Belfast Gypsies (Them album)
Grand Prix GP 9923 - (1967 Sweden only)
Sonet SNTF 738 - (1978 UK reissue)
(Reissued on Rev-Ola in September, 2003)
- Gloria's Dream
- The Crazy World Inside Me
- Midnight Train
- Aria of The Fallen Angels
- Baby Blue
- People, Let's Freak Out
- Boom Boom
- The Last Will and Testament
- Portland Town
- Hey Gyp, Dig The Slowness
- Suicide Song
- Secret Police
- Portland Town (French EP mix)
- Baby Blue (French EP mix)
- Midnight Train (French EP mix)
- The Gorilla (French EP mix)
- Secret Police (45 mix)
- Gloria's Dream (45 mix)
Note that there is no Van content on this album.
See also this Glossary entry for
The Belfast Gypsies
Liner notes to the 1978 reissue: (thanks to the David Chance for the transcription)
The Story of the Belfast Gypsies
by Brian Hogg -- 'Bam Balam', 1978
This album, and its group, have a rather complex history.
It begins in Belfast, Ireland, sometime in late 1963. The Maritime
Hotel had recently been open there as a hall for local R&B groups to
practice in and to play. Of those groups, the Monarchs had probably
been the most successful (they'd toured Britain and 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 Harrison
(guitar), Eric Wickson (piano) and Ronnie Millings (drums)), became
the 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 first single "Don't Start Crying
Now". When the second single, "Baby, Please Don't Go" made the
British charts, they were persuaded to move to London.
Them were plagued by personal problems. 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 and went
and 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 through 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 tour of the U.S.A. Them had achieved
a measure of 'underground' success there through the flip of "Baby,
Please Don't Go"; "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 (and
poor) 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 with 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'.
I guess the Gypsies' story is almost as complex as Them's. They
recorded two singles in 1966, both of them on Island and both of
them produced by Kim Fowley. The first was "Gloria's Dream" (c/w
"Secret Police" WI 3007). Obviously, the Gypsies hadn't forgotten
"Gloria". Not just in the title either; "Gloria's Dream" was the
"Gloria" riff recycled, and was almost as good. The Gypsies' sound
was similar to Them, but then they had every right to with two
ex-Them members. They had a right to the sound they helped to
create. Again, the organ was the most prominent instrument, played
over simple, effective drums and bass, and although the vocals did
use much of Morrison's style and phrasing, they fitted perfectly to
the sound. And "Secret Police" was even better, with a fabulous,
throbbing bass line and more of that marvellous, menacing organ
sound.
The second single was "People Let's Freak Out" (c/w "The Shadow
Chasers" WI 3017). But it wasn't released as by the Belfast
Gypsies. This time they were the Freaks Of Nature (although in the
U.S. it was issued as by the Belfast Gypsies). The Fowley influence
is much stronger on the A side, even judging by the title alone.
It's fast, using the Bo Diddley shuffle-beat, and it showed the
group's R&B roots, especially as the harmonica was much the lead
instrument. And the flip? It was "Secret Police" under a new name.
Unfortunately, neither single met with much success. Kim Fowley had
moved off to Scandinavia and the group went too. They became the
Belfast Gypsies again and it was in Scandinavia that they recorded
much of what became this album, produced by Kim and Ray Henderson.
The singles' tracks were kept and some more songs were recorded
along with a few done, but not released, at the "Gloria's Dream"
sessions.
Although the Fowley influence is here on this album, the Belfast
Gypsies' sound is a logical extension of Them. It's hard to write
about both without references to either; the Gypsies were Them's
spiritual successor, Them in all but name. They didn't dabble in
the extremes of the old group, but based their sound on the more
direct, R&B/pop approach. Where Them were eclectic, the Gypsies
simply concentrated on one or two more simple styles. It was 1967,
but they were much more involved in Beat group music than the
beginnings of 'progressive-rock'. Some of the titles were
contemporary, but the music was what they were best at.
And it works. Their R&B roots are here on "Midnight Train" (with
its great harmonica), on "Boom Boom" and on "Portland Town" (the
U.S. flip of "Gloria's Dream" and probably the earliest thing they
recorded). But they aren't simply recreations, the roots of each
song are adapted away from the originals to a more commercial,
mid-sixties sound.
There's contemporary material too and Dylan's "Baby Blue" is a real
highlight. Again there has to be comparisons. Them had done a
great, really original version of the song on 'Them Again', and it's
possibly one of the best things they did. It seemed a difficult
thing for the Gypsies to try after that. But their version is
equally original. It's faster than Them's, and it's more controlled
than most of the songs on the album. The vocals and backing match
perfectly and the whole approach shows how good the group really
were.
Of the rest, there's "The Last Will And Testament", stylistically
similar to the Animals' "House Of The Rising Sun" and equally as
powerful. There's Donovan's "Hey Gyp" (the original only hinted at
its possible shuffle-beat; here the Gypsies use it to its fullest
effect, something they really were good at), "Suicide Song", "The
Crazy World Inside Me" and lastly "Aria Of The Fallen Angels", a
less-than-serious instrumental.
Belfast Gypsies was issued in Scandinavia in August, 1967, but it
was never given a British issue, until now. It's a good album,
interesting both musically and in its part in one of the Beat Boom's
most complex stories. It's only a shame that the group split up
soon after the recordings were over. They were too good to be
forgotten, but like so many groups whose beginnings were in that
Beat Boom, they were discarded and swept aside as so-called "serious
music" loomed forth. Pat McAuley, Mike Scott and Ken McLeod seemed
to leave music altogether. Only Jackie McAuley stayed on, forming
Trader Horne with Judy Dyble, Fairport Convention's first girl
singer. They made one album on Pye's Dawn label, before they too
split up.
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