Apeman I like the original to begin with and this is short and sharp as it zeros in on the goods so there is little not to like. Someone said it shines composition wise next to it's neighbours which is true enough.
Come Dancing Nice this was captured for posterity on a live album though it is a touch fast and the drums stand out in a not so pleasant way. If this was what was playing at my local Palais i wouldn't cry when it was knocked down but just try to secure fan tickets to the Konk concert six years later to hear this!
LOL. I never minded the Three Stooges. My dad is a big fan. Silly, physical humor. I mean, I don't want to watch it all day, but it had its moments. "Niagara Falls..."
Today's live tracks/A confession Kind of a packed weekend and my job this afternoon -- the only time I've given myself to listen to these songs -- turned out to be supervising 6 year old x and 2 year old x as they watch Snow White. So in case anyone was wondering, Whistle While You Work doesn't go very well with Destroyer, but Hi Ho Hi Ho (It's Off to Work I Go) blends quite interestingly with Art Lover. In other words, no useful insights today. But -- The preface: I too am not a big fan of Apeman, not quite a skip track on Lola but on the bottom rung. Yet, hearing it on this LP, surrounded by later songs, it really shines. My confession: I confess that yesterday, when I should've been listening to The Road, I listened to VGPS, and to People Take Pictures of Each Other multiple times. And yes, it's true -- glad as I am to have learned so much here about the '80s Kinks, and as many of those songs have wound up treasured tracks on various playlists, the Kinks' mid/late '60s stuff is just transcendent. It's not "two different bands;" I'll forever be fascinated by Ray's artistic journey; loving one doesn't mean not loving the other; etc etc -- but man oh man, VGPS is something that no one has ever done and no one, not even the Kinks, could ever do again. I beg forgiveness, Headmaster... I have destroyed what little faith you have in me. I've broken all the rules. I've been such a little fool.
Art Lover Being a lover of Ray's art plus listening to this on (an almost) Sunday afternoon iam feeling in a generous mood. This is a pretty faithfull run and great to have live however iam forced to admit that iam one eyed about the demo version from The Songs Of Ray Davies compilation.
The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is, in every individual, something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost. Schopenhauer You have my condolences @Luckless Pedestrian; your sister seemed to possess many such unique virtues and passions, which can never truly be lost if you keep them close. Their echoes and shadings are part of you, and I hope these remembrances, in time, provide solace. And do remember that we’re all here for you when you need to escape the real world for a while.
A 9.5 Grade Mickey Mantle rookie card, owned by a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur (now there’s a phrase you don’t hear every day), is currently up for auction. Experts believe it may sell for around ten million dollars. A safe, at the very least.
That’s pretty ironic about the owner of that card, considering how much of those cards were disposed of. Will that be over the value of the Honus Wagner card? It would make sense now that there’s probably no one alive today who remembers Honus Wagner while plenty of people still remember Mickey Mantle.
Just pondering if there were UK cards of engineers and producers what tier/value would be achieved by a Mickie Most card? P.s. Possibly ground down into chaff for some yard birds.
You did nothing wrong and you are absolutely correct. There is no comparison to the mid/late 60s albums. One of the most special times in music history and The Kinks were at the top of the mountain. I may play my Village Green box set tonight! I noticed they are putting out a deluxe Muswell/Showbiz. I will have to pass on this, since I recently bought both on vinyl and I already have the CDs. It's always tempting, but I'm going to skip this round. I do wish I would have picked up the Arthur set. The Lola and the Village Green box sets are still available. I hope they continue with a Preservation box. That one will be hard to resist.
My issue with The Road is, like others have suggested, the mix of the drums. The snare is mixed way too loud of course which some here have rightly commented on. What has not been brought up is that the rest of the kit is practically inaudible in the mix on this album. The cymbals are not hardly heard, even the crash cymbals (with bass drum of course) that normally provide accents at crucial points are mixed very poorly here. Henrit does go for the toms more often at this stage and is actually looser in these performances than on the studio albums he's played on thus far, but you wouldn't know it listening to this album. The live concert tracks on the next album with live tracks, To The Bone, is mixed far better in this regard. The 80s were not a good decade for drum sounds and mixing of said drums. Drummist with a last name of Streett commenting on the drums of an album called The Road - there must be some irony or a joke in there somewhere I think. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In a personal similar scenario, but not at the same level of course... I did a session just last year putting a drum track down on a demo of a young lady's original song, an acoustic singer/songwriter type of song, so I approached it in that frame of mind, trying to be sympathetic to the material, a lighter touch and not overplaying. My tendencies lean to the prog side of things as I've mentioned in other posts, but none of that in these situations. No one but the drummer him or herself is paying attention to the drums on a demo of course. The take that was used had what I thought was good, but not perfect ("just one more take, please, I can do better!"). I played what I thought was some pretty nice and interesting cymbal work with a few drummer touches that no one except other drummers would ever notice and was quite pleased with myself. When I heard the final mix the lady selected, all you could hear was the snare and some tom fills. No bass drum, no cymbals. All that work and it sounds like I'm just standing there playing a concert snare. She didn't even notice (or care) about the other stuff. Oh well, it's not my song or my decision, but that still hurts the ego a little bit . I know we have several other musicians here and I know you will attest to this fact that as a player you are never, ever satisfied with your performance, and you are likewise never, ever satisfied with how you are mixed in the track unless you are doing the mixing yourself.
It’s funny - Avid @Brian x isn’t the only one listening to older Kinks. I put on Face to Face this morning, making it to Rainy Day in June before the family had to head out for an excursion. I was really digging it, but surprisingly did not find that the last couple of 80s totally paled in comparison. Both era’s albums have their own unique pleasures. My daughter is visiting, so I didn’t finish listening to Face to Face in the car (so the three of us could talk) but I did learn that my daughter had listened to Waterloo Sunset on her way down to visit us, as part of a movie themed playlist she made. It may be the first time I heard her say she liked the Kinks.
So sorry for your loss Avid @Luckless Pedestrian. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful tribute to such a special person. Sending comfort and sympathies in this difficult time. To paraphrase Ray, she’ll be with you every single day.
Me too! I listened to my whole Kinks playlist on shuffle for a couple hours today driving around, and two interesting things: 1) Demolition led straight into Salvation Road, which was really interesting because the end of the former has the latter’s melody, and I still think I prefer how Ray sang/produced that melody at the end of the former. 2) Occasionally when I play the full list on shuffle, I will get to a song and want to just continue with the rest of the songs on that particular album, so I will just turn off Shuffle and let the list continue in album order. I have found that I do this most often to VGPS, Preservation Act 1, Soap Opera, and Schoolboys in Disgrace. So I think that means that I find those 4 to be the most cohesive, and I really can’t get enough of how those songs on these albums flow. 3) It’s really remarkable how awful their recording quality was in 1965. 4) I’m glad they finally figured out how to record better starting with Arthur. 5) To me, it’s not jarring hearing I Need You followed by The Hard Way followed by Do It Again. This is the same band. 100%.
Stern moved to NYC in 1982 after a stint at DC101 where I originally heard him before moving to NY myself in '81. He took the opportunity of a deadly airplane crash in the Patomac to call and ask how much a ticket was from Dulles Airport to The Woodrow Wilson Bridge and well...
Posted this before in 1969 when he left the band, but I thought it worth posting again at the appropriate point in the chronology: here’s where Pete Quaife was at in 1988:
