I’m in Disgrace: This song gets side two off to a quick rocking start. After an enjoyable brief gentle beginning, Dave steps in with some chunky riffing and we are off. The song itself is catchy and I like Ray’s vocals, but the highlight for me is Dalton’s excellent bass work during the break and once again Dave’s solo, an attack on both ears as he solos back and forth between the left and right channels. If it weren’t for Hard Way, this would be the most solid rocker on the album. This song really jumped out at me as showing the benefits of not being as cluttered with outside players that have largely drowned out the band on the most recent albums. On any of the last five albums, Ray probably would have chosen to add horns to the instrumental break so that we would have not heard as easily the fantastic playing from Dave and the rhythm section. I really enjoyed the recent four or five albums during the theatrical period, much more than I would have anticipated, but right now I’m happy to hear the kinks being the kinks without the additional musicians.
UK in 1980 as part of a set of 12 singles actually. Japanese 7" release in 1971 as a tie-in or cross promotion with the film Gimme Shelter.
Ah thanks. When did that start getting heavy radio airplay? Was it only when “classic radio” became a thing?
Well I was only born in 1968, let's ask an American that was listening to FM in 1970. N.b. Gimme Shelter was mooted as a potential US single and should have been a follow up to Honky Tonk Women as Street Fighting Man had been to Jumpin' Jack Flash the year before.
I reckon go with today... I forgot about it. Being the weekend, it gives folks a chance to listen to it. It also may, or may not give folks a different perspective for the album ... before we move into the next album
From wiki: “but it was not until 1978 that listenership to FM stations exceeded that of AM stations in North America.” Which mirrors my memory, that FM radio took off (in the US) in the latter part of the 70s. Gimme Shelter may have been played in FM in 1970 but not many people would remember it from then. I suspect.
Since probably the nineties, it must have seemed odd that people listened to the radio to hear new music, to younger people at least lol
You have to remember that this was the time when the Stones were trying to get rid of both Allen Klein and Decca Records. They owed Deeca one album (which became Get Your Ya Yas Out) and one "new" single (which became C***sucker Blues). The emnity between the parties probably precluded any talk of "Gimmie Shelter" as a single.
Probably true! I was in the States from autumn 1972 through the end of summer 1973. AM radio exclusively. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, School’s Out, something from Michael Jackson (was it ‘Ben’? Maybe). I remember Grand Funk’s ‘Rock and Roll Soul being played. The big thing was to purchase albums from Columbia House Record Club. A penny for 12. I’d pore over the choices.
"I'm In Disgrace", a nice, solid 70s rocker, with the added poignancy of now knowing that it was based on the actual events involving Dave and his lover Sue. I wonder how Dave felt about his brother using this event, which truly affected him, as the basis of this song? It's a good song, but I do prefer the B Side, which I think would have a fighting chance in airplay. I noticed that the live Schoolboys that Avid Ajsmith has thoughtfully retrieved from YouTube originated from a concert in New Orleans, the home of Ignatius J. Reilly (A Confederacy of Dunces). I think that this was probably the Kinks' first foray into the American South.
I think that "Gimme Shelter" would have been a mainstay of FM radio back around 1970, especially after Alamount. FM rock radio started in 1967 in San Francisco and NYC and the concept gained ground in the next decade. WBCN in Boston started in 1968. I recommend a recent documentary about WBCN called WBCN and The American Revolution about the early years of WBCN. By 1978, the time that I started listening to WBCN, the freewheeling, free form days of FM Rock Radio had been mostly tamed when it was found by station owners that it was a ratings goldmine and it morphed to AOR and finally Classic Rock radio, although WBCN did have an extensive playlist in the punk/new wave era.
I’m sure you’re right. But not many people were listening to it. The first couple/three used cars I bought didn’t even have FM on the car radio dial. I remember buying an FM receiver and hot wiring it into the car.
In the mid 70s my favorite station was on FM, but it was a top 40 station that also broadcast on AM. Just a few years later we got our first FM rock station. Incidentally my first car, a 72 Chevelle, had an AM FM mono radio that had great reception. Of course I put in a stand alone cassette deck ASAP.
The FM audience did grow between 1967-1978. FM radio in cars had been around since the 1960s, but became a popular option in the early 1970s. There was also the growth in home Stereo hi fi equipment, which included FM Stereo receivers, from 1967 on, from the cheapest Sears sets to the expensive stuff. Finally, the main demographic for FM rock radio were young people, who were more willing to spend their disposable income, thus being an advertisers' dream.
I'm in Disgrace Feels like after the broad-stroke scene setting of side 1 this is the beginning of the story proper. Great guitar.
I'm in Disgrace The opening makes it seem like a dream with rose colored glasses. Almost sounds Baroque. Mick's soft drums (congas? toms?) give a nice gentle, yet driving background. Then there's an extra little layer of guitar, before finally the full band comes in, led by Dave and then catchiest chorus of the album comes in. This does seem very radio friendly. Regarding the concern of the word "rape", they could have re-recorded the line with a different lyric to soften it for radio. After all, "coca" was changed to "cherry" (albeit different reasons). The riff in the "it wasn't lust..." section is killer. Dalton's bass breakdown after "I wish I'd acted with a little less haste" around 2:20 is pretty great too, leading into a nice little Dave solo. Dave really shines on this one. It only mentions it once, but there is that one time the backing vocal says "she's in disgrace" too, which does get at the fact that both Dave and Sue were lied to and shunned.
I’ve forgotten why we know this. Did Ray say so in an interview? If I were Dave, and knew this at the time, I’d refuse to play on the song. In fact, I’d think seriously about breaking my guitar over my brother’s head. (Said half-jokingly.) If I heard about such a story (from interview or Ray’s book or wherever it came from) decades later, I’d be pissed. So, for me, I prefer to think of this as just a song lyric for the album.
