STOP YOUR SOBBING Nice song, rather under-produced, and left too late on the album to be noticed. A bit os a missed opportunity. GOT LOVE IF YOU WANT IT A reasonably good reading of Slim Harpo's original. Ray's affected vocal does no favours to the lyrics, but thankfully there aren't many of them. All in all an excuse to go from a quiet opening into a rave-up. This works well in a live setting where Ray suddenly becomes the new wildman of rock.
"Got Love If You Want It" Imagine a world where The Kinks became a blues band. Kind of a dreadful thought? Well maybe, maybe not. You know after mark winstanley dusting off this relic and putting it on the turntable for the first time in years for me, I've had a reawakening of sorts regarding it. The consensus always seemed to be this is The Kinks "worst" album. And it very well may be. But for a worst album for an artist, it's pretty damn good. Of course it will never be VGPS, but as a stand alone album for a group of young men trying to find their footing in the competitive R&R world of the early sixties it ain't half bad. Comparing it to what was to come, yes a Grand Canyon in terms of a listening experience. But I've owned it in my collection forever and it's not going anywhere. In fact I'll probably play it a little more often than before. "Stop Your Sobbing" A stone cold classic in The Kinks vault. I don't believe it was released as a single (by The Kinks)? Please correct me if I am wrong. If it wasn't it should have been. Almost everybody is familiar with The Pretenders cover. In fact for a lot of people younger than me it was their first exposure. An underrated cover rarely heard that I really like is this dead pan delivery by Jonathan Richman on The Kinks tribute This Is Where I Belong. (A great tribute album IMHO)
I mentioned earlier on that I didn’t have the first two Kinks albums. When I was getting into the band, around 1991 via a greatest hits cassette that I stole from a nice man who fixed my car for free because I couldn’t afford to pay him, I started borrowing their albums from the library. The first two did nothing for me, probably because they were so unlike the songs I’d heard and loved on the compilation, so I never acquired them properly for myself. Now after listening to the tracks again, thirty years later, I think I may need to make a few select downloads because I really enjoy a few of them now. I do like the R&B covers some bands were doing around this time, it’s great music with a good vibe and groove but as has been said others, mostly, did it better than the Kinks. I don’t think anyone’s mentioned The Spencer Davis Group. They did have some Soul.
Long time Kinks fan here and though I’ve had the Super Deluxe since its release, it took this remarkable thread to get me to really appreciate the contents. Like many here I find the covers largely forgettable, save GLIYWI but the originals really do hold up well. I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Stop Your Sobbing’ and came to it via The Pretenders as well. I dig it so much in fact that I’m kicking off my radio show with it later today in our ‘Covers’ episode. The podcast version will be available shortly thereafter by clicking the link in my signature. God Save The Kinks!
Of course and at the most expensive quality! I feel worse about it as time goes on. It was actually more of a non returned borrowing (I know, the worst kind) than a theft. I actually lent it to someone I used to know in 1994 and I never got it back myself. Maybe other people’s Kinks tapes make you evil.
I was thinking the same as I read through these remarks. Most people here seemed to have first encountered the song through the Pretenders version or as a track on "One For the Road." I was wondering who other than myself knew and loved this song before Chrissie Hynde ever recorded it? I remember at the time reading about the release when it came out and thinking, "Hmmm..that's a really obscure song for someone to cover..."
Taking it easy reading this thread, love these insights into early Kinks, and Shel Talmy's facebook page is a goldmine. Whether I ever fork out for the 1st two Kinks LPs, will see, as they seem inessential.. but will see.. Stop Your Sobbing is clearly a corker though. Had no idea it was buried on an average debut LP, always assumed it was a hit single (it's on the Kompilation that first got me into the group). And heard it long before the Pretenders version (which I do love). Especially like Ray's slightly off-key vocal and the similarly slightly whiny backing "oooh"s.. Something I also like is the edge of Kink(i)ness portending what was to come.. the slightly dated (to modern ears) cha-cha rhythm, or whatever it is (especially on the piano refrains after each verse line). While the Kinks were casually inventing heavy rock, they were also keeping a foot firmly in the dancehall (or ballroom?). And I think, with my very limited musical/cultural knowledge, and thus treading carefully, there's also something slightly 'exotic' about these influences - a hint of calypso perhaps, or Latin jazz, musical fruits from foreign climes and old Imperial outposts that had presumably spiced up the UK ballroom/music scene, pre-Beat. Done away with quite quickly by most 60s UK invasion-type bands when R&B/Blues/Soul influences came to dominate, but it recurs in The Kinks again and again, musically of course but also in Ray's strange Patois delivery, some dodgy 'Carribean' accents later on, et al. Anyway this rhythm/delivery is entirely excised in the Pretenders' version. (Which maybe explains why most see it as definitive, ie more 'modern'.) But I think, along with the much vaunted 'English'/ 'Music Hall' influences, this odd vibe adds much to The Kinks later flavour. "Apeman", "On an Island", "Monica", "Come Dancing" - and across the discography, Ray's pronunciation on lines like "Keep-a me waiting".. presumably there's lots of other examples. Perhaps "Stop Your Sobbing' is the first time this is really explored by the band on record.
