when a profanity was heard in the fade out at the end). "If You And I Could Be As Two" starts with a spoken introduction by Morrison. Three originals by Bert Berns were included and a cover of John Lee Hooker's "Don't Look Back" was considered by Morrison to be his finest vocal to date.[6]

## Track listing

[edit]

### British version

[edit]

Side one

1. "Mystic Eyes" (Van Morrison) – 2:41
2. "If You and I Could Be as Two" (Morrison) – 2:53
3. "Little Girl" (Morrison) – 2:21
4. "Just a Little Bit" (Ralph Bass, Buster Brown, John Thornton, Ferdinand "Fats" Washington) – 2:21
5. "I Gave My Love a Diamond" (Bert Berns, Wes Farrell) – 2:48
6. "Gloria" (Morrison) – 2:38
7. "You Just Can't Win" (Morrison) – 2:21

Side two

1. "Go on Home Baby" (Berns, Farrell) – 2:39
2. "Don't Look Back" (John Lee Hooker) – 3:23
3. "I Like It Like That" (Morrison) – 3:35
4. "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (M. Gillon aka Tommy Scott, M. Howe) – 3:34
5. "Bright Lights, Big City" (Jimmy Reed) – 2:30
6. "My Little Baby" (Berns, Farrell) – 2:00
7. "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" (Bobby Troup) – 2:22

###  North American version

[edit]

Side one

1. "Here Comes the Night" (Berns) – 2:45
2. "Mystic Eyes" – 2:41
3. "Don't Look Back" – 3:23
4. "Little Girl" – 2:21
5. "One Two Brown Eyes" (Morrison) – 2:39
6. "Gloria" – 2:38

Side two

1. "One More Time" - 2:47
2. "If You and I Could Be as Two" – 2:53
3. "I Like It Like That" – 3:35
4. "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" – 3:34
5. "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" – 2:22
6. "Go on Home Baby" – 2:39

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Fortnight. Fortnight Publications. 1989. p. 27.
2. ^ Masley, Ed (19 September 2008). "10 essential garage-rock albums". AZCentral. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
3. ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1965". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 76–77\. ISBN 9781493064601.
4. ^ Ruhlmann, William. The Angry Young Them at AllMusic. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
5. ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (14 August 1965). "Them: The "Angry" Young Them!" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 231\. p. 8\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
6. ^ Rogan, No Surrender, pp. 126–127.

## References

[edit]

* Rogan, Johnny (2006). Van Morrison: No Surrender, London: Vintage Books ISBN 978-0-09-943183-1

* v
* t
* e

Them

* Van Morrison
* Billy Harrison
* Eric Wrixon
* Alan Henderson
* Raymond Sweetman

* Jackie McAuley
* Peter Bardens
* Jim Armstrong
* John Wilson
* Eric Bell

Studio albums|

* The Angry Young Them (1965)
* Them Again (1966)
* Belfast Gypsies (1967)
* Now and "Them" (1968)

Singles|

* "Don't Start Crying Now" / "One Two Brown Eyes" (1964)
* "Baby, Please Don't Go" / "Gloria" (1964)
* "Here Comes the Night" (1965)
* "One More Time" (1965)
* "Mystic Eyes" (1965)
* "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (1966)
* "Richard Cory" (1966)

Compilations|

* The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison

Related articles|

* The Wheels

* v
* t
* e

Van Morrison

Them|

* The Angry Young Them
* Them Again
* The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison

Studio albums|

* Blowin' Your Mind!
* Astral Weeks
* Moondance
* His Band and the Street Choir
* Tupelo Honey
* Saint Dominic's Preview
* Hard Nose the Highway
* Veedon Fleece
* A Period of Transition
* Wavelength
* Into the Music
* Common One
* Beautiful Vision
* Inarticulate Speech of the Heart
* A Sense of Wonder
* No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
* Poetic Champions Compose
* Irish Heartbeat
* Avalon Sunset
* Enlightenment
* Hymns to the Silence
* Too Long in Exile
* Days Like This
* How Long Has This Been Going On
* Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
* The Healing Game
* Back on Top
* You Win Again
* Down the Road
* What's Wrong with This Picture?
* Magic Time
* Pay the Devil
* Keep It Simple
* Born to Sing: No Plan B
* Duets: Re-working the Catalogue
* Keep Me Singing
* Roll with the Punches
* Versatile
* You're Driving Me Crazy
* The Prophet Speaks
* Three Chords & the Truth
* Latest Record Project, Volume 1
* What's It Gonna Take?
* Moving On Skiffle
* Accentuate the Positive
* New Arrangements and Duets
* Remembering Now

Live albums|

* It's Too Late to Stop Now
* Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast
* A Night in San Francisco
* The Skiffle Sessions - Live in Belfast 1998
* Live at Austin City Limits Festival
* Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl
* Live at Orangefield

Compilations|

* The Best of Van Morrison
* The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two
* The Philosopher's Stone
* Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits
* The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3
* Still on Top - The Greatest Hits
* The Essential Van Morrison
* The Authorized Bang Collection

Videos|

* Van Morrison in Ireland
* Van Morrison The Concert

DVDs|

* Live at Montreux 1980/1974
* Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl: The Concert Film

Unofficial Bang albums|

* T.B. Sheets
* Bang Masters
* Payin' Dues/New York Sessions '67/The Complete Bang Sessions

Tribute albums|

* No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison
* Vanthology: A Tribute to Van Morrison

* Discography
* Albums
* Songs
* List of artists who have covered Van Morrison songs
* Related topics
* List of awards and nominations received by Van Morrison

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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