Genre: p
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: R
Company: C
Catalog: C
Year: 19
Country/State: G
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: m
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5
Price: $
I'
Sonet SNTF 738, original UK issue, mono, 1978.
"" track listing:
(side 1)
1.)
(side
2)
1.)
The Belfast Gypsies were a direct spin-off of Them, featuring two members who had been in Them for differing spells in the mid-'60s: singer/organist/multi-instrumentalist Jackie McAuley and his brother, drummer Pat McAuley (sometimes also known as John McAuley). With a style very similar to early Them, the Gypsies hooked up with Kim Fowley on one of his London visits in mid-'66. Fowley produced most of the material that ended up on their sole LP (preceded by a couple of unsuccessful singles), which was issued in Scandinavia in August, 1967. A bit of an anachronistic throwback to the R&B/beat-boom sound of a couple years earlier, the LP is a successful approximation of Them's sound, the major drawback being the absence of Van Morrison.Because of packaging that often found the record filed under Them rather than the Belfast Gypsies, and because the band's history was generally ill-documented, few British Invasion groups with a cult following among collectors have had their history as garbled or misrepresented as the Belfast Gypsies. It was only after the first legitimate reissue of the album on CD, more than 35 years later, that the group's true tale emerged. The story is incredibly complex for a band that issued only one LP (and a posthumous one, at that), but basically, the group formed when Them's lineup underwent a particularly volatile shakeup in the middle of 1965. When the smoke cleared, there were actually two different bands laying claim to the Them name. One of them, the famous Them, was headed by Van Morrison, with bassist Alan Henderson the only other original member. The other Them was formed by Pat McAuley and Them's original guitarist, Billy Harrison, and included drummer Skip Alan, bassist Mark Scott, and singer Nick Wymer (who had been in the Pretty Things-like group the Fairies).In late 1965 and early 1966, both groups continued to compete for the Them name, the dispute eventually ending up in court. In the meantime the Harrison-McAuley lineup playing as Them underwent its own lineup shuffles, with Harrison quitting and Skip Alan leaving to join the Pretty Things, briefly replaced by Viv Prince (who Alan himself, ironically, was replacing in the Pretty Things). By the beginning of 1966, the personnel had settled into a quartet with Pat McAuley on drums; his brother Jackie McAuley on lead vocals, organ, harmonica, and occasionally other instruments; guitarist Ken McLeod; and bassist Mark Scott (though all of the musicians played other instruments in addition to their primary ones). In March 1966, however, it was ruled that the name Them belonged to the group headed by Van Morrison, although the ruling only applied in the U.K.. The Pat McAuley band was allowed to play in the U.K. under the name the Other Them, with a much lower visibility on the British circuit than the Van Morrison-fronted Them enjoyed.In May 1966, Kim Fowley met the band and took them into the studio for a few sessions; a final session was recorded without Fowley in Copenhagen at the end of June. Having made little headway in the U.K., they spent most of the summer and the fall of 1966 touring Scandinavia, where they were allowed to use the name Them. Oddly, they never once played live under the name the Belfast Gypsies, although this is the name that they used for their debut single on Island Records that year, "Gloria's Dream"/"Secret Police." Although they had fair success in Scandinavia, the group disbanded near the end of 1966, with only Jackie McAuley going on to do much subsequent recording, both as part of the folk-rock duo Trader Horne (with ex-Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble) and as a solo artist.When the Belfast Gypsies LP did come out about nine months after the group disbanded, it bore the title Them Belfast Gypsies, with the name Them in huge lettering as part of the album's title on the sleeve. Understandably, then, many collectors have assumed that the album should be credited to Them, rather than to the Belfast Gypsies. Additionally, it's often been written that the Belfast Gypsies were formed after Van Morrison left Them in 1966, with one part of the remaining group (led by Alan Henderson) taking the Them name, and the other billing themselves as the Belfast Gypsies. This, too, is not the case; although Henderson did indeed continue to play and record in a different Them lineup after Morrison left; the Belfast Gypsies had in fact formed back in 1965 (albeit not under that name), about a year before Morrison left Them. As yet another point of confusion, one posthumous Belfast Gypsies single was issued under a yet different name, the Freaks of Nature (which the band never played as while they were together as a unit). It's a tough story to keep straight, but luckily it did result in a worthwhile album, heartily recommended to Them fans, whether you find it filed under the Them or the Belfast Gypsies' name.
