Thank you! It was a challenge. I wanted to start in 1966, after Kontroversy. They were aware of the garage rock style. Wanted to start just after that from Face to Face. Thanks, it was fun and good to see some folks that I haven’t seen in a few years due to the pandemic. She used to work for Columbia Records and I remember she did some stuff for Aerosmith’s Nine Lives album, then moved to Island Def Jam. There are so many labels and genres that I could imagine completely missing out on certain areas. That is a valid point about Spotify, and I hope they aren’t offended when I share that playlist with them. I wanted to show the beauty of those particular songs, and I think they can stand on their own. IMO, Top of the Pops works better in context of the album. In summary, putting together an hour of what makes the Kinks special to you is a tough task, and will only get tougher as this thread continues. here’s to a peaceful and happy week to you all.
I listened to all of Muswell Hillbillies at work today, on Velvet Cd reissue w/ 2 bonus tracks. Such a great record. For me the equal to, and the ying and yang of Lola. These two are the only two I need, push comes to shove,... well, I need Kinks Kronicles too. BUT i could get by on just these 3. I can see how some English fans might not like MH as much as their classic late 60s output as that was very UK~centric (and VERY Klassic!), and MH is very much a more American Themed and Targeted record, what with that pesky newt American Record Label, Record Company of America, and them finally able to play America again, and the American Market is so big and tasty... and the groupies and the drugs and the wide open faces and spaces... America America America, I gettit, I'm over us US too! But, that don';t not make this a great Kinks Records. Some of my all time Top Ten Kinks Klassics are on here, hear: Oklahoma USA (America again..) Holloway Jail, Alcohol, Holiday, plus... close up there: 20th Century Man, Complicated Life. Muswell Hillbillies... Did I mention I LOVE this record? I even got Ray to sign my crappy old 1971 US RCA Dynoflex copy back on the Old Storytellers Tour.
Much of the music reflects Americana, but the album couldn’t be much more English thematically. Skin and Bones: Scones and weight in stones is British through and through. Holiday: That would be Vacation in American. People in Gray: You won’t find many “borough surveyors” or forms from ‘Her Majesty’s government” on this side of the pond. Have a Cuppa Tea: Speaks for itself. Holloway Jail: Spivs and the C.I.D are English and Holloway Jail was a women's prison in northern London. Oklahoma USA: This is about the escapist fantasies of an impoverished English women, thinking America is like what she has seen in Hollywood, U.S.A. movies. (See image). Uncle Son: Based on a real person from Ray’s childhood. Muswell Hillbilly: Inspired by Ray’s family having to move from the Islington area to Muswell Hill. Americans don’t worry about their “Cockney pride”
Great Post, thanks Scottsol! Eye Dew Believe The Kinks Hath Albionized Me Moor Zen Eye Newt Of The Frog Across Zee Pound!
Oklahoma USA stereo mix (2:35), recorded Aug-Sep 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London All life we work but work is a bore, If life's for livin' what's livin' for, She lives in a house that's near decay, Built for the industrial revolution, But in her dreams she is far away, In Oklahoma U.S.A. With Shirley Jones and Gordon McRea, As she buys her paper at the corner shop, She's walkin' on the surrey with the fringe on top, Cos in her dreams she is far away, In Oklahoma U.S.A., She walks to work but she's still in a daze, She's Rita Hayworth or Doris Day, And Errol Flynn's gonna take her away, To Oklahoma U.S.A., All life we work but work is a bore, If life's for livin' then what's livin' for. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. Here we have Ray delivering a reflective ballad of a woman who is bored with her 9-5 life and dreaming of another life. I can relate to this song on so many levels it is somewhat disconcerting.... This song is as beautiful as anything Ray has ever written, and there is not one tiny little piece of this song that is not perfect. To some degree there is a bit of a grass is always greener thing going on here. In reality whether in Oklahoma USA or Bogner Regis England. The day to day requirement to work for a living, and not live the exciting lifestyles we see the elites and fakebook pictures constantly showing us can sometimes make us feel like we are failing and that there is something wrong with our lives. I think this song perfectly captures that dynamic and it is another predicament of the 2oth century. The dreams of another life have likely always been there, but in centuries prior there was less exposure to all the stuff going on, and all the "exciting" places in the