Robb London & Soul Unlimited - Gloria (Them Cover) video free download

From '' Funny Situation / Gloria ''

Label: Suzuki -- SK-1001

Format: Vinyl, 7"

Country: US

Released: 1967

A Funny Situation

B Gloria

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"Gloria" is a rock song classic written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and originally recorded by Morrison's band Them in 1964 as the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go".

The song became a garage rock staple and a part of many rock bands' repertoires. It is particularly memorable for its "G--L--O--R--I--A" chorus.

It is very easy to play (three-chord) and thus is popular with those learning to play guitar.

The song continues to be played by thousands of bands from famous recording artists to unknown garage bands.

Humourist Dave Barry joked that "If you drop a guitar down a flight of stairs, it'll play 'Gloria' on its way to the bottom."

One explanation for the timeless popularity of the song was offered in Allmusic's review by Bill Janovitz:

The beauty of the original is that Van Morrison needs only to speak-sing, in his Howlin' Wolf growl, "I watch her come up to my house/She knocks upon my door/And then she comes up to my room/I want to say she makes me feel all right/G-L-O-R-I-A!" to convey his teenage lust.

The original Latin meaning of the name is not lost on Morrison. Them never varies from the three chords, utilizing only dynamic changes to heighten the tension.

"Gloria" was rated number 69 on Dave Marsh's list in the 1989 book The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.

He described the song as "one of the few rock songs that's actually as raunchy as its reputation."

In his book Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles, Paul Williams said about the two sides of the "Baby Please Don't Go/Gloria" recording: "Into the heart of the beast... here is something so good, so pure, that if no other hint of it but this record existed, there would still be such a thing as rock and roll.... Van Morrison's voice a fierce beacon in the darkness, the lighthouse at the end of the world. Resulting in one of the most perfect rock anthems known to humankind.

History

Morrison said that he wrote "Gloria" while he performed with the Monarchs in Germany in the summer of 1963, at just about the time he turned eighteen years old.

He started to perform it for audiences at the Maritime Hotel when he had returned to Belfast and joined up with the Gamblers to form the band Them. He would ad-lib lyrics as he performed, sometimes stretching the song to fifteen or twenty minutes in duration. After signing a contract with Dick Rowe and Decca, Them went to London, where they had a recording session at Decca Three Studios in West Hampstead on 5 July 1964, including "Gloria" as one of the seven songs recorded that day. Besides Morrison, present were Billy Harrison on guitar, Alan Henderson on bass, Ronnie Millings on drums and Patrick John McCauley on keyboards. Rowe brought in session musicians Arthur Greenslade on organ, Jimmy Page on guitar, and Bobby Graham on drums, since he considered the Them members too inexperienced. There remains some dispute about whether Millings and McCauley were miked up, but Alan Henderson contends that Them constituted the first rock group to use two drummers on a recording.

Acclaim

In 1999, "Gloria" by Them received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

In 2000, "Gloria" by Them was listed as number 81 on VH1's list of The 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time.

In 2004, "Gloria" by Them was ranked #208 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Gloria" was also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll twice: by Patti Smith and by Shadows of Knight.

Cover versions

The Gants

The Bobby Fuller Four

Shadows of Knight

Status Quo (The Spectres)

AC/DC

Patti Smith

Eddie and the Hot Rods

Santa Esmeralda

Jimi Hendrix

Joe Strummer's band The 101ers

The Doors (from Alive, She Cried)

The New Zealand Band The Pleazers

U2

David Bowie

A portion of the intro, guitar solo, and outtro of "Play Guitar" by John Cougar Mellencamp, was very similar to a portion of Gloria's guitar riff.

Energy Orchard

Shane MacGowan

Rick Springfield

Popa Chubby

Tom Petty

The Tragically Hip

Bill Murray opened the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival by playing "Gloria"

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams covered the song in a medley with the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High" on their live Christmas album A Very Slambovian Christmas, released in 2008.

Bruce Springsteen closed his concert at the Hershey Park Stadium on August 19, 2008 with a cover of "Gloria", proclaiming, "Let's take it back to where it all started!"

Billie Joe Armstrong sings the chorus of G-L-O-R-I-A at the ending of the song, "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" on the 2009 Green Day album 21st Century Breakdown.

Anthony Kiedis sings G-L-O-R-I-A during the song "Venice Queen".

13th Floor Elevators was made a cover live in 1966

Bon Jovi

Simple Minds

Grateful Dead

R.E.M.

Rickie Lee Jones

Johnny Thunders

Blue Magoos.