Them

Them on Ready, Steady, Go!
Van Morrison: vocals, sax, harmonica
b. 21 August 1945; Belfast, Northern Ireland
Billy Harrison: guitar
b. William Harrison, 14 October 1942, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Alan Henderson: bass
b. 26 November 1944
Jackie McAuley: piano
Pat McAuley: drums
 
1960   [VM age 14-15]
Van Morrison (saxophone) begins playing with the Monarchs (formerly Deanie Sands and the Javelins), a "typical suit and tie pop-covers showband" (Frame 1997:31). Over the next few years, the band would do some touring (Germany) and Morrison would develop as a singer, a musician and a showman.
 
1963   [VM age 17-18]
Harrison and Henderson with Ronnie Millings (drums) form the Gamblers in Belfast. When Morrison and Eric Wrixen (keyboards) join, they become Them (after a science-fiction film about ants that become gigantic as a consequence of an atomic test)..
17 April. Like their counterparts in London, they rent a public room one night a week (Friday) at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast. (See Frame 1997.) Here they begin selling out the room every week. A fan tapes them and sends it to Dick Rowe at Decca.
 
1964   [VM 18-19]

May. Dick Rowe travels to Belfast and hears Them at the Maritime. Convinced of their ability to sell records, he arranges for them to come to London (Joynson 1995:525). As the band began plans to move to London and sign a recording contract, they leave Wrixton behind in Belfast (where he stayed in school) when his parents refused to sign a release. The band replaced him with Jackie McAuley. They soon find a manager: Phil Solomon.
July. Dick Rowe of Decca auditions and signs the band to record. After a few months of disappointing gigs, occassionally having to sleep in the band's van, and being replaced at the recording session by Bobby Graham, Millings returned to Belfast and Pat McAuley took over the drummer's throne.
4 September. "Don't Start Crying Now" / "One Two Brown Eyes" (Decca F 11973) release
6 November. "Baby Please Don’t Go" [UK #10 in January '65] / "Gloria" (Decca F 12018) release
 
1965   [VM 19-20]
January-April. The band tour in support of "Baby Please Don't Go" which had become a regularly featured tune on Ready Steady Go! (Frame 1997:31).
5 March. "Here Comes the Night" [UK #2] / "All For Myself" (Decca F 12094) released
May. Fatigued by the touring and disappointed by the routine use of session musicians in recording sessions (Jimmy Page is the guitarist on "Baby Please Don't Go"), Jackie McAuley leaves. The management replaces him with seasoned London organist, Peter Bardens (b. 19 June 1945, Westminster, London).
10 June. Them [UK LP]
——. "One More Time" / "How Long Baby" (Decca F 12175)
July. After innumerable fights with Morrison, the management replace Billy Harrison with Joe Baldi. They also replace drummer Pat McAuley with Terry Noon.
August. "(It Won't Hurt) Half as Much" / "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (Decca F 12215)
September. Dismayed with the touring schedule, the attitude of the management, Baldi and Barden leave. Morrison and Henderson replaced them with Belfast musicians: Jim Armstrong (guitar), Ray Elliot (keyboards and wind instruments), and John Wilson (drums).
November. "Mystic Eyes" / "If You and I Could Be as Two" (Decca F 12281)
 
1966   [VM 20-21]
January. Them Again [UK LP]
March. "Call My Name" / "Bring 'Em on In"
August. The band begins its final disintegration.
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Van Morrison's website.
 
British Blues Schedule Outline
  1-mar-12