''The Angry Young Them'' is the first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

group

Them Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

. The album was released in the UK in June

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. The band's lead singer and songwriter was

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. In the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the album was released as ''Them'' with partly different tracks.

Cover

As with several Decca releases of the period, the name of the group was conspicuously absent from the front cover and 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

Six of the songs on the album were Morrison originals, including the famous garage band anthem "

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

". Another song on the album, "

Mystic Eyes A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Places United States * Mistick, an old name for parts of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts * ...

", 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 ten-minute recording of "Mystic Eyes" have never surfaced. All that is left of the "Mystic Eyes" performance is the little over 2 minutes on the album that remained after splicing out from the beginning and ending. "You Just Can't Win" was a Dylan inspired song about a gold digger, set in specific places in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

such as

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

. "Little Girl" was about a boy's obsession with a fourteen-year-old school girl (an earlier take on Lord's Taverners charity album had been deleted when a four-letter word was heard in the fade out at the end). "If You And I Could Be As Two" starts with a spoken introduction by Morrison with an aggressive Irish accent. Three Bert Berns originals were included and a cover of

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

's " Don't Look Back" was considered by Morrison to be his finest vocal to date.Rogan, No Surrender, pp. 126–127.

Track listing

British version

Track listing

Side one

" (

) – 2:41 #"If You and I Could Be as Two" (Morrison) – 2:53 #"Little Girl" (Morrison) – 2:21 #" Just a Little Bit" (

Ralph Bass Ralph Basso Jr. (May 1, 1911 – March 5, 1997), known as Ralph Bass,The birth surname of Ralph Bass's paternal grandfather, who was born in Italy, was DuBasso. was an American rhythm-and-blues record producer and talent scout for several indepen ...

Buster Brown Buster Brown is a comic-strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with his dog Tige, became well known to the United States of America ...

, John Thornton, Ferdinand "Fats" Washington) – 2:21 #"I Gave My Love a Diamond" (

Bert Berns Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include " Twist and Shout", " Piec ...

Wes Farrell Wes Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes clos ...

) – 2:48 #"

" (Morrison) – 2:38 #"You Just Can't Win" (Morrison) – 2:21

Side two

#"Go on Home Baby" (Berns, Farrell) – 2:39 #" Don't Look Back" (

) – 3:23 #"I Like It Like That" (Morrison) – 3:35 #"I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (M. Gillon aka Tommy Scott, M. Howe) – 3:34 #" Bright Lights, Big City" (

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

) – 2:30 #"My Little Baby" (Berns, Farrell) – 2:00 #"

(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" is a popular rhythm and blues song, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. The lyrics relate a westward roadtrip on U.S. Route 66, a highway which traversed the western two-thirds of the U.S. from Chi ...

" (

Bobby Troup Robert William Troup Jr. (October 18, 1918 – February 7, 1999) was an American actor, jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. He wrote the song " Route 66" and acted in the role of Dr. Joe Early with his wife Julie London in the television progr ...

) – 2:22

North American version

Track listing

Side one

Here Comes the Night "Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the US. Them's single is listed at either No. 33 or No. ...

" (Berns) – 2:45 #"Mystic Eyes" – 2:41 #"Don't Look Back" – 3:23 #"Little Girl" – 2:21 #"One Two Brown Eyes" (Morrison) – 2:39 #"Gloria" – 2:38

Side two

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

Notes

References

* Rogan, Johnny (2006). '' Van Morrison: No Surrender'', London: Vintage Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Angry Young Them Van Morrison albums Them (band) albums 1965 debut albums Decca Records albums Parrot Records albums Albums produced by Bert Berns Albums produced by Dick Rowe