The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Revenge rocks. Perfect length, too: in there and out.
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Too Much Monkey Business

    This is a Chuck Berry track that seems to have been quite popular in Britain, with The Beatles, Hollies, Yardbirds, Youngbloods and several others having a go at it.
    The Yardbirds may have done the best version of it, and it was the set opener in the Eric Clapton era of the band.

    Here the Kinks do a solid version of the track. It rocks along nicely, Dave throws in a nice lead break, and although it doesn't bring anything particularly essential to the table, it works well.

     
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  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    agreed
     
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  4. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    A Kinks instrumental - quite the rarity! I like it more than yet another cover on this covers-heavy album.
     
  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain

    Here we have another Talmy track, and Dave doing the vocals.... This is a kind of folk styled track, dressed up in a rock and roll/R&B suit.
    As a writer Talmy makes a pretty good producer.

     
  6. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Another traditional folk song copyrighted by Talmy. Which is the most interesting thing about it.
     
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  7. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Oh dear, more baldness... let the debate begin! :D

    In all seriousness, both of the 'bald' tracks are pretty awful, which is fitting as so is going bald!
     
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    It's not the hairline receding that is the issue, it's the fact the it just seems to get confused and springs up everywhere else.... It's like my hair got dementia before I did, and forgot where it's supposed to be :)
     
  9. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Haha.
     
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  10. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    With 'Too Much Monkey Business'; it's a case (rare with the Kinks but probably more familiar to Dylanologists) where once you hear the alternate take, there's no going back to the version that was released on LP in 1964. This near HARDCORE PUNK paced version first snuck out as a bonus on the 1998 CD reissue (which is the first version of the debut I ever heard) and is so superior in DEMENTED ENERGY to the restrained LP take that I've probably only listened to the originally released version a couple of times in my life!

    This is also the first version of the 'TMMB' I ever heard, and so never mind the Kinks 1964 LP version, even when I've listened to supposedly better contemporary covers by The Beatles or the Yardbirds, they sound way too sedate, too respectful, to ever compare to to the Kinks snotty, peppy, spirit of 1977 if not even 1981 punk version. Like with 'Beautiful Delilah' the Kinks just stomp all over the original song with no decorum or tact, and in these two cases at least, it's all the better for it. Check this out!

     
  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Nice. The guys drank a lot of coffee before this take? :)
     
  12. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Is this one on the 2 CD deluxe?
     
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  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  14. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  18. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Adding further to the confusion regarding Jimmy Page's presence on early Kinks recordings, is that fact that his debut single 'She Just Satisfies' from the following year seems to be based around the 'Revenge' riff (written by Ray and LARRY Page of course). Very odd, I wonder what the story was there. The Kinks EP track 'Things Are Getting Better' which will be coming up for discussion very soon is also built around a comparable riff.

     
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  19. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Photo from their second appearance on Ready Steady Go! and the first time they performed 'You Really Got Me' on TV.. footage now MIA of course...
     
  20. wore to a frazzel

    wore to a frazzel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dala, Sweden
    I seem to recall that someone mentioned Dylan in connection to Beautiful Delilah. I have always thought of Kinks version of Too Much Monkey Business as a precedor to Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. I'm not sure if Dylan listened to Kink's version of TMMB so it might be a coincidence, but the singing styles are very similar. In contrast to Berry's slower original, where the words are pronounced to be clearly understood, Kinks version is filled with Ray's snottiness, which is not too different from Dylan's scornfulness. My favorite cover on the album.
     
  21. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Imagine if Bob had listened to the crazy alternate take on speed !
     
  22. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    I have a bass playing friend who was in a US garage band in ‘65... they released one single in 1965 and he wrote the B-side linked below... I asked him if he’d ever heard the Kinks Revenge... what do YOU think?

     
  23. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    Revenge:

    A solid little burst of instrumental energy. Typical of groups LPs at this time (I think?), and serves it's place well. Can't fault it really!

    Bald Mountain:

    The lesson we have learnt in this thread is that where possible, don't put Bald in your song title. It's not a recipe for success

    Monkey Business:

    This too was my first experience of the song, and I liked it plenty at the time. Once I heard the alternate though, my mind was blown. Why was this not on the original album? Just pure energy, and essential listening. So, an album highlight, and an even bigger one if the alt. were used.
     
  24. Martyj

    Martyj Who dares to wake me from my slumber? -- Mr. Flash

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Revenge.

    The Kinks strengths lay #1 in Ray’s songwriting and arrangements, #2 in his and Dave’s distinctive vocals, and #3 how the ensemble as a whole supports strengths #1 and #2. The God’s of Rock and Roll never intended for The Kinks to record friggin’ instrumentals.

    But this isn’t the misstep we’ll encounter later among “Percy.” With YRGM’s earlier release as a single, the band’s stop-and-start signature riff has been established. This track re-enforces it, which will suffice until the far superior variation shows up in a few months as “All Day and All of the Night.” It’s not bad.

    Still, “Revenge” works much better when the group slaps words on top of it and calls it “Things Are Getting Better.” But maybe it doesn’t matter either way since Ray is still about 6 months to a year off from starting to write lyrics that make a difference. And for what it’s worth, having at least one instrumental does give the collection variety.

    Too Much Monkey Business

    Like everyone else who bought the re-issue CD with bonus tracks, I prefer the alternate version. The sped-up performance reminds me of The Cramps-style Psychobilly. Now there’s a concept for you: play the entire album at 78 rpm and call it Muswell Psychobillies..

    As for the properly released album version, it’s performed a bit smoother than the disc’s other Chuck Berry cover. I’m 50/50 on whether that’s a good or bad thing, but I still prefer “Beautiful Delilah” to this. With Ray instead of Dave on lead vocals here, Monkey Business is easier on the ears.

    I’ve Been Driving on Bald Headed Mountain

    A routine cover, nothing special. I wrote in depth about what “bald headed mountain” means yesterday and don’t care to attack that hill again.

    I’ll just add that this song’s subject—about the exuberance of getting out of prison—foreshadows territory Dave revisits five years later in one of his finest songs, “Lincoln County.” For writing careers as long as the Davies brothers have, it’s kind of fun to chart the ways they revisit themes.
     
  25. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    Totally cool picture.
     

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