The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

There are two other officially released mixes of Catch Me Now I'm Falling.

Those of you with the 1998 Velvel CD reissue of Low Budget will notice there is a bonus track that says it's an "original extended edit". And yes it seems to be the full recorded version of this song at just under 7 minutes that was then edited to 6 minutes for the album.

This is actually a Remix that is not noted as a remix anywhere in the liner notes. The differences are that most of the instruments are now centered in the mix whereas the album mix has more separation with the instruments. For example, in the original album mix there are two guitars, Dave's main lead guitar in the right center plus a second guitar left center and piano left center. All of these elements are now centered in this remix to where the second guitar is now buried and the piano is less audible when the song gets to the band sections. The piano seems to be different in some places too. The other difference with this remix is the drums now have that added reverb we talk about sometimes giving them that bigger boom sound whereas the original mix the drums are dry. To me these characteristics mark this as a 90s remix done for the CD reissue as opposed to it being a period mix done in 1979, but again no documentation of this has been published. Recall that this has happened several times before with these Velvel reissues where there have been remixes not noted in the liners, such as One Of The Survivors and Artificial Light, and other times tracks were noted as remixes when in fact they were not (Preservation, Mirror Of Love).

Catch Me Now I'm Falling (Remix) Bonus Track from the Velvel Low Budget CD

 

The other officially released mix came out in 2008 on the Picture Book box set. This sounds like an early mix that I call an Alternate Mix or it could be called a rough mix. It sounds like a mix prior to overdubs as opposed to a full mix that was then stripped down. There is mostly only one guitar here, Dave's main lead guitar wide right (another guitar joins left close to the end of this mix). The piano is left and can be heard in greater detail here and this also reveals some synth parts doubling the piano that are not audible or buried in the other two mixes (check out the staccato keys at 2:50 here as an example). Once again the liner notes in the box set don't note anything about this being an alternate mix.

Catch Me Now I'm Falling (Alternate Mix) from the Picture Book Box Set

 

There was a 4 minute US single edit and also a 3:30 minute promo edit that edits off the piano intro and starts with the full band at That Riff. Same mixes as the album version. Neither of these are on YouTube.

 

Cheers mate, appreciate you dropping those in..... I forgot again

 

Clearly you need the extended version then! As noted, that’s the one I go with, it leaves me even more time to bitch about how long the song is while still having time to also enjoy the hell out of it! It’s a win win!

 

I like the piano intro a lot so I’ll go with the 4 minute single edit, please.

 

“Catch Me Now I’m Falling”

I can’t get past the Stones riff and the Stones song is ten times better. Sorry, but I never make it the entire 6 minutes. My least favorite single so far.

 

My vinyl purchase of Low Budget came with a promotional sticker slapped over the shrink wrap that read something like (from memory). “Featuring the hits (I Wish I could Fly Like) Superman, A Gallon of Gas, and Catch Me Now I’m Falling.”

Probably because it was called out as such, I went into listening to this song for the first time predisposed to embrace it as a modern day classic, beyond reproach. And certainly it has that sort of epic arrangement, designed to ignite a seas of arms of fans hoisting bic lighters to signal approval of its appearance in set lists. I never questioned that Catch Me was anything less than an essential entry into the pantheon of the top hundred Kinks all-time greatest.

Then I went away from Low Budget for a while. All the Kinks records, in fact, while life busied itself with children, career, new discoveries, etc. The Vevel reissues brought with it a spat of Kinks re-listens and re-evaluations. That’s when for the first time I heard this song with an unprejudiced ear. Let’s just say I no longer think of this in the top hundred. The reason….well…..many today have already said it for me:

As for that riff....

Back in my college days I was known in my dorm as ‘the Kinks guy.” Friends would hear the music coming from my room. In some cases, I turned people onto to the band. People would actually thank me for Kinks music I had nothing to do with. The flip side of that, it felt like I would be blamed for a Kinks song they didn’t like. And I hated having to defend the Kinks for using the Jumping Jack Fash riff every time someone pointed out the Kinks were ripping off the Stones. I never had a good defense. Still don’t. But I always resented being put in that position of having to ‘explain” its usage just because I am a fan. Weird, isn’t it?

