The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Now seems a good time to note how incredibly young Ray Davies was when he wrote these songs. The Face to Face recording sessions were completed around the time of Ray’s 22nd birthday. He wrote Sunny afternoon and Fancy when he was 21. To benchmark that, consider the ages of the big music trendsetters in mid-1966. Paul McCartney had just turned 24, Dylan had turned 25 and John Lennon was nearly 26.
    I think it’s pretty amazing Ray Davies was so innovative at such a young age.
     
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  2. bvb1123

    bvb1123 Rock and Roll Martian

    Location:
    Cincinnati Ohio
    "Most Exclusive Residence For Sale"
    Pretty great Kinks' tune. I like that it's not a basic love song. Interesting subject for a song. I love it.

    "Fancy"
    This song is fine. Decent mid60s Kinks' song. Never been one of my favorites but I still think it's a really good song.
     
  3. Geoff738

    Geoff738 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Just joined the forum. Been a Kinks freak since One for the Road. Met Ray and Dave backstage at Massey Hall in Toronto in the 80s. Arthur is my fave. Hopefully I’ll chime in from time to time. Enjoying everyone’s contributions so far!
     
  4. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Fancy

    No two ways about it this is a magnificent track!
    We have spoken of the album's welcome diversity and this is a supreme example of it as it clearly sounds heavily Eastern influenced to a far greater degree than See My Friends.

    If one likes, the use of the word 'Fancy could have three meanings.
    I hadn't really thought of it as a name but it could be used as a substitute for one like a pet name.
    As a description of someone's person or traits, or just stating that you have liking or hankering for sonething or someone.

    Sounding personal the lyrics are classic Ray, especially the line, "No one can penetrate me!"
    It is this that to me runs like a mantra through Ray's life like a modus operandi whereby he keeps his vulnerable inner self hidden from view, critique, privacy, sanity, survival or plain just being found out?
    Pick one or pick them all, Ray has said that at one point everyone wanted to pry and know what was wrong with him but of course to reveal his inner ruby is alien to his way of thinking and he is not going to let anyone in!

    I agree with Mark that this is a major musical leap for the 1966 pop scene and also see this as a very grown up mature piece of work that is truly timeless and that I believe will contemporarily stand up if you Fancy, always!
     
  5. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Most Exclusive Residence For Sale

    In Ray's man with/without 'Big House' trilogy i prefer this to A House In The Country as the lyric content, vocal melody and slower pacing and delivery all attract and draw me in to closely to follow our protagonist's perils.
    I can hear and feel the melancholy as his position and fall is detailed and he even appears before a judge and jury!
    Whilst he has been far from smart we're again allowed by Ray to feel sympathy for a character should we choose to which is just Dandy!
     
  6. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Sold!
     
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  7. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Nah as a title it's early Dylanish also!
     
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  8. Safeway 2

    Safeway 2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manzanillo Mexico.
    Most Exclusive Residence For Sale-The aristocracy gets theirs again The well-respected man has to sell his house. The bloke spends himself broke, gets hauled into court, finds himself forced to sell his magnificent property and starts drowning his self-pity in booze. Aren't these songs great?
    Fancy- The Kinks and The Beatles were ahead of the rest with their development of drone songs.
    “Fancy” crosses British chamber pop with Indian drone wonderfully. This cut is an absolute winner.
     
  9. Safeway 2

    Safeway 2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manzanillo Mexico.
    I'm sure most are familiar with this cover-

     
  10. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    No but I much prefer it to the Folkier vocal interpretation posted before it!
     
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  11. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    What is the instrument that comes in at the end of Fancy, and who is playing it? Anyone know? Is it a wind instrument?
     
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Little Miss Queen Of Darkness

    mono mix (3:13), recorded 21 Jun, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    Well I met her accidentally,
    In a little discotheque.
    And she acted oh so friendly
    To every fella that she met.
    And her hair was hanging down,
    Like a bright and silken sheen.
    Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Dancing night and day.
    Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Dancing, dancing on.

    Although she looked so happy,
    There was sadness in her eyes.
    And her curly false eyelashes
    Weren't much of a disguise.
    And her bright and golden hair,
    Was not all that it might seem.
    Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Dances sadly on.
    Yes Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Dancing, dancing on.

