My original remark was a response to a post saying the song was morbid.( I think! I’ve forgotten now and don’t want to scroll up on my phone). Anyway, I don’t think it’s morbid so he can smile away! Re: ladies man. I bet he was/is.
Well, Dave was a ladies' AND men's man at this point. Anyway, yeah, sorry about quoting the inappropriate quote. I blame it on being Monday.
Death Of A Clown-Dave knocked it out of the park with this one. It's just perfect. Nicky's music hall piano plays while the acoustic guitars strum away and a bouncy Mick does his thing... Probably the most characteristic aspect about the instrumentation is the gorgeous falsetto voice in the background. Some have called this a Dylan rip off-no way Dave may have been influenced overall by Dylan, but to me I never thought of Bob Dylan from the first listen decades ago or now.
Again another cut from Mojo Magazines Something Else. Wreckless Eric (who I've never heard of until I obtained this disc) plays it pretty close to the vest here.
I know I’ll forget by the time we get to it but I just started watching Bloodline on Netflix and Season 1 Episode 4 has a scene set to “Last of The Steam Powered Trains” and I almost fell off my couch! It’s edited but they use well over a minute of it with nearly no overlapping dialogue or sound effects. It was sublime
In his autobiography, Kink, Dave says Ray did just that to help him finish the song with a good intro.
Death of a Clown I don’t have much to add to what has already been said but I find the song attractive because of the contrast between its serious lyrics and its uplifting music (like Elliott Smith’s work on XO and Figure 8). I’m not a big fan of Dave’s voice but I do like quite a few of his songs. I was going to say he peaked early with Death of a Clown but he’s had some other peaks - not least Living on a Thin Line in 1984.
Something Else by the Kinks Studio album by the Kinks Released 15 September 1967 (UK) January 1968 (US) Recorded April 1966 – July 1967 Studio Pye Studios, London Genre Baroque pop music hall R&B Length 36:17 Label Pye Producer Shel Talmy Ray Davies Liner Notes: Welcome to Daviesland, Where all the little kinklings in the magic Kinkdom wear tiny black bowlers, rugby boots, soldier suits, drink half pints of bitter, carry cricket bats and ride in little Tube trains. Here all the little lady kinklings wear curlers in their hair, own fridges and washing machines, fry bacon and eggs, and take afternoon tea. Gulliver-like Ray Davies stoops to pluck a small mortal from his musical World -- turns him upside down to see where he was made -- and replaces him gently but firmly in that great class society where all men are equal but some are more equal than others. Many of the songs on this album are the tails of those mini-people who keep rolling across his yesterday-mind and so we find Terry and Julie in "Waterloo Sunset" and "David Watts," who has not known that abominable golden school-boy? For his musical conjuring tricks Ray reaches into his stream of life and extracts a rusty Irish jig -- there were a few spokes missing and the saddle torn -- but with a few dabs of "Kinko," the wonder song ingredient, the handlebars are reversed and you have 'moonshine music' as good as himself could have asked. Further down the waters, and a soggy bossa nova, well-worn but still serviceable, is dragged from the river-bed but re-upholstered and tempered with a Ray of gentleness it becomes the beautiful "No Return." Somewhere in the deeper waters down-stream he finds a water-logged show-tune, sung during the battle of 'Desert Song,' but renovated and re-equipped it becomes the jaunty little sloop "Tin Soldier Man." And finally another worn-out hulk rotting from the Vaudeville era is re-manned pushed, afloat to become the saddest comedy song of all -- "End Of The Season." This album is important for another reason -- it showcases the song writing development of younger brother Dave whose "Death Of A Clown" proved so successful, and includes two other compositions here -- "Love Me Till The Sun Shines" and "Funny Face" on which he sounds like a wicked choir-boy. Neither should we forget the stalwart contributions of bass-Kink Pete Quaife or drum-Kink Mick Avory who combine to produce the solid root sounds which hall-mark the group. One further word of advice on listening to these tracks -- never, never take a Davies composition at face value for so much goes on behind the words in the Wondrous World of the Brothers 'D' where a corner of the Kinkdom is forever England! Ourthankstomacirishdavenickykeith Design and Art Direction: Pye Records Studios/Photography: Mike Leale/Clareville Studios Something Else by the Kinks, often referred to simply as Something Else, is the fifth UK studio album by the Kinks, released in September 1967. It marks the final involvement of American producer Shel Talmy in the Kinks' 1960s studio recordings; henceforth Ray Davies would produce recordings. Many of the recordings feature the keyboard work of Nicky Hopkins and the backing vocals of Davies's wife, Rasa. Two hit singles are included: "Waterloo Sunset" and "Death of a Clown". The album was ranked No. 288 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1] It was voted number 237 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). Ray Davies – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, harp, harpsichord, organ, tuba, maracas Dave Davies – lead guitar, 12 string guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (on tracks 2, 8, 11) Pete Quaife – bass guitar, backing vocals Mick Avory – drums, percussion with: Nicky Hopkins – keyboards, piano Rasa Davies – backing