world. By the time we get halfway through the 20th century, there are suddenly pictures and films of all these other places, that previously had been heard of, but now we can see them, and they look like something that would make our lives better.... this tends to lead to an internal dissatisfaction and a wish to find this magical life that appears to be out there, if only we could find it. The interesting thing to me is I have stayed the night in Oklahoma, and this romantic dreamscape isn't what I found.... I was on the west side of Oklahoma city, in a dirt cheap hotel. I went to the Kum and Go next to the railway tracks, or something like that, at about 1 or 2 in the morning because I was hungry and thirsty.... as I was walking out I could feel someone was following me, so I turned around, and I was propositioned by a young girl .... a young girl not so different from those I had been singing songs for only a couple of days prior ... it was one of the most depressing things I have ever experienced, and I attempted to engage in a conversation, but when she realised she wasn't going to be getting a customer she walked off to find someone else, I guess..... I am sure that young lady was dreaming of some other place than Oklahoma USA..... and thinking of that just now, reveals that it still damaged my heart in a way I can't explain well enough .... Context, Context, Context, probably the most important thing in life.... Where you are, is exactly where you're supposed to be, and if you feel it isn't, then get up and do something about it, because no matter what your beliefs, this life right here is not as long as it sometimes feels. Predominantly here we have Ray singing and this some what ethereal piano. We get the occasional backing vocal come in, and a piano accordion, and as I say it is all perfect. I don't think I have anything else to say. This is lyrically and musically one of, if not the most beautiful thing Ray ever did, and the vocal delivery is superb..... and that's all I have.
Well… you said it first, but I'm happy to say it second : Oklahoma USA is the one Kinks song I love above all others. The one I’d single out spontaneously if someone asked me my 10 favorite songs ever, by anyone, and I'd have to pick just one Ray tune for that list. The idea of it, the execution of it, the grace of it, yes, it's perfect. The one chord almost atonal verse, depicting the dullness and dreariness of the female protagonist's life, suddenly lifted by the stunning ascending chord changes for the sublime two phrases chorus, and back again… Wow. The bridge is another wonder, where we actually enter the dream and see it in its technicolor glory, before coming back to gloomy Britain. Ray’s singing is nothing short of sublime, maybe his greatest ever vocal in a ballad setting, so sad, so beaten down, and then so sweet and delicate. Dave’s harmonies are also the best of his life, I think, ultra-distinctive but in symbiosis with the song’s intent. As far as I'm concerned, rock music doesn't get any better than this.
Ironically, the woman in the song 'lives in a house that's near decay', I hope the council doesn't find about that or they'll be moving her up to Muswell Hill. Of course, the protagonist is thinking more about the film, "Oklahoma", than the actual state of Oklahoma, which she will have no idea of the reality of.
Really nice song, subtler than it seems at first listen. I confess I had never really noticed it before this thread. Maybe it suffers from the tracklisting.
Structurally, this is probably the most perfect song Ray ever did. I absolutely adore how despite it being sung by a “narrator”, the music and delivery still identifies with the protagonist. What Ray's recognized for, the social/sociological observer, the portraitist, the humanist narrator with a knack for character studies, is in full display here, but with a remarkable twist : we go from “we” (in the prologue and epilogue) to “she” in the song’s core. With this trick, Ray manages to create a sense of extreme proximity, no distance at all, just pure empathy. It could even be argued that “she” is the one singing the “we” lines (at least the epilogue). What's even better, is that this formalist sophistication never gets in the way of the emotional power of the song. On the contrary, it enhances it, thanks to the otherworldly harmonic changes that “invite” us into the woman’s dream state. As @Vangro just said, she’s probably just watching the movie Oklahoma on TV (a 1955 singing western with, you guessed it, Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae) and fantasizing about it. Then the “dream” really takes flight, she becomes « Rita Hayworth and Dooris Daaay », hoping for fellow Brit Errol Flynn to take her away, before coming out of her trance, back to her day to day boredom. And all this, in just 2’40’’ of pure musical grace !!
