The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. abzach

    abzach Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Everybody's in Show-Biz - the studio album is ok but the live album is IMO bad, ruined by the terrible Banana Boat Song.
     
  2. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    Maybe the overall theme of the album is deeper than simply the difficulties of a touring musician; this song might be leading to a larger point that behind the image of the entertainer is an actual human that can suffer and feel pain. And not just entertainers, since everyone is in show business to some extent; we all get up in the morning, put on our costumes and act out a role for our friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. Or maybe I'm getting confused with Soap Opera :laugh:.
     
  3. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    "Here Comes Yet Another Day"

    This sets up the album perfectly. It lets us know that The Kinks are here to have a little fun. It sounds to me like it was written to be an opening tune on the upcoming tour. I checked some set lists and they were opening with "Top Of The Pops" quite often in 1972, but jumping to 1974 and this is the opener on several shows. It looks like they dropped it around 1976 for the Schoolboys In Disgrace tour.

    This is the eleventh Kinks album in nine years and nearly every one of them has been a well thought out masterpiece. I think Ray and the band deserve to cut loose and and have a bit of fun without it having to be some major statement. Most of these songs were for the live show to utilize the horn section. The playing on this song is magnificent from the opening organ to the phenomenal drumming, bass, and guitar. Several of you have already commented on the drums, but wow! Mick is killing it! How fun would it be to play drums like this? I also love the use of the horns that stab in and out. Mike Cotton also has a little trumpet part that reminds me a bit of Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" style. That's about the highest trumpet compliment I can give. This is the song that says hurry up and get your drink the show is starting. I can now also hear Joe Walsh in the beginning vocal which @Zeki had to point out! :)

    I think it's a great opening song for the album. There are a couple other songs on this album that have been permanently stuck in my head for a couple days. I keep burning up calories as fast as I keep putting them down while looking a little on the funny, sunny side of life. This is a smashing little record.
     
  4. Smiler

    Smiler Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston TX
    Here Comes Yet Another Day – A peppy, catchy opener about “just another mad, mad day on the road,” to quote Ray’s Rolling Stone counterpart. The organ rises like the sun peeping through his window, and then the lines quickly tumble out one after another, no time to take a breath between them, just like the white lines on the highway while rushing to the next gig. He paints a vivid picture of the musician’s non-stop touring grind, adding little details like “beer stains on my pillow.” A great kickoff for the album, and one can see it as the opener for the tour film with quick cuts of life on the road (quick cuts 70s style, not the microsecond cuts we have now by ADD-afflicted directors…but I digress).

    I like the horns but the little instrumental breaks do seem a little underwhelming and the song could have been shortened. I do think this comes across better live; I first became familiar with this on the 1974 live BBC version and much prefer it.

    I think those pointing out this album is sort of a Lola Part 2 are spot on – the album is very self-focused on Ray’s personal experience and stresses in the music business, this time from the touring aspect. Like @Vangro and others, I don’t particularly want to hear a lot of whining from musicians about life on the road. I don’t really want to hear the clerk at the grocery store complain about her job either. I get it, work sucks, but please act professionally and don’t complain to the customers.

    Having said that, most touring singer/songwriters will do it at some point because writing about events in their lives is often what they do and life on the road is such a consuming part of their lives. Plus this was to accompany a tour film, so I can be a bit more forgiving. All I ask is to please make it interesting and melodic, and a hook or two doesn’t hurt. It works for me here.

    Ray would eventually go on to write a more universal and IMO better song about getting up and doing it again (but that's many white lines away from today).
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2021
  5. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Phew! I was expecting every post ahead of me to have pointed that out…and instead nobody said a word. Am glad for the backup! (I bet I could stymie a James Gang fan at the ‘ol bar by playing just that little bit and asking what James Gang album it’s from. There’d be head scratching for sure.)
     
  6. side3

    side3 Younger Than Yesterday

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    I have a real soft spot for this album. I saw Lou Reed on the tour to support this LP and he did many of the songs. It was a great show. I realize the album isn't exactly Velvets level, but it puts me right back at that moment I saw him.
     
