The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Cradle To The Grave.

    stereo mix (3:32), recorded 1973 at Konk Studios, North London

    Hello and welcome in... I know now what our fate will be...
    Remember the time when you fell in the lake. I dragged you out
    How funny it seems to think on it now!

    God bless my folks, for their birthday card...
    It's magic to live around cheerful faces it warms my heart.

    I know and I believe, that someday we shall meet.
    I can hear someone following me.
    While running from the Cradle to the Grave.

    I cherish all those letters that you were kind enough to send.
    Your body it rings and rhymes inside.
    Yonder stands a man with his head in his hands.
    In his eyes I see a reflection of us all.

    I built a fence, and then a wall.
    So High, I couldn't see at all.
    But I can hear someone following me.
    While running from the Cradle to the Grave.

    I know that I'm not Free. But I can feel there's a change in me...
    I can hear someone following me.
    While running from the Cradle to the Grave.

    Written by: Dave Davies
    Published by: Dave Davies

    Wow, talk about things that make you think of Rod Stewart…..

    Drums – Neil McBain
    Electric Guitar, Electric Bass – Phil Palmer
    Electric Organ – John Gosling (2)
    Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Dave Davies

    It is an interesting lyric, but again has that somewhat ambiguous writing that Dave seems to lean towards.

    There is a certain amount of reflection in his lyrics here, but we sort of have a series of different contexts. Hello Welcome in – I know someday we’ll meet – I hear someone following me –

    I quite like this, and I can glean certain meanings here and there, but they seem somewhat disconnected except that they are things that happen during the course of a life.

    The organ and smooth strums of the guitar open us up, and we move into an almost gospel rock kind of feel.
    Dave is really attacking the vocal, so I can only assume it meant a bit to him in his context.

    The change comes in really well and I like the guitar lines and the way the drums accent them.

    I like this song well enough, but it isn’t really something I would seek out.

     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    This is out of time in terms of when it happened, by in time in terms of what we are talking about.

    Dave Davies interview about the Decade album

     
  3. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    [/QUOTE]
    Sir you are a great Storyteller and after such a long journey of time and space i was very glad to hear that when you put the needle down you weren't to discover the jacket had mistakenly housed the best of Jim Neighbors!
     
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  4. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    The song is quite nice but Dave is overdoing the Rodisms and the lyrics are awkward and all over the place. Was this recorded for a solo album or single?
     
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  5. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Well clearly there you have stumbled onto a case of Kink Kontrovery!
     
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  6. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I'm not really sure. It appears like Dave was in the studio with some other musicians and just recording some songs. Whether he had any plans for them or not, is hard to tell.

    I get the feeling that he knew Ray's next project probably wouldn't have room for any of his tracks, because it was meant to have a tight thematic lyric, and so perhaps he contemplated a solo album?
    Over the seventies we have these 13 tracks on Decade that were seemingly scattershot in their recording, and fairly thin on the ground in number.
    Obviously I have no idea if more were recorded.....
    This 1973 session has five tracks.........
    I also wonder if these tracks were recorded while Ray was having his problems.

    All the tracks were recorded at Konk, except 1971's If You Are Leaving.
     
  7. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Keeping his hand in. Got to feel a bit sorry for Dave in this period.
     
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Definitely, I'm sure it was an upsetting, confusing period of time.
     
  9. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    I too am turned off by the vocal.
     
  10. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Me too! And I never was a fan of Rod's vocals...
     
  11. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I like Rod's vocals, Dave doing Rod not so much.
     
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  12. Zack

    Zack Senior Member

    Location:
    Easton, MD
    Agree 100%. And I'll add that it just occurred to me that the first album I ever burned onto CD-R -- it took me half a dozen failed attempts before I got it right -- was The Great Lost Kinks Album. Must have been 2004 or so.
     
  13. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Try Truth & Beck-ola!
     
  14. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Cradle To The Grave"

    Listening to this for the first time, so difficult to make judgements on it. The hook line is very good, but the chorus meanders a bit to get there. The verse seems all over the place, and Dave's vocals are a bit over the top.

    However, I suspect this would grow on me given enough plays to settle down.
     
