Except for one or two tracks from the usual suspects- Who, Beatles, Kinks, Stones (who probably had more highlights than the others), Small Faces, I think the Animals were the only ones that pulled it off convincingly and consistently.
You are doing a good job, it's just that people need a little time in threads like this to fully understand who's in charge! Since The Kinks were (are?) a slightly prolific band, an album by album thread might be easier to administrate. Song by Song is fine as well but it's a tougher undertaking.
I like the song-by-song plan. It allows us to take it slow and go more in-depth. Though we did do both sides of a single today. I was actually thinking of a thread like this when the Beach Boys one wrapped up, but I thought surely it had been done before and I missed it. Right now I'm concerned people are talking more about the thread than the songs.
Another vote to keep this thread song by song, rather than album by album. The Kinks have had album dedicated threads on this forum before: possibly not for every single album they ever put out, but if not it must me nearly all. I prefer song by song cos it’s the real kind of deep dive that other groups have had here but never the Kinks. With an album by album format, you’ll likely tend to see people concentrate on the agreed highlights of each and give the ‘lesser’ tracks shorter shrift. I want to see one day where everyone HAS to think about, say ‘Situation Vacant’ or ‘Young Conservatives’!!!
Exactly. I've never done a thread on a band's music without posting the songs.... it doesn't make much sense to me, the songs are the focus
Anyway guys, we'll settle into a rhythm here. Don't sweat it. I've done a lot of these threads now, and it can sometimes be a little shaky at the start as we get used to how it's going to roll and flow. For today let's consider the second single The two original tracks You Still Want Me and You Do Something To Me
A major step up in quality from their first single. Not too original, but fun nonetheless. The b-side has the same feel (and 'simple' lyrics) and retains some of the same charm.
Fully agree. This should have been the first single (instead of the second which allegedly sold 27 copies - which I don't believe), and the two Ray originals should have taken the place of two of the covers on the debut album.
Now that you mention it I can hear the similar drum styles between these early Kinks singles and the Dave Clark Five’s. This Bobby Graham man sounds almost as prolific as Clem Cattini, who is another 60’s (and beyond) drummer I admire.
It's extremely easy to imagine Freddie Garrity singing the A-side. It already kind of sounds like him. It's also easy to imagine Clark Hicks & Nash harmonizing the B-side. It's interesting that early on, Ray seemed to be taking his cues from Manchester. While it would eventually become a cliche, the chord progression that defines the A-side (E G A B7) was very new at the time.
I would add Them to the list of 60s bands who convincingly and consistently pulled off cover versions.
That’s exactly what I was saying, or trying to. Maybe it was out of context and didn’t make sense. I was just talking about when those bands did those R&B covers early in their careers the Animals were the best at doing it IMO.
I didn’t realize this was off and running already. 2nd single is serviceable beat group music. Ray is honing his songwriting chops these songs could have been recorded by any number of artists of the era. Not particularly distinctive. Good not great. (I missed talking about LTS - I actually love the perverse charms of this record.)
YOU STILL WANT ME 1/5 With hindsight we can hear the vocal sound the Kinks would come to represent. And the theme of unrequited love is kinda Kinky. But the song itself is too chirpy and the drumming is damn distracting. YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME 0/5 Too derivative of all the other poppy songs around at the time.
Sorry, I miss read you! I now see why I thought it made no sense. I forgot about Them, not listened to them (haha) much. Very powerful stuff those Thems did.
It's necessary to change my approach a little here. This track was on the first album, but this is one of those songs that gets to be among the most important songs of the sixties rock movement, and so we are going to look at the single, prior to the debut albums release..... "You Really Got Me" Dutch single sleeve Single by the Kinks B-side "It's All Right" Released 4 August 1964 (UK) 2 September 1964 (US) Recorded July 1964 Studio IBC, London Genre Garage rock hard rock rock and roll proto-punk Length 2:20 Label Pye (UK) Reprise (US) Songwriter(s) Ray Davies Producer(s) Shel Talmy Weekly charts Chart (1964–1965) Peak position Australia[51] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[52] 42 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[53] 4 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[54] 40 France (IFOP)[55] 16 Germany (Official German Charts)[56] 39 Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[57] 11 Sweden (Tio i Topp)[58] 8 Ireland (IRMA)[59] 6 UK (Official Charts Company)[60] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[61] 7 US Cash Box Top 100[62] 5 Year-end charts Chart (1964) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[63] 26 US Billboard Year-End[64] 78 ----------------------------------------------------------- The band recorded a version of this at IBC studios in July of 1964, and then I believe the version the world knows and loves was recorded at Pye in August. Ray wrote the lyrics after watching girls dancing in a club, and the whole point was that the girl/s have the singer so infatuated he can't articulate properly.... they really have him. In 2015 Ray said "I just remembered this one girl dancing. Sometimes you're so overwhelmed by the presence of another person and you can't put two words together." In 2016 he said "I was playing a gig at a club in Piccadilly and there was a young girl in the audience who I really liked. She had beautiful lips. Thin, but not skinny. A bit similar to Françoise Hardy. Not long hair, but down to about there (points to shoulders). Long enough to put your hands through... (drifts