The Belfast Gypsies' sole album was a very credible blast of British Invasion-styled R&B-rock, though it sounded slightly out of date by the time it was issued in 1967, about a year after it was recorded. Producer Kim Fowley gives this rough-hewn R&B a manic, freaky edge on cuts like "People, Let's Freak Out," "Suicide Song," and "Secret Police." The Them-like atmosphere is heightened by singer Jackie McAuley, who's very much a Van Morrison-style vocalist ("Gloria's Dream" is a blatant cop of "Gloria"), though not in Morrison's league. Still, it's quite a solid effort, McAuley's organ pacing the band's brittle rock-R&B, with some decent originals and a diverse assortment of imaginative covers, ranging from Donovan to traditional folk to a tongue-in-cheek classical instrumental. Their tense version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is one of the greatest obscure Dylan covers, and the magnificent harmonica on "Midnight Train" is a highlight. In 2003, it was reissued on CD by Rev-Ola with six bonus tracks, five of them barely different EP and 45 mixes of songs from the original LP (though the French EP mix of "Midnight Train" seems to straighten out a varispeed flaw that had afflicted previous pressings). The other bonus track (and sole cut not to have appeared on the original LP), "The Gorilla," is a generic soul-rock instrumental with prominent organ that appeared on a French EP. Note, though, that while that recording did originally appear on a Belfast Gypsies release, it's not actually the Belfast Gypsies performing on the track, which was likely done by some or all members of Shotgun Express (particularly as two of them, including keyboardist Peter Bardens, shared in the songwriting credits).
Garage rock is an ugly beast which rears its head every so often even at times when it is unwanted. 1967 was a dull time for garage rock, and yet the Belfast Gypsies put out a sneering, garage rock platter of an lp, and because of the changing times, were considered has-beens. But given time, Them Belfast Gypsies has indeed become known as a garage rock classic, inspiring everyone from The Modern Lovers to Iggy Pop (who claimed the Belfast Gypsies' Secret Police was one of his favorite garage rock singles), and thanks to reissue label of the year Rev-Ola, Them Belfast Gypsies has been finally reissued on cd.
Kim Fowley discovered the Belfast Gypsies from the remnants of Van Morrison's group Them. Upon the birth of Van Morrison's solo career, Them split into two different groups - Them bass player, Alan Henderson took the group's name to the U.S. and released some psychedelic albums (Now & Them and Time in! Time Out! For Them! have also been reissued by UK reissue label Rev-Ola). The other off-shoot of Them, was re-christened the Belfast Gypsies, and included Them's organist Jackie McAuley and his brother, Pat, on drums. Under the wing of Kim Fowley, who was visiting the UK fresh from California, looking for new bands to work with, the Belfast Gypsies released a couple of singles and an album under the names Belfast Gypsies and The Freaks of Nature. Where the splinter Them group who settled in the U.S. took a foray into psychedelic music, Belfast Gypsies stayed true to their R&B garage rock roots, creating primal stabs of vinyl passion. Rev-Ola has done an incredible job bringing together all of this music on one amazing cd, which - if you haven't heard, will shatter your illusions that you've heard it all before.
At a time when The Beatles' Revolver and Sgt Pepper were paving the way, creating a blueprint for other groups to follow, often these lesser groups were followers and their end results were dire. Belfast Gypsies, however were caught and held in that moment which made them so great. Kim Fowley did a wonderful job in that way - he was able to take the angst of rock groups of the day and nurture that angst for all it was worth.
