Hear, hear! I am delighted to learn that this fine gent had such a long life. I loved it when (though of course staged) Yardbird Jim Mcarty told him his new years resolution wish was to play the bongos as well as Brian to which Brian then replied; "You must be joking for you know You're A Better Man Than I!" Said/chuckled with great warmth, humour and self deprecation. Thanks Brian.
I used to listen to Sounds of The Sixties on the way to the bootfair with my Dad on Saturday mornings, and digging in to various BBC recordings shortly after getting to know Brian was a real joy. Hearing him on these recordings now is a real comfort to me, and I can't wait until we get to the BBC version of Harry Rag for that brilliant introduction. The recordings today are all decent, and interesting historical pieces, though of course nothing is truly noteworthy. Ray's demo is certainly an interesting one, giving a contrasting vibe to the lyrics, almost making it deeply sinister as a result, rather than taking them at face value.
That’s a good way of putting it. Just as Motown was the bands muse in late 64/early 65, it seems like the folk/Dylan influence was the coming thing by the summer and fall of 65 (which will soon be evident on the tracks they cut for Kontroversy). Donovan was exploding on the scene around this time. Maybe the folk-ish stuff was at the suggestion of Ray’s publisher? Something he could pitch. Did anyone ever cover it? I only discovered it with the release of the "Picture Book" collection. I don’t know enough about this song if it was ever intended for The Kinks. “This I Know” is one of the stronger songs demoed in this period, IMO. It could have benefited from a “No Return”-like treatment.
Ah. Thanks. Now that I think about it, I think I learned about it reading a review of the Box set. I'd love to have (or at least hear) that super-deluxe VGPS set, but it's a bit cost prohibitive for me. I usually pick up the tracks one by one if they ever become available on the market through downloads.
This I Know -- another gentle folksong that sounds like an early Simon & Garfunkel demo. It's ephemerally pleasant, but undeveloped (as demos tend to be, of course). Ray's low-key vocal is effective, but other than that it's basically a curio to me.
Like most people in the U.S., I had never heard of the man until the release of The Beatles Live at the BBC. You are right, he does seem like he has a natural rapport with his guest. I like him better than Dick Clark--who I suppose is something of an American counterpart--who always seemed like everything he knew about his guest were thanks to a team of assistants. That may have been the case with Matthews, but it doesn't show.
I completely agree with the similarity to what Elliott Smith was doing on his first couple LPs. It sounds straight off Roman Candle. This is a wonderful little ditty. Again, just amazing how timeless the sound is of a home/demo recording of a singer/songwriter and an acoustic guitar.
As near as I can tell, the two chords he picks whenever he sings the song's title are Gsus and B♭6/9. One tends to accidentally stumble on to strange chords like that when using a lot of open strings. It's beyond me how "I Go To Sleep" got a dozen covers right out of the box, while nobody ever picked up on this far superior tune. When he hits that A7 chord on the word "Sunlight," there's a choice of four different notes he could've sung that would've all sounded good, and he opts for the low C#, probably the most unexpected one of the four. This is one of those musical moments like the short bridge in "Sweet Talkin' Guy" ("Why Do I Love Him Like I Do....") or the short instrumental break in "Got To Get You Into My Life" that just makes a person sit up and go WHOA! This tune would definitely sound great with three-part harmony. There are so many Donovan tunes that are in a similar vein ("Jersey Thursday" "Summer Day Reflection Song" etc) but somehow the first song that pops into my head is this Phil Ochs rarity, which also utilizes a lot of open string chords: Phil Ochs / Morning
I think anyone who gets annoyed with his spoken bits just doesn't quite understand the legacy of those BBC recordings. I personally love it. In fact, I'm annoyed when they cut him out. In many cases, it's very obvious if he was speaking over the intro. Luckily with the Kinks, even the early BBC set kept him in tact.
I completely agree. "This I Know" could have been released at any time in the last 55 years and would always sound like a current song. This type of music is timeless. It really does have a strong Elliott Smith vibe. It also sounds like a song that Jeff Tweedy might break out on The Tweedy Show. I haven't watched that show in a while, but now I may have to tune in and request this song. What do you think @Fortuleo and @Zeki? The guitar even sounds like it's played on a Tweedy style acoustic. I wish this would have made it on the next album. I do not understand why this wasn't taken one step further from the demo version. An excellent song that I don't think I have ever heard before. It will definitely be added to the Kollection!
Hi Mark/All I've been following all 86 pages of this song by song analysis and have been enjoying very much. Regarding the song "See My Friends", it occurred to me that Ray reminded me of Brian Wilson and his song "I Just Wasn't Made Of These Times. Both artists seem to leave people behind as they go artistically or humanly forward. Just a thought that popped into my head. I got into The Kinks around 1974, when I was 17. The album that did it was "Golden Hour Of The Kinks". after that I seeked out all of their 60s stuff and regard VGPS and Something Else to be on par with the best of the Beatles and Stones. Being from Canada, I especially liked their Englishness and how different they sounded from their contempories. Ray was never afraid to bare his vulnerabilities, unlike some of his fellow artists. That's what made him special. Also like Brian Wilson, most of the pressure and song-writing was on his shoulders.
