Did You See His Name Bit of a dissent here (on multiple levels) Bit of a plodding Beatle-esque vibe. Strike one. Bit of a Dylan-esque vocal. Strike two. Needlessly tragic outcome for an (at least for me) unsympathetic character. Strike three. That I don't fully despise the song is a real testament to The Kinks. But I doubt this would ever make it into a Kinks playlist for me.
man do i love "the great lost kinks album" my copy like i imagine most originals has really bad ring wear , but i cherish it. maybe the album that sealed my fate as a life long kinks fan.
The transition there from 4/4 to 6/4 time may be the culprit, we kind of stumble over those extra beats - but I think this is intentional, it's not a song that we should feel comfortable listening to. The use of 6/4 time is interesting and effective, I never noticed it until just now. It lends momentum to the song as it gallops towards the poor man's end, and makes the cut-off very dramatic.
"Did You See His Name" I am not very familiar with this song. I didn't even know if I had it, as I couldn't recall how the song went. Turns out it's on my 3 CD copy of TKATVGPS. Not sure how this one slipped past me. I will have to spend the day with this one. I love it after the first couple listens. It reminds me in parts of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel who you could say was heavily influenced by The Kinks. I could see this belonging on the album. Where was this first released and why wasn't it on The Great Lost Kinks Album? I'd say Ray nearly had enough material for a triple album!
"Did You See His Name" is a most pithy telling of a poor man driven to death due to newspaper publicity of his minor shoplifting charge which was based on an actual story. It seems that this person, even though he was poor, had a sense of self respect & shame that led him to this desperate act. It was the Side 2 closer to The Kink Kronkiles. Perhaps Ray saw something in this particular song to do a full band rendition, possibly the only one from those batch of songs that he submitted to the Beeb TV, although one could hope for more. On a somewhat related note, I was at my local Savers thrift store yesterday looking for CDs when I found a copy of Dave Davies' Rock Bottom live album from 2000. I had a copy, but I got rid of it, but I figured for $1.99 I'll give it another chance. This time I really enjoyed listening it. The songs were great, as well as the performances, although I did wish that Ray sang some of the songs. It would have been a killer Kinks live album.
It wasn’t on the GLKA cos it had already been included on its prequel The Kinks Kronikles the year before! Although a lot of the KK material was very rare in the States, ‘DYSHN’ was the only completely previously unreleased track on the 1972 double LP comp. Always thought that was kinda odd. Then GLKA the year after is mostly unreleased stuff but about a quarter of it is rare but previously issued.
The first time I heard this, I (wrongfully) assumed that it must've been from the same ball of wax as "Situation Vacant," simply because of the similar meter and tempo. Now that I know of it's origins, I find it much more enigmatic. It's in the key of B♭ and the sudden A♭ chord that begins the bridge is a really nice touch. Very reminiscent of the sudden B♭ chord that begins the bridge of "Two Sisters." Holy moly, if these tunes have all been copyrighted, then they all must at least exist somewhere in the form of sheet music. Even if it's just a melody line with chord symbols on top. What I'd give to have a look at those! This reminds me of the fact that according to the Harry Nilsson website, in November of 1969, he copyrighted two songs ("Her Eyes" and "Boy From Sugarloaf") that have never seen the light of day. This would've been at around the time of his creative peak, and I'd give anything to see that sheet music as well.