Belfast Gypsies is that mix of folk rock gone asunder (a la the Animals' House of the Rising Sun) and the Bo Diddley beat mixed with Kim Fowley's freaky LA paranoia. Kim Fowley gave the group help on such songs as Gloria's Dream (a take on the original Them's hit song with great follow-up results), People, Let's Freak Out (definitely a tune worthy of being released by a band also called The Freaks of Nature... as only Kim Fowley would name them) and the astounding Secret Police (the crowning moment for the Belfast Gypsies sound - a snarling, paranoid anthem which pulsates with angst).
Belfast Gypsies combine these moments with their own originals, some blues and folk covers, as well as a couple of Dylan/Donovan tunes.
Belfast Gypsies were honing into the folk rock sound on
their originals which include The Crazy World Inside Me (a
plea-ridden song with a building melody), Aria of the Fallen Angels
(a tongue in cheek "classical" inspired instrumental which sounds
like soundtrack music), Suicide Song (the strangest song on the
album about the suicide of the girl form the wrong side of town) and The
Last Will and Testament (another folk rock inspired ballad which owes a
lot to the sound of The Animals).
The blues and folk rock songs include Midnight Train (with an amazing workout on harmonica), Boom Boom (a chestnut no-one was covering in 1967, and this version blows away many of the versions I've heard of this oft covered tune), and The Gorilla (an obscure French EP instrumental and one of the true gems on this cd).
The Dylan cover of It's
All over Now, Baby Blue is also another one of the finds on this disc -
one of the better covers of this song, and it should be in any Dylan
fan's collection. The Donovan cover of Hey Gyp (Dig the
Slowness) is a fitting Belfast Gypsies cover (check
that song title) because it has that Bo Diddley beat that
the Belfast Gypsies do so well.
When Van Morrison called a halt to Ireland's
premier R&B beat group in September 1966, after three and a half brief
but explosive and highly charged years and seemingly dozens of personnel
changes, Them had split into various separate factions. Two of the band,
Alan Henderson and Ray Elliott, hired some more musicians and relocated to
America to carry on as Them with a new vocalist. Van Morrison himself also
went to America and went solo, first for Bert Berns' Bang label and then, of
course, radically changing direction with the hit albums Astral Weeks and
Moondance, the first of dozens of successful albums.
Jackie and Pat McAuley had between them been in various Them line-ups
between June 1964 and July 1965, but had left the band before its demise,
having in the meantime moved to London. They had formed a new band
comprising Jackie McAuley (vocal, harmonica, keyboards), Ken Mcleod
(guitar), Mark Scott (bass) and Pat McAuley (drums). They had yet to acquire
a proper name in February 1966, being known simply as the Other Them, when
maverick American producer Kim Fowley met up with them in the Gioconda
coffee bar in Denmark Street, a favoured Tin Pan Alley watering hole. I
suspect Kim Fowley's recollection of events may have an apocryphal element,
but according to this album's sleeve notes, Kim said, "I went in and
had a ham and cheese sandwich and saw these guys sitting at a table near by.
'Are you in a group?', I asked, as so many people who used the café were,
and they replied, 'Yeah, we were in Them.' 'Oh really?' I said, 'Let's go
and make an album', and that was that." He gave them the name Belfast
Gypsies because of their romany-style image and had them dress in Sunset
Strip clothes, but deliberately took their sound back to the primitive
Mystic Eyes and Gloria-era R&B styling of classic-period Them, and
recorded them in a small Denmark Street studio also used by bands like the
Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things, which had a great earthy sound,
courtesy of unsung hero Bill Farley, the sound engineer there.
The first single wasn't bashful about its heritage, being a raucous re-write
of Gloria entitled Gloria's Dream, but Kim Fowley also brought an American
influence, shaped by garage punk songs such as Louie Louie and bands like
Count Five and the Seeds, with whom Fowley had been distantly involved. The
B-side of the single, Secret Police, was a song of his that he taught Jackie
McCauley to sing, hence the nasal Californian style of vocal he employed on
it.
