Them: Gloria

Friday Firsts is the theme and today takes us back to a song that originally wasn’t the “A” side of the single and wasn’t the “hit” version either, although I remember the original being played more than the later cover hit version by the Shadows of Knight. The original rendition features the vocals of Van Morrison and his group Them. They are (or is it “Them is”) the final Irish artist we are featuring in our week long celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This is an interesting lip synced video of their semi hit “Gloria.” I am not sure what the whole subliminal message of the donkey smiling in this video means – if you know, let me.

When Them recorded this tune along with six others for British Decca, A&R (that’s artist and repertoire) man Dick Rowe insisted on using session musicians for rhythm guitar, keyboards, and drums. Some suggest that the members of the band also played on the recording which would have constituted the first time double drummers were used in rock and roll. The rhythm guitarist was Jimmy Page who was making quite a good living at doing session dates. He gave this up to join the Yardbirds in 1965.

The single was released in November 1964 with “Gloria” as the “B” side to the Big Joe Williams song, “Baby Please Don’t Go.” The single was released on one of British Decca’s American arm, London Records’ subsidiary – Parrot Records. Parrot, for those of you that remember the 60s without flashbacks, may recall some other artists that recorded for this label including Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdink, Frijid Pink, and Bobby “Boris” Pickett to name a few.

Them stereo album version

The first go around the song charted at 93 in early 1965 as disc jockeys began flipping the single and playing the “B” side instead of the “A” side. Later in 1966, Parrot rereleased the single and officially made “Gloria” the “A” side. Controversy over the line “She comes to my room” relegated the song being banned at numerous American radio stations and it peaked on the US charts at 71.

The Shadows of Knight cover and hit

The song, a favorite among garage bands, was recorded by the Shadows of Knight who changed the line to “She calls out my name” and captured the lead spot on the American charts. Released on the ATCO distributed Dunwich label, Shadows of Knight took “Gloria” to the top ten spot. Although I prefer the original, the SOK version is rather good as well.