Them: Them Again - 1965
The album is more of the same straight up r 'n' b that we got on the debut album, but here the group are forging more of their own sound, as opposed to sounding just like the early Rolling Stones or The Animals. By the way, how nerdy does the red-haired lad look on the cover? Even more so than Van himself.
Could You Would You/Something You Got/Call My Name/Turn On Your Love Light
Could You Would You (later covered by Willy De Ville), is a good example of Them having their own, more unique sound. Something You Got continues in that vein too, featuring saxophone, which was something many of the other contemporary r 'n' b groups did not do. Call My Name, though, it has to be said, is very Animals-like. Turn On Your Love Light has Morrison in complete control, vocally, on an upbeat number. Many other groups didn't tackle this sort of material. Morrison was prepared to go down the jazz-saxophone-laid-back blues route and he developed his own identity in doing so.
I Can Only Give You Everything/My Lonely Sad Eyes/Out Of Sight/I Got A Woman/Hello Josephine/Don't You Know
I Can Only Give You Everything employs a fuzzy, Stonesy riff and has Morrison in Jagger-esque vocal mode. It even has a lyric that echoes Satisfaction in the repeated "I try, I try" bit. My Lonely Sad Eyes has hints of The Stones' Ride On Baby, but Morrison's voice is so good on this one that he makes it his own. Out Of Sight is a slab of rock 'n' roll blues. Again, Morrison makes this his own, enhancing it with some great saxophone, just as he does on Ray Charles' I Got A Woman. The lively, jazzy influence can be heard again on the infectious Hello Josephine and the smoky, piano-driven Don't You Know.
It's All Over Now Baby Blue/Bad Or Good/Hey Girl
Their Dylan cover, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, is so good as to be almost definitive. Bad Or Good is a lively bit of rhythmic, singalong r 'n' b. You get the picture by now. The rest of the album follows the same path. One notable exception is the floaty, jazzy blues of Hey Girl on which the flute is used. This is the first direct antecedent of the sort of thing that would appear on Morrison's Astral Weeks album two years later.
How Long Baby & Bring 'Em On In
In fact, the two tracks I haven't mentioned are the standard r 'n' b of How Long Baby and the effervescent jazzy rock of Bring 'Em On In, which has Morrison singing in that ad hoc style that sees him controlling the band, effortlessly. Something we would come to know and love over the many subsequent years.
