(click on cover image for larger version)

The "Angry" Young Them
(UK album)

1. Mystic Eyes
2. If You And I Could Be As Two
3. Little Girl
4. Just a Little Bit
5. I Gave My Love a Diamond
6. Gloria
7. You Just Can't Win
8. Go On Home Baby
9. Don't Look Back
10. I Like It Like That
11. I'm Gonna Dress in Black
12. Bright Lights, Big City
13. My Little Baby
14. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66

Original LP liner notes: (thanks to the Eggman for the transcription)
This is a long playing record by "THEM". No excuses ... no highbrow explanations ... no apologies, simply music and sounds that only THEM could produce. A collection of sounds and songs that mean a great deal to the artistes who poured their souls into the making of this L.P.

Of course they hope that you will like the sound - but the important thing is that when you play this L.P. you will be listening to the truth! Because these five young rebels are outrageously true to themselves. Defiant! Angry! Sad!

Reporters who try to interview them lament that they "don't care". Oh but they do! ... they care about their music, they care about their fans, the people who appreciate their music. But above all, they are honest to the point of insult. When asked to produce a track that they considered 'a pretty song', their answer was simply "NO! This is our music, you either like it or you don't". We think you will like it...

SIDE ONE
Track one expresses the sheer exuberance with which these boys got together. This number was intended simply as a non-vocal track - but on the session Van Morrison began to sing a few phrases towards the end - and suddenly the song came alive.

Van of course is not only the singer, he also plays harmonica and sax on some of these tracks. So alive and vibrant are the pure, basic thoughts that he writes, that it seems incredible that one man can have so much talent ' His phrasing is so wonderful that in his hands even the most banal lyrics take on a new depth and meaning... and become touched with genius.

"JUST A LITTLE BIT" is of course one of the best R&B songs around today ... this is THEM's new, modern version very unlike the predecessors. A&R man, Tommy Scott, who produced most of the tracks on. this album, enjoys working with THEM very much. "They have", he says, "a tremendous feel for this type of music, and I consider them to be the most individual group to emerge on the British scene."

"I GAVE MY LOVE A DIAMOND" was written by Bert Berns, who wrote such hit songs as "Twist and Shout". He recorded THEM's first successful record, "Baby Please Don't Go", and followed this up with the dramatic "Here Comes The Night".

"GLORIA" was the "B" side of "Baby Please Don't Go" and was released on its own merits in the States. It is without doubt an R&B standard of the future. The final track on Side One, "YOU JUST CAN'T WIN" was also penned by Van Morrison. This is a contemporary blues set in London, lamenting a love lost to the "high life".

SIDE TWO
"GO ON HOME BABY" is a driving, up-tempo number, again written by Bert Berns.

John Lee Hooker, hailed as one of the greatest R&B singers in the world ... the man behind the magic of "Boom Boom" and "Dimples", wrote "DON'T LOOK BACK". Perhaps it isn't so extraordinary that this soulful ballad sounds uncannily like a Van Morrison composition. Obviously, they have a great deal in common.

With "I LIKE IT LIKE THAT", Van again comes up with a superb rendering of his own composition.

"I'M GONNA DRESS IN BLACK" is once again a contemporary number comparable to the old Country Blues.

"BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY" introduces a song by Jimmy Reed .. . since it was first written, "Bright Lights" has become an R&B classic. "ROUTE 66" was recorded by the late, great Nat "King" Cole. It loses none of it's impact on this track - although THEM have given it a very different tempo.

The boys' favourite track on this album is "IF YOU AND I COULD BE AS TWO". Of all the numbers that Van has written - this is his personal favourite.

A number of tracks on this L.P. were recorded by Tommy Scott, the brilliant young A&R man from Scotland. So this is probably a unique record in another sense ... Irishmen, THEM, recorded by a Scot, "Tommy Scott", an American, Bert Berns, and an odd track by DICK ROWE, Head A&R man at Decca...and English.

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