In America, where the band was on Loma Records, the B-side was a version of
Derroll Adams' Portland Town. There are folk versions of the song by the
Kingston Trio, Marianne Faithfull, Joan Baez, Rambling Jack Elliott and
others, but the Belfast Gypsies gave it the full Them treatment, with the
prominent organ sound familiar from hits such as Here Comes The Night. Kim
Fowley also produced the second US single, People, Let's Freak Out, a
thumping Bo Diddley-esque number, and possibly some of the other tracks on
this album (originally only released in Scandinavia by the Sonet label in
1967 months after the band had split), but not those recorded in a
Copenhagen studio while the band was on tour later in 1966 (billed as Them),
though it is not specified which are which.
The album, Them Belfast Gypsies, rather mischievously had the word
"Them" writ large across the top of the sleeve, and "Belfast
Gypsies" in smaller letters at the bottom, so that many buyers and
indeed critics assumed it was a record by Them called Belfast Gypsies.
Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness), a Donovan cover in turn nicked from Memphis
Minnie, follows the Them blueprint and promotes the gypsy concept, and The
Last Will And Testament is a steal from Saint James Infirmary performed as a
pastiche of Them's glorious I'm Gonna Dress In Black. I would guess that
these, the Alvin Roy standard Midnight Train and John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom
were all initiated by Kim Fowley, even if recorded later, while It's All
Over Now Baby Blue was probably a riposte to the US incarnation of Them, who
had also covered the song in the wake of the version Van Morrison had
recorded with Them on their second album, Them Again, after the McAuleys had
left. The oddest track is Aria Of The Fallen Angels, adapted from Bach's
Orchestral Suite No. 3 In D Major, and inspired by the Swingle Sisters'
version of it entitled Aria.
This Rev-Ola CD edition of the Belfast Gypsies' sole album adds half a dozen
mono bonus tracks, comprising the single mixes of Gloria's Dream/Secret
Police and a French EP on Disques Vogue issued as by Them, comprising
Portland Town/It's All Over Now, Baby Blue/Midnight Train/The Gorilla. Of
these, only The Gorilla is not also on the original album, and probably
features none of the Belfast Gypsies at all but rather members of the
Shotgun Express, some of whose names appear on the composer credits. As the
album is also monaural, the differences on the bonus tracks all lie in the
mastering. Some sound frankly identical to these ears, but Secret Police
gains a few seconds, Portland Town is some 20 seconds longer, and Midnight
Train allegedly fixes a varispeed mastering error on the album version,
though both clock in at 3:28.
It's dumb, it's primitive, it's great. Play loud.
This album was clearly a
throw back when it was released in 1967 which may explain its
relative obscurity. The record's sound comes straight from 1965. The
Belfast Gypsies were a Them spin off band and Van Morrison's
influence is very prominent throughout this enjoyable album. It's a
pretty even album when speaking in terms of quality. Midnight Train
and Secret Police are two excellent songs that have a crunchy garage
punk blast. It's All Over Now Baby Blue is consider one of the great
lost Bob Dylan covers from the 1960's by many rock critics. The band
even shows its soul roots on solid compositions like Portland Town
and The Last Will And Testament. This album is recommended to anyone
into the cool garage sounds of the 1960's. Thank god record labels
are finally reissuing classic 1960's recordings such as this.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A Wild Night's Ride!!!,
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
The lost chapter of Them finally on CD!,
The Gypsies' sound is very similar to Them, having the same fopur-piece format. Jackie McAuley is on keyboards, harmonica and vocals; Ken McLeod on guitar; Mike Scott on bass, and Pat McAuley on drums and percussion. The album was produced by Kim Fowley, and the recording quality is amazingly sharp and clear; much more well-produced than some of Them's recordings! "Gloria's Dream" is a nod to (you guessed it) "Gloria", but with its own identity, and they do an awesome cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", which Them also did on their second album. Another highlight is "Portland Town", kind of an Irish folk ballad. "Midnight Train" and "People Let's Freak Out" charge along in a Bo Diddley-style beat. "Aria Of The Fallen Angels" is a dark, moody instrumental reminiscent of "Air On A G-String". Pat McAuley and Mike Scott are sadly no longer with us, and Ken McLeod disappeared, but Jackie McAuley carried on mostly as a solo artist, and is still making music to this day. |
Rev-Ola 2003)
The history of Van Morrison's legendary group Them has got to be one of the most convoluted in the annals of 60s rock. Them experienced a series of line-up changes, offshoots, and relocations, not to mention the all-important departure of Morrison himself in 1966. When Morrison broke the group to go solo, brothers Jackie and Pat McAuley-both former Them members at various points-formed a new group that would become The Belfast Gypsies, while another faction of Them relocated to the US and continued to record using that name. After enlisting new band members Mike Scott and Ken McLeod, the McAuley brothers met American musician/producer/impresario Kim Fowley in London, and soon made plans to record.
