For a song that doesn’t get a lot of attention, “Gloria” has had one heck of a history. It is largely responsible for launching the career of Van Morrison. The Northern Irish singer wrote the song when he was either 17 or 18. He recorded it with his band, Them, the following year in 1964. In the decades since, critics have regarded it as an essential garage rock classic. It has been covered in recordings by The Doors and Patti Smith. The Jimi Hendrix Experience even recorded a version. It was also a Top 10 hit for The Shadows of Knight, a Chicago-based band that reached the Billboard Hot 100 four more times during the ‘60s.
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With this impressive pedigree, why doesn’t “Gloria” get even more acclaim? One theory: there are too many songs called “Gloria.” Them’s original version is the most popular one on Spotify, with over 69 million streams. Yet it is far less popular than different songs with the same name performed by Laura Branigan (over 186 million streams) and The Lumineers (128 million streams). Music fans who grew up during the early years of MTV may think of “Gloria” as a U2 song.
It’s time to give Morrison his due for one of his most influential songs. Let’s revisit the four most-popular versions—the original by Them, plus the covers by The Shadows of Knight, The Doors, and Patti Smith. While the Jimi Hendrix Experience version isn’t nearly as well-known, let’s throw that one in, because, you know, it’s Hendrix.
Which is best? Which is worst? Here’s our take, with rankings from least to most enjoyable.
5. The Doors
Jim Morrison didn’t just share a surname with Van Morrison—the two frontmen once shared a stage. The Doors’ first show at the renowned Sunset Strip club Whisky a Go Go was with Them. Though the Doors did not cover “Gloria” on any of their studio albums, they put a 1969 live recording of the song on the 1983 album Alive, She Cried. It was released as a single and went to No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the Doors’ final entry on that chart and one of three songs to chart after Morrison’s death in 1971.
Right away, you know it’s a Doors version, with Morrison wailing, “Yeah, right!,” and Ray Manzarek’s spooky organ sitting high in the mix. Morrison distinguishes the song with his inimitable vocal stylings and ad-libs. The most unique aspect of this version are Morrison’s additional, highly explicit lyrics, which leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. While there’s something to be said for making a cover version of a song your own, the Doors would have been better served to stick closer to Van Morrison’s script.
4. The Shadows of Knight
The first hit remake of “Gloria” still stands as the most popular, at least on the Hot 100. The Shadows of Knight’s version reached No. 10 in 1966. There’s nothing really wrong with their cover of “Gloria.” It just doesn’t veer much from Them’s original. The slight differences—such as Jim Sohns’ slightly more subdued lead vocals and the sixteenth-note snare fill in the outro—don’t actually improve the song.
The most notable difference is a change in one of the lyrics. The Shadows of Knight altered Morrison’s line from the second verse, And then she come to my room to And then she call out my name. That change likely helped The Shadow of Knight’s version to get more airplay in the more conservative climate of ‘60s radio.
3. Jimi Hendrix Experience
This version was recorded in 1968. It didn’t see the light of day until it was put out 10 years later as a 7-inch EP included with the U.K. release for The Essential Jimi Hendrix. In 1979, the EP with “Gloria” was part of the U.S. release of The Essential Jimi Hendrix Volume Two. Like the Doors, Hendrix turned “Gloria” into an extended jam. He, too, provided some details regarding the sexual encounter alluded to in the song, though not as graphically as Jim Morrison did. Hendrix’s bandmates, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, became characters in Hendrix’s story, too. Hendrix made the song about drugs and rock and roll, as well as about sex. All three members of the band play for Gloria, and the song concludes with a visit from a pot dealer followed by a police raid.
The story may not add much to the original, but this version’s heaviness makes it much more than just a Hendrix rarity. And Hendrix’s minute-long solo in the middle of the song does not disappoint.
2. Them
This is the version that inspired all the others, and for good reason. It has a catchy riff, a great bass line, and a memorable vocal performance by Morrison. While The Shadow of Knight’s version is similar, they didn’t quite replicate the looseness of Them’s groove. Though the original didn’t make as much of an impact in its day, peaking at No. 75 on the Hot 100, it’s fitting that this is the better-known version of “Gloria” today.
1. Patti Smith
Smith’s cover is the opener to her debut album Horses. It’s quite the introduction to the album and to her storied recording career.
This will sound weird since we’re talking about a cover, but Smith puts on a songwriting clinic in “Gloria.” Though she only gets credit for writing the intro (subtitled “In Excelsis Deo”), only the premise of watching Gloria make her gradual approach to the narrator’s room and the sing-along chorus remain from Morrison’s original. Smith gives us much more of the backstory behind both Gloria and the narrator than Morrison did. Not only that, but Smith even shows us that the narrator still thinks about Gloria after they “took the big plunge.” Smith really involves the listener with her storytelling, and the song has every bit as much lust and urgency as Them’s original.
