I do like this track very much. It's a nursery rhyme isn't it? However, there is a noticeable audio/vocal glitch on the stereo version which really irritates me every time I hear it. Just takes me out of that dreamy world. The other stereo version has a silly ending and that's a shame because when I come to selecting my preffered VG tracks I'll be in a bit of a quandary. FJFB will, no doubt, expand on this glitch. It is mentioned on mixology site.
Being unaware of the Scilly Isles until this day, I've always heard it as the "Silly Isles", which still seems like an appropriate place for Phenomenal Cat to visit. Knowing how Ray loves irony, I'm sure this was intentional. Speaking of irony, Phenomenal, in addition to meaning exceptional, has a primary meaning of being perceptible by the senses through immediate experience - something not metaphysical. This exceptional cat traveled east for to search for meaning, but found that nothing exists beyond the phenomenon of existence, so he found his willow tree and ceased striving. There is a lot of subtle philosophical commentary throughout the songs on this album that I've never noticed before. That quote from Ray in the introductory post that "we are all animals anyway" was what the album is all about is another clue.
This is pretty much what was happening in 1968. This tune would've sat very comfortably on either "Hurdy Gurdy Man" or "In Search Of The Lost Chord." As a matter of fact, it predicted the sort of stuff that Ray Thomas would go on to write ("Floating," "Nice To Be Here" etc). If Ray Davies was into George Orwell, it only stands to reason that he would also be into T.S. Eliot. This is just in keeping with the emerging "Psychedelic Folk" trend which was always much more popular in the UK than in the U.S, with the emergence of bands like Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Lindesfarne, The Incredible String Band etc.
I’m fairly sure unless I missed something that tomorrow’s classic ‘All My Friends Were There’ was also omitted from that doc.
Must have mis-remembered - listened again and they're not so different. Mono sounds a little more polished to my ears. Anyone have a preference between mono/stereo mixes for the Village Green album as a whole?
Missed a few.. I have "Greatest Hits Syndrome" with Village Green and Starstruck, as they were both on my first kompilation and I only half notice them on their parent album as I already knew them so well. The former meant I was well up for the album however, as the lyric and 'baroque pop' style really intrigued me.. the latter, I can't believe wasn't a single, it consists of 100% distilled pop hook! Have to say side two is just smash after smash.. never noticed before.. damn you, CDs, for killing (or at least concealing) the art of album side sequencing. Phenomenal Cat is an oddity for sure, I am rather fond of the daft furry creatures so it gets the nod from me, not just the lyric but the lovely mellotron tones, soft vocal, and feel. (Enjoying the deeper lyrical analyses too.) Quite curious how the record gets more peculiar towards the end, in fact the last five songs are all unusual if not downright eccentric compared to what's gone before.
Phenomenal Cat Such a unique, odd song. Definitely not a song that you would play when trying to convince a casual listener that they should be a Kinks fan. All that said, the melody of the verse and "fum, fum, diddle-um di" sections is SUCH a wonderful catchy melody. It's like wonderful catchy melodies were just oozing out of Ray's pen throughout 1967 and 1968. It's a great melody to randomly hum, whistle, or "fum frum diddle-um di" while putting away the dishes. I'm not in love with the "Dave on helium" vocal sound, but it doesn't make me want to skip the song. I'll still listen with enjoyment. Just a wonderfully whimsical track to keep this album going...
I remember we had to read this book in high school. But I was too dopey to get anything out of it, I'm sure. A lot of classics are wasted on moody teenagers
Phenomenal Cat So this is one of the many Kinks songs I remember from my middle childhood years (age 9-14ish). Obviously this song has a very child-like quality to it so no surprise that i honed in on it. But it confused me then, as it does now. I am not quite sure what to think of it. It goes along nicely, but maybe it's too odd for its own good. I just can't get overly worked up about it...even if there is a deeper layer to the song. I do love how Ray sings the "Sahara, too/Eternity" parts - where his voice goes down and fluctuates. Nice touch. It's probably my least favorite song on the album, but I will never skip it. It's just not one that makes my heart flutter.
Phenomenal Cat I really like this song a lot. The background vocals are outstanding, the music is good, and the lyrics are interesting. An above average album track for sure. (4/5)
Travels With Charley was named checked in the Beach Boys' "California Saga" from their 1973 album Holland
PHENOMENAL CAT Come on Ray. This sounds like 1967 psychedelia, yet this album came out at the end of 1968. That's approaching two years after the release of Strawberrry Fields. You're out of time, mate. It's twee. It's whimsy. It would have made a fun B-side. But it shouldn't be on this album. It may well be, as some have suggested, a satirical take on Maharishi-type gurus leading astray gullible rock stars. Idiot boys, indeed, being led astray by a big fat cat. This certainly makes the song a lot more interesting. But usually when Ray is being satirical he lets you know. And here we're not too sure. Which to me means that Animal Farm gets to be taken seriously when in fact it's a fairy story. And this song is taken to be a fairy story when in fact it's deadly serious.
'Usually' Ray wasn't poking fun at the biggest pop stars in the world. If he wanted to poke fun at the Beatles he'd have been wise to make it as subtle as possible. A cat is subtle.
A Phenomenal dog would be one who does its “business”….then cleans up after itself. I just hope it’s not sitting in a tree when it goes.
Overall, for this album, I prefer the stereo mixes. They DO show some seams and weird hole-in-the-image panning here and there-- the result of being recorded mostly or entirely on bounced 4-track machines. But they also seem consistently dreamier. A little murkier in only the best way. Stereo probably works best on vinyl and NOT in headphones. In headphones the glitches are distracting, all the more so in the wide separation of a digital transfer. One debatable exception is "Wicked Annabella," which has a couple spooky vocal overdubs in the mono that are missing in the stereo. And "Phenomenal Cat" in stereo has a pretty serious delayed-panning glitch when Ray moves into the "Though he was big and fat" section, at around :48. Listen in the right channel solo and see what happens. I'm a little surprised they didn't fix that.