Fowley took direction of the new group, christened them The Belfast Gypsies, arranged contracts with record labels, and began to market the band based on its connections with Them. Lead singer Jackie McAuley was adept at affecting Morrison's punky R&B snarl, and with organ and harmonica to the fore, The Belfast Gypsies wore the influence of their former band on their sleeves. The Gypsies released several records, culminating in a full-length album released only in Sweden in 1967. This recent release from Rev-Ola collects all these Belfast Gypsies recordings for the first time on CD. While comparisons to Them are inevitable and probably unflattering, The Belfast Gypsies do offer some interesting songs here. "Gloria's Dream", the A-side to the band's first release, is an energetic and rather engaging rocker clearly based around Them's legendary "Gloria".
"Midnight Train" sounds like what it is-a rip-off of Them's "Mystic Eyes"-but once that's acknowledged, the harmonica work is worth admiring. The Gypsies certainly do manage to break from their Them-copying for the slower, classically inspired instrumental "Aria of the Fallen Angels". And their buoyant version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is strong and refreshingly different from the masterful, dramatic version which Them had released just a year or two earlier. "People, Let's Freak Out" packs a mighty R&B wallop and probably represents The Belfast Gypsies at their wildest. "Portland Town" is a simple but effective narrative which inexplicably morphed into the more innocuous "Flower Town" when recorded by US pop band The Rose Garden, appearing as the flip side to their hit single "Last Train to London". And "Secret Police" demonstrates some interesting pop songwriting, and its lyrical description of crime and paranoia is perfectly juxtaposed to the urgency of the two-chord backing.
Occasionally, The Gypsies' mirroring of Them does get a bit tiresome, particularly when they try to simulate the emotion and expression of Morrison's performance, as in tracks like "The Crazy World inside Me" and "The Last Will and Testament", the latter of which is a bad copy of Them's "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" that presents all the bleakness but none of the sensitivity of the original. The Belfast Gypsies can rock, and they can do pretty good Them impressions and even write some interesting original material. But their emphasis on intensity, despondency, and impression is inevitably limiting.
They seem to miss many of the subtleties that had made Them's music so diverse and consistent at the same time. Still, that's not to say that The Belfast Gypsies don't contribute some worthy material here. This CD makes for interesting listening, even if it may not be a compulsory purchase, and it will definitely make the listener appreciate the recordings of the original, Van Morrison-led Them.
Garage
rock is an ugly beast which rears its head every so often even at times when
it is unwanted. 1967 was a dull time for garage rock, and yet the Belfast
Gypsies put out a sneering, garage rock platter of an lp, and because of the
changing times, were considered has-beens. But given time, Them Belfast
Gypsies has indeed become known as a garage rock classic, inspiring everyone
from The Modern Lovers to Iggy Pop (who claimed the Belfast Gypsies' Secret
Police was one of his favorite garage rock singles), and thanks to reissue
label of the year Rev-Ola, Them Belfast Gypsies has been finally reissued on
cd.