vocals Side one 1. "David Watts" 2:32 2. "Death of a Clown" Dave Davies, R. Davies 3:04 3. "Two Sisters" 2:01 4. "No Return" 2:03 5. "Harry Rag" 2:16 6. "Tin Soldier Man" 2:49 7. "Situation Vacant" 3:16 Side two 1. "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" D. Davies 3:16 2. "Lazy Old Sun" 2:48 3. "Afternoon Tea" 3:27 4. "Funny Face" D. Davies 2:17 5. "End of the Season" 2:57 6. "Waterloo Sunset" 3:15 2011 Sanctuary Records deluxe edition Disc 1 (mono) bonus tracks 14. "Act Nice and Gentle" (mono) 2:39 15. "Mr. Pleasant" (mono) 3:00 16. "Susannah's Still Alive" (mono) D. Davies 2:21 17. "Autumn Almanac" (mono) 3:09 18. "Harry Rag" (alternative take) 2:13 19. "David Watts" (alternative take) 2:32 20. "Afternoon Tea" (Canadian mono mix) 3:26 21. "Sunny Afternoon" (recorded for the BBC) 2:52 22. "Autumn Almanac" (recorded for the BBC) 3:05 23. "Mr. Pleasant" (recorded for the BBC) 2:48 24. "Susannah's Still Alive" (recorded for the BBC) D. Davies 2:14 25. "David Watts" (recorded for the BBC) 2:10 26. "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" (recorded for the BBC, different from that released on the Picture Book boxset) D. Davies 2:19 27. "Death of a Clown" (recorded for the BBC) D. Davies, R. Davies 2:54 28. "Good Luck Charm" (recorded for the BBC) Spider John Koerner 1:20 29. "Harry Rag" (recorded for the BBC) 2:25 30. "Little Women" (backing track) 2:10 2011 Sanctuary Records deluxe edition Disc 2 (stereo) bonus tracks 14. "Susannah's Still Alive" (stereo) D. Davies 2:21 15. "Autumn Almanac" (stereo) 3:13 16. "Sand on My Shoes" (stereo) 3:05 17. "Afternoon Tea" (alternative version) 3:45 18. "Mr. Pleasant" (alternative version) 3:22 19. "Lazy Old Sun" (alternative vocal version) 3:15 20. "Funny Face" (alternative stereo version) D. Davies 2:42 21. "Afternoon Tea" (German stereo version) 2:15 22. "Tin Soldier Man" (alternative backing track) 3:06 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To some degree I unfairly dismissed someone's comment earlier on about thinking that Face To Face was twice as good as this album ... I guess to some degree I thought someone was throwing in a threadcrap, because sadly that happens a lot around the place ... and so I dismissed their statement a little unfairly, and without consideration, and if you're reading, my apologies, it was a little unfair of me.... I did try looking back to find it, but this is a big thread lol ..... Anyway, I say that to say this ..... I actually do completely understand how some folks may find this album a lot harder to get in to. This is a challenging album in many ways, because we have so much going on in here, and this is about as far removed from the first couple of albums as it could possibly be. This album really is a work of art, and sometimes art needs time to sit for it to be fully appreciated ... to some degree the charts reflect how different this album is UK - 35 US - 153 Germany - 31 This album didn't set the charts on fire, but I guess that's fine, the Kinks were walking towards the Village Green escaping the circus that the rock and roll world was turning into. I think yesterday's track really speaks volumes about how the whole band, or at least the Davies boys were feeling about the scene.... and to some degree that is probably why this album is very different from the majority of pop/rock music going around at the time ... We were moving head first into the hedonism of what the sixties will always be remembered as.... most folks seem to forget the first six or seven years of the sixties and the last three or four get all the headlines. The first six months of 67 saw Pepper, Are You Experienced, Velvet Underground and Nico, Surrealistic Pillow ... and then we move into Piper At the Gates Of Dawn, Forever Changes .... There was a huge shift in style of the music industry, and psychedelics had an awful lot to do with it .... and they are some great albums up there, but they lean towards fantasy, escapism and hedonism ... snippets of reality with broad colourful pictures that blur reality into Something Else .... Something Else By The Kinks does have a certain kind of psychedelic sound and feel to it, but not anything like everyone else was doing. Yes we have some sounds and styles that vaguely fit with the sound that other bands were coming out with, but I think to really see how it manifests on this album, you have to step back and see the album as a whole ... We are still getting a lot of character studies, but the base of those studies has become a lot broader ... this is much less about class structure, and group think, this focuses in on individuals, situations ... I'll have a better picture in my mind when I have had closer looks at the individual songs ... but the psychedelic aspect of this album, to me, is less about instrument noises and more about the breadth of style here..... this album has a bit of everything in it. We have a bit of rock, chamber pop, folkish leanings, melodic exploration, old styles, new styles, this has a sort of kitchen sink feel about it .... or perhaps a gumbo kind of feel about it.... there are a lot of different ingredients, and looking from afar it may seem like they don't go together very well on paper, but as we move closer, and as we actually try the unusual combination of flavours they tickle our palette and end up being a really satisfying meal. As I have said it is interesting to me that so many songs were released prior to the albums release, and it seems as if the album was delayed a little, but with Ray taking over the reins as producer, and it was another stress added to him, that perhaps shouldn't have been, but