He sings it like a carnival barker or auctioneer....step right up & make a bid for the lovely lady's affections. Adds to the bitterness.
One of the best song openings ever: Blam! Blam! with a hint of feedback, and they're off. A perfect record except for the overly loud tambourine.
Ok Now we're cooking with Crisco! Set Me Free-This was some of the early beginnings of that Klassic Kinks sound. Ray sounds natural not forced. Although not the most provocative song in his catalog, it seems Ray is getting his footing and finally finding his own sound. It seems his writing is coming natural and relaxed now. Here is a rare cover that can be found on the rare various artists Ray Davies song book CD
I Need You A great hard rocker, along the lines of YRGM and ADAATN. I'm sure a lot of the folks on here are quite familiar with The Rationals cover also included in Rhinos Nuggets. For the many on here from around the globe Rhino also offered an international version titled Nuggetz. I highly recommend it. Here is Los Matematicos cover of "I Need You" titled "Pregunto" I think they do a hell of a job.
Gentle diversion, but this pair arrived this morning, so I'm in a particularly Kinky mood. Bring on today's pairing!
Nice! The French Mr Pleasant EP being a big collector item of course cos it included 'Village Green' 18 months before it appeared on LP (as well as 'This Is Where I Belong' which didn't have a domestic UK release during the 60s) - I know you'll be well aware of that of course, I just wanted to say it for the sake of it. The 4 leaf clover motif is damn cool too.
Exactly why I got it - I can indeed report that the mono mix of Village Green matches the one used on the VGPS LP, at least by casual listening. Still very cool to finally have it!
"See My Friends" Single by the Kinks B-side "Never Met a Girl Like You Before" Released 30 July 1965 Recorded 3 May 1965[1] Studio Pye, London Genre Raga rock[2] psychedelic rock[3] Length 2:44 Label Pye (UK) Reprise (US) Songwriter(s) Ray Davies Producer(s) Shel Talmy mono mix (2:44), recorded 3 May, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London See my friends, See my friends, Playin' across the river, See my friends, See my friends, Playin' across the river, She is gone, She is gone and now there's no one left 'Cept my friends, Playin' across the river, She just went, She just went, Went across the river. Now she's gone, Now she's gone, Wish that I'd gone with her. She is gone, She is gone and now there's no one left 'Cept my friends, Playin' across the river, She is gone and now there's no one else to take her place She is gone and now there's no one else to love 'Cept my friends, Playin' across the river, See my friends, See my friends, Playin' across the river, See my friends, See my friends, Playin' across the river, Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Kassner Music Co. Ltd All songs generally have an inspiration from somewhere. No matter how fresh and new something sounds, there was generally something before it that inspired it .... here we have a similar situation ... The Kinks here introduce the idea of the Indian raga type song into the western music world .... as always the Beatles get credited with something that they didn't really do, when four months later they recorded "Norwegian Wood", but Ray beat them to the punch here, showing clearly that although The Kinks may have been paying attention to what the Beatles were doing, they were far from copying them. Whatever scene your are involved in, generally bands are going to be paying attention to what other bands are doing, because everyone wants to be on the frontline, not sitting in the lounge waiting for the news.... There is a pretty strong case that Ray was likely inspired by the sound of The Yardbirds Heart Full Of Soul, and that does seem fairly likely, but this is fairly removed from that song really, and the droning guitar that Ray manages to get going through here sounds somewhat like a Tambura.... The band used a fair few overdubs and also some recordings effects (compression and limiters to achieve the sounds they were after. These effects and layers caused a little lower sound quality in regards, but sometimes you need to find the best balance that you can to achieve what it is your trying to achieve, and I think they manage that here.... So really it could be suggested that the Kinks moved the music world towards the soon to become quite popular Indian raga sound, and also that this song also pushes the music community towards a more psychedelic sound.... and as the Psychedelic era runs from about here up until at least the end of the sixties, and spawned some great bands that are still held in high regard these days, that seems pretty significant to me. Lyrically we start to get some interesting things going on. Essentially this is a song of lost love, but the usage of imagery here is pretty strong. Yes she is gone, and I can see my friends playing across the river.... This suggests a disconnectedness.... He is sitting in his lonely place and removed from his friends. His friends may well be unaware, or perhaps unconcerned, but essentially we are looking at the protagonist sitting lonely on the other side, unable to join in the fun and games due to the disconnected emotions he has. I assume everyone here has lost a love at some point, and we all deal with these things differently, but a lost, serious, love, tends to leave us in this exact spot. So although lyrically there aren't a ton of words, the way they are arranged and work here, we get a very clear picture of where the singer is. The other thing is, Ray delivers this song with a melancholy, but check out the obvious tenderness and love for "his friends". There is a softness and tenderness that is projected. Ray is really starting to find his voice, and stepping into the characters he is singing about. We have a variation of a turnaround here and although a much used musical base, the little twists give it its own sound and feel. In the bridge we get the V turn into a minor, and again it works really well in the melodic feel and atmosphere that we are trying to create. Although I have been familiar with this song to some degree for years, this is the first time I have really looked at this song, and it is an impressive addition to the Kinks legacy and importance .... Chart (1965) Peak position Germany (Official German Charts)[42] 36 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[43] 26 Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[44] 19 UK Singles (OCC)[45] 10 We have this track still making the UK top ten, and for such a different type of song, that is a pretty nice feat in itself. I notice that it didn't strike the US markets charts ... I checked and it looks as though it did receive US release as a single, and to some degree it seems to speak to the conservative nature of the US chart that this new sounding track didn't penetrate the market there. We do notice though, that the generally more accepting of different stuff European market seems to have reacted quite well to it. A solid entry into the Kinks katalog, and it would seem from my perspective, a very important song in the context of the sound generally most remembered as "the sixties".... I think it is also worth mentioning the kind of rave up that gets used as the outro. A great song, an important song, and I will be really interested to hear/read what all you guys have to say about this track today..... It seems to be a very significant track, for the band, and the era, and the development or western pop/rock music in general.