Looking forward to the song "Ring The Bells", next to "Waterloo Sunset" , one of most treasured Ray songs.
I was a regular listener to Matthew's radio show on Saturday mornings during the 90s. He had a calm, warm voice and plainly was enjoying himself. Could have done without the chat over the intros but he put his soul into it. You can never miss the chance to repeat the joke that got the bold Kenny Everett booted off the BBC; 'When we were a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we're a country, we have Margaret Thatcher.'
"This I Know" (demo) - I'm really glad Ray didn't write many lyrics like this or else there's no way I'd be able to handle this band. "I love you for the rest of my life / I can't wait till tomorrow comes / I can't wait to see the sunlight in your eyes / When you know that I am yours." Ugh. This is Davy Jones type stuff. The most interesting aspect of this recording is the sound. The guitar has this lo-fi 4-track 90s bedroom sound with clearly overdubbed and double-tracked lead vocals mic'ed up far better than the instrument. It sounds pleasant enough.. if the lyrics weren't so awful, it might be fine.
I just watched The Story Of: The Kinks on Amazon Prime. The documentary follows the group from their origins through 1984. Only 52 minutes long and some pretty cursory analysis, but still well worth watching, and there's some excellent footage of performances in those early years.
Worthwhile viewing there. I had it on VHS and got it copied to DVD, very interesting that Larry Page returned to the fold to work for Ray!
You say that because it's proven he knows even the most obscure Kinks tracks by heart (and sings them like a bird).
This Strange Effect mono mix, BBC recording (2:32), recorded 6 Aug, 1965 at BBC Aeolian Hall, Studio 1, London So these last two BBC tracks from this period are both recorded much later, and as stated up there, Recorded at Aeolian Hall Studio 1, London. This song seems to have already played a big part in the thread..... this is actually the first time I have ever heard it, a time factor more than anything else. You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. You make my world seem right, You make my darkness bright, oh yes, You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. And I like it. And I like the way you kiss me, Don't know if I should. But this feeling is love, and I know it, That's why I feel good. You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. You make my world seem right, You make my darkness bright, oh yes, You've got this strange effect on me, And I like it. And I like it. And I like it. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: ? We get a somewhat sitar-ish lead guitar melody intro, and somewhat melancholy piano in the background, and then we get this crisp stabby little guitar giving us some rhythmic accents. We have a somewhat hypnotic Dm to G theme rolling through most of the song, but it is augmented by some nice changes that give the song a nice melodic flow, and the song comes across pretty well. For me the lyrics are fairly benign, but effective. A certain apprehension is built into the song, with the "Don't Know If I Should" section, and there are a plethora of reasons that one may feel that way about a new love.... it can be dangerous territory for the heart, particularly the heart that has been hurt. Ray's delivered is somewhat ethereal, and it could be the reverb effect, but it is sort of disconnected and distant, yet a little cheeky at the same time. So this is a pretty decent track.
I've always liked this and the studio version by Dave Berry. It's a shame that The Kinks didn't do a studio version.
Hide And Seek mono mix, BBC recording (2:13), recorded 6 Aug, 1965 at Aeolian Hall, Studio 1, London Written by P. Winley, E. Byrd, and I don't pretend to know who they are, so fill us in if you do. Essentially here we just have grooving rock and roll song, that has a kind of Chuck Berry-ish kind of feel. It's pretty good, but I think on the whole by this stage ..... and even back towards the start, we crave Ray songs, more than covers... This is pretty cool though.
So the period from late 64 to around mid 65 is a pretty big growth spurt for the guys. They get to the point where any studio musicians are merely embellishments. Confidence that they can handle the job must have given them confidence themselves, and in Mick Avory's case, I'm sure it probably spurred an "I'll show you" kind of attitude ... I know it would have with me, if I was left sitting on the bench. The other thing obviously is the advancement in Ray's writing, and a sort of fearless stepping out into unknown territory, and even breaking new ground. During this period, the band clearly showed they were true contenders, with their writing and their live performances, but unfortunately due to the rough and tumble way they were, they got a four year band from touring the US, which was really a bad thing for the band, when they really looked set to take the country by storm ... in many ways.... but in my opinion it was a bad thing for the US also, because frankly due to the nature of the touring to promote reality, it seems that to the majority, the band remained somewhat one/two hit wonders that didn't get the mileage they should have until the turn of the seventies really.... but we'll get there. So the Kinks are well underway, there are self created obstacles, but what will be the next chapter in the book of Kinks ..... we know that at the very least it will be interesting
