The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    :):)
    Might Ray have figured that since by now the little old man in the rocking chair is partially going deaf he needn't work up a melody as good as Shangri-la?
    Edit: Ok my smiley won't attach....down here!
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    20 Golden Greats.
    Release info:
    Produced by: Shel Talmy, Ray Davies
    Release date: 20 Sep, 1978
    Record label & catalog #: Ronco (Pye) RPL 2031
    Country: UK
    Format: 12" vinyl LP (album), 33 1/3 RPM
    Release type: Compilation
    Description/Notes: mono and stereo

    [​IMG]

    Side 1
    1. You Really Got Me mono mix (2:13), recorded mid-Jul 1964 at IBC Studios, London
    2. All Day And All Of The Night mono mix (2:20), recorded 24 Sep, 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    3. Tired Of Waiting For You mono mix (2:30), recorded 17, 18, 24, 25 Aug 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London, with additional guitar overdub at IBC Studios, London in 29 Dec 1964
    4. Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy mono mix (2:14), recorded 22 Dec, 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    5. Set Me Free mono mix (2:10), recorded 14 Apr, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London
    6. See My Friends mono mix (2:44), recorded 3 May, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London
    7. Till The End Of The Day mono mix (2:18), recorded 25-30 Oct, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    8. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion mono mix (2:59), recorded 7 Feb, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    9. Sunny Afternoon mono mix (3:31), recorded 13 May, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    10. Dead End Street mono mix (3:20), recorded probably 22 Oct, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    11. Waterloo Sunset mono mix (3:14), recorded Apr 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    Side 2
    1. Death Of A Clown mono mix (3:01), recorded Jun 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    2. Autumn Almanac mono mix (3:10), recorded Sep 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    3. Susannah's Still Alive mono mix (2:21), recorded probably Aug 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    4. Wonderboy mono mix (2:48), recorded Mar 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    5. Days mono mix (2:52), recorded May 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    6. Plastic Man mono mix (3:00), recorded Mar 1969 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    7. Victoria stereo mix (3:38), recorded May-Jun 1969 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    8. Lola stereo "Coca Cola" mix (3:58), recorded 9, 10 May 1970 at Morgan Studios (1), Willesden, London
    9. Apeman stereo mix (3:51), recorded 27 Oct 1970 at Morgan Studios (1), Willesden, London

    This is a compilation of Pye tracks, released on Ronco, which I assume is tied to Pye in some way.

    The first thing that I can't help but notice is the direct stealing of the Kiss logo for the cover. A really interesting little thing that leaves me wondering what on earth the record company was thinking.... except perhaps shift some units.

    It's hard to believe that the band had anything much to do with this one, as they were long gone from the label, and I assume it was Pye/Ronco trying to cash in on the band's recent success.

    As a compilation it is probably going to be a good set of tracks for the casual sixties Kinks fan, though it is pretty hard to go wrong with track selection, with so many great singles and album tracks that are pretty well known around the traps.
    For the big Kinks fan, it would just end up being a collector type thing..... It's not really much use to me though, I'll take the cd's with the extra tracks, every day of the week :)
    but having said that, perhaps in 1978 some of these tracks weren't readily available for the general public without lots of hunting?
     
  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Islands.

    stereo mix (4:23), recorded 1978 at Konk Studios, North London

    Hear him calling far across the years.
    Feel that I know you, say voices in the breeze.
    Silently I watched you, feel your way.
    Oh Little Islands, will you come back...
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la oh!
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la la!

    Hear him calling far across the years
    Calling to you through these myriad dreams.
    Whispering witnesses, pierce the night.
    Oh Little Islands, will you come back.
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la oh!
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la la!

    Free as the river flows
    Leading me on into the arms of heaven knows
    Love feel that I know you.
    Burning the dark aching past into futures light.
    Breaking the ties of all limitation.

    Yes it's Love that I feel that's inside of me.
    And it's Love that I give to you freely.
    And it's joy that I feel for you.
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la oh!
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la la!

    Proudly as we go on.
    Livin' day by day then wondering where that day has gone.
    Search for some meaning.
    Governments lie while children die and we're watching that old TV.
    No mocking face can see what's really inside of you.
    Yes I care what can happen to me and you.
    I'm a fool but it's love that can set us free.
    And it's joy that I feel for you.

    Silently he watches you. Oh Little Islands when will you learn.
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la oh!
    La La la la la oh! La La la la la la!

    Written by: Dave Davies
    Published by: Dave Davies

    Dave - Guitars and Vocals
    Andy Pyle - Bass
    Nick Trevisik - Drums

    To some degree on this one I seem to hear a lot of Paul McCartney influence, particularly on the bridge.
    Again to some degree, this one sounds pretty much like an original unadulterated demo, though a pretty good quality demo.

