The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

I just got a chance to listen to the Ray Davies Live at Roundhouse. Wow excellent stuff! Great sound quality overall too. The entire show was killer! Another great find. Is this available officially for cd format?

 

I believe there is a later connection as a matter of fact.

In Cotton’s case, I don’t believe so. He is on the last two Ray solo albums we just looked at, but no Rodford there. However, John Beecham was the trombonist in Cotton’s band when Rodford was in that band. Rodford left that band in 1968 to join Argent at its inception. Of course, Beecham played in the MC Sound with The Kinks all through the RCA years prior to Rodford joining. Beecham was on Other People's Lives as well.

The only real horns used during Rodford’s tenure I can think of off the top of my head are on the songs Come Dancing and Too Hot and Beecham is indeed credited as playing on both of those so there is that connection.

No official release of this show in part or in full in any format.

 

Shangri-La.

Ray says he has never played this song live before.
Again we get the chorus adding a sort of chordal backing and the opening comes in as a purely acoustic setting, and then we work our way in a full backing, and the arrangement works very well.
I really enjoyed seeing this track come into a live setting, and I think the chorus/choir is very effective.

Lola.

It's interesting.... this is a really good live version of Lola, but there is a slight whimsical side of me that is sad it isn't the Kinks... To a large degree, it doesn't matter too much, but it is one of those things where you get close to a band, and when the band has split, there is a sort of sadness.... when it is two brothers that spent most of their lives playing together I think that's amplified a little bit.
So Although I really enjoy this, and I see it is an inevitable reality.... I still kind of wish it was the guys.

Lola ends up being a set closer and the enthusiastic crowd get Ray out again, as if we didn't know he'd be coming, has he ever not played You Really Got Me ?

Imaginary Man .

To some degree we hear Ray is getting older... and have for a few songs, but I still think we get a solid performance.
To some degree placing this song here in his set, seems to reinforce the idea that this is a fairly personal song... but that could just be my perspective on it.

You Really Got Me.

The band breaks into a blues strut, and Ray puts on his Storyteller hat.
Then we burst into the song proper.
The connection between artist and audience is very strong, and this all works really well for me.




1:20:42 18 Shangri-La (with The Crouch End Festival Chorus)
1:26:55 19 Lola
1:33:36 20 Imaginary Man
1:38:55 21 You Really Got Me

 

Live At The Roundhouse.

Personally I really enjoyed this, and it seems like another that could be cleaned up and released, but I doubt that's going to happen.
I think the setlist is excellent, and I think the execution is excellent.

There are moments when you can hear the age and mileage on Ray's voice, but that doesn't concern me too much really, it reinforces that human edge that has always been part of the appeal of the Kinks.

I really enjoy the fact that these are pretty much whole songs, and not a Whitman's sampler box of snippets.
I think the new songs stand up well with the older songs, and it was very special to get to see and hear Ray do Shangri-la, so many years after its release on album.

If I heard that this was getting a bluray release of cleaned up footage and a nice 5.1 mix, I'd be getting it personally.... but it seems to some degree the sun is setting on releases of that nature these days, which just makes me a little bit sad really....

 

It is great that Ray decided to resurrect a Kinks song that the band had not gone back to since recording it. The addition of the Crouch End Festival Choir makes for a memorable performance. "Lola" I find harder to separate from the Kinks. It tended to be a song where the band let it all hang out after Ray had usually teased the song throughout the show (a Kinks ritual). This version is fine and an obvious crowd pleaser. It makes sense that Ray should revisit the new album before the end of the night and "Imaginary Man" is a good choice. It is interesting to hear Ray say even he doesn't know what to make of it. Rather than just conclude the evening with a blistering version of "You Really Got Me", I like how Ray goes into Storyteller mode and gives us an idea of the song's bluesy roots before ripping it up.

 

"Shangri-La"

It turns out that yesterday's goosebumps were just precursors for even bigger ones today. Never been played live before, yet this extraordinary performance brings the song in all its glory to life. How great it would have been to have witnessed this on the night. The choir is used really well here and Ray is totally involved in the song.

"Lola"

Having commented yesterday that the guitar in "Tired Of Waiting" sounded like a direct sample of Dave's, now we have a backing vocalist singing the high unison part again sounding like a sample of Dave! A full performance of a genuine crowdpleaser, there really isn't anything wrong with this.

