Hey, Have you heard THEM?

The Story of Them featuring Van Morrison-1964-1966

At some point, I will try not to review albums that have stigmas attached (because our parents love them or listened to them when they were young). However, when they say that your parents are always right, sometimes musically speaking I would have to agree.

Van Morrison, for some falls into that category. I can just picture my own mother driving along singing Brown-Eyed Girl and Moondance out of key while weaving in and out of traffic. These songs have made lists like Rolling Stones Magazines top 500 songs of all time, and are still played frequently on the radio. However, one thing that my mother and a lot of other people don’t know is that Van Morrison’s career started with a Northern Irish garage rock band, called Them in the mid 1960’s.
As a nineteen year old in 1964, Van Morrison’s vocal career began when he corresponded to an ad for musicians to play at an R&B club, where he formed the group called The Gamblers (later named Them after the famous 1950’s horror movie). Them was known for their performances because Morrison frequently improvised vocals, allowing the band to create songs as they went.

I don’t usually recommend a band’s collection of songs, versus individual albums because I feel that many songs go over looked. However, they were known for playing covers as well as their own songs so I think the collection of songs ‘The Story of Them featuring Van Morrison’ beautifully portrays their unique sound as a group, staying true to their original concept. The album sums up the two year long reign from 1964 to 1966, with their chart topping singles.
Aesthetically, the album ‘The Story of Them featuring Van Morrison’ is a melting pot of many different genres of music neatly wrapped together in a wonderful treat for the ears. Though regarded as a ‘garage rock band’, there are many different elements in their songs, that make that genre classification almost obsolete. The simple catchy lyrics of some cover songs like Go on Home Baby, “Her hair hangs down so straight/When she moves she looks so great” are very reminiscent of the British pop invasion. On the same album, tracks written by the band like If You and I Could Be as Two create a more somber feel, allowing more analytical thought with words like, “Was on a Sunday/And the autumn leaves were on the ground/I kicked my heart/When I saw you standing there in your dress of blue/The storm was over my ship sailed through.”

Listening to it mature later in his solo career, Van Morrison’s youthful scrappy voice, gives all of the songs an innocent quality on this album. Backed by heavy bass lines, poppy guitar parts, and in some songs synthesizers, harmonicas and tribal drum beats this album is reminiscent of the Rolling Stones, and also the pyschedelic rock sound of that time period. Many songs from this album went on to inspire bigger acts, which in itself is worth checking out the band. For example, their song Gloria (one of my favorites) was later covered at live concerts by The Doors, Bruce Springsteen, U2, David Bowie and was also reinvented and included on albums by Patti Smith and Jimi Hendrix.

Track Listing *= personal favorite
Note: The C.D version comes in 2 discs, however I only included the version available for download

1. 
   

1. The Story of Them Parts 1 & 2- 7:18

2. Don't Start Crying Now- 2:03

3. "Gloria"-2:35*

4. "Philosophy"- 2:35

5. "One Two Brown Eyes"-2:34

6. "Baby Please Don't Go"-2:40

7. "Here Comes the Night"-2:46*

8. "All for Myself"-2:47

9. "One More Time"-2:48

10."Little Girl"-2:47

11. "I Gave My Love a Diamond"-3:02

12. "Go on Home Baby"-2:32*

13. "My Little Baby"-2:00

14. "Mystic Eyes"-2:41*

15. "Don't Look Back"-3:20

16. "If You and I Could Be as Two"-2:51

17. "I Like it Like That"-3:16

18. "I'm Gonna Dress in Black"-3:29

19. "(Get your Kicks On) Route 66"-2:22

20. "Just a Little Bit"-2:21

21. "You Just Can't Win"-2:21

22. "Bright Lights, Big City"-2:30*

23. "Baby What You Want Me to Do"- 3:26

24. "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (Alternate)-3:34

25. "One More Time" (Alternate)-2:45

26. "Little Girl" (Alternate)-2:47

A Live and Young

Neil Young  "Live at Massey Hall" 1971

It is not often that a live album receives serious acclaim. Typically, they are recorded shortly after the release of a new album. Live albums are also released sporadically, for die-hard fans to excitedly purchase, as a form of memorabilia. It is for these reasons, Neil Young's "Live at Massey Hall," is a sort of oddity. Yes, it can fit into both categories (came after a new release/finds a home in every fan's heart) but ,unlike most other live albums, the collection of songs easily stands on its own.  

