"Cadillac" This is an odd choice for a Kinks cover song, but I'd say it works just as well as Bo's original. It's not the greatest song to begin with. They do a pretty good job at giving it that Bo Diddley guitar rhythm. I especially like the guitar sound around the 1:30 mark. It's not entirely a success, but it's a decent bit of album filler. "Bald Headed Woman" I never paid much attention to this song and wasn't very familiar with The Who version either. It's hard to say which is better. I like Ray's vocal, and the piano on The Kinks version. It does make more sense as a Who song. They make it sound more sinister, like an early punk song. I read a comment that said it sounds like The Stooges. I agree with that. You can easily hear that Iggy would have tore into this tune. I would have loved to hear that! There is almost a sweetness to The Kinks version. I am already liking some of these early songs more than ever. I also thought it sounded like a song that Lightnin' Hopkins would have played. I looked it up, and while it's not the same song, Lightnin' rips up this "Bald Headed Woman" and shows you how it's done.
Bald Headed Woman This is a lengthy read—you’ve been warned!—but I hope it’s worth your while. It took me all morning to write it. My initial impression of both the Talmy “bald” songs on this LP was negative. Neither are natural fits for a band cultivating an image as rock and roll ravers with a mostly, at the time, teenaged following. And yet—other than YRGM—I’ve come to consider “Bald Headed Woman” the most interesting track on the debut LP. When its lyric content is understood it is fascinating how it fits—even foretells—the band’s eventual identity. Albeit unwittingly. From the start I was curious just what gives with the reference to a “bald headed mountain” in both songs. Ostensively it is a nickname for a mountain top (or range) free of trees or growth (resembling a bald head). In the mid-1980’s, about ten years after buying the LP, I met through my wife a friend who used the term “waiting on bald-headed mountain” in a poem she read out loud at a gathering. I thought maybe she was a Who or Kinks fan familiar with the song. She wasn’t, but turned out she was an associate professor in Appalachian studies working on her dissertation on mountain folklore. She was pleased—even surprised—I was familiar with the term. She explained “bald head mountain” was a long out-dated, forgotten Appalachian folk euphemism for prison, likely originating from the habit of shaving the heads of convicts. To travel it meant spending a duration of time there, such as a prison sentence, hence the lyrical reference in these songs to “I’ve done my time.” (The Who’s version very cleverly opens with Moon’s drums and Townsend’s chord strum alternating to evoke the clang of hammers on a rock pile.) I specifically inquired about “bald headed woman.” She hadn’t encountered the term but speculated—based on her graduate degree-level understanding of Appalachian folk terminology—it most likely refers not to an actual woman, but rather, a male acting as a woman. In this song’s case, with its prison context, it is about someone pressed into the service of being “the woman” for the pleasure of other male convicts, either willingly or unwillingly. In other words—excuse my crassness—a “prison bitch.’ This gives understanding to the emphatic declaration in the lyric: “I don’t want no bald-headed woman, gonna make me mean…” (In the traditional blues versions there is a verse—omitted in the Kinks version—that references a “dog” trying to get in “my back yard,” which is often used as a blues/folk sexual euphemism for….well, if you've seen Deliverance...) What I find so intriguing in all this is that neither Ray or Dave wrote the song, nor did Talmy push it on them with an anticipation of how the band’s identity would evolve. Yet evolve it did, and the subject of this song figures in every bit as much with the Kinks legacy as the power chords of YRGM or the pop balladeering of “Stop Your Sobbing.” For here, on their first album as seemingly throw away filler, is a number that references a man that acts like a woman. Hmmmm. Does that remind you of another well-known song strongly associated with the band? Now, pardon me before I continue writing while I take a sip of my cola. C-O-L-A cola. While this may seem a superficial coincidence, especially considering the possibility neither brother was aware of the song title’s obscure meaning, it gains more significance when one considers how sexual ambiguity encompasses the Kinks career in all aspects. Both Dave and Ray have acknowledged sexual fluidity in their personal lives (Dave openly in his autobiography; Ray much more obliquely in “X-Ray”) so it’s not a surprise that it finds its way into