"Imaginary Man"

Seems this song is as much a mystery to Ray as it is to us. Ray playfully reworks the lyrics to refer to the gig he is currently playing - almost sounding improvised but I doubt it was. It has to be said that Ray struggled with the high notes on the chorus here - perhaps one of those situations where you think you're going to be able to sing it fine, but the reality is somewhat different when you get there and there is nothing to do but try to tough it out! He has some help from the backing vocalists in the second chorus. Other than that it's a fine performance of a song that deserves its place here.

"You Really Got Me"

The ultimate crowdpleaser, with Ray giving us a Storyteller-type tease before launching into the song as we know it. Again, there really isn't anything to find fault with here - it's delivered in a way that does an iconic track justice, and brings a fantastic gig to an appropriate ending.

Overall this is a very impressive gig - as much an ultimate distillation of Ray as a solo artist as "Rock Bottom" was for Dave. I'm surprised that I don't appear to have watched this at the time, or that if I did watch it, I didn't record it and archive it anywhere.

 

I loved this show. Coincidentally, the first vinyl Stones bootleg I ever bought was called Around In A Roundhouse (referenced upthread by @All Down The Line) so I also have a connection to the venue though, unfortunately, I never got to see a show there. Ray is a natural performer who loves getting up in front of people and doing his thing and that was clear here. His band was good and the material was great. Some might say he relied too heavily on Kinks material but he has an explanation in the show - the Kinks were his life's work and he is proud of his history.

 

KILlJOY NERD FACT CHECK TIME: Ray’s claim that ‘Shangri La’ had never been played live before was a bit of a fib: setlist.fm has listings for earlier solo performances earlier in 2007, in 2006, 1996 and 1995. I suspect some if not all of these were snippets rather than the full song but still. The same site (as well as Hinman) also records that The Kinks played S-L live at least twice in November 1971: never heard a boot of these, but I think these are likely to have been full song performances taking advantage of the groups recently added at the time brass section. Yeah ok, arguably the Electric Proms performance was the first really high profile time this one was aired but that’s still different from ‘first time ever’!

 

Off topic (apologies) but hot off the press:
In episode 2 of Ted Lasso season 3, released today (on Apple) The Kinks get airtime. Journalist Trent Crimm walks through the Richmond FC headquarters to the theme song Dedicated Follower of Fashion. Highly recommended - the song and the show.

 

Shangri-la, lalalala or lololololo-la ? I take both but the hard rocking "middle eight" section of Shangri-la will be my pick today. This song and Imaginary Man are probably the two most important moments in the show for Ray, two songs sharing the same metaphor about the real and unreal realities of both the characters and the songwriter. Ray reclaims a long neglected big Kinks tune and presents the fans with a new contender for this particular kind of kult status. Of course, it didn't work out as planned for Imaginary Man, despite the song's beauty, its importance for Ray and the Julien Temple documentary named after it. But as far as this Thread's concerned, he can be at peace… We got it, Ray!! And no matter the irresistible power of Lola and You Really Got Me, I swear I have the "imaaginary man / ye-es I am" refrain in my head right now!

 

It keeps growing in stature for me.
It has constantly been coming into my head since going through it

 

This Roundhouse thing has been a joy to watch. It shows that Ray could’ve easily gone the big legacy shows route McCartney-style if he’d wanted to… for a time at least. He definitely had the repertoire. If you can do All Day and All of the Night to close the main show, Lola to close the first Encore and You Really Got Me to end things proper, and still have at least ten other unsurpassable classic hits that everyone in the audience knows by heart, including Waterloo Sunset… I mean, wow.

Ray was at the peak of his charisma as a solo performer. He used to be the frontman, now he was the “act”, it’s a complete different approach and here, he just nails it, comfortable with his legend, his past, his present, his being part of his audience’s (and everybody’s) life.

 

Thanks, Mark. This Roundhouse show has been so very good. I am a bit surprised at how strong it is. Great classics with some curves and the new songs fit right in. Ray seems so happy and the performances are wonderful. I'm not usually into things like guests and the added choir and all but it works very well. Days gave me goosebumps and what a treat to get Shangri-La! Love the big ole grin on Ray's face when he sings this one.

