A Gallon Of Gas This one has always been one of my favorite songs on the album. I don't know which CD I have and must check what version is on it, but the longer version is fine for me. The words are really funny and the distorted blues progression works great. Earlier I said there was a Beatles rip-off on the album, it is to be found on this song : the "There's no more left to buy or sell / There's no more oil left in the well" part is strongly reminiscent of 2 bars on "She's a woman". Yeah, OK, it's short. Towards the end of the song, the volume of the music starts to fall slightly, as if we were heading for a fade-out. This will remind musicians of an era when mixing was performed in real-time, by pushing buttons up and down. Some mixing tables were automated, and I would have thought it was the case at Konks, but maybe not. This sounds like "Shall we do another mix ?" "Oh forget it, this one will do".
"Gallon of Gas", a nice, bluesy song w/lyrics that reflected the tenor of the times quite well, just like the title track. This came out just in time for the Second Energy Crises following the Iranian Revolution, so the powers that be in Arista probably figured it would make a good single. The Kinks had mastered the blues w/age and experience and the lyrics make the ironic point that it was easier to score drugs than gas in those days.
Thanks for posting this, Avid Ajsmith. It looks like that Dave's in color, even though the clip is in B&W. Also, no swearing, unlike the Gallager boys. Are you feeling better?
I almost had a 1969 Cadillac for my first car around the same time courtesy of one of sister's friends. I waited a few years to get my license instead. Also, a lot of the 1960s and 70s American muscle cars that now command 5-8 figures today were dirt cheap back then.
A Gallon Of Gas Topical as ever Ray delivers with some "current" lyrics even if (fuel) currency was an issue. There is even a blues lore (transposed) to white rock car/girl sexual metaphor though not as crassly stated as other rock acts, perhaps Ray gave up on it early due to his despondency and a stick shift in neutral? It is all played well enough but it doesn't feel like 2.42 perhaps as i still don't go for the Kinks blues feel and to me the production of guitar and snare could better serve the music. That said it's naturally a bit better live.
"Gallon Of Gas" I think we can all relate to this song these days. I detect some future Brian Setzer in the vocals and overall mood of the song. What this song needs is some big fat Gretsch style rock n roll guitar. It's a fine little number as it is, but it needs a kick in the pants to make it more interesting. There is a better song from 1979 about a "Brand New Cadillac" that Brian Setzer did cover, but I think he should also give this one a spin. This sort of blues song doesn’t do much for me, but Ray’s lyrics and delivery make it mildly entertaining. I would never have chosen it for a single, but it works ok slotted near the end of the album.
Gallon of Gas: This one was an early favorite. As a youth, I was looking for that wailing guitar and GoG brings it! Funny lyrics and having lived through the long lines make it a keeper to this day. I group with the shorter version off the early US edition, but I’ll take the long version too. Really, for all the complaints early on about how generic the Arista records are, Low Budget, just like Misfits, looks like a diverse collection of styles to me. I mean, what have we had so far, besides rock, (arguably) punk(ish), disco, new wave, an acoustic ballad and a grinding blues. …with a bit more fun still to come!
A Gallon of Gas There have been various oil shocks/embargoes/boycotts in my lifetime (including er at this very moment), but the complaints you hear are always about the price of gas being too high. I don't remember not being able to find gas at all, though I guess I was still in Japan when this was released and tooling around Kobe on my little yellow moped. But the whole scenario is weird. In this song's universe, there's no gas at all, at any price, anywhere, grounding airplanes and re-purifying the air. And somehow gas stations have been taken over by drug dealers? Either way, our Kinksian everyman hero has once again had his dreams dashed by forces beyond his control. Yeah not a huge fan of white blues but I do like how we get smooth lounge singer Ray and rough-throaty Ray but not shouty-barky Ray on the vocals.
A Gallon of Gas From a humorous point of view, I think this plays the same part as Hot Potatoes did on EISB. But I liked that song a lot better... I think Bad to the Bone might be on my top 5 most loathed songs ever, and I really don't like George Thorogood's voice. That song itself seems like a parody/novelty song. And this is like a parody of a parody to me. Ray sounds like George Thorogood at the beginning, and by George, that is just Thoroughly bad to my ears. I do like rest of the sections though and Ray's other voices in this song. Dave's guitar work, while good also enjoyable, also seems somewhat generic to the style of this song. Sounds pretty similar to what Hendrix did between the verses on Red House. Lyrically, it's very funny and enjoyable. I laugh as he refers to the Cadillac as a limousine... One thing I noticed is that I want to complete the lyric and add "way" after "Who needs a highway, an airport or a jet", even if "jet way" doesn't really make sense in that context... Seems like a rhyming syllable was needed there. But, sorry Ray, you make the decisions so I guess it's fine the way it is.
