The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I always think it’s notable how few full song outtakes The Beatles had compared to their peers, esp during their prime mid 60s creative period when they were working together most closely as a group. In some ways they’re the outliers in terms of their relative poverty of unissued full songs. Most of their unissued songs were either from the pre fame phase before they were fully baked, or from the fag end of their career when things were starting to fray into solo stuff. Unlike The Beach Boys, Kinks, Who, even The Stones whose outtake archives are more of a mystery, there just never were very many prime era Beatles songs that never didn’t get used at the time. Whether that makes them more efficient or less productive I’ll leave up to you to decide for yourself…
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Misty Water

    stereo mix (3:03), recorded May, 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    By the town of Straight and Narrow,
    There's a dark and misty place.
    Everything is hazy,
    So the people are afraid.

    All except Maria's daughters,
    Who believe in misty ways.
    Everything is lovely,
    In a misty morning glaze.

    I like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    They like misty water.

    I like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    Take a sip of misty water.

    Though Maria is not lovely,
    She's the lady of my dreams.
    'Cause I see my lady,
    Through a misty, silky screen.

    And seeing is believing,
    But I can't believe my eyes.
    Everything is lovely,
    In a misty paradise.

    I like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    They like misty water.

    They like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    Take a sip of misty water.

    I like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    They like misty water.

    They like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters,
    They like misty water.

    I like misty water,
    I like fog and haze.
    Anne Maria and her daughters...

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: ?

    Lyrics for "Misty Water" kindakinks.net

    This is a sort of strange song.

    It seems like this is a song about living in the city, but I wouldn't sign a sworn affidavit on that.
    It almost seems like the fog and haze just smear the landscape enough to make it attractive?

    Of course the misty haze being related to having a drink, this could also be a precursor to alcohol, and the fog and haze could well just be the minds of those that having been having a bit to drink.

    So when I look at it from that perspective, we have the town of straight and narrow, being the people who don't drink it up, and Ray, Anne Maria and her daughters like to indulge in some alcohol and get a bit foggy.

    Anyway, the lyric seems a little vague, but that seems like the most logical angle. It'll be interesting to see what other folks think the lyrics are talking about.

    We open with those descending basslines with Ray's vocal, and the dynamics slowly rise.
    The party type atmosphere also seems to lean towards the drinking idea somewhat.

    This feels a little more like a pop song, to some degree, than most of the Village Green tracks, but it also has a bit of a twist, so I wouldn't say that it couldn't fit in with the album tracks.

    There is a cool little interlude that comes up a couple of times with the "ooooo's" ... and interestingly on the kindakinks.net site, where they have the chords, it refers to this as the Beach Boys break. The second time around we get this emphatic guitar driven triple hit chord sequence that also works as a bit of an interlude.

    I like this song well enough, but the chorus section probably repeats a little too much for me to love it.
    It's a good song, but with this one I can kind of see why they may have set this one aside..... It still works very well as a song though.

     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2021
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  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    stereo version

     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Alternate stereo mix

     
  5. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    She was no Julie Finkle!
     
  6. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Misty Water is a lot of fun, with evocative imagery, good singing, fantastic band playing, even if the chorus can indeed be a bit grating after too many repetitions (at 3'05'', it's a long song by Ray's 1968 standards!). This song's a rare case of blending two key Kinks aspects : a music-hall (or musical) styled vocal melody and a hard rocking backing track, with superb drums, insistant Hammond organ and some crunchy power chords guitars. What I like best about it? Every time you sing the chorus, you praise the song… And every time you praise the song, you end up quoting – and singing – it ! I-Like / Mis-ty Wa-ter… Quite a clever move!
     
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  7. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    FWIW, I assumed it was "...and Maria, and her daughters".

    As for the song, I've always felt this was the quintessential TKaTVGPS outtake. Brings in themes that fit the album, sonically matches it pretty well, and has the necessary characters in the lyric fitting in the necessary way. That said, I've always felt like again, it wasn't quite complete, and could definitely do with a little trimming, but it's decent enough. Wouldn't harm the album IMO, and that chorus is undeniably catchy - in fact, I haven't even listened to the song today and it's already stuck in my head!

    Worth noting that, like Rosemary Rose, I first heard this on the bonus 10" with this Greatest Hits: The Kinks – The Kinks Greatest Hits - Dead End Street (1983, Vinyl)
     
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  8. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Misty Water"

    Another one I'm hearing for the first time. Sounds to me like ideal fodder for a B-side somewhere between VGPS & Arthur, but probably not quite album-worthy. In the second half of each verse, Dave once again appears to be inventing Graham Coxon's guitar sound 25 years ahead of time. I like the way the chorus ends with the "take a sip..." line and then the "ooooh" backing vocals. Listening for a second time it comes across as a very infectious tune, though slightly repetitive. It's basically a very high quality song that's having a hard time living with the very high quality threshold of Kinks material at this time!
     
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  9. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Perfectly put!
     