I personally love the results. As to why the album was released so much later than I would have thought, I can't find any info, so perhaps it is just a misreading of the situation by me... The band were starting to cop a lot of flak from music types, with folks saying that Ray needed to stop writing about grey suburbanites and their unemotional daily business .... that he wrote with a formula and not a feeling ... one critic described the band at this time as a lot of old rubbish ... The Kinks were becoming unfashionable, because they were keeping humanity as part of the ingredient of their music ... and ordinary people just aren't that interesting .... That is all a load of old bollocks.... Sit in a quiet spot in a busy city and observe ordinary people... it is bizarre and fascinating.... we are all some goofy and weird folk and our little intricacies provide a wealth of material for any observant writer.... It's just that the Kinks weren't singing about getting wasted beyond belief, and hallucinating in the weird and wonderful world of 1967 ... They still had an edge of reality, and reality is certainly stranger than fiction... Anyway, that isn't anything like what I thought I was going to write this morning, but I guess that's what was laying under the surface..... To me this is a really magnificent album that has its own little world, and although I do love a lot of the more esteemed albums from this point in time, Something Else has a real heart and soul, it isn't lost in some fantasy world, where whoever gets the highest wins.... The songs on here are all extremely good, and varied, and deep ... much deeper than the shallow society they were released to, and that is probably why the album didn't set the world on fire, but for those folks that like to look inside, and pay attention to the detail, this is a wonderful journey that I am looking forward to going on with you all..... So you know the deal..... give us your heart, soul and mind in relation to this album ... Initial thoughts about it when you first heard it? What looking back now says about it? All the same kind of stuff, that opens the lid on how this album reached, didn't reach, or eventually reached you. For me, it initially didn't really do much, but this isn't an album that responds well to a cursory listen, it needs you to step into the water and swim through it, fully immersed .... I have grown to have a deep regard for this album, and I love it, and the fact that it drifted by me for so long, is a little disappointing. Anyway, over to you ....
I don't dislike the cover, but it is this odd silvery grey image of the guys in one of those photo holding things that your grandmother may have had on the mantlepiece .... It does have a semi-psychedelic look about it, and it certainly has its own unique look about it .... It is an unusual cover ....and that probably suits the band down to the ground.
My first two Kinks records were Village Green (68) and Lola (70). My next two (filling in the gaps methodically) were Arthur (69) and Something Else (67). Then Face to Face (66) and Muswell Hillbillies (71). Etc. Music fandom is a serious thing, you need to work your way with care and precision ! As it stands (and maybe because of my own expericence with those records), I tend to think of Something Else as the real "transitional album" by the Kinks. The first produced by Ray, the one with the most Dave songs and the last for TEN YEARS (and as many LP's) that wasn't in any way a "concept album", an "opera" or a "musical play" (or a film soundtrack). Just a collection of damn fine songs. They don't go the psychedelic route, they don't embrace the flower power / hippie movement, there may not even be any LSD around as they'll remain booze and pills wild guys, they won't conform in any way to the trend of the times. I like to read the title (and cover art) as a follow up to the I'm Not Like Everybody Else manifesto: they offer "something else", something different from what others are doing in music at the time. From that point on, for better or worse, they're on their own path and journey. They're on their own.
I think it's a very appropriate cover for the music inside, and one of their better LP covers overall, but it was also commercial suicide in 1967 with the gaudy sleeves of Sgt Peppers, Are You Experienced? and Disraeli Gears screaming over it for attention in the record shop. Interesting that The Beatles were monochromatic in 1966 and colourful in 67, whereas The Kinks were the other way around.
Even the albums from Sleepwalker onwards were all kind of small c concept albums imo, in that they all had some Ray conceived kind of theme or big idea (usually laid out in the title track, which every studio album, and even 2/3 of the live albums from 1977 onwards had) to sell them, even if the songs didn't all relate. I've often wondered, since he was already thinking conceptually by Face To Face (even if it was compromised) what Ray's intentions were with 'Something Else'.. was it just 'another album' to him, hence the title? Was it just marking time till VGPS could be fully realised? Or was it intended as an important statement in it's own way? Your idea that the title refers to The Kinks offering a subtler alternative to the big albums of 1967 (perhaps with specific reference to the Big Event album Pepper?) makes a lot of sense and is something I'd never considered before. One things for sure is that even if it wasn't conceptualised beyond just being a collection of songs, it certainly wasn't just thrown together. It's definitely the best sequenced Kinks LP yet, the one that sounds most like a unified whole so far.