    There was something missing
    From her carefree little life,
    And she'll never understand you
    When you're kissing her good night.
    'Cause the only boy she had
    Went and coolly stepped aside.
    And Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Might as well have died.
    Little Miss Queen of Darkness
    Dancing, dancing on.

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Davray/Carlin Music Corp.

    This is a very cool song. We have this sort of skiffle/blues/trad jazz sort of thing going on, with a really nice chord progression and another of Ray's more quirky character studies.

    This seems to be the story of a broken hearted girl who takes comfort in dancing the night away. As if she has now stored her value in dancing at the local discotheque, and it is one of those everything is not quite as it seems tracks.
    It seems that our narrator sees that Little Miss Queen Of Darkness is broken hearted and putting on a charade for the locals that she is still the happy-go-lucky dancing queen.

    The bright acoustic guitar is the perfect sound for this track, and it is instantly appealing to me. The chord progression has lots of 7th's giving it the sound and feel it has, but the chord progression and the bass really work beautifully. Peter shows his flexibility here to me, because this sounds pretty authentic to me, and he bounces around the moving bassline beautifully.

    Another really interesting thing about this track is our instrumental break is essentially a drum lead break, and I think it works really well.

    I don't really have a lot to say about this track, but it is a track I really enjoy a lot, I find the style and feel are just great, and for me it's yet another excellent track on this album that is punching above its weight class, all the way through so far.


     
  13. zipp

    zipp Forum Resident

    MOST EXCLUSIVE RESIDENCE FOR SALE

    No, not the same guy who has the house in the country. This one's too nice, spending his money on girls and parties. Ray's/Rake's progress means he ends up penniless and looking for solace in alcohol.

    Actually, this could be the guy from Sunny Afternoon if he keeps sipping too much cold beer.

    Musically OK and I don't mind the munchkins, but the song doesn't really go very far.


    FANCY

    Musically very interesting and should have been slightly longer.

    Lyrically I have difficulty knowing who or what fancy is here. The use of "thee" seems a bit clunky too.

    All in all a bit of a missed opportunity.
     
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  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    You're Looking Fine

    mono mix (2:43), recorded 29 or 30 Dec, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    When I first saw her
    She looked alright,
    Second time that I saw her
    She looked outta sight.
    And I said,
    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    And I feel alright,
    Yes, I feel alright.

    She got all the angles,
    So directly applied.
    And when I see her,
    I have to cry,
    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    And I feel alright,
    Yeah, I feel alright.

    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    You're lookin' fine,
    And I feel alright,
    And I feel alright.

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Davray/Carlin Music Corp.

    Here we have a track that it seems Ray wrote particularly for Dave to sing.... I actually looked straight off to see if Dave wrote it to be honest. It sort of has Dave written all over it, with the sort of blues feel and it has a pretty straight forward lyric.

    I know to some degree it could be seen as a weaker track, and I suppose to some degree it is, but I don't find it to feel out of place really. It is just a slight nod backwards to where the band has been, and the playing and recording come over well.

    I think Dave delivers the vocal well, even with a couple of the frail sounding lines where it sounds like Dave's voice might fall out on him. There is a sort of personal feel here.

    Also to some degree this album has been pushing boundaries all the way through so far, so I don't feel cheated when we get something a little more traditionally associated with the band via the albums we have just looked at.

    So for me, although this is somewhat a lesser song, in context with all the other tracks here, I actually don't find it out of place, it is just another flavour.

    The sort of modified Peter Gunn Theme works well, we have some nice little lead licks from Dave, Nicky lays down some really nice piano, and I find the song works in its context.


     
  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Sorry, a little rushed this morning.
     
  16. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident


    Don't worry, we'll take it from here !;)
    Little Miss Queen of Darkness is another lovely song. Well, no, “lovely” doesn’t quite give it justice, does it? The jazzy New-Orleans meets music-hall backing style makes it appear like a modest little song in passing, but whenever you listen closer, it becomes one of those vivid portrait songs, where all falls into place: the situation, the images, the sensations, the story, the characters. In three economical verses (and two out of left field instrumental breaks where the impressions linger on and on), you’re thrown in this little discotheque, you see this young girl, you can actually feel the melancholy of the night, you see the people coming and going. And you see her, alone, right in the middle of them. Ray’s singing is nothing short of extraordinary, he’s finding a new voice here, as a narrator/witness, involved in the story but a little detached from it, at the exact distance where he can make us feel it, being moved by it, but not intrude in it. The best part? The major to minor chord change on the title phrase, the exact moment in each verse that the focus is made on the character, after establishing her surroundings. The focus is made on her, and you see her, and she moves you, and you almost fall in love with her sadness. But then she dances away (« dancing on »), and the instrumental/drums breaks remind you she’s in her own little world, she won’t connect with you, or anyone else for that matter. You almost touched her, but she slipped away. No, this is not merely "lovely", this is… masterful !
     