    So here we have another somewhat opaque Dave lyric... so I'm going to do my best on whatever it is he may be trying to say...
    It seems like perhaps Dave is setting himself and Ray up as two different Islands, with a distance, but a love for each other.... so close, but so far away kind of a thing.

    The lines that make me think that are
    "Silently I watched you, feel your way."
    I'm not exactly sure how silently Dave did this, but he certainly observed Ray feeling his way with songwriting and essentially taking over Dave's band, due to his strong leadership and vision.

    but this is the one that really makes me lean that way...
    "Livin' day by day then wondering where that day has gone.
    Search for some meaning.
    Governments lie while children die and we're watching that old TV.
    No mocking face can see what's really inside of you.
    Yes I care what can happen to me and you.
    I'm a fool but it's love that can set us free."
    It seems to be reflecting the ideas in Live Life and Get Up to some degree, and it also seems like "No mocking face can see what's really inside of you." is perhaps somewhat of a defence of his brother's writing, that no doubt copped some mocking for its content. Even here we have had some comments that somewhat mock Ray's perspectives and ideas in the context of song.
    and with the "Yes I care what can happen to me and you." It seems like another song that may have been born of the hotel heart to heart that Ray and Dave documented in Rock and Roll Fantasy and Trust Your Heart.

    Finally and perhaps most directly "Silently he watches you." seems to be very directly about Ray. As we have all observed Ray the observer. Who sits quietly taking in all the activity around him and manages to weave these things into songs that appear on Kinks albums from the early days right up to where we are now.

    I'm not really sure about any of that, but I find a lot of Dave's lyrics to be almost impenetrable, due to the cryptic way he seems to write... or perhaps as I have said before, he has a vague idea of where he is going, and just uses lines he likes the sound of ... but as best I can, that seems to be what we have here... I'll be interested if anyone has any other interpretations of Dave's lyrics here.

    We open with this halting power chord setup, intermingling with the vocals and the riffs.
    Dave's vocal is very melancholic.
    We move between that opening section and the more reflective breakdown after it, that leads into the la la la la oh section.

    We run through this a couple of times and then hit the section, that to me sounds like the most McCartney sounding thing any of the Kinks have done, up to this stage at least. I'm going to refer to it as a double bridge, but it is essentially a completely different song dropped in there, quite effectively, actually.
    We break down to a fade after the la la la la, and move into this smooth kind of chordal section that works in a rotating way, and ends up pushing up into dynamic lift, that fades off at the end and we get back into the la la la la oh, which rolls back around to that bridge.

    After the second run through of that section, we move into a very reflective section which starts off with a short dreamy instrumental flow, that has a feeling of drifting between islands.
    Dave comes in with the vocals, and we power back upwards towards the closing la la la la oh section

    This is a really interesting song in many ways, and it sees Dave's seeming to try and step out and do something a bit different. Even though I don't love all the Decade tracks, they are, or seem to be somewhat exploratory, and this one has a bit of a grower feel about it.
    Running through it a couple of times this morning it has grown on me a bit, and I like it, but it seems slightly unfocussed ... or perhaps better stated as out of focus, and that may be intentional, based on the way Dave seems to write .... I quite like this one.

     
  4. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Good comparison, i had thought of mentioning Jagger's forgettable Let's Work at this juncture also.
     
  5. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Islands"

    I'm clearly going to need a few more listens of this to have any worthwhile comments on it, as it has too much going on to take in on first listen. Again, though, this doesn't really reflect what Dave is going to produce a couple of years down the line on his solo albums. Some bits of it are moving towards that, but the solo album tracks are generally more straightforward structures (by Dave's standards anyway) than multipart epics like this.

    (On second listen I'm hearing bits of Minnie Riperton in the "la la la la la" bits!)
     
  6. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Which wife was that?
     
    DISKOJOE and mark winstanley like this.
  7. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    ‘20 Golden Greats’ is thee most exemplary, foundational example of the ‘just the 20 Pye singles that charted in the UK in order’ comp that would go on to typify British Kinks comps and atrophy their image as has beens on their home turf. It’s a world probably strange to US fans where ‘Plastic Man’ is a better known track than the likes of ‘Shangri La’ Alcohol’, ‘R N R Fantasy’ ‘Sleepwalker’ ‘Jukebox’ and ‘Superman’ because the former charted at #31 for a week in 1969 and so is technically a UK hit.
     
