The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: This song really solidifies the fact that Ray was heavily into anthropomorphising stuff. "Big Sky" is a wealthy C.E.O. who notices that there is extreme disfunction in the lower levels of the business he is in charge of, but is completely clueless as to what to do about it. "The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains" is a crotchety old warhorse who knows he's an anachronism, but still determined to continue doing his job until the wheels fall off. In this little vignette, the river is like a meditation guru. I like the way the rolling rhythm matches that of flowing water. This is not a big wide body of water like the Thames, or a tiny trickling creek, but a medium sized, medium paced river like the Merced in Yosemite.

    I believe the whole concept of using objects of nature as metaphors for different human characteristics began in 1952 with "Please Mr. Sun," which was recorded by Perry Como, Johnny Ray and lots of others at the time, including Tommy Edwards:

     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    A really interesting observation.... It is really hard to imagine this without the swirls, but yea, it could probably be done. The swirls to me are an integral part of the songs structure, and as someone stated, they are like a musical picture of Ray's daydreams as he lazes by the riverside, before he moves back into the narrative of how pleasant it is to laze by the riverside (on a sunny afternoon, one wonders?).....
     
  3. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    I just learned that the 1968 South African stereo version adds the mono single mix of "Days" to the end of Side 1, after "Riverside."

    The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968, Vinyl)

    Wow. That doesn't work for me at all. and "Days" also made no sense as the side 1 closer to the 12-song version.

    Picking up from a recent back and forth, I don't imagine "Days" as the last song. It's too final. Much as with "Sunny Afternoon" or "End of the Season," I think it would work best as a penultimate song, with "People Take Pictures of Each Other" as a breezy encore designed to release us from any leftover heaviness or sentimentality. I know I'm getting ahead of the discussion, but I do feel putting "Monica" where they do is a misstep. I love that song and I'd hate to see it go, but it should have been elsewhere in the sequence--even third to last song would work. (Like "Wicked Annabella," it seems to happen at nightfall).

    Side 1 is pretty perfect sequencing as is. Despite the technical problems, could they have made a 9-song side 2? Or what would one shift from Side 2 to 1, or cut, to fit "Days" over there? Cut out "Starstruck" entirely? But it feels like the plot followup to "Village Green..." hmmmm.

    Move "Village Green" between "Steam Powered Trains" and "Big Sky." You lose the shift from a living train to a living sky, but it works, I betcha. You'd have to resequence some other songs on Side 2 to get it to work.

    Oh hell, just leave it all as is. It's great, it didn't sell, it's the bloody Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society." Shut up!
     
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  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Nice observations, mate.
    Cheers
     
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  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    LOL
     
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  6. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    Followup to the prior post.... adding "Days" to side 2 without changing anything else would even out the side lengths, making each roughly 21.5 minutes long. wow!

    EDIT: errr...no, side 2 would be 22.5 minutes. Doable, and still shorter than a typical "White Album" side.
     
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  7. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    Was lucky enough to see them perform Preservation at the Royalty Theatre in Kingsway, central London, back in 74. On every seat was a pullout of a very long interview Ray had given to one of the music papers about the show. It also mentioned the music from Starmaker was due to be released the following year. This was the second time I had seen the Kinks. I had previously been to see them at the London Palladium. Opera glasses available behind every seat for an additional 5p.
     
  8. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    If virtually all the songs on an album are highlights, doesn’t that mean there really aren’t any highlights?
     
  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    lol I can see that. for me the whole album is a highlight. I don't think there is a song for me that isn't top class, so as you say, technically there are no highlights, because the bar is set high and stays there.
     
  10. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    I am deeply offended by your implication that Donald Duck is not real!
     
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  11. Audiobernd

    Audiobernd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austria
    Oh yes, "Preservation" will be fun to analize politically, as it is about how left wing populists and authoritarians take control of a country that has been run down by corrupt "conservatives" and "social democrats". It is like "what happend before 1984?"

    Seriousely: I do not want to offend anyone. But lets be honest: The Kinks always had a political side to them. Many Bands and artists had and have. Our interpretations may vary, and I will never say, that a different view is worth less than mine, but it would be unjust to artists to ignose what they wanted to say just for the sake of a peaceful forum.
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Well it is all real in some sense of the word lol ... it's not like Ray randomly made things up ..... Donald Duck is more real than some people I know :)
     
  13. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    Certainly, most of the people I “know” are just avatars. I can actually have real life interactions with Donald Duck anytime I’m in Orlando.
     
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  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Forum Rules ... which if broken will get the thread shut down.

    Unacceptable Topics


      • Politics, including topics which can turn distinctly political (including climate change).
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      • Any topic which may be deemed "industry sensitive."
      • "Tabloid" or frivolous content, "clickbait," or low-effort threads (example: posting only an image or link with "Discuss!" as message text).
    Number one on the list.

    We can discuss the albums, but in the last two posts you have distinctly added your own political spin to highlight your political preference. This is unnecessary, and not acceptable according to the forum rules.

    I think we have been, and should be able to have a civilised chat about everything the Kinks have ever done without unnecessarily creating issues that will cause the thread to be closed.

    I am not one to report posts, because we are all adults and should be mature enough to recognise the potential trouble some of these statements can and likely will create.
    No matter what one's leanings, any realist realises both extremes have had severe issues over the years.

    So lets keep it in the box, before steps need to be taken that would ruin the thread.

    Thank you
     
  15. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Sitting By The Riverside"

    Not much else I can add to what has already been said. Another great track and a perfect way to end side 1. The pub-sounding piano is a highlight, as are the psych/swirling sections, but most of all it's Ray's voice and that beautiful melody.
     
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  16. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Sitting by the Riverside
    This is a short, simple tune where the harpsichord and backing vocals conjure a dreamy, hypnotic state in the listener. Drinking wine in the sun could do that. It is a different-sounding song to others on the album and a perfect closure to the wonderful first side of this album.
     
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  17. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    Here's what i hear in "Riverside":
    Ray Vocals
    Rasa (and Dave and Ray?) backing vocals
    Mick Drums
    Pete Bass
    Dave (?) acoustic guitar
    Then i hear three keyboard tracks:

    Nicky Hopkins on piano
    Unknown (Nicky? Ray?) on a reedy Mellotron sample
    And an overdub of the strings of the piano being menacingly strummed gradually upwards in the instrumental sections.
     
  18. zipp

    zipp Forum Resident

    SITTING BY THE RIVERSIDE


    "But right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly
    And watch the river flow."

    Bob Dylan - 1971


    Yes, Ray is not the only one to find solace in sitting by a flowing river.

    The river could represent the world's turmoil peacefully channelled and non-threatening. Thus Ray has the world at his feet.

    But when he closes his eyes you sense that things can get a bit giddy.

    So he quickly opens them again and becomes one with nature and imagines himself as a willow tree.

    Intoxicating instrumentation. Great vocal.

    Golly gee, indeed.



    P.S. Every lyric site under the sun mentions wine in the last line, but I don't hear it.

    I only hear: "Spend my time just drinking while I'm looking at the view" or something similar.
     
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  19. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    "Sitting By The Riverside"

    another gem of a song. you all have done wonderfully expressing how lovely it is. I have loved it ever since I first heard the album many years ago. However, now knowing “Something Else” through and through, I can now hear that Ray has pulled out his “End of the Season” voice for this song. that kind of soothing lounge voice, and it fits the beautiful melody and production just perfectly.

    I always thought the “swirls” were really just Ray’s mind wandering off…. after letting the River and the trees and the sun just take him away. Back in college, I might have done a particular drug that caused a similar “swirl” and buildup in my mind. Not saying something like that inspired Ray, but there is a reason the word “psychedelic” is often followed by either “drug” or “music”.

    perhaps just nature is his drug. he is so relaxed, he just lets the big sky take him… And i have never considered this before, but if you think about Ray’s penchant for perhaps using “River” to mean death (see “see my friends”), well maybe “sitting by the riverside” is a metaphor for accepting you’ve done all you can do, and you are ready to be released from the world… and come back as a willow tree…

    another song that sounds like summer, to me.

    An incredible end to side 1.
     
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  20. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Sitting By The Riverside

    Nice to see all the positive reviews. I feel it gets lost in the shuffle and thought it often got overlooked. It's a little beauty of a song. I love the old time feel mixed with the psychedelic touches. If I had a piano this would be one of the first songs I would be practicing! It reminds me a bit of something Donovan might have played on the Hurdy Gurdy Man album. There is another song coming up that also has a Hurdy Gurdy Man vibe.

    A song for a summer stroll where hopefully you end up "Sitting by the Riverside". I went for a walk recently and during this song I was practically skipping down the sidewalk. I know this has been said already, but it's the perfect ending to side one!
     
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  21. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    This is from the new McCartney documentary on Hulu. I have not seen it yet, but I noticed Dave commenting on this clip on his Twitter page. A little praise from Paul for the almighty Kinks!

     
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I just watched the preview. It looks pretty good
     
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  23. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    TKATVGPS (the album)/Johnny Thunder/The Last of the Steam Powered Trains:
    At this point I feel I have spent enough time with TKATVGPS to be able to give some brief thoughts. I love this album. I feel like I made a new best friend! I wish only that I had met him back when I was in high school. I don’t know how I missed it all these years. As an album, it is cohesive in theme and sound yet diverse in style, well sequenced, well recorded, well written and well performed, and just a gosh darn whole lotta fun! Every song on here, and I mean every song, at least qualifies as very good. To me there are at least three or four songs that could’ve easily been pop radio hits and a number of other good songs that I’m surprised were not picked up by FM radio. I don’t know how it was so overlooked at the time of its release and I can understand how over time it has developed the reputation and finally received the accolades that it deserved. Shame the general public is still unaware, both because people are missing out on some great music and because Ray’s wallet would benefit.

    …..but that does not mean that it does not contain some weaker songs. Now mind you, as I said above, every song on here qualifies as at least very good. That said, after the first three homeruns, comes a dip in (at least my) interest. Johnny Thunder and The Last of the Steam Powered Trains are that dip on the first side of the album. They are both catchy, well played and engaging, I would not skip them and I have found myself singing each of them out loud as I walk around a few times. Still, they are just a touch weaker. LOTSPT is the better of the two I suppose. Further, I know it’s probably blasphemy, but I’d have removed them from the album (there are two weaker songs on side two of the album that I’d take out first though) and I’d replace them with some of the songs released during the same time frame as singles and b-sides. Songs like Days, Polly, Rosemary Rose, Misty Water, Lincoln County and (especially) Lavender Hill would have all fit thematically and sound wise and I think they would have strengthened the album immensely. Better yet though, if I was the record company chief, I’d have made it a double album like Ray wanted in a heartbeat and included those six songs (21 songs total, just right for a double LP). Still, don’t get me wrong, those two tracks are good stuffs and wouldn’t be left off my Kinks (what I consider) “second era” play list.
     
  24. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    I have heard it's really good. Now I need to sign up for a month of Hulu!
     
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  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I dumped cable... pretty much just Hulu and Netflix.... I don't care really, the Mrs loves it lol
     
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