Kim Fowley
discovered the Belfast Gypsies from the remnants of Van Morrison's group
Them. Upon the birth of Van Morrison's solo career, Them split into two
different groups - Them bass player, Alan Henderson took the group's name to
the U.S. and released some psychedelic albums (Now & Them and Time in!
Time Out! For Them! have also been reissued by UK reissue label Rev-Ola). 
The
other off-shoot of Them, was re-christened the Belfast Gypsies, and included
Them's organist Jackie McAuley and his brother, Pat, on drums. Under the
wing of Kim Fowley, who was visiting the UK fresh from California, looking
for new bands to work with, the Belfast Gypsies released a couple of singles
and an album under the names Belfast Gypsies and The Freaks of Nature. Where
the splinter Them group who settled in the U.S. took a foray into
psychedelic music, Belfast Gypsies stayed true to their R&B garage rock
roots, creating primal stabs of vinyl passion. Rev-Ola has done an
incredible job bringing together all of this music on one amazing cd, which
- if you haven't heard, will shatter your illusions that you've heard it all
before.
At a time when The
Beatles' Revolver and Sgt Pepper were paving the way, creating a blueprint
for other groups to follow, often these lesser groups were followers and
their end results were dire. Belfast Gypsies, however were caught and held
in that moment which made them so great. Kim Fowley did a wonderful job in
that way - he was able to take the angst of rock groups of the day and
nurture that angst for all it was worth.
Belfast Gypsies is
that mix of folk rock gone asunder (a la the Animals' House of the Rising
Sun) and the Bo Diddley beat mixed with Kim Fowley's freaky LA paranoia. Kim
Fowley gave the group help on such songs as Gloria's Dream (a take on the
original Them's hit song with great follow-up results), People, Let's Freak
Out (definitely a tune worthy of being released by a band also called The
Freaks of Nature... as only Kim Fowley would name them) and the astounding
Secret Police (the crowning moment for the Belfast Gypsies sound - a
snarling, paranoid anthem which pulsates with angst).
Belfast Gypsies
combine these moments with their own originals, some blues and folk covers,
as well as a couple of Dylan/Donovan tunes.
Belfast Gypsies
were honing into the folk rock sound on their originals which include The
Crazy World Inside Me (a plea-ridden song with a building melody), Aria of
the Fallen Angels (a tongue in cheek "classical" inspired
instrumental which sounds like soundtrack music), Suicide Song (the
strangest song on the album about the suicide of the girl form the wrong
side of town) and The Last Will and Testament (another folk rock inspired
ballad which owes a lot to the sound of The Animals).
The blues and folk
rock songs include Midnight Train (with an amazing workout on harmonica),
Boom Boom (a chestnut no-one was covering in 1967, and this version blows
away many of the versions I've heard of this oft covered tune), and The
Gorilla (an obscure French EP instrumental and one of the true gems on this
cd).
The Dylan cover of
It's All over Now, Baby Blue is also another one of the finds on this disc -
one of the better covers of this song, and it should be in any Dylan fan's
collection. The Donovan cover of Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness) is a fitting
Belfast Gypsies cover (check that song title) because it has that Bo Diddley
beat that the Belfast Gypsies do so well.
NOTE: There is no
Van Morrison on this album.
