1964 Garage Rock Anthem, Ranked Among 'Greatest Songs of All Time,' Was Written by an 18-Year-Old
Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" might have been the Irish singer-songwriter's breakthrough solo hit, but it wasn't his first hit ever. A few years earlier, as the frontman for influential garage rock band Them, Morrison made music history with "Gloria," a song he wrote when he was just 18 years old.
According to Clinton Heylin's 2003 Morrison biography, Can You Feel the Silence?, the young musician penned "Gloria" during the summer of 1963, when he was performing with the Monarchs in Germany. But it wasn't until he was back in Belfast, playing with Them, that he started performing the song live at the Maritime Hotel. Morrison was known for ad-libbing lyrics to the song, which could sometimes last as long as 20 minutes onstage.
After signing a contract with Decca Records, Them went to London and recorded "Gloria," along with several other songs. (Rumor has it that Jimmy Page, then a session musician, played on the track, but the jury is still out on that one.)
“I was just being me, a street cat from Belfast,” Morrison said later, reflecting on the time when he wrote "Gloria," adding, “Probably like thousands of kids from Belfast who were in bands.”
Let me tell ya about my baby
You know she comes around
She about five feet four yeah
From her head to the ground
You know she comes around here
At just about midnight
She make me feel so good, lord
Yeah she make me feel alright
First released in the U.K. as the B-side of the single "Baby, Please Don't Go" in 1964, "Gloria" eventually started picking up steam in the U.S., particularly on the West Coast. The song officially entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, where it peaked at #71. But that wasn't the end of the story for "Gloria" — far from it, in fact.
The soulful rocker ended up being one of those songs that other musicians love to cover. The Shadows of Knight went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their version in 1966. The Doors covered "Gloria," too, though their take on the tune was a bit more risqué. (Van and Jim Morrison even shared the stage to perform the song live at The Whisky A-Go-Go in 1966, per Songfacts.) Patti Smith released her own spin on the song on her legendary album Horses in 1975.
In the years since, "Gloria" has been recognized multiple times as one of the most beloved songs in rock history. It received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999; in 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Gloria" at #413 on a list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
Unfortunately, Morrison didn't make as much money from "Gloria" as he could (or should) have, with some estimating he lost out on $250,000 at the time due to the fact that he didn't know much about the music publishing business. (To be fair, he was just a kid.)