The Great Lost Kinks Album was also one of my first Kinks albums along w/The Kink Kronikles, which were perfect gateways for us Yank Kinks fans, as well as compiling all those loose songs from 1966-69. I think that it was released as Reprise's last Kinks album in place of the Percy soundtrack. Unfortunately, it became a cut out almost immediately upon release due to Ray's objections. I think that Ray's objection was only partly because he felt that the songs were subpar (his opinion, not ours). I also feel that Ray objected to the liner notes by John Mendelsohn, who also wrote the liner notes to The Kink Kronikles. However, while the latter was complementary to the songs, his notes in TGLKA was basically an attack of the Kinks post 1970, as well as Ray's on stage persona at that time (1973). This is why I feel that it was never reissued & it's songs released in dribs & drabs in the CD reissue era. For the Avids who never had the album or had the liner notes missing (it was on a separate sheet of paper, not printed on the cover), here's a link to the TGLKA liner notes via the great KindaKinks website so you can judge for yourself: The Great Lost Kinks Album
We will be looking at the Great Lost Kinks Album... it was only released in 1973, and I gather most if not all the songs will have been looked at by then. I was going to put it up today, as the bulk of the songs come from here, but there are others we are yet to get to. So I decided to treat it as the compile it is
DID YOU SEE HIS NAME ? A finger-pointing song. Who's to blame for this man's death? The grocery store owner? The judge? The newspaper? His employer? His poverty? Well he wasn't that poor because he was renting a maisonette which is a two level apartment. Nothing to do with a one room existence, Mark. The newspaper was reporting facts, not fake news. His employer could no longer trust him. Maybe he had a small job in a bank and his next victim would be you or me. The grocery store owner can't have people walking of with his goods. And the judge didn't send him to prison. He got off with probation. Apparently this song was written for a satirical TV show. Maybe Ray was satirising a Dylanesque protest song. Everyone's to blame including the singer emphasising that we all want to know the name of this man who killed himself over a stolen tin of beans. And when we know the answer we can all la-la along with the chorus and say we didn't know him and it wasn't our fault. A catchy song with some neat changes in rhythm. But, all in all, a fairly minor opus.
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From rest.co.uk: What is a maisonette? A maisonette is a two-storey flat, where your front door is your own. This means that you can exit your home directly to the outside, as opposed to a regular flat where you have a shared corridor. No private entrance, means no claim to the name - often you may hear them being referred to as a ‘duplex’, their american title. A great way to think of maisonettes is simply a ‘house on stilts’, as they are often located over shops, garages, or other maisonettes.
This was apparently recorded at the same session or chunk of sessions as "Lincoln County," and you may notice that they each feature an organ set to the same exact sound. The fidelity of the track was poor enough on Kronikles that I wondered for years what happened at the end of the song. "His gas bill pays in it"? What the heck did that mean?
Did You See His Name-Getting behind here. Honestly Mark your work ethic amazes me. Have loved this little ditty ever since first hearing it when Kronicles was released. I always thought of it as a slight to the press. Funny if you just listened to the music and not paid attention to the lyrics it would sound like a bouncy good timey tune. Well I guess in a sense it is bouncy and good timey except for the poor bloke in the song. More great stuff from The Kinks.
Huh...I'm an 80s gal...and Adam Ant/the Ants was my obsession. I didn't quite pick that up, but I do love me some twangy guitar due to this connection. Maybe because of the organ sound, I just can't quite see it. Anyhoo... Did You See His Name Only heard this song this year for the first time. I think it's a minor classic. It's tragic if you look at the lyrics. But as has been pointed out, the bouncy music belies what is going on here. and the ending where the bottom simply drops out...it's devastating in a way. Quite unexpected and effective. Ray really is a genius with words.
Safeway 2's post of the cover of "Did You See His Name " reminded me of this clip by the Young Fresh Fellows that I should have posted a few pages ago:
Here's a one bedroom, ground floor maisonette with a total floor area of 374 sq ft. A unit of this size in a depressed area in the ‘60s needn’t have been unaffordable. The Island, West Drayton 1 bed maisonette for sale - £189,950 the
"Misty Water" - Another song I love. Before I was participating in this song-by-song thread, I never analyzed the songs this closely. I'm surprised by how much is going on in these songs.. the layers, the different sections. I never tire of the chorus of this one like others have mentioned. I think it's super catchy and I love how Dave can be heard chiming in on that last line: "Misty WA-tah!" Love how the guitar cuts in on the 2nd verse after each chorus, those "oooh's".. then the rockin' break (no solo's of any kind). I would love a backing track version of this to hear that bass and piano in the chorus even more clearly. Another kick ass track. "Did You See His Name" - I'm not as high on this one as most of you are. I neither love it nor hate it. It's just kind of there. It's definitely a quick escalation from petty thief to tragic demise set to a bouncy backing.