Track Listings
01. Gloria's Dream
02. Crazy World
Inside Me
03. Midnight Train
04. Aria of the
Fallen Angels
05. Its All Over
Now, Baby Blue
06. People, Let's
Freak Out
07. Boom Boom
08. Last Will and
Testament
09. Portland Town
10. Hey Gyp (Dig
the Slowness)
11. Suicide Song
12. Secret Police
13. Portland Town
[French EP Mix]
14. It's All Over
Now, Baby Blue [French EP Mix]
15. Midnight Train
[French EP Mix]
16. Gorilla [French
EP Mix]
17. Secret Police
[45 Mix]
18. Gloria's Dream
[45 Mix]
- Jackie McAuley - vocals
- Ken McCleod - guitar
- Mark Scott - bass
- Pat McAuley - drums
http://www.irishrock.org/ir6070/bands/belfastgypsies.html
It begins in Belfast, Ireland, sometime late in 1963. The Maritime Hotel had recently been open there as a hall for local R&B groups to practice and play in. Of those groups, the Monarchs had probably been the most successful (they'd toured the UK & Europe), but they had split. Their singer, Van Morrison, along with two more of the group, joined with two other friends to form Them. Them (with Van on vocals and harmonica, Alan Henderson (bass), Billy Harrigan (guitar), Eric Wickson (piano) & Ronnie Millings (drums)became Maritime's house-band, building a solid reputation there as a strong, adventurous R&B group. They signed to Decca in 1964, and had a hit in Ireland with their 1st single 'Don't Start Crying Now'. When the 2nd single, 'BABY PLEASE DON'T GO' made the British charts, they were persuaded to move to London.
THEM were plagued by personal problems from the start... Even on their decision to come to London, some came and some did not. The group was reshaped around Morrison, Harrison and Henderson, with Jackie McAuley on organ and his brother Pat on drums. More musicians came & went & came again, especially during the recording of the group's two albums, 'THEM' and 'THEM AGAIN', where the use of session-men (including JIMMY PAGE) especially angered Morrison. The mass of styles on those records too, from folk-ballads thru jazz to pop/rock and more, although showing the range of the group, did little to keep them as a single musical unit.
The end came in 1966, after a tout of the U.S. Them had achieved a measure of 'Underground' success there through the flip of "BABY PLEASE DON'T GO" : with "GLORIA"... "GLORIA" had become a garage-band classic, a song which was a vital part of every 'up-and-coming'(or even 'going-nowhere') group's act, right there alongside "LOUIE,LOUIE". THEM's "GLORIA" was a hit in Texas and Florida, but the "SHADOWS OF KNIGHT" had the National Hit, having cleaned it up. This 'Underground' acceptance was a million miles from the commercial success THEM needed, and on coming home, Van Morrison left the group and returned to Belfast and THEM split in two.
One piece was Alan Henderson's. He retained the name THEM, took four new musicians and left for America where four subsequent Them albums appeared. The second piece was much more interesting....
Jackie and Pat McAuley put a new group together with Mike Scott and Ken McLeod. They were without a name as they could not use THEM, despite being two-fifths of the group. Then they met KIM FOWLEY, who had come over to London. Kim had loved "GLORIA" and was eager to help the group. He gave them their name, calling them the 'BELFAST GYPSIES"... They went to Scandinavia with Kim and recorded much of what became this LP..Although the FOWLEY influence is here on this album, the BELFAST GYPSIES sound is a logical extension of THEM. Its hard to write about both without references to either; the GYPSIES were THEM's spiritual successor, THEM in all but name....
"BELFAST GYPSIES" was issued in Scandinavia, August 1967, but was never given a British issue until 1977. It's only a shame that the group split up soon after the recordings were over. They were too good to be forgotten...... A CLASSIC, RARE COLLECTIBLE!!!
TRACK LIST: SIDE ONE
1.GLORIA'S DREAM
2. THE CRAZY WORLD INSIDE ME
3. MIDNIGHT TRAIN
4. ARIA OF THE FALLEN ANGELS
5. BABY BLUE
6. PEOPLE, LET'S FREAK OUT
SIDE TWO
1. BOOM BOOM
2. THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
3. PORTLAND TOWN
4. HEY GYP, DIG THE SLOWNESS
5. SUICIDE SONG
6. SECRET POLICE
***NOTE*** THE WHITE GLARE ON THE LP COVER IS FROM THE CAMERA FLASH. LP COVER LOOKS MUCH BETTER THAN SHOWN. SORRY FOR BAD PIC. WILL EMAIL MORE PICS IF BUTER WANTS..