  15. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Cradle to the Grave: The one part that I like is the bridge with the twin guitars. Lyrically, it sounds like he’s reminiscing about a lifelong, childhood friend…but then there’s the ‘your body’ and building a fence and then a wall so maybe the friendship became something else? And the narrator later regrets it and tries to shut the person out of his life. But can’t because the relationship is from cradle to the grave.

    So much for my philosophizing! In short, this one isn’t a keeper.
     
  16. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Cradle to the Grave, 1973, is it ? The guitar tones are pretty good, aggressive but at the same time very melodic, the kind of fuzzy fluid twin lines that Moody Blues’ guy Justin Hayward was famous for. The lyrics seem very personal, one of the first “spiritual” awakenings by Dave, but still in quite a rough state, I think. It’s spiritual inspiration in search for songwriting inspiration.
    Performance wise, he gives it all, determined to get to you, no matter what. I’m not crazy either about this song. I don’t really hear a melody, his voice indeed sounds forced. But what I do love is his passion.
     
  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Same
     
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  18. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Cradle to the Grave: Admittedly, it’s my first listen (which is quite embarrassing after my diatribe yesterday about how a song needs to be heard more than a few times to accurately judge it!), but I am not really digging this song too much. I have found that i absolutely love most of Dave’s songs as they appear within the context of The Kinks’ discography. On this one, with a different group of musicians backing him, and probably without the pressure of having Ray around and the need to try to one-up him (or at least keep pace with him), this song seems sort of half-baked (or should I say kinda 1/2 Kinked?). The Kinks magic just isn’t there. As others have mentioned, David does a very passible Rod Stewart, but not this time. I will try a few more times, as I’m committed to doing my homework for this thread, but I’m pretty sure this one is not going to take root for me. I still love Dave though!
     
  19. side3

    side3 Younger Than Yesterday

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    Cradle to the Grave

    Not bad, but not very Kinks-like either. Maybe the reason there were no to few Dave tracks in this era is that just didn't fit. Some have noted a Rod Stewart vibe. What I hear is sounds a bit like Dan McCafferty/Nazareth.
     
  20. Allthingsmusic

    Allthingsmusic Forum Resident

    [/QUOTE]
    Thanks for sharing this wonderful story. Being someone a bit older I simply went to my local record store in 1973 saw and bought the album!
     
  21. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    "Cradle to the Grave": vocals are a bit too harsh, lyrics are a bit too awkward. It probably needed a couple of more takes to polish it up.

    Also, Avid All Down the Line, were you thinking of Jim Nabors of Gomer Pyle USMC fame when you mentioned a "Jim Neighbors"?
     
  22. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    "Cradle To The Grave"

    I generally like when Dave gives his best Rod style vocal, but I agree with most comments that this one is forced. His vocal sounds painful. This song also kicks off the Decade album. Not sure that was a good idea. It's a bit shrill and wants you to hit eject before you get to the good songs. I wasn't very impressed with Decade, so it will be interesting going through it again. The earlier songs we already discussed are the best of the lot, but maybe there are a few surprises left? A song like "If You Are Leaving" also has hints of Rod, but it sounds more natural, and it's a better song. The track listing on Decade is confusing. They should have kept in chronological. It put me off of the collection.
     
  23. Smiler

    Smiler Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston TX
    I was immediately put off by "Cradle to the Grave" too and had very low expectations for the rest. I figured I would probably not bother listening to the rest of the album. But as I ate lunch, I let it play on and I am pleasantly surprised by most of it, especially since Dave's Kinks songs are often second tier for me. The Kinks' albums could have benefitted from some of these songs.

    I probably won't comment on most of the songs but I could see listening to this again. I definitely agree that "Cradle" was a poor choice for the opener.
     
  24. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    Cradle to the Grave

    I will add to the choir that this one doesn't seem that memorable to me, and it seems kinda generic yet meandering with a vocal that is not as captivating as those we have heard before. The lyrics are weird and the verse melody and bridge just sorta plods along. I do like some of the music in the background though. Maybe this should have been an instrumental!
     
  25. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I believe one of Dave's problems is that he likes to sing at the top of his voice, a little too high in the scale for him. So he ends up having a good time but scorching our ears by screaming out of tune, hitting below the high notes by a quarter of a step.
     

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