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  10. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I always thought it was 'And Maria' too! While I've never owned that 10", I first heard 'Misty Water' slightly before I got to hear the rest of the the GLKA songs when I tracked down the contemporary 1983 PRT single reissue of 'You Really Got Me' (which charted in the UK Top 50!) and has 'Misty Water' on the B side! While it's fairly well known how Reprise ended up with the GLKA outtakes, I've always wondered what the story was with PRT managing to (briefly) sneak some more of that stuff out domestically in 1983 before Ray got wind and shut it down.
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2021
  11. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    I was awaiting someone mentioning Ray again calling on the You Really Got Me riff which for him became a popular and fruitful pastime!
    Yes a sweet song with lots of interesting musical touches but somehow the end feels less than the sum of it's parts and I don't see it graduating with mortar board to The Village Green proper!
     
  12. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    You had to go looking.........
     
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  13. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    Oh wow, now that's pretty cool! Do you remember if the B-Side was the mono or the 80s stereo mix?
     
  14. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I'm probably barking up the wrong Bonsai here, but I might as well mention (despite any misgivings I may have about dropping Ray in it in terms of cultural insensitivity: though I'm sure we'll get to that with several later songs) however it's always been my impression from first listen: does anyone else hear Ray affecting a kinda stereotypical East Asian accent on the chorus and 'take a sip' bit of 'Misty Water'? I'm talking typical Western 'We Are Siamese If You Please' level of accuracy of the time. I've always heard that, and it's thus always given the song this kind of subtle but distinct 'the Geisha tea pavilion on the furthest side of the Village Green' vibe to me.

    One thing about this track that can be said to be more than dubious speculation: just as the seemingly delicate 'Rosemary Rose' is underpinned by the 'You Really Got Me' riff, so the playful idyll of 'Misty Water' (as confirmed by Ray to Andrew Sandoval) is indebted to The Ventures 'Walk Don't Run' descending riff. (as was this very early Dave Davies giveaway song that I don't think we ever covered on this thread - well better late than never!!)

     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2021
  15. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I can't remember, I've prob not played it in 20 years! My copy is a picture disc too. I would assume it's likely to be the 80s stereo mix but worth double checking: I'm planning to properly organise my 7 inch vinyl collection at some point in the near (ish) future so that would be a good time to play it again.
     
  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    If it's there, it wasn't obvious to me.
     
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  17. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    I’ve never noticed that myself, and taking another listen I can’t truly hear it, but there’s a slight voice affected there. It’s hard, as Ray affects so many voices in his songs already - I may be desensitised to it!
     
  18. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Misty Water

    There seems to be a lot of continual drinking going on and our hazy protagonist's seem to remain in foggy perpetual midnight minds!

    Ray is crazy about (Anne) Maria and alcohol and he is likely having an affair with both though take the booze away and we may find it's his main draw?

    What came first for him, the horse or the cart?
    I'm not sure but you bet we know what type of beverage it's carrying!
     
  19. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Ha no I'm sure you're both right in not hearing anything of the sort and this impression is my own delusion. tbh I was in two minds about whether to post mentioning that overtone I've always heard but I just thought if not now when?
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2021
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I think this is a pretty safe place to throw out the question.
    There are certainly a couple of head scratchers in the seventies... and I still don't know what to think of them.... nor how I'll handle them when we get there... but I guess we'll see when we get there :)
     
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  21. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Misty Water
    Andy Miller also says this song is about drinking too much. Maria and her daughters apparently all enjoyed a few drinks. The music and lyrics aren’t bad, but neither are they that good when judged against Ray’s incredibly high standards of 1967 and 1968. It seems ridiculous but I think this song is about 33.3 per cent too long. Had it been two minutes - like the other shelved songs we’ve already heard - the song would be tighter and the repetition not so grating.
     
  22. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    My impression of Misty Water has always been coloured by John Mendelsohn's liner notes on The Great Lost Kinks Album where he insinuates that the song's characters are relations of Wicked Annabella so I see it as that song's cousin. I prefer it. It could have easily taken Wicked Annabella's place on the album for me.
    I enjoy hearing Mick's pounding on the "they like misty water" bit.
    I've always heard "And Maria and her daughters too". It makes sense as she is referred to as Maria, not Anne Maria, elsewhere in the lyrics.
     
  23. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    What?? An unbeliever! Heretic! Persecute etc etc…
    Python, M (1979)
     
  24. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    "Misty Water", which was another highlight of The Great Lost Kinks Album, reminds me of "Wicked Annabella", a sort of predecessor or sequel to that song. Both songs deal w/women who aren't very popular. I get more of a village vibe rather than a city vibe from this song. Kinda like a Grimm fairy tale. Unlike some of the other songs that we Avids have discussed recently, I think that this could fit in the VGPS. Maybe it was considered for the album & got passed over in favor of "Wicked Annabella", which had better lyrics for the album. It's a great song though, w/it's great guitar from Dave & those Beach Boys overtones.

    Also, Avid Smith posted "One Fine Day" by Shel Nalyor, which is on the recent Ace compliation Kinked: Kinks Songs and Sessions, which has many of the songs that were covers or which Ray gave away,some of which were previously discussed.
    I highly recommend it.
     
  25. Fischman

    Fischman RockMonster, ClassicalMaster, and JazzMeister

    Location:
    New Mexico
    Today in Kinks History:

    See My Friends is released on this day in 1965 - Produced by Shel Tamy and engineered by Alan Mackenzie. The single was recorded back in May 1965 during a day off on their 17 date UK tour.
     

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