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 track, as much as any other, begs the question, "When you put the needle down on a Kinks album, do you actually want to hear The Kinks or do you want to hear a weird Leon Russell/Randy Newman hybrid of some sort?" There's no question that this would've been the highlight of any album by The Jim Kweskin Jug Band or Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, but the commonality of the chord progression is something I do have to get passed in order to get into the lyrics.

    I also had a friend who's life was essentially destroyed by this mental illness. Every time she turned on the radio, she was convinced that the voice coming out of it was speaking directly to her and no one else. Over the last 20 years, she has been in and out of various institutions. I haven't heard from her in awhile. Now that I have an idea what the song is about (which I didn't when I first heard it in the 1970s), I have slightly more of an appreciation of the subject matter.
     
  2. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    ^^^Hahahaha!
    I have a feeling there are some songs on this very album that I like very much, so all is not lost.
     
  3. WHMusical

    WHMusical Chameleon Comedian Corinthian & Caricature

    "ASPB" is a nutter great track opener opening up Muswell Hillbillies.

    I find it akin to the one-two punch of "The Contenders" and "Strangers" one-two opener on Lola. And I love both albums in nearequal measure though they are very different in content, tone, mood, subject matter and musicality. I still love them both, and don't think MH is any lesser of an album due to their new label, new sound (adding in Mike Cotton) new subject matter, which isn't that new--maybe just adding accents on different locals and eras and themes.

    And yes, it is a tough subject matter for a song, but it rings true for me; in Ray's insightful rays of light as to the nature of this dis~ease.


    :tiphat:
     
  4. WHMusical

    WHMusical Chameleon Comedian Corinthian & Caricature

    It is good, and essential for the second record of bonus tracks. But I go for the early 1970s UK/German pressings for the original MH album.

    :tiphat:
     
  5. LX200GPS

    LX200GPS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Somewhere Else
    I bought mine in the UK but I imagine these were available worldwide. I took the album out of the sleeve in the record shop and asked the assistant about it. His reply "vinyl shortage". I had never seen one before but later my brother, who was a Lou Reed fan, bought some. If you held it up to the light you could see the light bulb through it. Still have mine somewhere.

    Dynaflex (RCA) - Wikipedia
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2021
  6. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues
    I'm sure many have been affected by loved ones & friends with schizophrenia. My great grandmother had it (which I didn't learn about until fairly recently). Without going into all, that sort of stuff can affect families for generations. My great grandmother (and her husband) raised their only child (my dear grandmother) and some of the stuff my grandmother witnessed (and I only know a little bit of it) traumatized her and then my grandmother raised her kids with this trauma under belt and produced children (one being my mom) with suspicion of the whole world and you may as well hide in the house and stay away from that crazy ol' world. So it's pretty serious stuff.

    Now to the song...
    does anyone know why Ray mispronounces "schizophrenia" incorrectly? Is it simply to take out a syllable to make the song sound better? Just a curious query of mine.

    I really like this song. But there is a certain flatness to the production. I think people have used the term "muddy" and that seems to fit what I"m hearing. I love the horns! Horns make me happy. I wish that they were a little more upfront and dazzling(but there are some low notes that are hit so I guess making them sparkle is a tough ask). And Ray's voice is a little low in the mix too. Muddy.

    And I love the piano insert.

    Someone posted the 1973 live version of this and it's SO much better than the recorded version. OK, some of it may be because I enjoy Ray's performance so much. He puts his all into it. Whatever it is, the song comes alive outside the recording studio for me.
     
  7. WHMusical

    WHMusical Chameleon Comedian Corinthian & Caricature

    Funny, I was just gonna add on to this thought, and here you are asking about it.

    I could be wrong, but I feel like the addition of The Mike Cotton Sound is the main issue of contention between them that love and accept this record for what it is--brilliant, and them that don't like it, maybe? mainly? cuz the horns mos def take this record (and the band) away from their classical 60s original Brit-Pop-Rock Roots.

    I get that, but bands do evolve, and I for one have no truck with TMCS on this record, but the next few Lps is where they lose me, both with the musical alley ways they chose to explore, and a discernible lessening in the quality control of Ray's songwriting.

    Obviously, YMMV!

