Beautifully written and a terrific description of a record buyers internal calculations while perusing an album at the store.
Off topic, really, but was "Five Live Yardbirds" (aka the live side of "Having a Rave Up") a cash-in??? That's the primary document we have of Clapton-era Yardbirds (other than 3 singles or so, none of which really do it), and I'm pretty sure it was deliberately and atypically recorded as their UK debut LP. They were a band that made sense to catch live.
You're absolutely right: Five Live Yardbirds was not a cash in, but a legit original release UK album. Here's the thing: I (admittedly not a Yardbirds expert) completely blanked on that album when I wrote my post and was instead thinking of their live LP with Sonny Boy Williamson: Mea culpa! Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds - Wikipedia
I always prefer the live version of this song. It seems the band is more familiar with performing it so there's a looseness to it. At least to my ears. I like the way Ray's guitar comes in just for a few strums at the very end. I picture the guitar dangled from him unplayed for nearly the whole song-- the way he often does--and then just for the ending takes it into his hands.
Thinking a little more on this, ajsmith did bring up an interesting overall question -- who in rock n roll/pop HAD done live albums by 1967, and were ANY of them good? This could be its own separate topic, but I'm interested in it in the context of the Kinks. Off the top of my head: Best ones: Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963) -- the guitar sound is NUTS, and it's an album you'd actually want to hear again. It's fun as all heck, at the tail end of a remarkable run of good albums. Five Live Yardbirds (1964)/"Rave-up," live side -- it's relatively un-messed with, other than maybe some re-recorded song intros. It's rather lo-fi* and that makes it not the most-fun listen, but was pretty much the first documentation of the "raving up" they were doing, and I'm going to guess it was a pretty big influence on a lot of the "Nuggets" bands. *(Lo fi: They clearly did their best to accurately capture the band, and there's no amping up of the polite audience, but it's a primitive 1964 PA blasting in a club.) James Brown "Live at the Apollo" (1963) is a classic... and he did 3 more through 1967. ***** The Stones "Got Live It You Want It" EP (1965) -- I don't know if it's better or worse than the LP (1966), but it has the advantage of being very short. They take Bo Diddley's "I'm Alright" from "Beach Party" and claim they wrote it, which is a jerky thing to do. Chuck Berry did one ( "On Stage," 1963), but much of it is studio leftovers with applause added. I've never heard it. The other live albums from the 60's that I actually listen to are by female artists who don't fit easily into any genre: Judy Henske (esp her first one, of two...paint-peeling blues vocals and hilarious banter), Eartha Kitt (Live at the Plaza--fantastic! Hilarious, outrageous and attitudinally pretty punk rock), Nina Simone (six live albums??? do I have that right??). ****** There were a LOT more live albums shortly thereafter: Grateful Dead's "Anthem of the Sun," (live/studio hybrid) and "Live/Dead", Big Brother and the Holding Company's "Cheap Thrills", Quicksilver Messenger Service's "Happy Trails" ...and the fake-live "Merlin's Music Box" by the Seeds, which is more in the Stones/Chuck Berry mold, with a lot of fakery (though, the one time I heard it, I thought it was great). ****** I suspect the Kinks were trying to follow the Stones' lead. As you were!
Re the track list, I should add that The Kinks played Come On Now pretty much right up to the end, a fun live number out of the box!
An excellent entry. What a great story. I can even imagine the smell of the head shop while reading this!
Incidentally Batley Variety Club no longer exists, but by a strange coincidence Batley is in the news today. A Labour candidate has just beaten a Conservative candidate in a surprise defeat. Cue "End Of The Season": "Now Labour's in, I have no place to go". Batley and Spen: Labour is back after by-election win, says Starmer
I suspect both. The Batman TV show was one of the hippest things going on at the time, and everyone loved that riff. Did the Kinks take The Who's lead here? I bet they did, but it would have gone over great with an audience.
Am I being dense or is the Kelvin Hall LP a clear attempt to sell 'live' Kinks to the US while they were still banned from touring there? Also as a clear follow up to the Something Else LP and hits compilation - I'm not au fait with release dates/territories etc. But it seems obvious that if they can't play live Stateside, they can at least flog live LPs. Perhaps if there was enough positive response they were hoping to get the ban quashed. Who knows. Anyway big up to @Martyj for that terrific reminiscence. How and why we buy and get into music is (or was, sob) so important. Ritualistic almost. Also whenever I read about an unloved or generally dismissed LP being important to someone, it just proves how these things are often subjective. Don't own this album so this is all interesting stuff, although an edit of the live "Milk Cow Blues" was on my original Kinks kompilation. I really liked what I heard, echo and all, but was a bit baffled by the apparently random waves of screaming from the fans.. now it all makes sense.
