The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I actually found the Blackadder DVD box set for $1.00 while thrifting. It was a bit beat up, but I managed to watch the whole thing. The final season was in the back of my mind while discussing the WWI songs.
     
  2. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Worth noting that this was the other late 60s flop Kinks single (other than 'Wonderboy') that John Lennon has known to have been taken with in some way, as (according to his 1970 Rolling St0ne interview) he based the chorus of his original song 'Come Together' (the unreleased one he wrote for Timothy Leary's political campaign, NOT the Beatles track of the same name) on this Kinks song, and even sings a micro-snatch of the chorus in same!
     
  3. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Intriguing, could you post it?
     
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  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Same
     
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  5. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    Drivin'

    A nice change of pace. Bouncy, but not all is well. After all the first line is "It seems like all the world is fighting". Not what you'd expect in a such a bouncy happy song about driving. Kinda like "I may not always love you" as the first line in a love song, right? Why exactly are we drivin'? What are we drivin' away from? Oh, right....

    There's a lovely lyrical/musical match in the verses, and I always find this is something great that Ray does. I love that little scoop-bass part at the end of the first line of each verse (after "...fighting" and "...if you want to" and "...all the troubled world around us"). Those first lines of these verses are so up in the air and carefree just floating in our imaginations, and then that scoop-bass sorta resets us and then the bass plays those straight quarter notes as we realize what those troubles are in each verse: "the Russians and the Chinese And the Spanish" fighting, "your nephews and your cousins and your brothers and your sisters", and finally "all the debt collectors rent collectors". And to boot, it's only in these "troubles" lines that Dave's harmony comes in strong in the second and third instances. I love it.

    To @Wondergirl's point, we have another reference to "the sun is shining" as we go drivin'. Let's escape the harsh realities of war and family squabbles and our financial problems. Where we are going, "the sun is shining".

    Another thing that stands out when looking at these lyrics is you don't need to go far to escape. "all the troubled world around us seems an eternity away" yet "we won't be home late, it's not very far".

    There's also a bit of Ray's sense of humor with the "we'll take your mother if you want to". As in, "ok I'll deal with her, as long as we can get out of here. But sorry, no nephews or cousins or brothers or sisters". It's a similar bit of humor as "I went to our café one day. They said that Donna walked away. You'd think at least she might have stayed to drink her afternoon tea." :laugh:
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
  6. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Annoyingly there used to be a handy isolated clip of that segment of the interview on YouTube, but it’s no longer up. I even started a thread on it some years ago: John Lennon's original 'Come Together'

    The complete interview is here, but at 3 and a half hours I don’t have time just now to listen enough to it to try and define where the Drivin/Come Together bit is. I’ll try and see if I can winkle it out in the next few days.

     
  7. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Nicely said!
     
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  8. jethrotoe

    jethrotoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    "Can’t drive. I probably can. I’m probably a hustler. An American told me I was a hustler: I pretend I can’t do things and I can, really. Is that what it means? I probably can drive, but I’ve never been behind a steering wheel…. The song was written for 1938 or 9. 'Dead End Street”'is written about now, but it could be about the depression. 'Drivin' is about the Thirties, but people still take the attitude: Let’s just go driving and get away. I don’t ’cause I can’t drive."

    -Ray Davies, Rolling Stone, 1970

    Q&A: Afternoon Tea With Ray Davies
     
  9. jethrotoe

    jethrotoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    "Drivin'" is a nice song, but not one of my favorites on the album. I never feel compelled to play it outside of listening to the whole Arthur album (actually, that's rare for this album...I maybe play "Brainwashed" and "Shangri-La" independently, but not many of the other songs on here). "Drivin'" is probably one of the songs on Arthur that sounds closest to the Village Green-era, although the opening line, "Seems like all the world is fighting" and the line "let all the Russians and the Chinese and the Spanish do their fighting" roots it in Arthur rather than Village Green. But it's an escapist song, sort of like "Sitting by the Riverside"...let's go out in nature to be free. But this one has a heavy undercurrent..."let's get away from the war," maybe more like "Apeman".

    I think it's kind of odd it was the lead single for Arthur. I would think "Victoria" was a more obvious choice, but whatever...you can't really explain why The Kinks made a lot of the decisions they did.

    As Mark said in his write up, really standout guitar arpeggios from Dave here. The sort of palm muted power chords/muted driving bass part is fascinating…especially because it’s sort of similar to the galloping intro of “Mindless Child of Motherhood,” this track’s b-side. It’s not something we heard a lot of from The Kinks prior to this and it’s interesting that that drivin’ (haha) palm muting links the two songs. “Drivin’” actually has a pretty complex arrangement for such a seemingly simple song. It's sort of fascinating how all the band members started to come into their own as musicians around this time. I wonder what happened?
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    It's really interesting isn't it.
    I wonder if the singles falling in success, in conjunction with what was happening in the broader music community, was a sort of liberating thing?
    Village Green was most definitely focused on being an album. I think, Face to Face and Something Else were also, but with Village Green, all possible doubt is totally removed.
    Arthur is set up as an album from before it's recorded, and with everything else going on, I reckon they just went for it.