    :tiphat:
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2021
  8. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    That video is amazing. What a great performance! The beginning piano (and overall vibe of the performance) reminds me of this 1972 video of "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" by the Beach Boys. I'd almost say that that song wouldn't seem out of place on this album. Although the overall "dreariness" or seriously/darkness of some of the production on Muswell Hillbillies compares more to the Beach Boys 1971 "Surf's Up" album. Both these songs are songs that the casual fan of each band's "hits" would not BELIEVE was the same band.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXHwZwfMGRM
     
  9. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Here's another version from Beat Club (Germany) in 1972. It's at around 19 min in. Sorry, the FB link is all I have. I don't think this is on youtube currently (or if it is, it's cut up into different songs and not just a one hour block).
    this whole Beat Club show is BRILLIANT and I'm obsessed with it. Ray's performance is outstanding and he's hot as hell (if I may say so)(I guess I just did)
    Log into Facebook
     
  10. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Nice. I know what I’m watching later. I have seen a few of these songs before but not the entire set! Thanks for posting it!
     
  11. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    If we went to a restaurant and all ordered the same dish it’s highly unlikely we’d have the same response to eating it. That some people have negative perspectives on these two songs is totally understandable. But that doesn’t invalidate the highly positive perceptions of others.
    As Brian shouted to the masses hanging on his every word “we are all individuals!”
     
  12. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    At this point it’s one song with horns so I can’t see how this can be taken as a momentous change in sound. Not yet.

    Just thinking, on the Wilco thread I ended up concluding that there were, to date, six different permutations of Wilco (with the last/current one being ‘Jeff Tweedy with Wilco.’ It’ll be interesting to see what I conclude with The Kinks.
     
  13. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    You're welcome. I guarantee 100% enjoyment...or your money back. :D
    I think this may be the period of time I wish I could have seen the Kinks live, but being only 7 years old at the time would have made it difficult. I need a time machine, man.
     
  14. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Thanks for posting this: This full uncut tape used to be on YouTube but disappeared. I didn’t know it was still online out there in some form. This is indeed a great video, notable for also containing the only performance footage of the Kinks doing ‘You’re Lookin’ Fine’ ‘Brainwashed’ and ‘Top Of The Pops’ which I wish I’d been able to link to when we discussed those songs. We on this thread should really do a watchalong of this whole video some Sunday soon, tho I know it’s possible not everyone has Facebook.
     
  15. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    I think we are looking at around six or seven with The Kinks depending on how you wish to break them up. How many would you say so far? Three?
     
  16. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    Deacon, lettuce and tomato on toast.
     
    mark winstanley and DISKOJOE like this.
  17. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Yes, I’d say so (three) but reserve judgment until a microscopic review! :D
     
  18. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    A year or so ago, there was footage of the Kinks on Beat Club in 1972 on You Tube that was pre-show, in that the background was blue screen & they did a few takes each of the song & you can see Ray being attended by a make up person,etc. I burned 2 DVDs of this stuff & now I don't see it on YouTube. Is this what you're talking about, Avid Ajsmith?
     
  19. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    It is indeed! It’s still on Facebook on the link Wondergirl posted.
     
  20. Paul Mazz

    Paul Mazz Senior Member

    I really like Muswell Hillbillies, not my favorite necessarily, but top tier. Unfortunately, I’ve been way too busy at work to participate much in this thread. I just have time lately to skim through the thread, not thoroughly reading all the posts. Noticed the above in DISCOJOE ’s post, and agree 100%. I find myself singing a number of the songs, including this one, from this album to myself probably more than from any other Kinks album. I’m not paranoid or schizophrenic, but understand the sentiment of this song completely.:)
     
  21. zipp

    zipp Forum Resident


    Because he can't trust nobody? and there ain't no cure?

    ... meaning maybe he's trying to sound American by using double negatives and simplifying a complicated word.

    Whatever the reason, it doesn't work.
     
  22. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Are you people in the UK enjoying The Kinks 1977 Old Grey Whistle Test concert on BBC Four at the moment? Check it out on iPlayer if you missed it. Mostly Sleepwalker songs.
     
  23. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    All Sleepwalker songs apart from an abridged "Celluloid Heroes" (which Ray describes as being on a "loser album") and a snippet of "Muswell Hillbillies". Probably confused a lot of people then, and now!
     
  24. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    It took me a couple of songs to get into it, but I enjoyed it. Celluloid Heroes will always win me over. I'll have to get Sleepwalker, Low Budget etc. I have everything up to Everybody's In Showbiz and nothing after it. I think I'd them on CD if they were readily available. They don't show up often on vinyl or CD.
     
  25. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    Random thought as I am listening to this again… Is it just me, or does the short piano break at 2:30 of ASPB remind you of the little piano intro from Denmark Street?
     

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