In 2015, Legacy Recordings acquired (most of) the catalogue of Van Morrison, releasing his library digitally and introducing a volume of the long-running Essential series. But the most exciting release from the Morrison/Legacy union so far is this this 3-CD, 79-track anthology dedicated to Morrison’s first band, Them. The Belfast-formed garage rockers’ complete discography was compiled along with a full disc of demos, session material and rarities, adding up to the first look at Them that can be considered truly exhaustive. The icing on the cake? Van the Man himself supplied the detailed liner notes, expressing a sometimes-surprising fondness for his earliest musical endeavors.
The new 69-track, 3-CD set from Legacy contains all of the group’s released recordings together with a disc of rarities and unreleased material. Much of this material has been anthologized in the past, including on Deram’s 1997 compilation The Story of Them Featuring Van Morrison (although that release had some mono tracks rechanneled into stereo and did not have the complete recordings.) We’ve got Legacy’s press release below together with the full tracklisting and discographical information. If you’d like to explore some of Van Morrison’s earliest work,
The Fat Angel Sings 