Let Me Be. stereo mix, recorded late 1990's at Russell Davies' home studio, London If you run out of luck don't give in to hate Just find a new direction before it's too late If you hear them knocking on my door Just say that I'm not here I can't take it any more Well I'm leaving town and I won't be 'round 'Til I reach my destination, tell the world I'm underground And it won't be long now that I've found love Gonna search the whole world over find a place where I belong Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent Can't you see all the good that's inside of me Let me be, let me be oh I'm innocent, let me go Gonna walk my walk, talk my talk Don't need no-one's approval, gonna make it on my own Gonna have my say, gonna fly away I'll beat this bureaucratic nightmare and social decay, oh yeah I've found out yeah, I found love Gonna stick to my dreams, gonna blow this world away Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent Can't you see all the good that's inside of me Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent, let me go Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent Can't you see all these feelings inside of me Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent, let me go Nobody cares, nobody hears Living in a vacuum, is anybody there? Someway, somehow just got to survive They'll never get my soul, they'll never take me alive Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent Can't you see all these feelings inside of me Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent, let me go Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent Can't you see all the good that's inside of me Let me be, let me be for I'm innocent, I don't know Written by: Dave Davies Published by: Capedale Ltd. We open with a nice pumping, bouncy rock/dance kind of groove... that sort of brings to mind some late seventies Robert Palmer to be honest ... nothing specific, just a sort of funk rock feel. Lyrically Dave seems to be going for the "I'm going to be my own man" type of theme.. Don't let the circumstances of life turn you into a hater. Find a new direction rather than bringing yourself down to "their" level. In the chorus Dave is pleading to be left alone, because he says he is innocent... I'm not sure what of in particular, or if he is meaning that in a general personality trait... Not many rock stars are "innocent" though, so I'm going to assume it's character writing lol Then we get the "I'm going to do what I want, how I want" idea, and he offsets that with the "fighting the man" mentality... The chorus again claims innocence and asks "can they not see the good inside me" " can they not see the feelings inside of me" ... and the answer really would be no... and even more so, the system doesn't care about anybody's feelings and "good" is very subjective. I don't dislike the lyric particularly.. it seems slightly futile, in the idea of I'm a good guy and I'm fighting the system, leave me alone... But I think the music ends up being greater than the lyrics. Musically we have what I think is a sequenced bass, and it's pretty cool...and I think that's what makes me think of Robert Palmer... That Clues era synth bass feel. It's nice and rhythmic and sits well with the rest of the song. We get, held, organ chords adding some nice texture, and also some nice guitar accents ... and all together it ends up being a texturally rich track. We also get a nice little Dave lead break... I kind of like the ... sort of ... rich garage kind of sound we have going on here.. We exit with the synth bass ... well I'm assuming it's synth bass.. it sounds like it. I like this track. I don't think it's amazing, but I like it as an opener.
It seems we're going to be in Daveland for quite a bit of time, which worries me. I mean, I’ll stick around, and you can call 911 (or @The late man can call our own French equivalent, number 15 – I think it's number 15) if I skip a day but… I certainly hope Dave delivers the goods. For now, it’s another one of his elusive self-released demo records. Has anyone self-released that many demo records in the history of rock ? Yes, well, if you count Daniel Johnston’s cassettes, I guess Dave’s beaten. Yet this release’s special because it’s titled after what’s maybe the most recognized (and recognizable) post-Kinks Dave tune, and, not coincidentally, the one that resembles the Ray-led Kinks the most. We’ll get to that one eventually… In the meantime, I don’t have much to say about today’s song in its demo form, except it makes its point. I’ll let this track be with not too many regrets. It's ok, but the much better “official” version from Bug will prove that fleshing out the songs by arranging them properly has its merits too!
I know three of the songs on this collection from their appearance on Bug, one of those is "Let Me Be", and for me the Bug version is way ahead of this demo - more convincing, forceful and...chunky. The demo sounds sluggish and dated.
Yes, 3 of those songs will end up on Bug, I don't know about the other ones. I've discovered Bug recently, I think it's really great, from start to - weirdly - finish. But we'll have to wait until after Christmas for that.