  7. Paul Mazz

    Paul Mazz Senior Member

    Me neither
     
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  8. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    Here Comes Yet Another Day

    I agree this seems to be purposely written as an opener to introduce the feeling of this album and be a live opener too. The driving rhythm just keeps on going, even during the "breakdown" sections. There are a few times when Ray starts his next line while he still lingers a little on the previous line. Just an interesting production decision that must have been done on purpose. It really just emphasizes that it never stops. Before you are ready, you gotta go again. And ironically, there may be no time to "go" if you gotta go...

    Mick's drumming is great. Gosling's doing some great funky bass parts in as well. The horns are used nicely too. In my mind, I picture fast clips of the rock star life: blindly signing autographs, finishing a bottle of beer and tossing it aside, etc. And then in the breakdown areas with that rolling bass, I picture a closeup on the wheels of the bus as it makes its way from the hotel to the arena, or perhaps the wheels of the bus between arenas if they are touring through Pennsylvania and hitting up Philly and Hershey Park.

    This is definitely a new, fun, bit of a looser sound. Even though I do think the production is a bit muddy still (in my opinion).
     
  9. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    This certainly makes sense. A scrapped planned album, songs abandoned, and from the pieces, a new entity is born. All around the time of a nervous breakdown? The Smiley Smile of the Kinks Kanon, perhaps.
     
  10. Smiler

    Smiler Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston TX
    I like this! It did occur to me that those little breakdowns could have been designed as spaces for visuals or even dialogue, like some of the jams on Arthur.
     
  11. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    …and track 2 on both albums is about eating…
     
  12. Michael Streett

    Michael Streett Senior Member

    Location:
    Florence, SC
    Those that are only familiar with the Velvel CD releases of this album, note that Here Comes Yet Another Day is shortened by about 25 seconds due to an early fade. Also the live portion of the album has had a couple of minutes of between song banter and noodling edited out as well on the Velvel.
    All of this was restored on the latest Legacy Edition from 2016.
     
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Good info, cheers
     
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  14. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    That's me. I think Here Comes Yet Another Day is long enough and I don't think I need more between song banter and noodling on the live part, to be honest.
     
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  15. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Shambolic is a favorite word of mine. Not used often in the US, so when I see it, I remind myself that I need to employ it more often. And then I promptly forget. :D
     
  16. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Here Comes Yet Another Day
    So I was at work today and on my own essentially. So I rocked out to the Kinks, as one does. Started with this recent album, went to Preservation Pt 1, then to MH (which I did enjoy despite my overall lukewarm criticism in recent weeks) and then bounced around to songs from 3 decades. I'm making dinner (as one does) and what song is stuck in my head over all the songs I heard today? ...this one. I didn't conscientiously think about what today's song would be, but here we are.

    I think it's incredibly catchy song and a great opener. Thanks to Mark and others who pointed out Mick's drumming. Unless drumming is in my face, I won't necessarily notice it, but yes, he does an exceptional job with it.

    I think this gives a great feel for what being a traveling rock band feels like. Of course, conversation is going to be pretty basic - weather and whatnot. I mean, this is Ray's occupation. Who the hell is talking about sexy things at their 'workplace'? no one. I don't think he's trying to say "poor me" about having issues with brushing teeth or changing his underwear. i think he's painting a picture.

    I'm a sucker for horns, so bring them on. And they're bright horns...unlike some of the MH horns.

    Good start!
     
  17. TeddyB

    TeddyB Senior Member

    Location:
    Hollywoodland
    Delaney and Bonnie. Joe Cocker with Mad Dogs and Englishmen. But especially the former.
     
  18. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Awwww, c'mon. I think it's very funny, but I love that sort of humor. I guess you either dig it or you don't.
     
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  19. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    i am kinda with you on this , although i go up until they left RCA records. i have the first 3 or 4 records on arista but have never been able to "get into them" so am looking forward to the comments to come. i also have so strong feeling about the last 5 RCA records.
     