Oklahoma USA What a beautiful, poignant song. As @Vangro notes it's about the movie rather than the gritty real-life place. When Ray was a child he went with his sisters to watch musicals at the cinema. Oklahoma, starring Shirley Jones and Gordon Macrae, was a favourite. Nick Hasted (Story of The Kinks) says this song "soundtracks the death of Ray's sister, Rene" when Ray was about 10 years old. From Ray's bio I gather Rene had been a big influence on Ray musically. She had shown him chords on the piano - and accompanied him playing tunes from musicals, including Oklahoma. She bought the newspaper at the corner shop every day. Rene was in an unhappy marriage and had been diagnosed with a serious heart problem and told to avoid strenuous exercise. But she loved going out dancing and had a heart attack on a dance floor at age 30.The lyrics show the escapism that Hollywood offered to people whose lives were drab or unhappy. I think this is one of Ray's most personal songs, though if you didn't know about his sister it looks like one of his most generic ones. It's wonderful either way.
For the record, the movie Oklahoma never crossed my mind to be honest. I am likely one of the few people in my age bracket that have never seen it, and aside from perhaps a couple of songs that have bled through over the years, I have no idea what it is even about.....
I've obviously been here a long time because I must correct you there - Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania, which is part of Australia on most maps Edit for @croquetlawns : I'm not having a go at Tassie which I've visited many times because it's a great place.
I’ve listened to this song many, many times and didn’t get the connection until this thread when, in advance of today’s discussion, I googled Gordon MacRae to see who he was. And there it was: Oklahoma! (And it was Shirley Jones’ big screen debut.) I knew it was a reference to the musical but I didn’t know that the first two names were people who starred in the film.
I'd be in a slightly older demographic and don't remember any of the classic musicals even though I was likely forced to watch them as a child. Some things from childhood stick (World Championship Wrestling, the Roller Derby...) others don't.
That's what surprises me, I am quite familiar with many of those musicals... I guess I need to check it out.
Need to post Mick Foley's entry on this from his Kinks article I posted here a few weeks back: (Mick's 25 Favorite Kinks Songs - (realmickfoley.com)) 13 – OKLAHOMA USA (1971) A tender ode to an older Davies sister, and her love for the escapism provided by big budget Hollywood musicals, this is one of the loveliest and saddest songs I have ever heard. I was at a comic convention a few years ago and was excited to meet academy award winner Shirley Jones. I had grown up with Ms Jones as Shirley Partridge on television’s ”Partridge Family” – a staple of the Foley TV diet in the early 1970s, and for years to follow in syndication. I approached her hesitantly, with the subject I had a long wondered if she was even aware of. “Excuse me, Shirley”, I said. “my name is Mick Foley, and I’m one of the guests here. I was wondering if you knew that you were part of a 1971 Kinks song, called “Oklahoma USA”. Shirley said she had never heard of it, but was open to my invitation to listen to it on my phone. So I played the haunting tune and studied her face carefully – and as Ray sings “But lost in her dreams, she is far, far away – in Oklahoma, USA, with Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae” I saw Shirley’s eyes well up with tears. “That’s beautiful”, she said, wiping her eyes. “Thank you for playing that for me.” Here’s a very tender 2006 live solo version from Ray.
"Oklahoma USA" is a beautiful song but it is infused with an unspeakable sadness (Ray, as a singer, is a master of this in my view). Like some of the other songs on this album, I had not really paid that much attention to the lyrics so my perception of some of the songs is purely based on how they sound. This song always seemed to communicate a painful longing for the past (a huge Ray Davies theme). I never really made the connection between the title and the film Oklahoma. It is funny because in 1971 (I was ten), I was watching the Partridge Family and had a huge crush on Shirley Jones!
Ray also did a full blown studio remake for his most recent solo album Our Country: Americana Act 2 in 2018.