A Gallon of Gas ...Who needs a motorway, a jam jar, or Concorde when you can’t buy a liter of petrol...No, no, that won’t do. Well, at least Ray won’t have that crazy lease to worry about for much longer; a deal was almost as bad as the one he signed in ‘64. This is a great song with everyone playing something interesting plus it’s a solid mix. I had always shown ambivalence to this song but this time around it’s won me over; guess I never really sought out much blues. The verse ‘proper’ is perfectly tight. The ‘power assisted overdrive’ and rest of the extra verses (I will not call them bonus) should have remained on the assembly line floor. No broad, semi-amusing fat necessary; keep it pithy, I say, I say. I vividly recall, as a young pup, waiting with my dad in a long line for gas at our neighborhood one-pump filling station. Odd- even days according to your license plate whether you were eligible or not for gas. Dad would place me between him and the steering wheel so I could pretend-drive. Mr. Pete, as I called him, would come over to inspect the car through his thick black frames and then fill-er-up. He treated dad’s Chevy Nova like a brand new Cadillac. I wish I could say...’and then this song came on the radio’ but dad would listen to WNEW AM, the home of Frank Sinatra and the Make-Believe Ballroom. Young and innocent days!
I've been busy enough between work and personal stuff that I barely have time to skim most of the new posts each days let alone post, but thought I would chime in briefly. I was not wowed by the album in general when it came out, but listening recently, as with Misfits, it has gone up some in my estimation. The song in question today stuck out as problematic when I first heard the album in 1979. My thinking at the time was "come on Ray, there's not much imagination in writing a song about current events." I've enjoyed listening to it a lot more the last few days, as my expectations are not as high, and it seems like a perfectly serviceable blues number. (Though no offence to @donstemple I love Bad to The Bone.) As far as gas not being available, @Brian x gas was not that easy to come by in New York in 1979.
Full disclosure: I’ve written up my next two song comments in advance and will not be dissuaded in any shape, manner or form. Even though I’ll read commentary posted prior to my own posting. Just thought I’d make that clear.
I just want to say that I haven't posted on here in *years* but have been going through a major mid-late 70s Kinks phase these last couple of weeks, so I figured I would hop onto the forum to see if anyone else was. Immediately, I found this thread. My faith in humanity has been restored and I feel exceptionally enriched by this endeavor. PSA over. Please, carry on.
A Gallon of Gas I got da blues, man! but not for this song. Fun song! I'm ok with the Kinks doing a traditional blues riff here. Have they ever done any song with this riff before? Maybe with some early covers? I am totally down with this song. Really nothing insightful to say as I think it's a very straight forward song. Good music, good vocals. it gets my seal of approval. I am a little surprised that Raymond did not insert some harmonica on this one though. And not a synth to be heard, thankfully.
Like Fortuleo, blues Kinks is one of my least favorite Kinks incarnations (they were perhaps the worst cover band of any of the good UK groups of the 60's) but like Fortuleo, I also think this one works OK. One of the big things is it doesn't overstay its welcome at 2:42 in length. Many blues songs go on way too long. Secondly, it fits well with the overall theme of the album. A good solid album track. Neither the strongest, nor the weakest track on this excellent album.
LOL. My blues song would be how I can't seem to get cans of Fancy Feast (chicken flavor) for my cat. Plenty of beef and fish flavors, but can't buy chicken flavor for any amount of cash.
Please feel free to join in if you like. This link will take you to a bunch of links that will take you to the albums and songs we've done. It gets updated on Saturdays Welcome to the forum
Well, my supermarket blues was the fact that I couldn't get any Original Flavor Special K cereal for my mother. There were a million different flavors of Special K except the original. I finally found a couple of boxes last week.
I thought it was funny when I saw special k came in half a dozen flavours... I was like, I just want special k, which one is it?
Hoard that stuff! LOL I don't eat cereal any longer, but if I did I would just want some Cheerios...original flava, yo!