  8. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I kinda like ‘Islands’ quite a bit: in fact it might be me favourite on the whole Decade album. It’s combo of a kind of atmosphere of wrought melodramatic portention coupled with some nifty melodicism reminds me of Michael Browns (ex Left Banke)’s 70s group ‘Stories’.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2022
  9. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Ooops, I think you forgot Stormy Sky, based on my recollection of your enthusiasm when we discussed it…:p

    Now onto Islands
    First listen: typically cryptic, typically spiritual, typically disjointed and formless, with the typical Davies anti-government out of place rant. Big meh…
    Second listen (after just reading @mark winstanley's initial McCartney comparison): I'm surprised because I now can hear it coming together nicely, almost structured in its own unusual multi-part way. I don't hear the Paul thing, though, but I now hear a song that I could eventually find myself warming up to.
    Third listen (after reading our headmaster's complete opening post): yeah, I hear a bit of Wings now, some Denny Laine led number maybe. As often with Dave, there's something in his dramatic screaming voice that reminds me of Pete Ham's most impassioned Badfinger vocals ("limitaaa-tions"). Now, the song flows from beginning to end, the tentative demo-ish rhythm section in search for an arrangement doesn't disturb me anymore. I can see the "it's all about Ray(mond)" interpretation of the lyrics but I tend to think that in Dave's mind, the "islands" are us human beings, trying to make sense of our place in the world.
    Fourth listen : I find myself nodding my head and singing the lalalala-oh chorus. What's happening to me? What's happened to the unfocused demo I thought it was earlier this morning? And now @ajsmith even adds a Stories comparison that I find perfectly appropriate (Banke, Montage, Stories, Beckies, Yvonne Vitale etc. huge Michael Brown fan here). Ok, maybe I should settle down, maybe I should stop here and not engage with a fifth listen, or I might end up losing it completely and deciding to change the 20 Golden Greats track-list and put Islands there instead of Susannah's Still Alive:nyah:
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2022
  10. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Islands: I gotta say I’m pleasantly surprised. As usual the lyrics have me scratching my head…is Little Islands a person? Why does the government need to be referenced? Etc. But I like this song. It’s clear that Dave stuck two songs together but it works and I’m happy to finally (at least it seems like it’s been a while for me) hear a Dave composition that I enjoy.

    Wishbone Ash…that’s what came to mind towards the end.
     
  11. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Ha! Some things are best forgotten.
     
  12. Martyj

    Martyj Who dares to wake me from my slumber? -- Mr. Flash

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    20 Golden Greats

    Back in the late 70's Ronco was a well known name associated with cheesy late night TV ads hawking kitchen gadgets (It slices! It Dices!) and Saturday morning cartoon ads, like Mr. Microphone ("Hey Baby, I'll be back to pick you up in an hour"). And then those late night corny TV ads for records, often times marketed as Don Kirshner Presents 25 Hits by 25 ORIGINAL artist, had a sort of huckster quality that made me suspect of their quality and merit.

    I came across this Kink album early in my getting-to-know-the-band phase and remember thinking: Awww..man. You're kidding me? A Kinks collection on Ronco? What a desperate sell out! I didn't know this had anything to do with Pye. I probably doesn't, other than the company were willing to license the Kinks to Ronco for a price. Regardless...price was the key. I can't remember how much lower this cost than a normal Kinks album, but it was a bargain. This was the second Kinks LP I ever bought and the place where I heard most of these classics (all but YGRM, ADATN, and Lola) for the first time. What a collection. I loved it. For the first five years of being a Kinks fan this disc was on my turntable probably more than any other record.
     
  13. Martyj

    Martyj Who dares to wake me from my slumber? -- Mr. Flash

    Location:
    Maryland, USA
    Exactly. Especially in the same place, on the same disc.
     
    DISKOJOE and mark winstanley like this.
  14. Jasper Dailey

    Jasper Dailey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeast US
    Islands: Ooh, this one is a new one to me, and it's pretty good! I've gotta agree with @mark winstanley -- there's something melancholy and McCartney-esque (in the best way - like Single Pigeon) in that chord movement during the verse, and @Fortuleo is of course correct about the Denny Laine-iness of the la la la's. The transition to the bridge is awkward, but I guess so were some of Wings' transitions on albums like Red Rose Speedway, so that's not a dealbreaker for me. I dunno, I think the weakest thing about this song is the lack of an overarching theme (musically or lyrically). That said, that's Dave. It is what it is!
     
  15. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
  16. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    20 GOLDEN GREATS
    This reminds me that the first Kinks album I ever got was a budget release that contained 11 of the songs from that collection (the biggest hits) plus "Where Have All The Good Times Gone". It was a great introduction to the Kinks. I next got THE KINKS KRONIKLES and EVERYBODY'S IN SHOWBIZ collections before moving into the proper albums with VILLAGE GREEN being my first. MISFITS was the first new Kinks album I ever got.
    Nice to remember how I got into what is my 2nd favorite band behind the Beatles!
     
