- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- After “Gloria” became a big hit, naturally an album called Gloria was quickly assembled that includes their other hit, a fine cover of Bo Diddley’s “Oh Yea”.
The Shadows of Knight – Gloria (1966): The Shadows of Knight are one of the best-known garage rock bands and hail from the suburbs of Chicago. Their Top Ten hit version of the greatest anthem in the history of rock music, “Gloria” – written by Van Morrison and originally recorded by his band Them – is one of the biggest garage rock hit songs. Many rock critics are scandalized that the Shadows of Knight outsold Van Morrison – the original recording of “Gloria” by Them only made to #75 on the Billboard singles chart – and the reason might have something to do with their clean-up of one lyric, changing “She come into my room” to “She call out my name” that increased the airplay for their record.
Also, amazingly, “Gloria” was originally released by Them as a B-side, with “Baby, Please Don’t Go” as the A-side. In the U.K., “Gloria” didn’t make the singles chart at all. “Gloria” has since become a rock staple, with innumerable bands cutting their teeth on the classic song with the thrilling “G-L-O-R-I-A” chorus. After “Gloria” became a big hit for the Shadows of Knight, naturally an album called Gloria was quickly assembled. Gloria is one of the better garage rock albums and shows the band’s prowess at rhythm and blues as filtered through a British Invasion sensibility. Gloria includes the other Top 40 hit by the Shadows of Knight, a masterful cover of Bo Diddley’s “Oh Yea”. The rest of the album has lively versions of R&B classics like “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, “You Can’t Judge a Book (by the Cover)”, “Boom Boom”, and “I Got My Mojo Working”; along with some fine band originals like “Light Bulb Blues”, “Dark Side”, and “It Always Happens That Way”. Amazingly, this album was nearly punched through when it went through Hurricane Katrina; but it still plays pretty well, even through the half-punched area.