  17. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Another two good tracks, with a good Dave vocal on You're Looking Fine, but it's (inevitably) a dip after the two that came before.
     
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  18. The Turning Year

    The Turning Year Lowering average scores since 2021

    Location:
    London, UK
    (Catching up again...!)
    House In The Country
    It feels sort of scathing, but a couple of lines make it clear this guy doesn't really have it all - 'he ain't got a home'.
    I like the honky tonk piano and the little guitar bit betwen the two 'he's so smug' verses/choruses.
    It's a fun bouncey tune and works well in context, I think, as a return to fun Kinks-style pop following the slight oddness of the previous song on the album. This would particularly have been relevant at the time as had side 1 ended with Rainy Day In June some people might not have turned the record over! :laugh:
     
  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I thought it was a wind instrument, but there are a couple of little sections of it that make me think its a vocal with an effect of some sort
     
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  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I know that, you guys are on it :righton:
     
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  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    spot on
     
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  22. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I always thought 'she's got all the angles so directly applied' was an odd lyric in You're Looking Fine. Was Ray predicting Instagram make up contouring tutorials 50 years early?

    'You're Looking Fine' was a staple of the Kinks live shows from 1966 - 1974, surviving long after any other Face To Face track other than 'Sunny Afternoon'. I mean, tbh in my opinion it's the weakest track on the whole LP but I guess they just enjoyed vamping on that riff and it would have translated well on stage as a blues workout. Here's a representative later live version from 1972 (there's also even a video of them doing it live on Beat Club in '72 as well but it's currently not at large online):

     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2021
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Welcome aboard, I look forward to reading your thoughts.

    My pre-listens have really lifted Arthur in my estimation... I was always a little luke warm about it prior. A few good deep listens have really changed my perspective... we still have a bit to go yet though :)
     
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  24. The Turning Year

    The Turning Year Lowering average scores since 2021

    Location:
    London, UK
    Holiday in Waikiki
    I like the use of sound effects to start off a song, particularly at the start of an album/side so enjoyed the waves there.
    Unfortunately that was as good as it got for me until the drum solo came in over the wave noises at the end.
    Sounds a bit 'sub-Beach Boys' somehow and I'm not keen on the funny voices/slinging in ' and 'comedic' feel... sorry!
     
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  25. The Turning Year

    The Turning Year Lowering average scores since 2021

    Location:
    London, UK
    Haha! Although Bournemouth is hardly 'the country' nor would it have been particularly expensive I would guess! :p

    Most Exclusive Residence For Sale
    This seems to be the opposite of the country house guy...
    I'm not sure what I think of this one but the weird backing vocal really irritates me so I don't really want to hear it much more...

    Fancy
    A bit psychedelic/a step towards an Indian sort of sound and what would become raga rock. Was this an early example of this sort of thing or was it already widespread?

    I love Indian traditional music but don't really enjoy its appropriation by white musicians into British rock/pop music as a shortcut to appearing 'deep' or 'exotic' without really understanding its origins and purposes. I feel the 'ruby' and 'penetrate me' lyrics are an attempt to copy or reflect some 'deep and meaningful' eastern philosophy, which for me feels a little forced.

    I don't know how it appeared at the time - was this early on in that phase? I also don't know how or why the Kinks came upon this style? As mentioned above it sounds as though they didn't go there again, which is a good thing in my book.

    With someone like George Harrison it seemed to come from a genuine interest, respect and belief in a culture and religion/way of life, and he did co-found the Society for Krishna Consciousness and help set up the beautiful Bhaktivedanta Manor temple near Watford (which my part-Indian mother very nearly joined), working alongside Hindu elders.

    But how other musicians came to Indian music is less clear to me, although I haven't really looked into it to be honest! So I should reserve judgement on this I suppose...! They probably just liked the sound and were just a bunch of young men wanting to make interesting songs :)

    For me its a British-colonial-style chicken korma ;)
     
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