Them - Now And Them (1968)

Year: January 1968 (CD 2003)
Label: Rev-Ola (UK), CR REV 29
Style: Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Country: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Time: 40:20
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 265 Mb

After Van Morrison left Them, you might have expected the band to quietly disappear. What you didn’t expect was a psychedelic album featuring a nine-minute Indian raga and trippy songs like “Truth Machine” and “Walking In The Queen’s Garden.” Now And Them is a radical shift from the band’s R&B origins; in truth, the band reinvented themselves after Van’s departure. Here, they take on psychedelic blues (John Mayall’s “I’m Your Witch Doctor”) and pop (“You’re Just What I Was Looking For Today,” “I Happen To Love You”), plus a few originals that reveal a heretofore undiscovered talent for psychedelic rock. The new vocalist, Kenny McDowell, won’t make you forget about Van Morrison, but he’s a legitimate singer, versus, say, having one of the other members take on the role. New drummer Dave Harvey is another solid addition and wastes little time making a good impression, giving his kit a sound thrashing on the opening “Witch Doctor.” Unfortunately, Van took most of the eyes and ears with him, and not a lot of folks stuck around to hear/see Them’s second act. These days, Now And Them is best appreciated as a psychedelic artifact (one that XTC seems to have dug, judging by “Your Gold Dress”). Whether the band really did have a psychedelic conversion of heart or whether it was just a fashionable costume change, I couldn’t tell you. Them were hardly the only R&B act to go psychedelic (I was originally going to kronomyth this “Thempathy for the Devil”). I won’t kid you, Van Morrison’s Blowin’ Your Mind is the better album, but Now And Them is a pleasant, mind-expanding addendum from the rest of Them.
(progrography.com/them/them-now-and-them-1968/)

01. I'm Your With Doctor (02:39)
02. What's The Matter Baby (02:45)
03. Truth Machine (02:09)
04. Square Room (09:59)
05. You're Just What I Was Looking For Today (02:57)
06. Dirty Old Man (At The Age Of Sixteen) (01:47)
07. Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out (03:35)
08. Walking In The Queen's Garden (03:06)
09. I Happen To Love You (02:57)
10. Come To Me (02:24)
11. Walking In The Queen's Garden (Mono Single Mix) (03:04)
12. I Happen To Love You (Mono Single Mix) (02:54)

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