Angry Young Them [Two-LP]

Personnel includes: Van Morrison (vocals, harmonica); Billy Harrison (guitar); Eric Wiksen (keyboards); Alan Henderson (bass); Ronnie Millings (drums).
Producers: Tommy Scott, Philip Solomon, Bert Berns, Dick Rowe.
Decca's willingness to release a full-length Them album was conditioned upon the breakthrough success of the band's third single, "Here Comes the Night." It was not, however, the practice in Britain at the time to put hit singles on albums, so this 14-track LP does not include that song. It does, however, contain six songs written by lead vocalist Van Morrison, including the immortal "Gloria" and "Mystic Eyes," which became a chart single in the U.S., plus some well-played R&B covers. Because of an annotation on the back of the LP, this album is sometimes referred to as The Angry Young Them, although its official title is Them. ~ William Ruhlmann