In 1964, Irish singer Van Morrison was a member of a the Belfast garage band Them. Them had been named after a 1954 science-fiction about giant radioactive ants.
Them hit it big in the UK in 1964 with their cover of Big Joe Williams‘ 1935 song “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
Them’s version. (This post is driving the grammer check crazy, by the way.)
But what took everyone by surprise was the success of the B-side to “Baby Please Don’t Go,” a song penned by Van Morrison called “Gloria.”
“Gloria” has become a standard of rock due to its playability and the quintessential rock ‘n roll intensity of the vocals. Regarding its playability, writer Dave Berry once quipped that if you dropped a guitar down a flight of stairs, it would play “Gloria” on the way down.
“Gloria” has been covered scores of times. But I decided to include the version by Patti Smith as a result of a religious debate I was having with a good friend of mine.
“Gloria” by Patti Smith from her 1975, Wild Horses album.
Here’s a live version by The Doors from Alive, She Cried.
I’m going to wrap it up today with a cover by Bon Scott’s first band, The Spektors.
Gonna shout it every night. Gonna shout it every day. Gloria!