Never Met A Girl Like You Before mono mix (2:03), recorded 14 Apr, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London Hey, I never met a girl like you before. Yeah, I never met a girl like you before. Girls like you are very hard to find. Hey, I never met a girl that I could miss. Yeah, I never met a girl that I could kiss. Girls like you are very hard to find. When I kiss you, I kiss your lovely lips. When I hold you, You got one hand I want to hold. Girl, I never met a girl like you before. Yeah, I never met a girl like you before. Girls like you are very hard to find. Hey, I never met a girl like you before. Yeah, I never met a girl like you before. Girls like you are very hard to find. To find, to find, you're mine... I really like this track.... stylistically it kind of reminds me of something, but it isn't coming to mind this morning. I really like the way the band open with the dreamy kind of arpeggio, setting up the listener to think something else is going to happen, and then launching into this uptempo and pretty fun kind of song. The melody of this song really pops to me in the verses. Also the bass is just so bouncy and I like the way it is structured. Some nice interplay between the guitars and this is just a really cool fun song. We also get a rip roaring lead break, such a good track. So far this is probably the best A and B combination single the band has released. I love both these tracks.
Superb opening post, Mark, as always ! See My Friends… Talk about breaking new grounds ! There’s still a residual remanence of the two chords riff used in Tired of Waiting for You / Set Me Free, but it’s just part of the drone that the song is built on. That drone… it’s so unusual in the Kinks canon, I too long thought “well, ok, another Beatles influence” before realizing it was the other way around. We’re months away from Norwegian Wood, more than a year before any genuine Harrison attempt at raga or any Crosby/Byrds experiments with the same chordings and sounds. Then you get what Ray acknowledged as homosexual lyrics (“my friends playing across the river”) and, from all this uniqueness, emerge what could be called “the new Kinks”. They’re created with just one chord change, one of the most beautiful chord changes Ray Davies ever came up with (on the “and now there’s no one there” line, a musical breakthrough that splits my heart open and makes me float, and dream, and access myriad of new emotions every time I listen to it with proper focus). And from there comes the ascending “she is gone and now there’s no one else around” bridge, which I see as the exact moment where Ray becomes the Something Else/Village Green singer/melodist for the very first time. In this one song, you get the whole story of the band : what they were (the riff pioneers), what they’ll become (the visionary idiosyncratic melodists) and what changed them in between (the spiritual and artistic awakening generated by adulthood and being exposed to eastern cultures). Beyond the band itself, one could even argue it also tells the story of sixties pop in general. A truly pivotal, epochal pop moment.
"See My Friends" Yes it is revolutionary...had any band ever released two successive singles with the same initials before?.... But seriously, this is a great track - the drone, the melody and the lyrics make it something else entirely. That lead guitar sounds amazing, and for me the best bit is the outro, in which Dave pretty much invents Echo & The Bunnymen. It's a single for the ages, and I'm sure others will have a lot more prescient observations about this track than me. "Never Met A Girl Like You Before" That intro is basically the intro of "Tired Of Waiting" reprised, but then it changes tack completely. On the face of it this could have been a track from the debut album, but now it's more knowing and they are able to do so much more with this style. It's a bit of a throwaway, but what a good track to balance the heaviness of the A-side.
Never Met A Girl Like You Before is ok I guess, bouncy and fun and all. I enjoy the opening arpeggios (almost the same as the A-side, both coming directly from Tired of Waiting for You). The syncopated rhythm track sounds like a sped up She’s A Woman. Nothing too special about it but nothing wrong with it either, except it always plays just after See My Friends on my Kinda Kinks deluxe, so it always seems (unfairly) like a throwback. (I just checked, it was recorded a month before, which is the equivalent of light years in mid-65 pop music time measurement). There has to be a thread about this on the forum. If not, you should start one !