Neil's stripped-down take on old rockers such as "Cowgirl in the Sand," or "Ohio," leaves the listener stunned. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar,  occasional harmonica, and a piano, the set is both intimate and fresh. With each introduction you will find yourself pulled deeper into the songwriter's eerie melancholy. At seventeen tracks total, and with Buffalo Springfield era hit "On the Way Home," opening the night's set, anyone new to Young gets a quick briefing of his earliest hits and favorites. Those who listen to Young's work regularly will be happy to find somber renditions of some of the artist's best-known work in a way they never had thought possible. "Bad Fog of Loneliness," a track cut from the album Harvest , makes its debut a little halfway through the album. 

Whether intrigued by the album's mystique or by the solid collection of hits, "Live at Massey Hall," is well worth looking into. Unlike most live albums the quality of the recording is above-average, and Young's on-the-spot storytelling sets a scene for each song in a way a studio-album never would.

Track Listing  *= personal favorite
01 On The Way Home [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
02 Tell Me Why [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
03 Old Man [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
04 Journey Through The Past [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
05 Helpless [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
06 Love In Mind [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
07 A Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold Suite [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
08 Cowgirl In The Sand [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
09 Don't Let It Bring You Down [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
10 There's A World [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
11 Bad Fog Of Loneliness [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
12 The Needle And The Damage Done [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
13 Ohio [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
14 See The Sky About To Rain [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
15 Down By The River [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
16 Dance Dance Dance [Live At Massey Hall 1971]
17 I Am A Child [Live At Massey Hall 1971]

Stevie Nicks is a Magical Gypsy

Bella Donna- Stevie Nicks 1981

I have been a Fleetwood Mac fan as long as I can remember (mostly in part due to my mother cramming it down my throat as a child). With that being said, I definitely had to take a break and be an angsty teenager and not listen to whatever it was she liked at the time. In the past few years, I have found my way back through the many musical phases to the very popular Rumors album, released by the band in 1977. Having become completely entranced by the band’s whimsical rock sound, with the gritty 1970’s aesthetic, I was not ready to move on with Stevie Nicks to her solo career. I was stuck in the band’s drama and did not think her popular songs played on classic radio rock stations like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Leather and Lace’ were worth investigating any further. I was very wrong. Ms. Nick’s attempt to step out from the behind the mask of an influential group and create an album all her own is one that should be highly regarded.

The album opens with what sounds like is going to be a ballad-filled piano/singer mash up, however the first track Bella Donna becomes symbolic in the way that the rest of the album resonates to the listener. As the chorus approaches, it moves in a driving force speaking directly to the many surprises in the rest of 10 song track list. There is a country-ish undertone in a lot of the songs, (due mostly to the guitar), which is beautifully matched with heavier experimental guitar riffs, leaving what almost sounds like a drony violin at some points. She wrote every song with the exception of ‘Stop Dragging my Heart Around’ which was written by Tom Petty, who sings on the album as well. She also had written the popular Fleetwood Mac song Gypsy to originally be featured on this album, but it appeared on the band’s 1982 album Mirage. Also worth noting some songs on Bella Donna are backed by the infamous Bruce Springstreen’s E Street Band. It is worth checking out, if you haven’t already, because she somehow always has a way of casting a spell on her listeners, and with this album she had the artistic freedom to do just that and more.

Track Listing: * = personal favorites
1. Bella Donna *
2. Kind of Woman
3. Stop Dragging my Heart Around
4.Think about It *
5. All the Glitter Fades
6. Edge of Seventeen *
7.How Still my Love
8.Leather and Lace
9. Outside the Rain
10. The Highway Man

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