The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

I haven't had a listen to the later live albums yet, but for me, most of the seventies material is better on the two live albums .... better may be the wrong word, because I like the studio versions....
I think the live versions are more immediate and in your face... that might be how I see it ... and I have always liked that.

 

It's obviously the generic Ja-Da chord progression. Even though it's at the wrong tempo, the first one of those to pop into my head upon hearing "Holiday" for the first time was Al Hirt's 1964 hit "Fancy Pants," mainly because it also utilizes the same first three notes:

 

Muswell Hillbillies

Unlike their other albums, this one didn't grip me at first, but like Lola before it I now find myself loving the whole thing from start to finish. In some ways I think that my obsession with the Kinks has more or less happened in real-time, that is I started with the early garage rock hits, then moved onto the "klassic" four from the late 60s and now I find myself listening to Lola and Muswell tracks the most... I suspect that Preservation and Showbiz will be next...

Like Lola, there are a few tracks I really don't care for, but I'd still call it a great album and one of the best released during the very competitive year of 1971.


20th Century Man

The album starts off strong with possibly its most energetic song. Even before I got into this album like I have now I loved this song. I love how it builds up and his vocals get all rough by the end. This might be my favorite vocal performance by Ray, come to think... perfect way to get you ready for a great album. Love that jangly guitar part during the bridge and the snippets of vocal echo that come in too. Love the organ as well. Quite possibly my favorite on the album.


Acute Schizophrenia...

Great lyrics. I really like the lazy country blues of this album. I think a lot of the blues/country that was being made in the early 70s took more inspiration from the Chicago electric blues scene than the older ragtime-inspired stuff, but Ray seemed to look further back for inspiration. This song in particularly shows a lot of Dixieland influence, which I don't think many rock groups (especially a British one known for being British!) were doing. Fun song and keeps the momentum perfectly.


Holiday

A lot like Acute Schizophrenia, but without the horns. Not that I'm complaining... both are great and all of side 1 is perfect imo. The slower shuffle of the song really underscores the lyrics expertly. One of my favorites from the album.

 

I'm not even comparing the 3 songs to the live album coming up, but the videos of performances on youtube and elsewhere. I came at the songs on MH from that direction...seeing the live stuff before fully immersing myself in the album. And so when I listen to the album, I do miss what I heard on the live versions. And it doesn't hurt that Ray is really sparkling as a performer in the 70s.

 

Just stumbled upon this on Twitter today:

 

One observation I forgot to mention re: "Acute Schizophrenia" is the real clever way he says "acute schizophrenia he sees" the first time and "acute schizophrenia disease" the rest. "He sees" (which I thought was "he's seen") rhyming with "disease" is a smart touch.

Seriously, today I just keep playing "Acute Schizophrenia," "Holiday," "Complicated Life," "Alcohol," and "Have a Cuppa Tea" over and over. Love these 5 songs.. they sound so good, so much fun, so catchy.. just super Kinks katalog highlights for me.

 

Actually for the first verse and half of the second, Ray sung it with a cigar in his mouth, so for whatever reason, it was intentional. I’m not sure why though.

 

I totally agree with this, and it could be why I sometimes like, sometimes dislike, this song! IMO it continues the 'comedy songs' after the previous one - OK in isolation, but annoying when you have a few back to back. It must be the musical styles and vocal delivery that put me off, as the next album has lots of very funny songs, most of which I really like!

 

I don't have a lot to say about "Holiday" - lyrically it's a good summation of the delights of a British holiday, even if there may be deeper undertones to the narrator's situation. I'm another one who's not too keen on the vocal effect, but I think it gets better as it goes along. Overall I can take this one or leave it - it may be that it comes across better listened to individually, rather than within the album where it tends to contribute to the general feeling of drabness that I get from this album.

 

Ha, either I missed this before or I forgot I responded to you already, but either way, thanks! She was, in a lot of ways. Her influence over my love of music was substantial. For me, music is life. Her music was the foundation and building blocks to the soundtrack to my life. Thankfully she did not focus on or restrict by genre, she just loved good music. In one of my last conversations with her before she passed, I told her how my daughter had been raised listening to Queen, Stones, etc, and her response was that good music never gets old.

 

Sorry to do this now instead of when we did Arthur, but here's another song called "Australia" by the recent UK group called the Len Price 3, which I like & think could have been on Arthur:

 

That's rather good!

 

Anybody hear “Harper Valley PTA” in “Acute Schizophrenia”?

 

Not saying it isn't there, but I'm not hearing it

 

Hmm.. i just learned something new! thanks.

 

I heard it in the resolution to each verse 2nd couplet like”they're gonna start the third world war”…
it’s just like “ and you're all Harper Valley hypocrites” in PTA verse resolution. Now I can’t unhear it!

 

Ditto. I sorta hear a little bit of what you're saying, but would never tie them together.

 

Yes i see that also happened with Fanny so perhaps common on Beat Club.
N.b. Glad to see it without joining Facebook!

 

Well, Tom T. Hall was a country character creator much in the same vein as Ray so, perhaps....

 

This seems very much a mashup of Holiday in Waikiki, Lazy Old Sun, Australia and maybe some Radiohead.

 

And not even incorrectly huh?

 

Yes I had been thinking all along that these songs come off better live when the theatricality of the lyric comes to full life and is aided and abetted by Ray's exaggerated mannerisms & movements.

 

And a thin Beatles Wafer of Because with a hint of Tomorrow Never Knows.

 

And Spam!