Now and Them
(Them album)

Original release on Tower Records (USA) -- ST 5104. 1967
Rereleased on Zap! Records (Zap 6) in 1988
Rereleased on Rev-Ola (CRREV29) in 2003

Witch Doctor
What's The Matter Baby
Truth Machine
Square Room
You're Just What I Was
Looking For Today
Dirty Old Man (At The Age Of Sixteen)
Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out
Walking In The Queen's Garden
I Happen To Love You
Come To Me
Square Room *
But It's Alright *
Walking In The Queen's Garden *
I Happen To Love You *

Note that there is no Van content on this album.

* - Bonus tracks, mixes from the 7" singles

Note:
There is a suggestion/rumor - unprovable, I suspect - that the song "Walking in The Queen's Garden may (or may not) have been written by Van...

Liner notes, from the Rev-Ola reissue:
There can't be anyone out there who has never heard of 1960's Belfast legends and hitmakers, Them. From the Maritime to Van Morrison's mainstream rock fame, it's a pretty well known tale... but like most things Irish, there are always a couple of.... left turns... which are well worth a look... one of those is the Kim Fowley sponsored Belfast Gypsies, with half the original Them... the other half took on Belfast powerhouse vocalist and old mate Kenny McDowell, and headed back to the scene of the happiest dates on their bizarre U.S. tour...

California... where with the aid of producer Ray Ruff they signed to Capitol susiduary Tower, home of The Standells and The Chocolate Watchband, as a full on Psychedelic Punk band.... Shadows Of Knight?.... Pah! We'll show 'em how it's done!....two, overlooked classic albums resulted, of which this was the First.... together with the attendant single mixes, a picture of a forgotten period for a world-famous band.. Them. This album has never before been released on CD and comes complete with the rare single mixes, all from original masters. The sleeve notes contain the full story of Them in California making this a must for Psych Punk fans, Van Morrison completists, and all fans of Them!

Liner notes, from the Zap! Records reissue (Zap 6):
(thanks to the David Chance for the transcription)
They're a group with five distinct but not disjointed personalities. This is Them as I know them.

There's Kenny McDowell, who worried about stepping into Van Morrison's place as the group's vocalist. He's a worker on stage, shouting and whispering everything from blues to Indian ragas. Blues is his game and he plays it well. Off stage he's shy, but getting over it. Charming in that delightful Irish way, he blushes when complimented and calls every girl "Luv." You just can't help but love Kenny.

Towering over him on stage is Kim Armstrong, lead guitar player extraordinaire. A year ago Jim looked like a cross between Chad Stuart and Peter Asher; now he just looks tall. New Shankar albums to blow his mind, but then so do songs like "They're Coming To Take Me Away," so how can you win? He's basically an uncomplicated guy who likes to like and is easy to like. Keep your eye on this man; he's going to develop himself into one of our top guitarists. But it won't hang him up, 'cause things just don't hang Jim up.

And there's Alan, who resembles an iceberg in that only about ten percent of him is above the surface. He keeps a lot of him inside. What's on the outside looks a lot like Omar Sharif. It's a little difficult to earn Alan's respect, as it is with all of Them, but once you get it you have a loyal friend. But cross him once and you'll never have a chance to do it again. He's one heck of a bass player, but if you ask him he'll tell you Jim is the group's best guitarist. He can seem a bit rough at times, but he's learning the meaning of gentleness. Just don't let Alan frighten you.

Ray Elliott plays sax, organ, flute, etc., and is the world's largest living leprechaun, not necessarily in captivity. He's easy to love but impossible to understand. He calls his sax a typewriter and is capable of talking for hours without making sense to anyone other than himself, but that's Ray. And you'll just have to take him as he is, 'cause there's no way he's ever going to change. But why should he; he's enjoying himself. Ray doesn't trust people, but maybe he has a reason. We'll probably never know.

Move slowly around Dave Harvey and he may be able to keep up with you. Them's drummer, he's a low keyed Englishman who looks Spanish when his moustache gets too long. He once wore a watch that said five o'clock for three months, but in Dave's world it might have been five o'clock for three months. Jazz is his bag, photography his latest interest and girls his full time interest. He doesn't stand out in a crowd, but he's glad of that since crowds bother him. Dave's simply quiet, easy going and slow, at everything.

These are Them now and now is Them. They've been through some changes, bad times and good times and learned from all of it. It's going to happen for Them now. I think you'll like Them.

Carol Deck, West Coast Editor FLIP Magazine

"Now And Them" would never have been possible if not for one of "Them's" favorite people, Carol Deck. Carol was the only person in America that "Them" had any faith in what-so-ever.

The boys had a very rough time with their first American experience and were not about to get themselves into a similar situation again. They wrote Carol and asked her to take time to find a Producer-Manager combination. When Carol contacted me, at first, I refused, but after receiving a letter from Alan Henderson I knew that "Them" definitely meant business this time.

I sent the tickets and contracts to Alan and brought "Them" to America. Without Carol Deck's faith in the group, "Them" would not have a "Now And Them" album for anyone to enjoy, and the great talent of "Them" would probably have been wasted in Europe.

So, thank you Carol Deck from all of us and "Them".

Ray Ruff, Manager of "Them"

Album Produced by Ray Ruff
Walking in the Queen's Garden and I Happen to Love You co-produced
by Marty Cooper & Ray Ruff
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out and Square Room
co-produced by "Them" & Ray Ruff
Arrangements: Al Capp, John Bahler
Cover Art by Bob Zoell

Part of the van-the-man.info unofficial website

Now and Them(Them album)

Now and Them
(Them album)