  20. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    i like "showbiz" a lot and consider it one of the kinks gems. now i have to admit i don't remember if this is my theory or i read it somewhere and have just run with it , and it stands a bit in opposition to the this is a double album with the theme about life on the road and then a live lp to put that into some sort of perspective. they theory i go with is as follows. RCA wanted to put out the record as a single lp and the band also wanted to put out a double live record around the same time , double live lp's were a thing back in the 70's. RCA balked due to concern over cost and sales etc so the double lp that was released was a bit of a compromise so to speak. i have always felt that the studio record of "showbiz" would be more highly regarded if it had been released as a single lp. i really like the deluxe version released a few years back with the "double" live lp along with studio lp.so again not saying this is my theory as i more than likely read it someone , if that is the case i imagine someone here will let me know. either way still a 5/5 kinks lp for me any way you slice it.( food reference).
     
  21. Fischman

    Fischman RockMonster, ClassicalMaster, and JazzMeister

    Location:
    New Mexico
    Here Comes Yet Another Day

    Whatever weaknesses this album may have are certainly not present here on the opener!

    This song has a fantastic momentum. I think it would make an excellent video with all sorts of frantic motion presented in that sort of sped up film style, everything moving at double time. Those drums! Avory is killing it! Love the horns, and their interplay. That staccato burst followed by the quick lick from Dave is just a joy. The transitions in and out of each section are well placed and well executed. Really, this song just grabs me right from the organ intro and doesn't let go until that final frantic note.

    Now let's talk about placement. Could there be a better album opener? The start of a new day is the song subject for the start of a new album. Yeah, simple, but it works like a charm. Perfect.

    And let's not slight the lyrics here. Sure, we've heard more than enough life on the road type songs in our day, but this one is a little more special than most.
    Here comes yet another day, creeping through my window.
    Drank myself to sleep last night, beer stains on my pillow.

    I am not a morning person, so this line really resonates with me. Just as the music kicks things off with a bang, so do the lyrics.

    As is often the case with Davies penned lyrics, if you're not paying attention, there are little lines tucked in the corners of the song that make it special that you'll likely miss, at least in terms of impact. Case in point:
    Made a lot of conversation, talked a lot of weather,
    What a creative way to express the superficiality of relationships that is an unavoidable by product of being on the move. Yeah, we talked, but we never really talked! Brilliance in a line that doesn't jump up in your face. And the follow on:
    I hope we meet again some day, and spend some time together.
    Yes! Those ships passing in the night moments often lead to that kind of yearning! The desire to explore the relationship at a deeper level. But alas:
    No time for affection,
    I'm moving in a new direction


    There are lots of fun songs with momentum, and there are a few songs that treat tired old topics with some freshness, but I daresay there aren't many like this one that do both at the same time so very, very well.

    Kudos, guys, I call this a Klassic!
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2021
  22. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    ^^ Great summation! I agree!
     
  23. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Consciously, that is. Ooops. :D
     
  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Ahhh, it works either way lol
     
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  25. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    Now that is complex squared. In Judaism, nothing is simple. You may know that when Hillel was challenged to explain the Torah while standing on one leg he is said to have replied, “Treat others as you would have them treat you. The rest is commentary.” Well the commentary has been going on constantly since then.
    You know why there are so many good Jewish lawyers? Because of the Talmudic tradition in Judaism of parsing every sentence, dissecting every idea and contesting every thought in Jewish writings, customs and oral history. The Talmud itself was completed circa 200 C.E. But commentary did not stop and a few hundred years later we ended up with this.
    [​IMG]
    Naturally, as 1500 years have passed we have added commentary on the commentary and detailed debates over how all this applies to modern day life.

    You think, for example that as a Thanksgiving approaches there would be no reason for observant Jews to have even a moments hesitation about eating turkey, and yet:
    Is Turkey Kosher?: Ask the Rabbi Response

    Things get even trickier with the swordfish that seems to have no scales:

    https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...946/Zivitofsky+-+Kashrus+of+the+swordfish.pdf

    Oy vey. Simple, kosher is not.
     
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