Gerry Casey Interviews Billy Harrison

May 8, 2021

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey’s Interview with Billy Harrison

Ireland has produced many famous sons and daughters in the world of music. They have reached the highest highs and have inspired a generation of music lovers.

Back in the sixties a group of young men with dreams of making it in the music business set off from Belfast to London. Armed with nothing but a pocket full of dreams they began a journey that in the coming years would take them around the world. The band was Them who went on to have such iconic hits as Gloria , Here Comes The Night , and Baby Please Don’t Go. The latter of which has been recorded more times than any other song in rock n roll history. One man was at the heart of that machine providing the rhythms and the iconic riffs to songs that were played the world over
.
That man was Belfast man Billy Harrison founder and original member of Them which also included another Belfast musician Van Morrison. So if you want to hear the story first hand of what those heady days in the sixties were like, tune in to Turn It Up and hear the words come from Rock n Roll legend himself

Although not as well-known as his one-time bandmates Van Morrison and Alan Henderson, Belfast-born guitarist/singer Billy Harrison deserves recognition for founding the 1960s band Them. One of the hardest rocking and most distinctive R&B-based groups of their period — even amid competition such as the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things — they generated a string of well-deserved hits before Morrison’s departure for a solo career in 1966. Harrison first put the group together under the name the Gamblers in 1962, and it was Morrison’s joining — and the fact that another, better-known British band was already using the Gamblers name — that precipitated the name-change to Them the following year. Although he founded the group, Harrison apparently played very little on their actual records, deferring to session musicians. Them had a very fluid lineup throughout their history, and record labels were reticent to spend much studio time working with musicians in whom they had little confidence, especially in situations where the lead singer was the main attraction — by most accounts, Morrison and bassist Alan Henderson were the only members of the band heard on the group’s records (though some accounts credit Harrison with the lead guitar part on “Baby Please Don’t Go”, their breakthrough single in England).

Harrison was with Them for the long haul, amid those myriad personnel changes. Henderson grabbed up the name in the wake of Morrison’s departure, but Harrison apparently did participate in some latter-day efforts at keeping the group alive. In the time since, he has remained active on the Belfast music scene, doing the same kind of hard R&B that brought him into music professionally at the start of the ’60s. He has cut one solo album, and has been part of the Belfast Blues Band, and was one of the key contributors to the 1997 album Belfast Beat Maritime Blues.

<br />

Google	Spotify	Deezer	Breaker
Pocket Cast	Radio Public	Stitcher	TuneIn
IHeart Radio	Mixcloud	PlayerFM	Amazon
Jiosaavn	Gaana	Vurbl	Audius
Reason.Fm

Find our Podcasts on these outlets

Buy Us a Cup of Coffee!

Join the movement in supporting Making a Scene, the premier independent resource for both emerging musicians and the dedicated fans who champion them.

We showcase this vibrant community that celebrates the raw talent and creative spirit driving the music industry forward. From insightful articles and in-depth interviews to exclusive content and insider tips, Making a Scene empowers artists to thrive and fans to discover their next favorite sound.

Together, let’s amplify the voices of independent musicians and forge unforgettable connections through the power of music