By the way.... This album, "Batman and Robin" by "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale", melted my brain as a small child. I put it on again in my early 20's and thought "This record is a little strange. WHO is this? This is not normal hackery." and indeed, it is not. It is a 1966 collaboration between Sun Ra's core band, members of New York's The Blues Project (the band with Danny Kalb, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, etc), and producer Tom Wilson, playing a lot of public domain music as a cash-in LP, perhaps for a Batman toy. (I don't think Sun Ra is on all the cuts.) You may not need to hear it, but it was a deliberate act intended to subvert the minds of musically impressionable small children and make them a little weirder. Check out the completely dissonant opening organ by Sun Ra, and Pat Patrick's bari sax. When I finally discovered Sun Ra's "Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy," I made the immediate connection to this Batman record without even knowing why. Off topic again, but evidence of the power of Batman in the culture of the time. Link to album graphic: The Sensational Guitars Of Dan & Dale – Batman And Robin (1966, Vinyl)
What a great read. You didn't lie upthread when you said you would treat us with "thoughts" about this album… I really "taste" is a biographical notion. We all love songs, records, artists, because they meant something specific at a specific point in our lives. That's why we can all relate to your beautiful story. Now, myself, I can't say I have this kind of relationship with Kelvin Hall at all… But I still enjoy it for some reasons. Mainly, I love the fast Dandy take and I'm definitely in the "I'm on An Island is best heard here" camp. Also of note (and @mark winstanley duly remarked it), these performances offer a few excellent opportunities to admire Ray's idiosyncratic style on the rhythm guitar and measure what a great component of the band's style it was. But the best thing about this live document is we get to hear Ray smile-singing throughout. That's one of the greatest things about his early pre-theater on stage persona. He sings with a youthful grin, and a twinkle in the eye. And on Kelvin Hall, this quality can be heard it in all his vocals, making it a truly endearing listen.
Thank you for taking me on your trip down memory lane it reminded me of the romance of growing up around record stores, discovering groups (and their near mystical albums and contents) getting excited by & falling in love with them and keeping them close for the rest of your life!
"Come On Now" and "You're Looking Fine" seemed to be Dave's early catalog go-to songs through out their stage career, while Dave-original-flavors-of-the-moment came and went. It always struct me odd he would fall back on two Ray old-style originals, or a Little Richard cover, when the band had so many Dave originals to chose from when it came to giving the younger Davies' his vocal spotlight. My guess is they were easy to play without having to rehearse the band to refamiliarize themselves with the other songs.
Speaking of Batman & Sun Ra, here's my friend Barrence Whifield doing a cover of the latter's "I'm Gonna Unmask the Batman":
I do lament the absence of this in today's era of instant download/instant gratification. There was something magical about the mystery of album buying... what a non-radio single deep cut might sound like until you rolled the dice and bought it. Was "Berkley Mews" a significant Kinks song once I heard it? Not really (although it's great and I love it) but I think just hearing it alone was less of an experience than having stared at those words for months--Berkley Mews? What the hell is that?--before finally taking the double-album price plunge on The Kinks Kronikles. Yeah, I miss those day. Then again, I also like sampling something digital online before parting with my money. Different times, different pleasures. Anyway, I'm starting to come off as an old codger here. If I stay around any longer today I may start yelling at the neighbor kids to get off my lawn.
Live at Kelvin Hall aka The Live Kinks has much in common with the Stones LP Got Live If You Want It. Both contain: Fake (looped!) audience screaming, and real audience screaming Studio overdubs of extra guitars and vocals Really wonky stereo mixes, somewhat more cohesive mono mixes Interesting track selections Cool album covers! Strange choice to release a live album in the studio time-line and finally: Great performances (not overdubbed!) from the rhythm section! @Martyj ’s write-up was immaculate; I too bought this album in the late ‘70’s at a head shop record store owned by a stoner couple! And I bought it for the cover, and the Batman theme. Having already purchased Got Live by the Stones this weird (stereo) album didn’t faze me. But I did notice the extra guitars and double tracked vocals here and there! Bottom line: Pete Quaife and Mick Avory sound really great on this LP. Pete in particular sounds very powerful and melodic, and his bass lines are sometimes more forceful and decorative than the studio versions. The bass and drums are captured as they were performed; some of the guitar playing was overdubbed and some is from the live performance. Of course your mileage will vary with ‘60’s beat group live albums but I love them for what they’re worth - a somewhat bizarre snapshot of a chaotic time, with a dash of exploitation thrown in! Sub-par fidelity notwithstanding, I love Live at Kelvin Hall despite its flaws. Go Pete Quaife!