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72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THEY SELF DESTRUCTED BUT THEY WERE GREAT, December 18, 2000
You would not believe just how bad the music scene in Ireland was during the sixties. While the UK and USA had R&B groups we in the South had showbands and massive dance halls controlled by the Church. In Northern Ireland the halls were smaller but were not controlled by the Catholic Church but as every thing was closed on Sunday weekends were somewhat limited. However they had "THEM" one of the best R&B bands ever but the people of Northern Ireland were not over impressed by their good fortune. The problem was that the band was not popular in Belfast, their hometown, because of resentment due to the rate at which personnel changed. During performances the audience threw pennies at the band members ... a way of showing displeasure. Things in the studio were not much better and rumour has it that band members other than Van Morrison never played on the early singles and that musical backing was supplied by "Zoot Money and His Big Roll Band" (may not be exact name). Apparently "Mystic Eyes" one of the best recordings ever made by Them happened by accident ... the band turned up for a session with no prepared material and while they were engaged in an argument about who's fault it was (a bit like Spinal Tap) Van took out his Harmonica and started playing with some unknown musicians jamming in the background and fortunately the engineer had left the tape running. Music historians may claim that all the above is nothing but urban myth but I did see the band in action and can confirm that they lived up to their reputation. Them were booked to perform in the Stella Ballroom in Mount Merrion. Mount Merrion was a wealthy middle class area in South Dublin and as the Stella was not controlled by the Church the management was adventurous and often booked groups rather than showbands (people such Larry Addler's son Peter who's band was pretty good). Because of our age myself and my friends could not gain admittance but we discovered an open emergency exit at the side of the stage and we were able to see and hear everything. To the best of my knowledge this was the 16Th version of the band and the line up was as follows Alan Henderson, Van Morrison, Jim Armstrong, Sammy Stitt (Van's Cousin) The show started about an hour late (not unusual in Ireland) and the band was terrible. They were so drunk that they thought they were still in the US (they had recently returned from a tour) each member appeared to be performing a different song and the drummer was on a different planet ... we were huge fans so we were shocked, horrified and very upset especially because they were showing that our parents had been right all along. After about forty minutes of total disaster Van (who was totally sober and focused) managed to gain control and saved the day by performing more-or-less solo and he was brilliant. He gave an incredible performance of "Mystic Eyes". During an interval Van Morrison came out to where we were standing and totally ignored us (this is unusual for a performer from Northern Ireland or any part of Ireland ... they are usually very friendly and talkative) he took out a cigarette without taking the pack and lit it. When he was finished it he threw it on the ground and tried to stub it out but as it was dark he stood on my foot instead. He then turned and went back in without saying anything . We assumed that he was so rude because of the band was a disaster but to be honest I never had any heroes since then. This time last year I picked up a book in a second hand book shop and in it Van Morrison was described as the man you would lease want to be stuck on a desert island with and based on my experience I can understand the comment. Since then I adopted the approach that it is the music and not the character or lifestyle of performer which is important so despite the fact that "THEM" was a badly flawed band from Belfast they managed to produce some of the best urban R&B singles ever recorded and they acted as a platform for Van Morrison to launch his very successful solo career. Unlike most other music fans I preferred the early Morrison, his latest material does nothing for me. Now that you know something about the band it is time to tell you about the album. Even though the band was totally self destructive they (or somebody) produced some of the best urban R&B music ever made available to the record buying public and no matter what album you buy there will be enough really good stuff to really delight you. But as none of the albums have a theme or an overall sense of unity there is no reason to waste money buying original albums if you can get all or most of the worthwhile tracks on a "best-of-collection". Van the Man was responsible for writing most of the original Them material, including "Mystic Eyes"and the much covered "Gloria" (excuse the unintended pun), a rock anthem for generations to come but for me the best track is, without a shadow of doubt, "Baby Please Don't Go" with a guitar solo performed by Jimmy Page (could be a myth, the facts are not readily available) and I believe that it is worth getting the album just for this track alone. However, there is plenty more really good stuff such as "One Two Brown Eyes", "Just A Little Bit" and "Here Comes The Night" If you like the Animals, The Stones, the Pretty Things or Punk Rock you cannot fail to be impressed by Them. They were Irish lads but they really understood Black music.
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by Them 