  17. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
    Sorry for another disruption, but thought this worth a mention here:

    The Kinks On Track: Every Album, Every Song

    https://burningshed.com/martin-hutchinson_the-kinks-on-track_book?filter_tag=Martin Hutchinson

    “An engaging book examining every track released by The Kinks that provides a valuable insight into one of Britain's greatest and most complex groups.

    Encompassing everything from the band's early groundbreaking hit singles through to the conceptual albums of the 1960s and 1970s and later, underrated 1980s and 1990s output.”
     
  18. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    "My Smiley Won't Attach", isn't that the 21st Century version of "My Boomerang Won't Come Back"? :laugh:

    As for "Islands", it does sound a bit Macca w/plenty of "la, la, las", maybe a bit too many, but don't you like it when a song has "la, la, la", or "sha, la, la" or some variation of them? Anyway, another Dave song that's another take or so from the final form.

    20 Golden Greats: Good basic track listing (just the UK hits), but one fugly cover (well at least it doesn't have the Kinks in makeup; Ray could have been Vampire Man)

    Finally, this morning I got into my car at the supermarket after food shopping, turn on the radio and guess which song is playing. It was "Lola" on AM radio just like in 1970.
     
  19. Brian x

    Brian x the beautiful ones are not yet born

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I was idly wondering how one could tie all these musical ideas together, while agreeing that there's a lot of McCartney/Laine here, when I realized that DD should've just broken Islands up into 3 or 4 little gem-fragments, like I Am Your Singer or Heart of the Country (I hesitate to mention Bip Bop).

    The man is not a great lyricist, but his voice suggests emotional depths beyond the actual words (I can't get @pyrrhicvictory 's inarticulate pet analogy out of my mind -- a much-loved animal's cries that are somehow more direct & explicit than language).

    Get the guy in who did the Ram mixing/engineering, bring in some appropriate strings & swelling harmonies, and there's something really pretty here.
     
  20. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    "Islands"

    I'm not sure what to make of this one. It's hard judging these songs that are clearly in the early stages. Everyone has made good observations so far. I hear a little of McCartney/Wings in the vocal and the music. With a little luck, Dave could have made the whole damn thing work out. His vocal is a little marble mouthed and grating in the beginning, but it gets better as the song goes on. I'm having a similar reaction to @Fortuleo. It is improving after a few listens. I'm not hearing how it could have fit on a Kinks album, but it's probably better than anything on his debut. We will soon find out!

    Golden Greats

    This is my favorite KISS album.
     
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Lol
     
  22. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    Islands

    First time hearing this today. Had it on repeat a few times as I driving around this morning. It grew on me a bit, and seems more cohesive than Trust Your Heart, to me. The guitar lick that ties the different verse lines and the "la la la la oh"s together is nice and catchy... its a good hook.

    This vocal melody sounds familiar to me,

    Love feel that I know you.
    Burning the dark aching past into future's light.

    Perhaps it makes me think of Badfinger again? It's a great lyric, too.

    The line "Livin' day by day then wondering where that day has gone" is a fantastically relatable lyric that is pretty clever too. We try to take each day as it comes, but what are we making of it? Are we making memories?

    I really like Dave's voice on this song. These are also probably his strongest lyrics in years. My favorite from Decade so far.
     
  23. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I think both Ray and Dave definitely have a blind spot in regards to their own behaviors. I know they have both downplayed the fighting but also attributing it toward keeping their edge. I assume they both just think this constant verbal and physical abuse they gave to one another and gave out to others is "normal". For Ray, he has some mental health issues such as bipolar and wouldn't be surprised if he borderline personality disorder (the rage and being unable to control one's moods. If you read the symptoms, it fits Ray pretty well...and maybe even Dave). I wouldn't be surprised if their upbringing was a bit difficult too.
     
  24. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Islands
    Have only listened to this twice thus far. There's some bits of good stuff in here...probably a few different songs. Musically there's something decent here.

    Only in the broadest terms do I understand what the lyrics are about. As usual, I'm left scratching my head. I always assume any talk of love has to do with a lady in Dave's life, but Mark makes a good case that this could be about Ray.
    __________
    I have had Trust Your Heart in my head all day. A few times I had to actually play the tune in hopes it would discharge it from my gray matter. But alas, no. I'm stuck with it...which I'm not complaining about (yet). Sometimes I get songs caught in my head for days on end and then it becomes uncomfortable.
     
  25. Brian x

    Brian x the beautiful ones are not yet born

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I've had TYH stuck in my head on and off for the better part of a half-century. Once there, it's tough to dislodge, and repeated *discharge* listens have only made things worse (better).
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine