In getting caught up in the story and feel, I completely ignored the ending. Those monstrous slashes on the guitar, moving into that semi-dissonant wind up. The chanting that has a kind of horror movie feel.... It is a great way to finish this off. Such an intense track
It is a tribute to the power of the Kink’s musical ideas that they are my favorite band. I am not only an inveterate audiophile, but it has been at the root of my vocation my entire professional life. All this despite the fact that a great deal of their core work is marred by opaque, dirty, compressed, murky, closed in sound quality. Wicked Annabella is a key exception to this trend. On this track we add the emotive power of cleanly reproduced rock instruments to the other standard Kinks attractors. It’s bittersweet to think about this as it makes me wish that more cuts had enjoyed this sort of sonic treatment. This degree of transparency doesn’t fully return until Everybody’s in Showbiz.
Wicked Annabella The pic that is my avatar is my son and I at Halloween. We didn't just pass out candy.... we dressed up and brought the instruments and amps and played..... Don't Fear the Reaper, Godzilla, Ghost Riders in the Sky, N.I.B, Paranoid..... .... we should have included Wicked Annabella in our Halloween set! Musically, this thing is so on point in every way from the creepy vocal to the cool bass to the specific type of distortion on the guitar to the drums... oh those toms! Thanks, Mark, for the backstory. It is rather illuminating and helps fill in the depth of character we knew had to be there. It is interesting that this mostly sunny nostalgic album does tell us that even in the village green which we are so keen on preserving, there are still dark characters.... even the beloved village green isn't all rainbows and butterflies. All in all, yet another great song that has an interesting place in the album, but can also stand on its own.
It's out of my timezone, but could Wicked Annabella have succeeded as a single in 68? It seems very contemporary, a bit psychedelic, and bit dirty rock, super catchy.... ?
Well if "Fire" by Arthur Brown, which gave off many of the same vibes, became a UK/US hit in 1968, who knows? "Wicked Annabella" is definitely the "heaviest" song on VGPS. Heck, it was probably the heaviest song the Kinks did for several years until the B-side of their next single, which we'll discuss next week. Dave's lead vocal is suitable for the song, as well as his guitar playing. As for the lyrics, they certainly describe the type of person which is the basis of my hometown's current leading industry, which has replaced Parker Brothers Games (the Salem Witch Trials of 1692). Maybe, as the other Avids have pointed out, the title character is merely eccentric at best, a recluse at worst, w/a bit too many cats and/or newspapers at their house, through the extremely vivid imagination of a child. How many of us, as children, were told by our elders, not to go to a certain person's house for our own good? Wicked Annabella, like Johnny Thunder, is another character in VGPS that's not a happy, cheerful occupant of the Village Green.
I’m not so sure we’ll get to ‘King Kong’ so quickly… I mean there are mucho 1967/8/early 69 era VGPS outtakes and related GLKA items to get through before we hit Spring ‘69 timeline wise….
Another thing about "Wicked Annabella" that I forgot to mention is that I think that it was the Kinks' attempt to sound like the Doors. It was about the time that VGPS was recorded that the Doors came into a bit of controversy when it was alleged that their recent #1 hit "Hello I Love You" was taken from "All Day and All of the Night". Perhaps "Wicked Annabella" was the Kinks' musical response to this. There's at least the sense of dread that occurs in a lot of Doors songs as well as the guitar riff. Just a thought.
Yea, I imagine we have at least a week and a half of tracks left on the Village Green (just a guess) Some really good ones too.
I did hear a little Doors in there. Without the organ it wouldn't sound the same, but there is a vibe about it.
Wicked Annabella The drums! Mick's drumming in this is not just a rhythmic exercise to keep time. His drums are a crucial instrument to the sound of the song, and almost are melodic as he fills in the gaps. It's like instead of a guitar riff, it's a drum riff. The guitar! Dave's raunchy tone, even on the single note riff, but also the distorted chords near the end, somehow are completely different from anything else we've heard on the album, yet I honestly couldn't imagine the album without this song. Dave's vocals! He's using different voices like Ray does. The strength and emotion of that bridge "I, I've seen her face..." through "twisting my mind". The menacing tone of the last 2 verses... The "ooooh" background vocals that only seem to be there for few seconds around 2:00... and then there's this sinister laugh in the back mix around 2:20... is this the sound of the little children being taken away? Absolutely not (to me). It seems way too out there and dark, but gawdarnit, isn't it a great song?
"Wicked Annabella" Difficult to determine who's the star on this one. Mick deserves it for his fabulous drumming. Pete deserves it for his sinuous basslines. Dave deserves it for his best vocal performance so far, AND a great heavy guitar part. Ray's just the bloke who did the great writing. Truly a group effort, the nearest that The Kinks have come to a late-60s heavy rock sound so far (although they will get even nearer to it soon). Just another part of the rich tapestry of this album. I wonder if Elvis Costello had this in mind when he wrote "Miss Macbeth" for Spike? Am I the only one who thinks Dave sounds a little like Bolan at the very end?
Not at all; in fact, I was just about to post the very same observation, and am even tempted to say that "Wicked Annabella" could be the best song T. Rex never recorded. GMTA!
Wicked Annabella Crank this one up! A song that sounds nothing like what came before it. The Kinks go into full on late 60s rock n roll assault. It sounds like a mix of Cream and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" with the heavy drum emphasis. I played it for someone and they commented how it was such a different type of song for The Kinks. This album is so well rounded. We have a bit of something for everyone. The ending is smashing and is reminiscent of some other music of the time from The Who to The Eyes. This would have made a great addition to the British Nuggets box set. I feel it's a relatively unknown gem and upon hearing it not many people could guess it was The Kinks. I can now totally hear Alice Cooper ripping into this song. Sounds like the Easy Action era. Not too far removed from "Refrigerator Heaven" with the vocal effect. Alice has been known to do some 60s covers. This would be a perfect tune for him. We all know there is a song coming up that could easily be mistaken for T.Rex. I am now hearing that this also has some of the Bolan fairy dust sprinkled on it.
WICKED ANNABELLA And the fairy stories keep coming. This one is to scare chidren into going to sleep. Can't hear any sex here, which is a shame because it would have livened things up a bit. As it is, this woman is in perpetual midnight in her house and at the same time in the sky while enslaving demons in the wood. Yeah, OK Ray. Musically extremely average. A lot of thrashing of drums and bravado guitar. Thankfully it doesn't last too long and runs out of ideas fairly quickly. And even Pye wouldn't have had the manic idea to release this as a single.
The sex was in reference to Ray's comment, which subtly suggested it may have occurred between he and the person this character track was based on.
Depending on how "kinky" you are, maybe you can interpret some of the sounds in the outro as sex sounds?
Wicked Annabella The first two or three times upon hearing this song I was like "meh". Then the wonderfulness of this song hit me like a brick. Not being a connoisseur of psychedelia, I feel like this may hit that mark...at least a little. I believe @Fortuleo mentioned the Halloween feel of the song and I couldn't agree more. I was thinking that if you wanted to make a spooky song collection, this would be on it. Also I find the feel of this song very slinky and sexy. I'm thinking this may be Dave's best vocal work. He's mostly subdued but when he hits the part "I, I've seen her hair, I've seen her face, Look towards mine" part, it's just so epic. But everyone is killing it in this song (obviously, Ray in the lyric department). I'm losing track...is this my favorite song on side 2...it could be. Until the next song is talked about...
I would've guessed that Ray specifically told Mick to duplicate Ginger Baker's drumming on "White Room," but seeing as both songs were recorded and released at pretty much exactly the same time, that's highly unlikely. This is the only song on the album that alludes to anything about nighttime. All the other tracks are definitely describing daytime scenes. In mentioning "The Woods," it adds yet another element to the scenery surrounding the Village Green, which we've already been told includes a farm, a river, train tracks, the church the clock the steeple and of course, the big sky. I've often wondered if it might've inspired Elton John's "Lady Samantha" single, which was released a couple of months later.
Wicked Annabella Dark toms and a foreboding guitar riff (with an eerie pregnant pause) kick of a welcome return to a heavier and more traditional rock sound with a live'r ambience. I have not always found Dave's vocals & voices chosen to be consistently good or suited to all of the material he has previously sung but I must have thought he nailed it here as my initial thought was simply that the brains trust absolutely chose the right brother to sing it! Thanks for alerting me guys to how cool Pete Quaife's contribution is here as I kind of missed it whilst revelling in the Kinks excellent group integrated sound on this cut. As for the outro I could see the droning dissonant sustain & crunchy distorted powerchords sitting comfortably on an LP between I Can See For Miles & Armenia City In The Sky. Once again an excellent idea to change the pace with a left hand turn, get heavy & sing about a girl with Kink!