Of course I love "Phenomenal Cat," but it's hard to see how it fits on this album. It may be more comfortable on side 2 of Piper at the Gates of Dawn or something. It's a lovely little nursery rhyme with a great melody, and can be creepy when that voice comes in. My favorite part is around 2:12 or so.. that very gentle "Fum, fum, diddle-um di" as it kinda fades back.. or the voice goes to sleep.. it's a nice touch.
I agree. It works better for me and, Inspite of it’s flaws as a stereo mix, it beats the mono hands down.
Mark i think it's become abundantly clear that you are a big fan of Kink but don't you fret i won't tell anyone! N.b. For the benefit of @Scottsol i will not add that I think our host @mark winstanley is a phenomenal cat, even if he is at present a bit out of his tree?
All Of My Friends Were There. From songfacts - The song was inspired by a real event that happened to Ray Davies. In Andy Miller's Thirty Three and a Third book about Village Green, Davies recalled a concert at which he performed with a temperature of 104. "I had lots and lots to drink, and I thought, 'It doesn't matter,'" he said. "The curtains opened, and all my friends were there in the front row. It was a terrible night and I thought I would write a song about it." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- stereo mix (2:23), recorded Jul 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London My big day, it was the biggest day of my life. It was the summit of my long career, But I felt so down, and I drank too much beer, The management said that I shouldn't appear. I walked out onto the stage and started to speak. The first night I've missed for a couple of years, I explained to the crowd and they started to jeer, And just when I wanted no one to be there, All of my friends were there. Not just my friends, but their best friends too. All of my friends were there to stand and stare, Say what they may, all of their friends need not stay. Those who laughed were not friends anyway. All of my friends were there to stand and stare. Days went by, I walked around dressed in a disguise. I wore a mustache and I parted my hair, And gave the impression that I did not care, But oh, the embarrassment, oh, the dispair. Came the day, helped with a few large glasses of gin, I nervously mounted the stage once again, Got through my performance and no one complained, Thank God I can go back to normal again. I went to that old café, Where I had been in much happier days, And all of my friends were there, And no one cared. Say what they may, all of my friends were there. Not just my friends, but their best friends too. All of my friends were there, Now I don't care. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Noma Music, Inc./Hi-Count Music, Inc. BMI To be honest this song's lyrics have never really penetrated, because the delivery is so unique and somewhat over the top, that aside from some key lines I have never really noticed what they were. Prior to looking at them today all I knew was that the performer had some issue, and all his friends were there, and later on he either redeemed himself, or realised that his friends weren't messed up about it, and still loved him, or something. So this is going to be interesting. Ok, well that is slightly different than I imagined them to be. It kind of ties in with what I thought, except I never realised there was a second performance. So that's an interesting little twist. I like the lyric. It is interesting to me that he was drunk in the first and second performance, and one worked well and one didn't. That is pretty true really. I get huge performance anxiety..... it is a weird paradox, it is something I love doing, but I literally get sever anxiety attacks. I haven't been a situation where I have played gigs for a lot of years now, but back in the day I drank a little and sometimes partook of combustible stuff in order to calm myself enough to do it. So I do completely understand this scenario. I never had any fall flat on my face situations, but I can very much see how it could happen.... one piece of advice for anyone that does perform, particularly singers, don't drink beer, beer makes you burp.... it's hard to cover a burp when singing, particularly when anxiety already has your diaphragm messed up lol Anyway, the thing that really sells this song to me, and gets really close to being over the top, but manages to just stay within the zone, is Ray's delivery. While I'm thinking about it ... I generally refer to a song as being in a three, but for anyone interested, this song is a good example of the difference between 6/8 and 3/4. I guess this is a classic music hall type of arrangement, and it shows Ray's mastery of the form. The kind of disjointed rhythmic structure, with the offbeat kind of feel, manages to give the feeling that the performer is intoxicated to some degree. Ray's rapid fire vocal delivery is really excellent, and somewhat matches any of the fast rappers, for verbal dexterity. It really comes across as a vocal challenge, and I think Ray knocks it out of the park. I suppose some could feel this doesn't fit the perceived theme of the album, but there is no reason why the Village Green wouldn't have a theatre of some description, and from my knowledge of old England towns, it seems there were generally performers and theater groups and such that entertained the locals. Also we have a certain closeness, and innocence in the fact that most of the people in the town know the performer. Peter has a solid bass presence here, and the way the drums and bass work together here is really excellent. It is interesting that musically this ends up being quite sparse. Guitar bass and drums in the verses, and the organ joining in for the choruses. This track comes across as much as a performance as it does a song, and it is a great and entertaining performance to me. This is another song that I really like, and one of the reasons is, that to my ears at least, this is such a unique song. The styling and the arrangement, the vocal delivery ... it is just so quirky and original.
Another fantastic song - doesn't this album deliver in spades?! The contrast in the music and delivery between the verses and chorus are really interesting, and help make it a fascinating listen.
All Of My Friends Were There You don’t need to be a singer or musician to identify with Ray’s character in this song. Anyone who has had to do public speaking - for work, a wedding or whatever - would recognise the scenario. Other people make it look easy but you are so nervous you know it’s going to go badly. ‘Oh the embarrassment oh the despair.’ Having been the performing seal - both successfully and less successfully - I cringe a little when I hear this song. But Ray does capture the experience so well. And it’s not a song that fits anywhere except on this album. Well executed.