Just finished the first album - I think we start on the other tracks from this era (as on the 2 CD deluxe) on Monday.
I own the first album both on the original German PRT CD (stereo) and a PYE mono vinyl repress. For the odd tracks I own the PRT 2-CD collection containing all PYE non album tracks. I think the debut album is just great, I'd rate it 4/5.
Good timing mate. We have finished the first album proper, and over the next week we will be looking at, the later released bonus tracks, Kinksize Sessions EP and All Day and All of The Night EP... or however much of that we get through
love the kinks but might have to wait for the kinks kontroversy to get involved as that is when i think they really shined and will be interested to see what folks think of the arista years and beyond because that is where i kinda gave up on them.
As the layout of releases and such is somewhat erratic, this is how we're going to roll this week. Monday I Believed You - demo Oct 1963 I Don't Need You Any More - demo - recording Jan 1964 Tuesday Everybody's Gonna Be Happy - demo Don't Ever Let Me Go - Sept 1964 Wednesday Kinksize Sessions EP Louie Louie I Got That Feeling Thursday I Gotta Go Now Things Are Getting Better Friday All Day And All Of The Night - single + EP I Gotta Move - b-side Saturday BBC sessions That will wrap up 1964, and the following week we will move onto 1965.
I knew the song and when I was in England in 1979 I saw the Pretenders' debut single with its picture cover on display in a record store. I thought to myself, "Hmm, that must be the Ray Davies song." Still, I didn't buy it. A little later, back home, I heard the first Pretenders album with "Stop Your Sobbing" on it. Loved it of course and thought the Kinks cover was a big improvement from the original. Postscript: Flash forward to a few decades later to a local church bazaar sale, where there were a bunch of minty Pretenders UK singles and EPs with the picture covers for sale, including "Stop Your Sobbing". Picked them all up of course.
If anyone is interested, here is my take on the debut from lps and cds I own. My takes of these albums were 'on the fly' as I was listening. Some albums I have not listened to in a while. In a way it was kind of nice to revisit. I won't add the re-releases with the bonus tracks, because a lot has not been discussed and I don't want to rock the boat. So here it goes: You Really Got Me - Reprise 1964 R-6143 (mono) Source: Vinyl Rip 192/24 from a Technics SL-QD33 turntable using Audacity on a MacBook Pro. Listening through Or over Media Center 27 to a Schiit Modi 3+, Loki, and a Vali 2 with KLH headphones. Record condition: VG/EX This album, to me, has a unique sound to it. I'm not a fan of reverb, but the reverb here is not overdone. Just a little bit of echo on the harmonica and vocal on Long Tall Shorty. You Really Got Me has a lot on the bottom. Until now, I never sat down and focused on every sound on this album. Wow! Bald Headed Woman has little or no reverb on it. I enjoy the bass on Too Much Monkey Business. It really grooves. Grade: B+ For the original pressing, I enjoy it even in the condition it is in. It must be the bass or bottom end that makes me like it. The mids and highs are still represented well. Note: I did not know until recently that Reprise stereo is not all fake stereo. Might have to look for that one. Plus, the track order is different compared to the UK Pye.
The Pye Album Collection-Kinks 2001 CMTCD299 CD stereo Source: MacBook Pro(JRiver)>Schiit Modi 3+,Loki,Vali 2>KLH headphones The Dynamic Range averages about a 10.5 if that is important. I like the stereo of I Took My Baby Home. The bass drum has some punch to it. I wish the rest of the album was recorded like this. Not that the rest of the album is bad. The vocals are definitely enriched with reverb. I am noticing on this stereo version that the backing tracks don't have that hard panning with rhythm guitar, bass and drums. Grade: A/B+ I haven't listened to this album in a long time. This is a really good stereo version of the debut reissued on CD. Definitely has nice sound separation, even with the hard panned vocals and some of the panning of left to right on some tracks.
If you're just talking about the mastering and sound quality and such, I have no problem with you talking about the reissues mate. Go ahead
When I did these two albums, I was observing what I heard and typed it on Google Docs on my phone. When I just listened and made notes on the '98 Castle CD, I made some comments about songs that haven't been covered. So I'll wait a few days before I post.