Fortis Green (album) This was bought from Dave's website, way back when - he was selling signed copies, so mine is signed on the disc itself, not the front cover, which I'd have preferred. As a release, it's OK for what it is. The sound is consistent, if dated. I'll save comments on the 'Bug' tracks for when they get their full release then. Also, the sleeve notes say it is part of a large collection of demos - so why so stingy? Only seven tracks, not counting the already released 'Soothe Sayer'. The 'allmusic' website Dave Davies - Fortis Green Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic review says: There are drawbacks to playing second fiddle (or, in this case, lead guitar) to a songwriting genius, especially if said genius (in this case, Ray Davies) is your older brother. Dave Davies' contributions to the Kinks have thus been overshadowed, a sad fact that his self-released EP Fortis Green is, alas, unlikely to redress. A synth-heavy collection of home-recorded demos, Fortis Green manages to sound overproduced and underproduced at the same time, as though the singer were being backed by John Tesh in someone's bathroom. It's a shame, because some of these songs would probably sound pretty good with a less electronic, less lo-fi approach. "Away From You," for example, seems like a pleasant ballad under that Casio wall of sound. The disc's one high point is the title track, a nostalgic song about Dave's London childhood that the Kinks themselves could have recorded, circa 1967.
I remember buying the Fortis Green demo album from Dave's web site back when it was new. At the time, there had been the two editions of To The Bone, Ray's Storyteller shows and CD and the huge re-issue programme by Essential and Velvel in 1998/99. There had been a lot of focus on the past but not so much new music. From that perspective it was exciting when it was announced that Dave was going to release this demo album, with songs previously unreleased, and I felt it was very generous of Dave to offer exclusive albums on his web page for dedicated fans. "Let Me Be" is a good track and a solid opener of the Fortis Green album. The song has a good groove and the chorus is catchy, though I do feel that Dave's vocals is too low down in the mix (but of course, a demo album implies that one can expect "works in progress" kind of tracks, not fully produced tracks intended for commercial release). I think the lyrics sound very heartfelt when Dave sings them, the words sound like a genuine plea to someone who is important to the narrator. Not all of Dave's demos on his many demo albums are gems, but I am glad that this particular track got a "proper" release some years later on the Bug album.
‘Let Me Be’: it took a bit of time this very early morning (it’s that time of year when the cat methodically destroys the Christmas tree decorations, thus…up at 2:30 in the a.m.) to become intrigued enough to push “play” but it was worth it. Funky Dave and I like it.
It's interesting to think about and gives these songs some additional depth, though, as was recently discussed here, in The Storyteller Ray places "See My Friends" firmly in the context of the untimely death of his sister, which throws some cold water on the idea. I've always felt that "This Strange Effect" fits into this category of songs though, with the line "And I like the way that you kiss me / don't know if I should".
We are featuring B Sides on my radio show this week so "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" will be getting a spin
I was reminded of The Charles Chips guy. Anyone remember that? They actually delivered canned potato chips to your door in the mid 70's
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 Starstruck promo video/ Days video/ Sunny Afternoon TOTP Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 Nov 1970 - Jun 1976 Feb 1977 - Dec 1983 Artificial Light or. mix Life Goes On OGWT Morphing docu of Hotelroom sessions + interview Ray + live KinKs in Vienna 1978. One For The Road - the lost videos 1981 A Woman In Love (chorus girls) Oh Tokyo live in 1982 - lyrics Jan 1984 - Dec 1993 The Early Nineties Tours Oct 1994 To The Bone All Day And All Of The Night - tv appearance Apeman - 2020 remix Tired Of Waiting For You See My Friends Death Of A Clown Waterloo Sunset - Late Show 94 Muswell Hillbilly Better Things Don't Forget To Dance Autumn Almanac Sunny Afternoon - Duo 1993 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion You Really Got Me Ray TV jingle - Sitting In The Stands Oct 1994 Waterloo Sunset 94 EP Elevator Man On The Outside Oct 1994 The Emma Freud Show Waterloo Sunset I'm Not Like Everybody Else Till The End Of The Day - full You Really Got Me All Day And All Of The Night Oct 1994 The Kelly Show 1994 Kompilations 94 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush Quiz YRGM Dead End Street Live At Konk video You Really Got Me tv performance - TOTP Till The End Of The Day BBC 94 Kinks live TOTP 1994 Dec 94 Stuttgart 1995 Dave and John Carpenter - In The Mouth Of Madness 1995 