The Ballad Of The Band

If you look at the sleeve notes to the debut Them release in 1964, you'll see that the leader of Belfast's most incendiary r&b combo was apparently Billy Harrison. Most people might have supposed that singer Van Morrison was the man, but as ever, music history is more complicated than that. After all, the original kingpin of the Rolling Stones was Brian Jones, who was later edged out by Mick and Keef. Likewise with Pink Floyd, who were steered by Syd Barrett until the overdrive became untenable.

Billy Harrison was leader of the Gamblers, who rehearsed upstairs at Knight's bicycle shop on Great Victoria Street. Van connected with them just as a bunch of local contenders were launching an r&b night at the Maritime Hotel in April 1964. And for a time, Billy shared the vocals with Van. Those gigs at College Square North were by all accounts marked by frenzy, scrumpy and spasmodic cool. Then the record deal was signed, the machinations began and that rare alchemy was broke. Billy left the band in July 1965.

The guitarist remembers these times in the latest issue of Mojo magazine. The bitterness is still apparent, as is the idea that Them might have rivalled The Who and The Stones if they had somehow managed the stress and the creativity a bit better. But those were abusive times and the business cared little for the riff-makers. And of course, no-one guessed that the legacy of popular music would have sustained for so many decades. Therefore decisions were taken in anger and the wreckage has been picked over with the awful clarity of hindsight. "Van was Van, but I was Them," Billy states.

Bands will always implode and moments of potential can always revert to crud. In a sense, successful combos are minor miracles - the endurance of a little community in the middle of conflicting hormones, egos, chemicals and rogue royalty cheques. The usual retort is to sack the rhythm section and stage a coup. But my advice for any band that's feeling the warp factor is to hold on, whenever possible. Many of the disagreements are petty and transient. Paranoia may actually be nothing more than a lurking hangover. Meantime, the collective joy of players at their best, looking out for each other, is something to celebrate. You wanna be together.