 

Watching and listening to Shangri-La reinforced to me what a towering song it is: musically and lyrically it boggles the mind to think Ray was only 24 when he wrote Shangri-La. When I'm forced to rate songs out of 5 I think I need a bonus point (like Spinal Tap's amps) for a song like that - not that there are many. I had a similar feeling with Days and Waterloo Sunset though the latter's over-familiarity makes it easier to take for granted. Another observation from listening to the contributions of the choir is what an outstanding job Dave and Rasa did on backing vocals in those studio recordings. I'm pleased Ray reserved Imaginary Man for the encores because he wasn't wrong - it is great. And Finally, as if we needed more evidence, Ray basically admits Dave deserved a co-writer's credit for You Really Got Me. I strongly doubt it would have charted as Ray's blues version.

 

If you covered him with garbage
George Santos would still have style ...

 

Lol

 

Roundhouse Part 4

Killer show by Ray of course and he delivers some tasty mains by way of delightful introduction.

Who else could announce proudly from the stage that their songs are part of their life and then quip (or Quaife):
"I hope they are part of yours too?"
Without sounding entirely immodest or unnatural?

** Edit: Waterloo Sunset is perfect as usual however I'm left to ponder if Days is the only song Ray could precede it with and have it's majesty still remain in your mind as he performs his renowned masterpiece?

 

Last segment: Terrific. ‘Shangri-la’ was beautiful and I really enjoyed the intro for ‘You Really Got Me.’ I would have loved to have been at this show.

(£50, in fines, by the way.)

 

Roundhouse pt 4:

Shangri-La: I found it hard to believe this was never played live, and based on the comments above, Ray was again pulling our leg (he loves to do that, doesn’t he?). I think this version works well in the live setting, but I doubt I would want to hear it on a regular basis (although I’m sure seeing it firsthand was impressive). At the end of the day, though, the biggest payoff I get from this song is that monumental riff that really only appears once, around the halfway mark. Sadly, even though it’s present here, it doesn’t seem to get the emphasis in this version.

Imaginary Man: yes, this song is quite impressive and Ray does a fine job with it live.

YRGM: I get it, it has to be played, and I could see why Ray would want to rearrange it periodically to keep it interesting. With a song like this, though, I feel like it has to be amped up more, not less, than the original. I would posit that whole reason this song got everyone’s attention in the beginning was that kick ass riff played like no one had ever heard before followed by that shredding solo that also was being played like no one had ever shredded a solo before. The OFTR version got that right by upping the ante, giving us more Dave soloing and an even crunchier take on the riff. Maybe in the moment, this bluesy version would have engaged me, but it’s not agro enough to me want to hear it again.

Overall, I like this concert. I would not have been disappointed if I had gone to see Ray and this is what I got. That said, I don’t think it’s a patch on the live Kinks stuff, no one’s going to replace Dave. It was like seeing guns and roses with buckethead and bumblefoot on guitar (yes, these are real names, for those of you non-metal heads). It’s Slash and Izzy on guitar or it’s not Guns N’ Roses. … or it may be a more apropos comparison would be seeing Mick Jagger solo and having him play Rolling Stones songs. I mean, does anyone really want to hear him doing Rolling Stones songs without Keith Richards on guitar. I don’t begrudge Ray carrying on, and I would want to hear him playing kinks songs if I saw him live solo, but for my own listening pleasure at home, none of these versions of kinks songs are really going to replace the live versions played by the Kinks.

 

I’m assuming that this version of Shangri-La was included on the Arthur box?

 

it was…not!

 

Ok! Because of the later ‘live with choir’ tracks included on the VGPS box I thought it may have been.

 

those tracks are all (for some reason, dunno if it was cos it was particularly well recorded or Ray was particularly fond of it or what) from the same Denmark show, at which only ‘Victoria’ from the Arthur album was performed, so only it made the box (and likewise’Lola’ for the LvsP&tM box).

 

My teen daughter was like "hi, Imaginary!" the other day. And off my baffled look: "you keep walking around singing 'I am, I am, I am Imaginary,' you've been doing it for weeks."

(Liked this live stuff a lot but haven't had time to listen & comment properly due in part to the teacher/school services worker strike here in LA).