off, wistfully)... long enough to hold. I wrote 'You Really Got Me' for her, even though I never met her." The story of the guitar sound is something else again ... It happened in his bedroom in North London when he was irate - he had gotten his girlfriend, Sue Sheehan, pregnant, and their parents wanted to keep them from getting married. Instead of doing self harm, he used the blade on the amp to channel his rage. The amp was a cheap little amp called an Elpico that had been giving him problems - he decided to teach it a lesson! They essentially took the amp to the studio and hooked it into a Vox AC30 or AC10 (it depends on whether Dave or Shel Talmy has the best memory here, because they both recall it differently. For the record Sheehan and Dave were kept apart, and Tracy the child born, finally met her father in 1993. Initially they recorded a slower bluesy type version, but Ray said it just didn't capture the feeling he was after. Dave's girlfriend said she agreed, because it didn't make her want to "drop her knickers" Again the record company almost hindered the progress of rock music, because they didn't want to record the song again, but due to a loophole in the contract, they were able to withhold the song until they were able to do it again. Ray came up with the riff on the piano, and Dave transposed it to the guitar. On this recording we have Ray singing, Dave on Guitar and Peter Quaife on the bass.... again we get Bobby Gordon on the drums. Contrary to popular belief this was not the first distorted guitar in a song, but it was the first time it had been used in this way, to the best of my knowledge, and it was the first time that a distorted guitar had been used in a hit single. This song to some degree changed the future of rock music.... it can be seen a proto-punk, because of the raw unbridled aggression that the song emits, but it can also be seen as proto-metal as well, in the sense that it uses the now famous power chords, where we just get the root note, the octave and the fifth, giving a very particular sound. removing the third changes the sound of the chord and gives you a different kind of sound. Obviously also, most metal/hard rock music has a distorted guitar that is the driving force behind the particular sound they are going for. Obviously a lot of developments over the years contributed to that sound, but this was probably the first shot fired in the war. I don't think it is hyperbole to suggest that this song was terribly important in the development of rock music, and the future that lay ahead for it. Obviously this track inspired Pete Townshend of the Who, and the face of rock music was going to change forever over the coming years. At the stage that the band recorded this song, and even prior, things weren't looking good, and Pye had been considering dropping the band, as the first two singles had failed pretty poorly, but as often happens in the music industry, when a band's back is up against the wall, something magic happens, and it all comes good due to a series of events that just come together and make everything right. I think I'm pretty safe in assuming this is the first Kinks song I ever heard ... and yes it would have been in the late seventies or early eighties, but unlike many folks of my age, it wasn't via Van Halen, I heard the Kinks before I even knew who Van Halen were. Another factor to probably throw in here.... contrary to popular belief, at one time at least, Jimmy Page did not play the guitar in this track, this is all the very underappreciated Dave Davies. Shel Talmy produced the track, and he said "I was using some techniques I worked out on how to get a raunchier sound with distortion, It wasn't that difficult because I had done it before in America." Talmy added: "It helped that Dave was as good as he was, and that he was quite happy to listen." To get the loud guitar sound on "You Really Got Me," he recorded the guitar on two channels, one with distortion, the other without. When combined in the mix, the result was a loud, gritty sound that popped when it came on the radio. This was the song that made me want to get something by the Kinks when I was a pup. I was very much into loud aggressive rock music as a young fella, and this song fit the bill. Girl, you really got me goin' You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now Oh yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night You really got me You really got me You really got me See, don't ever set me free I always wanna be by your side Girl, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now Oh yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night You really got me You really got me You really got me, oh no See, don't ever set me free I always wanna be by your side Girl, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now Oh yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can't sleep at night You really got me You really got me You really got me Oh yeah! Songwriters: Ray Davies You Really Got Me lyrics © Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd For 1964, we get this aggressive, tight, punchy track that jumps out of the speakers. Ray, in my opinion starts to get a handle on his writing, and the song is written and arranged perfectly. I think the piano in the background adds to the feel of the song. Dave lays out a blistering lead break. The backing vocals add to the texture. They just didn't put a foot wrong here. At the end of the day the guys knocked this one out of the park, and in reality they needed to, and they got to keep recording, and we got to enjoy a long history of fantastic music from the band. Look there are a million things that one could say about this song, but I only have so much time, and I am sure you guys will have plenty to say also. So give us the lowdown on how this track came into your life, and what you thought. If you have historical references, or information for out thread wanderers, jump on in and give us the lowdown. A true rock classic, The Kinks - You Really Got Me
This is some cool footage of the guys live in 1965 ... It is just the studio track I believe with some audience noise overdubs, but it is cool to see the footage
