Like many, I find the live disc of Showbiz a bit of a waste of time and wish that the studio disc was released on its own, although I realise that having a live show kind of fits with the loose theme of the trials of a band on the road. And as someone who doesn't like Muswell, I probably dislike the live album more than most here! If I want a live show from close to this era, I prefer the In Concert show on the BBC box.
I never listen to that second disc. I remembered it was because I thought it was sloppy, but listening to these opening tracks this morning made me realize previous posters were right: the playing is certainly not to blame, it’s the butchering of the concert flow that is the cause of such an uncomfortable listening experience. On these opening songs, the playing is just remarkable. Driven, powerful, fast, assured, thundering. And this is just to describe Mick Avory’s performance! Top of the Pops has got to be the definitive version, it destroys the studio cut, especially because of the drum power, but also Dave’s machine-gun sound. I like the Louie Louie / Can’t Explain internal riff rhyme between Pops and Brainwashed and it’s fascinating to be reminded they used Mike Cotton to fantastic effect on the rockier songs too. But I can’t get around the fact that the two songs should be separated by Get Back in Line, Muswell Hillbillies and Sunny Afternoon. God, how I wish I saw them back then…
I love the live disc (for what it is). Ramshackle to the max (or perhaps drunk is a better word), filled with bizarre song choices and what not. It doesn't add or detract to the studio set as it is its own entity. It does however tell us quite a lot about Ray's mental health around this time and as such it should at least be interesting even for the detractors.
I think the eventual bonus disc on the deluxe (or whatever it is) is a much more satisfying listen. The album is just too choppy, with too many incidental bits and pieces that are probably fun in the concert setting, but just make the album disjointed and odd.
That is some excellent back story. I can see it being a bit of fun at the concert, I just don't think it works very well on the album.
Yea, I don't see that it detracts from the studio album at all..... to some degree, it is like bonus tracks on an album reissue, listen or don't listen, it doesn't effect the main subject at all.
I had loosely listened (is that a term?!) to the live portion once before and didn’t have any further interest. But I listened to the opening tracks for today’s assignment and found I liked the first two. Nicely executed, not drunkenly shambolic at all.
I never paid much attention to the live album until this year. On re-listening to it, I really like it a lot. One thing I hadn't noticed before is, Ray hardly plays any instrument at all. So it's just the four others and the occasional brass. Avory sounds better live than in the studio, to my ears. Dalton plays the part of rythm guitarist when Dave goes solo. On Top of the Pops, it feels as if he's playing two-notes chords on the bass while Dave is soloing (at the very end), but maybe it's just the sound, I'm not sure. I like the jazzy snippets too, they fit perfectly with the album's theme and cover art. They act as pleasant interludes, a bit like the fake commercials on The Who Sell Out. There's no introduction of the Mike Cotton guys on the other version. The start is less neat too. Otherwise I like it better, I think. Messier but merrier. They take it a little bit too fast though. Top of the Pops wasn't played the other night, it seems. The version is great, a bit different from the studio version (there are words sung over the "lalala" part that I don't remember hearing on the Lola album version). It's too early to tell, maybe, but I think I actually like this album's tracklisting, in the end. Live albums can be difficult to swallow as a whole. I like this one as it is, light and short, with non-Kinks stuff. But then, I feel that way because I know I can listen to the whole thing if I want to. So much of the frustration is gone.
I suppose having a version of "Top of the Pops" without Ray's cringe-inducing comedy Jewish accent at the end is a good thing.
I am always interested in live recordings. I have a pretty extensive collection of live recordings plus pretty well every official live document of the performers I am interested in (though I do not have all of the archival live material released this century - yet). The live disc on Showbiz is not a live show I am particularly drawn to and I have not listened to it in a while. Others comments that it is a bit sloppy reflect my own views. Still, it has a lot of live versions of songs from Muswell Hillbillies so it does still hold some interest to me. As we go through the various albums, I will pursue my Kinks live listening project and listen to some of the shows I have that correspond to each album. One Kinks live recording I am drawn to is renown audience taper Dan Lampinski's excellent capture of the Kinks at the Palace Theater in Providence RI in 1974 which highlights the material from the Preservation albums. It definitely presents that material in a pretty positive light. It's on YouTube.
The only version that can be called definitive is the original album track. I’m not going to discuss why I think it is musically superior because that would lead to excessive subjectivity. What is unquestionably true is that one of the emotional highlights of the song is the encomium of “dearest Marylin”. As far as I know the album cut is the only Kinks version that includes the stanza and must therefore be considered definitive. That Ray chose to eliminate it from his future performances does not mean very much, just as Lucas’ butchered version of the original Star Wars in the 1997 Special Edition reflects on the ascendancy of the 1977 original.
Fully agree. It's a vital part of the song for me too. It's a shame about Ray choosing to wield the axe on that segment. In fact, on any segment of Celluloid Heroes.
I assume he dropped it because, after "Candle in the Wind", any song that mentioned Marilyn Monroe would seem corny as hell?
In which case he should have reinstated it twenty years ago, at which point Candle in the Wind had become a song about Lady Di.
Ray was so ahead of the curve, he had his own Diana tribute song in 1984! (I refer to ‘Good Day’ of course, a song whose first verse could I guess never sound exactly the way it was originally intended after 1997 :/ )
It's all conjecture anyway. But let's suppose he stopped singing that line because of the corniness of the song "Candle in the Wind". Well that song is now like 50 times cornier than it was before and, even if it's now about someone else, the danger that it might still be associated in some minds with its original subject mean that you wouldn't want to go near it with ten foot bargepole.
I guess no one is gonna call out the best part of the entire (both discs) Everybody's in Showbiz? Where the guy says: "Alright...let's hear it for THE KINKS!" If I knew how to custom make a phone ring tone, that little snippet would be mine. I might not have time today...but I have deeper thoughts on the live disc.
That's very debatable. The Elton John song has been de-Marilynized for the younger generation, they don't have a clue who the song was originally about. Anyway, who's that Norma Jean girl ?