    Then there's the fact that Dave and Mick would have been bursting for a bit of a rock edge after a period of more reflective songs.... and John probably felt he needed to make a good showing in light of replacing a founding member...

    I reckon it was just a perfect storm type thing. Everything was in place for them to really hit it.
     
  11. jethrotoe

    jethrotoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    All good points. I thought maybe they had more time and money to focus on recording Arthur, considering it was related to what would have been a big TV project. But it seems like they recorded Arthur pretty quickly...basically in a month or two (May-June) with some overdubs on a bit later (August). I do know that they rehearsed the album for some months (Quaife said he remembered rehearsing some of the songs). Also Ray was writing Arthur co-currently with Village Green. I don't know how long they did pre-production on the previous albums.

    It does seem that Arthur's sessions were very focused...as far as I know, they only recorded 14 songs (the 12 Arthur tracks plus 2 songs for Dave's solo album, "Mindless Child of Motherhood" and "Groovy Movies") during the May-June sessions (plus some overdubs for the other Dave solo tracks "Mr. Reporter" and maybe "Mr. Shoemaker's Daughter" but those probably would have just been brass overdubs, I'd imagine.) So there's no real outtakes from this album (even if there were a couple of Dave-led tracks recorded at these sessions, they were not intended for this project.) The performances are tight. The writing is tight. Everything seems very focused and cohesive. Whereas, while Ray had a concept for Village Green, there were about 30 songs available for inclusion and he significantly changed the tracklisting at (well, really, after) the last minute and then tried to get a double album, 20-track version greenlit.

    I could see "Misty Water," "Berkeley Mews," "Polly," "Rosemary Rose," etc on Village Green. I cannot imagine any other songs fitting on Arthur, even the Dave stuff they recorded at the time. It's too tight of a storyline. Somebody somewhere said "Mindless Child of Motherhood" should have been on Arthur. As amazing of a song as it is, it wouldn't have fit!
     
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Totally agree.
    I really like many of Dave's songs from around here, but unless they just blew the concept up, or significantly changed lyrics, it doesn't seem there's much room to wiggle with Arthur.
     
  13. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    A little extract from Rogan about Ray's driving skills.

    "Given Ray's aversion to driving, it was amusing for friends and familiars to hear him write a paean to the road. It would only be decades later that he finally passed his driving test, an achievement he greatly regretted."

    Ray: "Learning to drive was the biggest mistake of my life, it turned me into an arsehole." Rasa, the family chauffeur and occasional instructor, was one of his unwillingly victims. "He was a nightmare. I was trying to teach him, but he was awful, dreadful. He nearly killed a woman on a zebra crossing. I said, I cant do this anymore!"

    I would imagine the next time he fancied a trip to Barnet Church he probably jumped on a number 34 bus.
     
  14. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    I love Drivin'! I don't have toooo much to say on it, and I think most of the good points have been covered. A couple points:

    • Why make this the first single? There is a tactic that's been explained to me by a band promoter or two, at least given the way it was done in later years. You _don't_ pick the best single for the first one. You bait the public with a good but "lesser" song, hitwise at least, and let it slowly grow its way up the charts. A "hit single" or "hit album" in terms of Billboard/NME/etc charts is not measured in overall sales. It's measured in highest quick sales. So you let a single dribble out, in the hopes that the second single will get simultaneous rapid airplay and sales everywhere at the same time. It's a loss leader towards getting the big one.

      If this isn't too confusing, an old example of the "non-hit hit" phenomenon is Grandmaster Flash's "The Message". It only peaked at 62, at some point in 1982, but it sold a lot more copies than many of the #1 hits of its day-- it just sold them more slowly. But a label probably finds that a quick sales hit is less risky and more effective; the sales and promotion feed themselves and keep that hit going.
    • The 4-note "dit dit dit dit" motif IS "Picture Book." The difference is that instead of modulating down a full step, then back up and down a full step, it modulates down in a series of 4 phrases with 3 chromatic half-steps between them, then repeats. And this time it in a triplet swing, in a sort of 12/8, instead of the more rigid Louie Louie 4/4 of "Picture Book" (which does swing, though, in its own subtle manner.) In this way, we are seeing a repeat of the ol' theme-and-variations tactics of Ray Davies' singles of 1964-5. (In that case, the many ingenious permutations and recombinations of the YRGM idea and the "Tired of Waiting For You" idea.)
    • 1939 or 1969? The synopsis by Julian Mitchell leads me to believe that it is both, in the context of the play, if not the song itself. It appears that the whole TV drama was structured around a single day, but with events in it to act as doorways to the past. So they go on a picnic in 1969 before dropping Derek and family at their boat; and I would think this gives us an opening into an outing in 1939, which is where the lyrics seem to be set. But I imagine some crosscutting between both periods during the song, visually, in the TV movie. Same with "Some Mothers' Son". We have an Eddie in Korea, and an Eddie in WWI, both of whom die. Perhaps in that example we have crosscutting between three different eras.