their lyrics so often. It is the unapologetic subject of ‘Lola,” “Out of the Wardrobe” “Artificial Light” and the obscure Sleepwalker outtake, “On the Outside.” On a more subjective level, between the implied homosexual awakening of 1965’s “This Strange Effect” to the possible same-sex conquest of 1993’s Phobia’s “The Informer,” there are at least a dozen other songs spread across three decades that allow for interpretation around the subject. Even beyond the music one can note the sizable portion of gays among the early 70’s US fanbase, particularly in LA and NYC, attracted to the band’s campy live shows and theatrical leanings, with Ray freely playing up a limp wristed persona on stage. It went a long way to sustaining the bands career during those commercially lean times. Heck, even the one film they chose to officially associate with—Percy—is about a guy who loses his…ahem…’percy.’ Last but not least, let’s not overlook the sexual identity connotations inherent to the word “kink.” My point in all this? It’s time to evaluate this song with fresh ears. Nearly every guide, discography, or critique of this first album (including most of the comments in this thread so far) dismiss this song. Jon Savage’s biography on the band even calls it ‘dreadful.’ Musically, it’s tough to defend. The mid-point where the drone-like early portion hop-steps into an up-tempo rave-up is the only thing to recommend about it, IMO. But subject-wise, in the hand’s of the Who or other bands it is indeed just another blues cover, interchangeable with any others in their repertoires. As a Kinks song—considering their future image associated with gender identities/behaviors—it fits like a glove. It is the first gender bender in the band's oeuvre, in fact. Insomuch that this debut LP, as a collective whole, intends to serve as a harbinger of what the world can expect from this new quartet of long-haired Englishmen called The Kinks, no track on it other than YRGM places the band more forward in the direction they are headed than “Bald Headed Woman.”
Interesting take by the Appalachian professor (I went to Appalachian State University in NC so I wonder if I had that professor!)... Alan Lomax recorded prison work songs with the same lyric and melody in the '40s except the opening lyric was "I don't want no jet black woman, it'll make me mean"... titled "Black Woman"...
I was actually waiting to we got a few more of them under out belt to ask the question, because it always seemed there were an large amount of songs in the catalog with gender confusion and incidents... You answer pretty much all of it for me right there. Good post. Cheers mate
Interesting fact about the term “bald mountain.” Regarding “bald headed woman” however, I think the speculation of your professorial acquaintance is something of a reach. The simpler (and IMO, more likely) explanation is that it is simply a reference to a woman who has shaved pubic hair. Little Richard uses the same term in Long Tall Sally (“saw Uncle John with bald-headed Sally”) and I would bet it pops up in other songs also.
Good point! (...and if so, that changes everything with my entire post! Oh, those bluesmen and their euphemisms...)
Daltrey attempts to sound like a grizzled old man (as he did whenever attempting to sing the blues) and this does not ever work well. Ray at least sings in his own voice, so I give his version the edge. I do prefer The Who’s version of Got Love If You Want it, though.
That’s possible too I suppose, but that seems to be an assumption based more on knowledge of Richard’s own sexuality than anything in the song itself.
Do we know that Mick Avory played drums on Cadillac? In that case I guess that's why Shel Talmy didn't see the point in using Bonny Graham anymore. It works really well (one of two good covers on the album, the second one is yet to come), although it does not sound like a typical Kinks song. Of course the Who were even better at that kind of stuff. Bald Headed Woman is a little interesting both musically and lyrically. I like how distans Ray's voice sounds at the end.
The first time I heard the Kinks do "Cadillac" was on the 2001 BBC Sessions 1964-1977 release. Both that and the album version are highlights. The best cover on the album and I get the feeling it's the one they are most familiar with (and comfortable doing). Good drums and the spelling out of Cadillac is an earworm. "Bald Headed Woman" took me a few listens to get an impression of. I'm not a fan of lyrically repetitive songs, as I mentioned before. I appreciate the attempt to rave it up in the middle with harmonica and piano. The length is good. In the future, bands would stretch something like this out to 15-min in concert. Shame Ray didn't change "coffee" to "tea," though. Make it your own!