I always saw "See My Friends" as a song about death...and sort of missing people who have "crossed the river." leaving us all alone here. This some truly psychedelic stuff and I can hear a bit of Byrds-influence (they were huge at this time), and it seems that there may be a bit of the "Ticket To Ride"Drone -- but it definitely goes to places that pop songs had not gone before and yes it does seem very Indian influenced. I don't get the "homosexual"implications in the lyric at all though if Ray says they're there, I guess they are. Brilliant song and odd song for a single, it seems to me. But singles are not always the greatest songs. This is a very subtle and superior bit of songwriting, truly inspired. To me the sound is crap, but as Mark says, I guess it had to be to get what they wanted in there.
"I Never Met A Girl LIke You Before" suffers from comparison from the masterpiece A-side, but it's a nice, cool sounding beat sound that pleases. The opening does recall -- probably intentionally -- the "Tired of Waiting for You" riff.
I should have made the Tired of Waiting connection but it was a mad rush this morning.... Now it is mentioned, it seems like Never Met A Girl Like You Before is the resolve from the Tired Of Waiting..... concept b-side? Zappa's conceptual continuity?
Well then, in response to this, I will give a touch of background as to how I came to love the music I love and the same about how I arrived at the kinks specifically. I haven’t posted much on this site, I have been mostly lurking, but I have mentioned this in the past on the rare occasions when I have posted.... My grandmother got me in to music, and specifically into what is now seen as classic rock. She had a tremendous record collection (at least in my eyes as a 10 year old kid when I discovered it but it undoubtedly numbered above 500). The basics of course, The Stone, Zep, The Who, and the Beatles. Also, lots and lots of the less commonly found bands, like The Moody Blues, Argent and the Zombies, Thin Lizzy, and hundreds more. Her collection was eclectic. I was 10 or so (so it was 1975 -/-) when she first introduced me directly to music ( She sat me on her bed, queued up Zep I [I am not making this up], told me she loved it, but hated the way the singer said “baybeeee baybeee baybeee all the time”, and went to “put her face on”, leaving me to drift away to the magic of the music. I still remember hearing first that short vicious blast that was Good Times Bad Times then next the beautiful acoustic work alternating with the stunning riff of Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, and presto change-o, you’ve got a hard rock fan FOR LIFE! so you can bet after that, I was primed, nay pumped, every time my Mom brought me to visit Granny in Long Island, because it meant more time to discover gems in her record collection. ....presenting Exhibit A: The Kinks Kronikles! ...and Greatest Hits! ....and Sleepwalker! ....all at once. What a way to meet this band. Having already had my head screwed on straight as to what a good rock and roll song should sound like, via her introductions first to Zep I thru III and next to the Stones via Rolled Gold, Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers, one listen to You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night, Lola, King Kong, Ape Man, Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon, and Victoria, not to mention Jukebox Music, and I was an instant Kinks fanatic! I am psyched to play along. I love the 65-70 run (up to including Lola vs....), they lose me TOTALLY from there thru 1975 (though maybe this thread will change that - I am open minded), then win me back hard with Schoolboys in Disgrace all the way through the mid 80s. Typically a completist, The Kinks catalog has major gaps for me so I am excited to fill the holes. I relied on compilations for the debut through 1974 period, so I can’t wait to hear the deeper cuts on earlier albums that I did not have (mostly from the debut through Soap Opera). Although I played the albums from their 75 through 86 run to death, I can’t wait to get reacquainted with many of the deep tracks from that period I knew and loved but have grown estranged from.
One of The Kinks' very best singles - a hypnotic sound. There's a pretty good version on the BBC disc as well.
See My Friends As said, Ray really broke ground with this and sort of kicked off psychedelia before its time. A wonderful dreamy, hypnotising song from the master. Never Met A Girl Like You Before They throw us a dummy with that Tired Of Waiting intro, then it's a pretty regular rocker and not really interesting.
Shindig! This sounds like it might be a live vocal over a pre recorded backing track? Dave's vocal is a lot more prominent on the chorus than on the record.
Ray claimed that 'See My Friends' was inspired at source when he listened to Indian fishermen chanting in a droning style during a stop in Bombay on the way to tour Australia in early 65. I've said it before, but even more than 'You Really Got Me', this is the one Kinks record that really made the UK/London hip cognescenti pay attention to The Kinks. They were never hipper or more ahead of the curve than on this one. If George Harrison had had a cousin called Marvin and he'd heard The Kinks playing this, he definitely would have been rushing to the nearest payphone to hold the receiver up.