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Concert All Day And All Of The Night alt version April 1995 Village Of The Damned (Whole Album) 1995 Kompilations Sept 1995 Ray Davies - XRay Oct 95 Ray Storyteller live New York 1996 Ray VH1 Storytellers Ray Storytellers live 1996 1996 Kompilations Jun 96 Kinks Last Koncert The Concert Mar 1997 To The Bone Re-calibrated Do It Again Celluloid Heroes Picture Book Village Green Preservation Society Do You Remember Walter Set Me Free Lola Come Dancing I'm Not Like Everybody Else Till The End Of The Day Give The People What They Want State Of Confusion Dead End Street Gallon Of Gas Days Animal - 95 (Storyteller) To The Bone - video - 96 Jools - 95 White Room - Demo - TV The Shirt My Diary Rock And Roll Fantasy live (79?) 1997 Ray Storytellers Interview 1997 Ray Irish Interview 1997 Kathy Dennis - Am I The Kind Of Girl The Date Consolation Sunny Afternoon Waterloo Sunset 1997 Kompilations - Singles/Waterloo Sunset extra info 1997 Dave Davies - Kink 1998 - Waterloo Sunset : Stories (Ray Book) The Kinks Thread Family - Kinks Kareer Konklusions 1998 Kompilations - You're Lookin Fine (live) 98 Ray and Bill Maher 1998 Ray Davies - The Storyteller Storyteller - Full Version Intro/Victoria My Name/20th Century Man London Song - video guide My Big Sister/That Ol' Black Magic/ Tired Of Waiting For You Set Me Free (instr)/ Dad and The Green Amp/Set Me Free The Front Room/See My Friends/Autumn Almanac Hunchback/Xray Art School/ Art School Babe - video Back In The Front Room Writing The Song/When Big Bill Speaks/Man Who Knew A Man The It's Alright Sequence Julie Finkle Third Single/You Really got Me London Song - with Reef on JH - remix Oct 1998 Crystal Radio - Purusha and the Spiritual Planet (Dave and Russell Davies) The 98 Reunion Rumour mill? Nov 1999 Dave Davies - Fortis Green Let Me Be August 23 2000 Ray Davies and Friends - Jane Street Theatre NY 2001 Dave Davies Fragile Violet Dreams No More Mysteries Wait Bright Lights Give Something Back Hope Long Lonely Road Open Up Your Heart Lost In Your Arms Astral Nightmare I'm Sorry Dave Creeping Jean live 2004 2005 Thanksgiving Day Ray live on Conan Obrien 2006 Ray gets top honour at BMI awards 2006 Dave - Too Much On My Mind 2010 Come Dancing play Oct 2018 Dave Davies - Decade - interview If You Are Leaving (71) Cradle To The Grace (73) Midnight Sun (73) Mystic Woman (73) The Journey (73) Shadows (73) Web Of Time (75) Mr Moon (75) - Why Islands (78) Give You All My Love (78) Within Each Day (78) Same Old Blues (78) This Precious Time (78) 2019 Kast Off Kinks with Ray 2022 Muswell/ Showbiz box 2022 Celluloid Heroes Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues Travelling Montage Travelling With My Band - I'm Going Home - You Can't Stop The Music 2022 remixes pt 1 - part 2 - part 3 Creem articles - Mar 70 - Mar 71 - Feb 72 - Nov 72 - Aug 73 - Apr 74 - Jul 74 - Aug 75 - Feb 76 - Aug 77 - Apr 78 - Aug 78 - Oct 78 - Jan 81 - May 85 - Apr 85 - Apr 87 - May 87 - Jun 87 - Jun 88 Rare Silent Video Rob Kopp has made his 1999 Kinks discography 'Down All The days Till 1992' US Chart Stats The Music Industry Machine Album flow chart Album poll graph Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton John Gosling Jim Rodford Ian Gibbons Andy Pyle Gordon Edwards Clive Davis Bob Henrit Mark Haley - info Jakko Jaksyk
Kink Kompilations 1999. It's The Kinks - Castle Pie You Really Got Me 2:14 Tired Of Waiting For You 2:32 A Well Respected Man 2:42 Sunny Afternoon 3:34 I Need You 2:27 Long Tall Sally 2:14 Come On Now 1:49 Set Me Free 2:13 I'm Not Like Everybody Else 3:29 I Took My Baby Home 1:50 I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight 2:01 Where Have All The Good Times Gone 2:51 Big Black Smoke 2:33 Wonderboy 2:49 Party Line 2:35 Plastic Man 3:05 Dead End Street 3:18 Best Of The Kinks - Castle Select You Really Got Me 2:16 All Day And All Of The Night 2:24 Tired Of Waiting For You 2:32 Everybody's Gonna Be Happy 2:16 Set Me Free 2:13 See My Friends 2:44 Till The End Of The Day 2:20 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion 3:02 Sunny Afternoon 3:34 Dead End Street 3:17 Waterloo Sunset 3:15 Autumn Almanac 3:12 Wonderboy 2:51 Days 2:55 Plastic Man 3:04 Victoria 3:39 Lola 4:10 Apeman 3:53 You Do Something To Me 2:26 Where Have All The Good Times Gone 2:51 The Kinks Razor And tie Sampler - Razor And Tie 1 You Really Got Me - Live 2 Destroyer 3 (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman - Live 4 Juke Box Music 5 Rock 'N Roll Fantasy 6 Come Dancing 7 Do It Again 8 Better Things 9 Lola - Live 10 Low Budget 11 Don't Forget to Dance 12 Living On A Thin Line 13 Celluloid Heroes - Live 14 20th Century Man 15 Misfits 16 Till The End Of The Day - Live 17 Stop Your Sobbing - Live 18 Father Christmas Not sure what the story is with the Razor and Tie sampler, but it is seemingly one of those rare compilations that focuses on the Arista period more than the Pye period, which makes it somewhat more interesting to me (due to volume) and it looks like a pretty good compile anyway.