Anyway, I know I don’t have to explain the riff to this Kinks-educated crowd. I’ll say this, though: I’ve tried imagining “Catch Me Now I’m Falling” replacing that riff with something else…and I just can’t do it. It fits so well—so permanently ingrained—that it’s somehow the only thing that makes sense for this song.

 

Catch me now I’m Falling

Seeing as how our leader @mark winstanley is channeling his inner Tolstoy summary-wise, it’ll take some doing to throw anything new into the mix. He basically summed up how I feel regarding the song, a song that was falling for me in recent years, but now seems to be rebounding. That plaintive opening which I never fully appreciated prior to these most recent listens, is wonderfully Kinksian. Also, Ray’s synthesizer flourishes from about 3:11 through 3:25 appeal to me. Unlike some of the head scratchers on Misfits, this song has a strong premise and lyrics that back it up, and they scan. Actually, even though the music isn’t, the lyrics are succinct. Oddly, at around 2:04 ( ‘now I call your office’) the music surges for a couple beats. And, as most say, yes, the song needs a haircut. As for me, I am officially back in ‘like’ with this one.
I will quibble with the Mick Jagger theory while wishing it were so. Ray has rarely been known for his empathy to peers.

 

Wednesday will be a lot shorter
Thursday however....
I can only apologise in advance lol

 

I just watched the 3:44 live version on YouTube. No piano intro, etc., but note that it’s the new bassist that sings the high backing, “falling,” not Dave.

 

Yea that was just a ponderance...

 

Oh no, really, I only meant it as a Stones fan's inside joke. Are you familiar with the Bittersweet Symphony story? The song featured a sample of a Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra version of The Last Time as the main hook and part of the basic track. A piece of arrangement that had absolutely nothing to do with the Stones song at all… But they (Abkco) still refused to let it go, and for the best of twenty years after its release, Bittersweet Symphony was credited to… Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft !!! It's been settled three years ago, I believe, when Mick & Keith decided to handover their shares of the publishing and to withdraw their names from the writing credits (thus their claim to any future royalties). Sure, it was more than twenty years after the fact but still a nice gesture. In my opinion, the real scandal is that David Sinclair Whitaker, the arranger who actually wrote the bit that was sampled, never got anything from it at all as far as I know ! That guy has dozens of arranging credits, some with the best french music of the sixties (Gainsbourg), some film scores and also some amazing Lee Hazlewood stuff. But he definitely should be credited with at least part of the Bittersweet Symphony music…

Back to Ray, I don't blame him for his "steals" because he mainly did it with his own songs, and always with good thematic purpose or meaning. Well, in today's song's case, I'll admit we're having a hard time to determine what was exactly on his mind, but still.

 

Catch Me Now I'm Falling

Nice how when you start out it could be a kind of romantic version of Mr. Big, you used to need me, & now when I need you, where are you? -- until Captain America makes an appearance. And though it's a simple idea, in essence, it's strangely moving (at least for an American) -- we ruled the world, we flew around wielding our red white and blue shield, we fixed everything after world war 2, and now we're literally falling out of the sky, I imagine to our death, and nobody will come to our rescue. Pretty impressive for a group of Englishmen to feel the pathos of this rather than say "ha ha, hubris, you deserve it" (which would have been a totally valid take on the geopolitical situation).

I just picture big bold muscle-bound red white and blue stars and stripes Captain America with a totally baffled look on his face -- hold on -- my God -- I can't fly anymore -- I've lost my superpowers -- where are all the people I saved...?

Musically, it starts absolutely beautifully.

Then -- I don't mind the JJF riff -- what bothers me comes right afterwards. That bit, "help me now I'm callin' you," just isn't as melodically compelling as the rest of the song -- & it isn't shouty/barky Ray, it's some kind of Sea Cow Ray, I picture a slightly bloated rubber-skinned aquatic mammal, bellowing pathetically.