Please excuse me for jumping way ahead in the timeline--but I happen to be in The Big Easy for a couple of days. Since this thread is going along so well I thought it would be semi-appropriate to take a walk down Burgundy Street, where Ray was shot back in 2004. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is no plaque or anything to mark the location.
here's a link to a forum talking about this song. Lyr Add: Bald Headed Woman It sounds like this song was originally known as Black Woman and the name was changed along the way to make it more 'palatable' to, one would assume, a white audience. Anyway, if anyone wants to know more about the origin of this song, this link may help with that. and thanks for your take on the song and the bigger picture to the Kinks career. Most interesting!
Thanks for the link to this thread, Wondergirl. I'm actually fairly new to this website and am just in the process of realizing what a wealth of knowledge exists in these archived discussions. Fascinating stuff. "Sugar in my coffee" is undoubtedly another blues sexual euphemism. I'm a fan of the Lomax family's research into these old folk and blues numbers, and how their meanings and lyrics are adapted to the needs of the various regions where they are performed. Whether "Black headed" or "Bald headed," a prison song is pretty universal. I read a great book a few years back detailing the evolution of "House of the Rising Sun." It went through an extensive amount of revisions and interpretations until it reached Dylan and The Animals.
CADILLAC Yeah, definitley the best cover on the album. I agree with all the positive stuff written here about this track. Here's the BBC live version some have referred to: BALD HEADED WOMAN And I agree with all the negative stuff written about this one. Those interpretations of the lyrics are interesting but don't improve the song itself.
or maybe simply a reference to a younger girl? Sweet Sixteen kind of thing. What’s happening to us? What are we talking about here? it’s fascinating how many of these early pop and rock ‘n roll songs are simply and blatantly, if you know what to listen for, about sex. Shake Rattle and Roll springs to mind “I’m a one eyed cat peeping in a seafood store.” That’s quite a disgusting way to explain how you’re feeling about a young lady! Yet it got past the sensors.
You mean that isn't about a feral cat excited about getting his favourite dinner? Well I'll be swornhoggled
I’m not sure how “bald-headed” would imply a younger girl. And anyway, if that was the intent then it would likely be called “Bald Headed Girl.” It’s pretty amusing that Steve Sholes of RCA made Elvis remove one verse from his cover of Shake, Rattle and Roll due to its sexual connotations, but the line you quoted went right over his head.
I thought you were implying that bald-headed was a lady who had removed her pubic hair. I was just suggesting that maybe she’d never had any in the first place and maybe that’s why he was in prison. I think we need a new song.
Ah, so the lyrics would be from the POV of a child molester? There are definitely folk and blues songs that are sung from the perspective of reprehensible characters, but that seems like it would be going too far. And the use of the term “woman” also makes it implausible. And yeah, I agree we’ve pretty well picked over the implications of this song as much as it deserves.
Well the Bald Headed Woman went in so many directions I wasn't expecting ..... somewhere between Tool's Prison Sex, and an ode to some kind of Paedophilia ... to just a straight up modern woman with a shaving kit ..... it is almost a relief to move onto the next song Revenge To some degree we thankfully move onto a Ray track that was written with Larry Page, who was a Welsh singer and producer, who later went on top be a manager and label owner. Probably Page's most famous production would have been Wild Thing by The Troggs, but as I think was mentioned earlier Page also helped to give Jimmy Page some early exposure via the Larry Page Orchestra and the Kinky Music project. NME reported that Page's attempt to retain a 10% interest in the Kinks was overturned in a London Court. But the track..... This is a short and to the point instrumental that pounds and bangs along nicely. It has a very staccato rhythm and opens with a guitar stabbing the chords out and then the whole band jumps in, and we get a couple of harmonicas working together to give this a bit of a wall of sound. The track pounds along fairly relentlessly , except for a a small drum interlude, that moves into firing back up. In the background we have some vocalising, in the form of a chanted kind of "YaYa Yea Yea"or something along those lines. This is a fun little interlude.
