Our Price: £4.99

THEM - THEM - CD

1. I Keep Singing
2. Lonely Weekends
3. Take a Little Time
4. You Got Me Good
5. Jo Ann
6. Memphis Lady
7. In The Midnight Hour
8. Nobody Cares
9. I Am Waiting
10. Just a Little

The complicated life of this legendary R&B outfit was almost over when this, their penultimate album, appeared in 1970. Astonishingly, by then they were reduced to a duo consisting of original bassist Alan Henderson and US vocalist / percussionist Jerry Cole, with studio support said to have come from Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche. The music ranges from pounding psychedelia (‘I Keep Singing’) and snotty garage punk (‘Lonely Weekends’, a shameless rewrite of ‘Gloria’) to furious rock and roll (‘Jo Ann’) and even a country ballad (‘Take A Little Time’). As the original sleevenotes declared: “The THEM sound combines the typical British style with an air of mystery and an atmosphere of excitement… mythical, mystical, Oriental, African, electronic and computer rhythms included.”

‘Four years ago, before the great influx of rock groups from Britain formally began, Them, under the leadership of their founder, Alan Henderson, took their first trip across the ocean. The first British group to visit America, Them enjoyed a successful run of 17 consecutive nights at the Whiskey A Go Go, which marked the beginning of a long series of firsts and successes.
In 1965, Them transplanted their uniquely-British sound onto our soil once and for all. Their first single release, Baby Please Don't Go, climbed to number two on the national charts. Then came Here Comes The Night, which moved to number one. That hit was followed by Gloria, which was on the charts three separate times. Following Gloria, was another hit, Mystic Eyes. Their appeal on these releases must be attributed to the talents of all four members of Them, but special credit belongs to Alan Henderson, who formed the group, changed it, modified it and improved it over the years.
This is Them's first offering with their producer Ray Ruff, who has produced the group since their inception. This is also the first work Them has released in nearly two years. The delay was necessitated by the departure of Van Morrison from his position as lead vocalist, and the resulting search for just the right replacement. Once again, Henderson's leadership wouldn't allow a compromise in the Them sound, and now everyone is confident, as you will agree when you hear this record, that Them has made an excellent choice in Jerry Cole.
Together, Cole and Henderson have created a sound that is so unique that it must speak for itself; the proof is in the listening, as with all great music. Beginning with the unmistakable British flavor that pervades all of these selections, Alan, Jerry and Ray Ruff have stretched their musical imaginations to the limit. Using instrumental sounds reminiscent of a synthesizer and pushing Jerry Cole's voice from extreme highs to deep lows, the Them sound combines the typical British style with an air of mystery and an atmosphere of excitement that no other group has been able to produce. There can be absolutely no doubt – this album moves from start to finish with an uninhibited, free, wild, charging sound, and it will take anyone within listening range along with it. Them has brought forth an album of songs, unique in both the words (a series of images relevant to today's world) and the sounds (with mythical, mystical, Oriental, African, electronic, and computer rhythms included) – and singular because these diverse elements are integrated and united to create not just another album, but a moving, alive musical experience’ – original liner notes

Fronted by Van Morrison, Them formed as a gritty R&B act in Belfast, Northern Ireland and signed to the UK’s Decca label in June 1964. They had sizeable hits with ‘Here Comes the Night’ , ‘Baby Please Don't Go’, ‘Mystic Eyes’ and ‘Here Comes the Night’, and became very popular in the US, where seemingly every garage act covered Morrison’s ‘Gloria’. After playing a series of shows with the Doors at LA’s Whiskey-A-Go-Go club in June 1966, the increasingly disenchanted singer quit and the band splintered. By 1967 a new line-up had sprung up, consisting of singer Kenny McDowell (an old friend from Belfast), guitarist Jim Armstrong, bassist Alan Henderson, multi-instrumentalist Ray Elliott and drummer Dave Harvey. Only Henderson had been a founding member, though Elliott, Harvey and Armstrong had been in the latter-day incarnation of the band with Morrison. Through the efforts of Carol Deck (West Coast editor of Flip magazine), the band hooked up with producer / manager Ray Ruff, signed to Capitol subsidiary Tower and recorded a new LP, Now & Them (Tower ST 5104, April 1968). A mixed collection of R&B, pop and psychedelia, its standout was the lengthy raga-rocker ‘Square Room’. The band gigged heavily, but sales were poor and by the time their next, more overtly psychedelic effort appeared (Time Out! Time In for Them, Tower ST 5116, October 1968), Elliott had left. Four singles on Tower also stiffed, so the quartet disbanded. Henderson decided to stick with Ruff, however, and together with US guitarist / percussionist Jerry Cole they put together a self-titled LP on the small Happy Tiger label (Happy Tiger HT 1004). Studio support reportedly came from Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche, and the album turned out to unexpectedly solid, ranging from pounding psychedelia (‘I Keep Singing’) and snotty garage punk (‘Lonely Weekends’, a shameless rewrite of ‘Gloria’) to furious rock and roll (‘Jo Ann’) and even a country ballad (‘Take A Little Time’). It flopped, as did two extracted singles – ‘Lonely Weekends’ / ‘I Am Waiting’ (Happy Tiger 525) and ‘Memphis Lady’ / ‘Nobody Cares’ (Happy Tiger 534) – so Cole departed and Henderson teamed up with US guitarist Jim Parker and drummer John Stark for 1971’s superb Them In Reality (Happy Tiger HT 1012). A lost power trio classic, it was the last record to be issued under the name ‘Them’ and opens with a searing medley of their early classics ‘Gloria’ and ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, boasting superb interplay and savage psychedelic guitar. Elsewhere, Stark and Parker flexed their songwriting muscles on a series of powerful compositions, and even an acid folk number, but when it too failed to ignite commercially the band was laid to rest for good.

Jerry Cole, lead vocals, guitar, drums
Alan Henderson – bass

Produced by Ray Ruff / Engineered by Stan Ross / Recorded at Gold Star, Hollywood, California / Original album design –  See / Hear! / Original photography – Rusty Miller & Peter Whorf

« Back