Other than that though, RD's in good voice, it's got great changes, and anyway the guitar is so incredibly ace... when in the Kinks Kareer pre-Schoolboys would you be able to say "man this guitarist just shreds"? It feels like, with each LP, DD's doing it more and more, he's either taken a huge leap as a guitarist, or Ray has finally given him space to play in, or this sort of '70s guitar hero sound had always been Dave's destiny. So that could go on forever, or at least for another 5 minutes, and I wouldn't think the song was too long, unless the "sea cow" voice came in again, in which case just please put me out of my misery.

Side note: Recruiting my wife (34) and eldest daughter (12), I've been trying mightily to divorce my reaction to "the Arista period" from all the associations I have with '70s AOR, Creem/Rolling Stone critics, and the meme-narrative timeline of Kinks as innovators - then brilliant oddballs - then weird concept guys - then sellouts. Like if it was 400 years in the future and I was listening to them in isolation from any contemporary musical/critical reference points. So this morning on the way to school I played this song a few times for my daughter, then asked her: So does this sound like the same band that did David Watts and Waterloo Sunset (two of her favorites)? And she said yes, absolutely, but "they sound like they're doing it this way because they have to, not because they want to."

Maybe there's something to that.

 

Legally, I don’t think the (potential) defense would have a leg to stand on but the defense lawyer might have fun saying “well, you didn’t write it, either!”

I’ve always wondered how Neil Young got away with (at least as far as I know) not paying a percentage of royalties to Jagger/Richards for ‘Borrowed Tune.’ I mean, he’s straightforward about it, even stating why he used the melody (he’s too wasted!).

“I'm singin' this borrowed tune
I took from the Rolling Stones
Alone in this empty room
Too wasted to write my own“

 

You made her listen to it a few times?
That must be a long school ride! I love her response to it.

I just gave this song another listen. I didn’t bother to play it this morning. I honestly don’t think I have listened to the entire song in a long time. It’s not only the riff that bothers me. The intro piano is nice, but then I find nothing about the song appealing. For the first time, Ray is getting on my nerves and Dave isn’t helping. I’m trying to find positive things to say, but I am coming up short today. The album gets better from here (at least for a few days). These first two songs are a turn off for me. I think this album could do with a different track listing. Maybe I would feel differently about it? I would place this song towards the end of the album. I will have to come up with my version of Low Budget when we are through discussing it. I recall someone saying there are also bonus songs that didn’t make the album? I have not heard any of those yet.

 

I think that's more about urgency, hence the less melodic approach

 

I’m completely baffled as to why I had such negative feelings about this album initially. No idea why. I certainly don’t now.

 

It also really fits in with the style of the riff. A quick double hit at the same note, and then a bit more melodic piece that is also doubled. Just like the rather simple lyrics "You really got me, You really got me" and "Girl, I want, to be with you, all of the time" fit those riffs.

 

To a certain degree, there's a bit of negativity floated through the thread about it... and if you're tensed up when you hear that first verse of Attitude, it can really set you back.
I've run through four songs in my rundowns so far, and that's really the only verse on the album like that so far. I think folks get knocked back by it, and it takes a minute to recalibrate

 

yes this was embarrassing, took a lot of crap from a friend who was a big stones fan about it. ray did it again with sleazy town, taking genesis' riff from misunderstanding and using it on sleazy town a few years later. at least destroyer had his own recycled riff.

 

In that case it sent me reeling! But I’ve recovered.

 

Catch Me Now I‘m Falling

A bit of a throwback to the Schoolboys In Disgrace structure with the piano intro gives way to that tedious track. The best thing I can point to is that „falling“ synth. Finally a good use of a polysynth on a Kinks record.

 

She's been taking guitar for a couple of years (got her a Fender Jag-Stang for Christmas) and is using Spotify to explore every genre and era of music, so she kind of digs the idea that daddy's on a "music expert's thread" discussing the Kinks song-by-song.

As for the commute, well, this is LA. Everything takes 45 minutes.

 

That makes sense.