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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Van Morrison

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #29: Pump Up The Valium

    THEM's classic single, "Gloria"

    THEM  “Gloria” b/w “Baby, Please Don’t Go” (Parrot Records #9727,  1964-65)

    I’m pressed for time, so this installment will have to be brief, but this record doesn’t need a whole lot of words anyway.  We are gathered here today, my friends, to celebrate one of the hands-down greatest, purest rock ‘n’ roll singles of all time:  “Gloria” (also known as “G-L-O-R-I-A!”) by early-’60’s Irish rockers Them.  Written by the band’s singer, a then-unknown young upstart named Van Morrison, this track was actually the B-side of this release, but my Parrot pressing (whether it’s original or not I’m unsure) doesn’t make that distinction.  No matter, let’s just rock.

    Play GLORIA by THEM

    The single hit the Top 100 in ’64 and again in ’65, but it was Chicago garage-rock group The Shadows Of Knight who would bring it into the Top 10 in April of ’66.  Since then it’s become the quintessential rock classic, covered by everyone in the universe.  Learn to play the E, D & A chords on the guitar, and you can cover it too.

    Play BABY, PLEASE DON\’T GO by THEM

    The B-side, which is really the A-side, is Them’s blistering take on Joe Williams’ blues classic, “Baby, Please Don’t Go.”  Also revered as a rock staple and also covered zillions of times, always using Them’s arrangement.  B’cause, as the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke — don’t fix it.

    Them released a handful of great singles and albums, and had a couple brilliant Top 40 hits stateside with “Here Comes The Night” and “Mystic Eyes.”  After Morrison left to pursue a solo career in ’66, the band attempted to soldier on without him, to no avail.  And, as everyone knows, Van Morrison’s solo career never amounted to much.

    NEXT WEEK: Ho ho!  Ha-haa!  He-hee!

  • First Spin 2/24/09: Jonas Brothers, Chris Isaak & More!!

    jonasI must say, it’s a bit difficult to drum up the enthusiasm to put this column together when there isn’t a damn thing coming out that I’m interested in. For as long as I’ve been buying music as an adult and following release dates, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this far into a year while buying so little music. Even worse, I’m strangely ambivalent about most of the music that I’ve bought. Weird, huh?

    Anyway, here’s what’s out today:

    B-Real “Smoke & Mirrors”– I think I wrote something a while back about unnecessary solo albums, and here’s yet another one. Do we really need an entire album of B-Real and that VOICE without the respite that Sen Dog’s angry barks provide? Does anyone really care that B-Real has an album out? Has anyone given half a fuck about anything Cypress Hill has recorded in a decade? Talk about flaming out. 2 good albums and then they went straight down shit street.

    Chris Isaak “Mr. Lucky”-I like Chris Isaak. He doesn’t take the being a star thing too seriously, he’s got an appealing voice and he’s quite attractive. That said, I own nothing by Chris Isaak save for a greatest hits compilation. I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything either. Anyhow, Chris has a new TV show premiering which is proably quite good, so he’s hitting us from both angles. Go, synergy!

    Jonas Brothers “Music from the 3-D Concert Experience”– Labels don’t seem to learn when it comes to teen groups. To wit: NKOTB-studio albums, Christmas album, remix album. Hanson-studio album, “early years” release, Christmas album, live album. The result in both cases? People stopped caring. Anyway, the Jonases, fresh from being embarrassed on the Grammys by Adele and embarrassing themselves with Stevie Wonder, are releasing their very first live album, something like six months after their last studio album came out. How long till the bubble bursts? Cue teenage girls going crazy.

    K’naan “Troubadour”– I don’t know much about this guy, other than some great reviews I’ve seen. Considering how little else is out, I might give this one a shot. Looks like he’s working the same alt-rap vibe that fellow Canuck MC k-os does, and the guest list (Adam Levine, Mos Def, Damien Marley) is pretty stellar for an artist unknown in the US. This might be worth it for the right price.

    Van Morrison “Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl”-Yup, it’s Van the Man, performing the songs from one of his best-known and most-loved albums forty years after the fact. Albums like this are so unnecessary. I’d rather just listen to the original.

    Elsewhere, there seems to be at least one release from every genre imaginable. If you’re a hip-hopper, you might want to check out Joe Budden’s long-awaited “Padded Room”, his first studio release in something like seven or eight years. Blues rockers will take to JJ Cale’s “Roll On”, while you’ll get more of a straight-ahead blues sound with Shemekia Copeland’s “Never Going Back”. Metalheads will go for the new Lamb of God and Hatebreed releases, while Prince fans (like me) will dig on Wendy & Lisa’s new one, called “White Flags of Winter Chimneys”, which I believe is only available digitally (meaning that I won’t buy it).

    On the reissue tip, Stax is re-releasing some of Isaac Hayes’ classic work, including the seminal “Black Moses” album. Erasure is summarizing their career with a 40-song Best of, reggae superstar Elephant Man has his first hits comp arriving in stores, and in the category of albums no one asked for: there are best-ofs arriving from Bloodhound Gang and Insane Clown Posse.

    Get the full list of releases here.

  • The New Music Files 1/13/09: No-No-Notorious!!

    notoriousHey, we took a break for a coupla weeks and now we’re back. The music industry is slowly shaking out of it’s slumber, and while there aren’t any superstar releases for a couple weeks still, there is some interesting niche-y kinda stuff getting released. We’re gonna roll with a new format this year and see if it sticks.

    The big deal this week is the release of the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious on Friday, and a few days in advance of the movie’s release, we have the soundtrack. This will be the 4th compilation of B.I.G.’s material released since his death. There’s fairly significant overlap between this CD and the Greatest Hits album Bad Boy put out two years ago,with the exception of a couple of demos, and one song featuring B.I.G.’s 12 year old son. Let’s hear it for exploitation!!

    Not much else going on. Jam band lovers can rejoice because the Derek Trucks Band is releasing their new album, Already Free today. On the R&B side, we have new releases from the bluesy Syleena Johnson and former Broadway star Heather Headley, whose first gospel album comes out today. All you jazziacs can take a listen to the new Ravi Coltrane and Joshua Redman releases, and late 90s fetishists can pick up the new (hed) p.e. album.

    A few interesting things going on as far as reissues. The Now That’s What I Call Music series turns its’ attention to Motown just in time for the pioneering label’s 50th anniversary with a track listing remarkably similar to the Motown #1s CD that came out about half a decade ago. Odessa, one of the Bee Gees‘ earlier efforts, gets the 2-disc deluxe treatment today, and Sony’s environmentally friendly Playlist series has a ton of new entries, ranging from Run-DMC and The Jacksons to Van Morrison and Dan Fogelberg.

    You can get the full list of new releases here.