Top of the Pops/Brainwashed If for no reason other than i get to listen to these two songs again, then I'm all in with the live stuff thus far. I think they're very faithful to the originals, but maybe just spunkier as you might expect. If you're an audiophile, maybe you could nitpick this to death. But I'm HAPPY these two recordings are available. I just sit and daydream what it would be like to hear them live at this show. I'd give a lot of money to get in a time machine and see a performance during this era. Mr Wonderful It cracks me up how he sings this. I think I've seen a live video (a super short nugget) of this and it's also a visual laugh. But does it belong on a live album? Hell no. But Ray really missed his calling for being a lounge singer.
The 'you' here wasn't directed at you as in you personally, bud I just pointed out that if a person find the mention of Marilyn clichéd (or corny) in "Celluloid Heroes", they probably would have to think even worse of Sir Reginald Dwight's output. It would also be rather strange of me to accuse you of not liking him after you said you liked him, would it not? So sorry for the misunderstanding.
You seem to have misunderstood most of that particular conversation. There was a suggestion that the reason Ray Davies stopped singing the line about Marilyn Monroe was that the ubiquity of Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" had rendered singing about Marilyn Monroe a bit on the corny side and somewhat redundant. There was no suggestion from anyone that the line in "Celluloid Heroes", when it was originally written and recorded, was corny. It's not even about the merits or otherwise of "Candle in the Wind", but it's the definitive song on Marilyn Monroe and, after it, the doomed and tragic life of Marilyn Monroe might seem a bit of a hackneyed subject for a songwriter to tackle - it is a cliche. Ray Davies was the person who stopped singing the line about Marilyn Monroe, so I assume you would consider him, in this particular scenario, 'too cool for school'? Or maybe it's Ray who just really hates Elton John?
'The last time he appeared in Hyde Park, in the summer of 2013, he was filling in for a poorly Sir Elton John, whom he insisted on referring to throughout his turn as ‘Bunter’. ‘There was a horn section in the Sixties called the Mike Cotton Sound,’ Davies recalls. ‘Elton wanted to join them as a keyboard player and they called him Bunter because he looked like the character Billy Bunter from the TV series – a little fat schoolboy snitch with glasses – so I picked it up from them. ‘He’s a good guy, Elton,’ he relents. ‘Lovely personality. He opened for The Kinks in the Fillmore West in California but it only had one dressing room, and as we were topping the bill, Bunter had to change in the toilets.’ Daily Mail 2017 Ray Davies reveals how he got ripped off with The Kinks | Daily Mail Online
Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues. This is a pretty solid live version of this track. The opening has a boozy New Orleans sound to it and At the start of the second verse Mick rolls the drums into it and we get a rock bounce come into play. In this live version Dave's lead licks and the horns seem to sort of fight each other a little. On the studio version of the Muswell Hillbilly's songs I enjoy the horns, and this isn't bad at all, but I enjoy the parts of this live version where the horns take a bit of a rest better than the rest. I still think it stands up well, and I do still enjoy it though.
Holiday. We get a nice little intro from Ray, and he announces that John Gosling will be playing the Piano Accordion. We ease into the song with Ray singing and John playing the piano. The horns come in, and then we gradually move into a swinging groove, and I think they capture the personality of the song really well here. I think this track comes across as another winner here., though I'm not sure I here the piano accordion in here.
As we have somewhat lesser interest in the live cuts, lets roll them out a little more quickly Muswell Hillbilly. We get a band intro, and Ray rolls out a fairly corny Johnny Cash impersonation. As I said with the studio version, I like the live version well enough, but I much prefer the studio version. It is a little quicker live, and has more of a hoedown type of feel, but for me nothing can touch the exquisite studio version. Fun with some nice Dave guitar in spite of the main riff being discarded.
