The Belfast Gypsies

about

When Van Morrison's Them split up, two bands took their place: Alan Henderson kept the Them name and moved to America, while the McAuley brothers moved back to Ireland, recruited Mike Scott and Ken McLeod, then returned to London and met U.S. singer-songwriter and producer Kim Fowley, who named them Belfast Gypsies. Their début single was a primitive slice of snarling garage R&B called 'Gloria's Dream' that bore more than a passing resemblance to Them's 'Gloria'. They split up after only one year, in late 1966. A longer and more detailed version of The Belfast Gypsies' story... The Belfast Gypsies were a direct spin-off of Them, featuring two members who had been in Them for differing spells in the mid-1960s: singer/organist/multi-instrumentalist Jackie McAuley and his brother, drummer Pat McAuley (sometimes also known as John McAuley). With a style very similar to early Them, the Gypsies hooked up with Kim Fowley on one of his London visits in mid-'66. Fowley produced most of the material that ended up on their sole LP (preceded by a couple of unsuccessful singles), which was issued in Scandinavia in August, 1967. A bit of an anachronistic throwback to the R&B/beat-boom sound of a couple years earlier, the LP is a successful approximation of Them's sound, the major drawback being the absence of Van Morrison. Because of packaging that often found the record filed under Them rather than the Belfast Gypsies, and because the band's history was generally ill-documented, few

top songs

albums

Impossible But True: The Kim Fowley Story

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Rock On

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Them Belfast Gypsies

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Impossible But True - The Kim Fowley Story

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Bo Did It Vol. 9

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ISSS01 - The Technicolour Milkshake

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Incredible Sound Show Stories Vol.1: The Technicolour Milkshake (LP)

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Them Belfast Gypsies (Expanded Edition)

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Impossible But True

Outlaw Superman

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Bo Did It Vol. 24

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Incredible Sound Show Stories Vol.1: The Technicolour Milkshake (CD)

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