Kinks Kompilations 1999. Limited Edition Compilation 3 - Velvel Konk 1 Attitude 3:47 2 Catch Me Now I'm Falling 5:58 3 Till The End Of The Day (Live) 2:46 4 You Really Got Me (Live Single Edit) 3:08 5 Better Things 2:58 6 Predictable 3:21 7 Heart Of Gold 4:01 8 Bernadette 3:28 9 Do It Again 4:11 10 Living On A Thin Line 4:14
The still-current equivalent of the ice cream man (in the US) is the yakiimo-man (in Japan). Stone-roasted sweet potatoes. When I was a kid the guy came around with a hand cart, calling out in a sing-song voice, “Roasted potatoes! Stone-roasted potatoes. Freshly roasted!” Price dependent on size, wrapped in newspaper. Now he comes in a k-truck. Now: Google Image Result for https://www.kyuhoshi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/yakiimo_truck.jpg?w=640 Before: Google Image Result for http://gakuran.com/eng/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/yaki-imo4.JPG Looks like: Google Image Result for https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/live/624x351/p0c7jc63.jpg
'They play on into the new millennium with Ray and brother Dave still in harness'? Looks like someone didn't get the memo! Tbf though in truth there was no memo: I remember this being a very confusing time as to whether The Kinks actually still existed as an ongoing concern or not, esp with the way band activity seemed to just gradually dribble away in the 1995-7 period without any big dramatic announcement. And a quarter century later we're still waiting... Did I mention I got into the Beach Boys in summer 1997, which was exactly the same time that Carl stopped performing with them due to illness and they fractured into 2/3 disparate factions forevermore (give or take 2012) thereafter?
Let Me Be I hadn’t heard this before this morning. It’s OK. Not particularly memorable. I did check out the version on Bug, another album I never listened to, and the Bug version is an improvement. As to the Fortis Green album, I did listen through once, and in addition to the song of the same name, which I had heard before, there are a couple of other tracks that appealed to me more than Let Me Be. I’ll have to give Bug a couple of listens before we get there.
Yesterday I found myself, as usual, trying to find something critical or at least... ambivalent to say about an RD tune. & I realize today that, when I listen to DD's solo songs (with very few exceptions), I'm trying to think of something nice to say about them. He's written some great songs, and I don't exclude the possibility that one could come up tomorrow, but I'll probably be sitting out the Dave stuff unless a tune I like comes along. Just not a big fan of his lyrics, often bugged by his voice, and generally underwhelmed by how his songs are structured.
It really is remarkable how many of us have had health issues during the life of this thread. I have one more surgery Monday and hopefully that’s it. Thank God for the music
Watching the VH1 version. Got a kick out of Ray name dropping Poughkeepsie. Must've played here at least a dozen times. All three venues
I also bought Fortis Green upon release from Dave’s website (I think) but mine is not signed, so maybe I got it from somewhere else. This set of demos is a stronger collection of ideas and they are all from the same sessions or time period. They don’t all work, but again, folks, demos. At least Dave has actually released a trove of these over the years, unlike a certain somebody else that will remain nameless here. It’s also good that some of the ones here actually get more fleshed out and properly recorded later in a real studio, so again different from most of the other demos we’ve seen. I got that new RSD Dave 7” 21st Century today. The store in the other city came through. This song is a demo recorded in 1992 and released here in 2022 for the first time. I like it, it’s pretty good. Gerry Goffin collaborated on the lyrics. I don’t see this on YouTube yet but I have already ripped the audio and made a video, so @mark winstanley you decide when you want this video and I’ll send it ahead of time so you can review and slide into the schedule somewhere. I’ll also happily share via PM with anyone else here who wants to hear this before we get to it down the road, just let me know.
Would you like to do the honours? If you want to post it today, or tomorrow, I'm happy for you to do that. I can just have a listen and respond like one of the crew. If you want to do that, It's all good with me. If you want me to, just send it to me and I will slot it in sometime over the next week or so.