There are very few things that I find more appealing than the idea of seeing the Kinks accompanied by a Dixieland brass band in 1971/1972, with Ray in his full on cabaret mode. It must’ve been close to irresistible and a breath of fresh air in the heavy blues and glam era. Ray truly did something daring and original, both a complete ego trip and the best antidote to the ego trips of the “rock gods” of the time. I must say I’m flabbergasted that he could develop such a critical distance with the megalomania that is such a huge part of any rock’n roll and stage endeavor, write so many cutting songs and cautionary tales about it, while still being megalomaniac enough himself to do it anyway and become one of the most outrageous performers ever. How can you be that ambivalent, dual and not completely lose your mind? Well, in a sense, he did lose his mind, or at least his footing, but really, what a weird personality, such a unique mix of self-awareness and self-indulgence, self-loathing and self-celebration… A 100% neurotic (schizophrenic?) genius.
Alcohol. This song was always made for a live show, and a chance for Ray to ham it up a bit I think. Ray opens with a dialogue over the organ, and puts on one of his stage voices of the era. I think the first verses drawn out narrative here really adds to the songs appeal ion a live situation, and Ray and John Gosling have a really good mental connection, with the free time delivery. The way they put across the opening verse works very well, and adds to the personality nicely. Then we move into another boozy rolling chorus. This track is essentially the climax of the original live album. I think the personality oozes from this, and it also manages to be a fun and entertaining track. I would say the live highlight of the original album release.
Good observation mate.... You can see and hear the contradictions wrestling inside Ray during this period of the band particularly .... I think
Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues I like both versions here, with the one from the other night a bit "drunkener" maybe. Holiday A favorite of mine, and I like this version, even if it's a bit slow and sometimes messy. I don't hear "piano accordion", I hear "piano forte". "And this will feature the exquisite Mr John Gosling on the piano-forte". (Which is the name of the modern piano, as opposed to earlier versions of the instrument from the early 19th - 18th century, I believe). Dave can hardly be heard on this song. I think I can guess his guitar playing the chords but I'm not sure. You hear him a little better on the other version (2016 CD), which is mixed a little differently. That other version confirms the impression that Ray had a couple more drinks on the other night, compared to the night from which the original live album was taken.
I listen to the songs when I take my daughter to child care, and I thought I had done my duty well, listening to both versions of the songs, and now I get this eternal feeling of being late for (home)work... Si I will rush my comments: I don't like Muswell Hillbilly much as a studio song, and the live version doesn't improve on it. I agree it's too fast. Alcohol is great, though. Nothing to add to the Master's words.
Yes. That's what Ray says, although Gosling is actually not playing a "piano forte" as the instrument had been replaced by the modern piano. Piano Forte is what Mozart used to compose his works. Ray using the word is just Ray being Ray. Having as much fun as referring to himself as Johnny Cash.
It's difficult for me to get enthusiastic about live versions of Muswell Hillbillies tracks, given that it's far from my favourite album. The one which is most different from the studio version is the title track - I think the faster country rhythm is more suitable for the song, as it doesn't drag as much as the studio cut does at times, however we lose the signature lead guitar riff and half of the second verse, so it's swings and roundabouts. "Holiday" doesn't have Ray's "cigar in mouth" vocal at the start so is slightly preferable I feel. "ASPB" and "Alcohol" sound a bit more energetic and open than the studio versions, although both are songs that I don't want to listen to a lot.
When I first saw the Kinks, Ray sang "Alcohol," and executed that business with the Heineken balanced on his head. It may have reminded him of the bottle dance in Fiddler on the Roof; in the middle of the song, he inserted a small section of "If I Were a Rich Man."
Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues. Holiday Muswell Hillbilly Alcohol I was surprised by the rousing welcome for Acute. I would have expected that most of the crowd was there to hear you really got me. I am glad that was not the case. Throughout these tracks, John Gosling is the MVP. Prior to this thread, I am not sure I understood how much he added to the bands sound as I had largely skipped the RCA years. It makes me wonder how the Arista years might have been enhanced by his presence past Sleepwalker.
Having those 4 songs (w/Skin & Bones coming up) from Muswell Hillibillies is the biggest problem w/the live half of Show Biz. It's too dependent on one album, which was also the major flaw w/One From the Road to me. I liked the live versions of "Holiday" & "Alcohol", although I prefer the live 1977 version of the latter. I think that Ray pulled his "Dave "Death of a Clown" Davies" shtick in his band intro to "Muswell Hillbillies", although I may have confused it w/the Beat Club version.