    • While the song is light, the escapism's acknowledgement of the threat of war keeps some darkness in the proceedings. "They're even talking of a war" is poignantly innocent, because the narrator doesn't know what is coming, but we do.
    It's a lovely song. I never tire of hearing it. Ray's "young Arthur" voice is so sweet on it. I love that composed solo, too, with the overdubbed drum break.

    Who is playing piano and harpsichord on this album? Is it Ray? They are good!
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
  15. joejo

    joejo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    toronto
    Is there any significance to number 12 bus (Donovan)?
     
  16. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    "Drivin'"

    I was walking the other day and listening to this album on my headphones and when the alternate mix came on it became more apparent how sweet this song is. The vocal is more upfront and the instruments are toned down. I think I prefer it in this stripped down version. I feel it fits the lyrics and the song comes across more clearly. I have had the song playing through my head ever since and as like @Fortuleo mentioned it has some similarities to "Picture Book". I'll be humming "Drivin'" and soon it morphs into "Picture Book".

    I hear a bit of Damon Albarn in some of the vocals in the stripped down version. If you have never heard his albums as The Good, The Bad, and The Queen you should immediately seek them out. I'm not even much of a fan of Blur or Gorillaz, but I love the two albums as The Good, The Bad, and The Queen, which also features former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, and the late great drumming marvel Tony Allen. I find these albums to be very heavily Kinks influenced. Merrie Land is one of my favorite albums from the last few years.

    I love to drive and listen to music. I will be heading out to the mountains tomorrow. I may have to bring along some gooseberry tarts and some beer and crank up The Kinks!
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021
  17. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: Holy moly! F7 B♭ E7 A E♭7 A♭ D7 G, and that's just the verses.

    The intro/bridge: Cm Gm B♭ F F7 B♭ D7

    I can't think of any other single from 1969 that had this many chords in it, and unusual ones at that. It was much more common in 1966-1967. It's difficult to predict how this would've done had it been released as a single in the US. It certainly would've stood out on the radio during the summer of 1969 amidst such minimalist fare as "Green River," "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Honky Tonk Women," "The Ballad Of John & Yoko" and "Sweet Caroline." The only hit from that period that even slightly approaches it in complexity might've been "Spinning Wheel." Also, shuffles were a lot less common by that time.

    The "Dee Dee Dee Dee" intro sort of reminds me of a combination of "Mrs. Robinson" and "Mana Mana." The weakest part of the song is the five-note melisma that is the chorus. I think it would've been better with five separate syllables of some sort: "Why don't we go Drivin'?" or "We shall go out Drivin'" or something.
     
  18. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    I'm not sure as I haven't heard it I'm afraid.
     
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  19. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    The good news is that it appears nobody is currently reading For Whom the Bell Tolls (re Spanish Civil War)! Mark gets a reprieve on the syllabus.
    (I finished my WWI book last night.)
     
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  20. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I happened upon this little article. in 1970 Ray bought a 1960 Bentley - that he never drove. The missus at the time (Rasa) was the driver. :) It was up for auction in 2017. Can't find what it finally sold for though.
    more here: The Kinks' Sir Ray Davies Selling His Neglected 1960 Bentley S2
     
  21. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    I remember reading that story and being surprised he owned a car as I was sure I had previously read he couldn't drive.
     
  22. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Charlie Watts had a collection of cars and he couldn't drive. He would just sit in them. I read he even had certain outfits to go with each car. :laugh:
     
  23. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Well, as the article says, he never did drive this particular car. He learned to drive later in life...I believe I remember reading he was between relationships and so he didn't have a lady to drive him around so he finally hunkered down to get the license.
     
  24. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    Yes, all that info is available to the public if they apply for certificates. Even more info can be obtained by applying for the service records of the soldiers, sailors or airmen. When I was there it was mainly genealogists who were applying for these and perhaps the odd family for sentimental reasons, or to find out exactly where their grandfather died.

    Last night I forgot to say thay Raymond Davies changed his name to Raymond Douglas sometime before Jan1986. He got married in that year and the marriage entry records this name change. English law says you have to get married in the name you are using at the time of the event.
     
  25. jethrotoe

    jethrotoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Same with Entwistle and Moon too (I know Moon couldn't drive, but I don't remember if he had a car collection or not...he certainly destroyed a lot of cars though).
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2021

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