The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    As Pawnmower says, we have the lead single first :righton:
     
  2. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Summer of '66 actually.
     
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  3. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I’m fairly similar to you. Always knew the singles and then was introduced to Village Green and Muswell Hillbillies at the same time about 20 years ago.

    And then @Fortuleo kept mentioning The Kinks during the Wilco thread so I started my own preliminary dive. But quickly dismissed the early stuff and began with Something Else...
    So that was only from a few months back.

    That’s why I’m surprised I came up with 8 tracks already. A nice surprise.
     
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  4. CheshireCat

    CheshireCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire
    This Strange Effect.
    A favourite of mine, I'd heard Dave Berry's version first, and was delighted when Ray added it into his setlist in some of his solo shows around the time of Other People's Lives. Not too long after that, I saw Mr Berry in concert and he told the audience in the times he'd seen Ray's concerts, he'd never sung the song. After I said he was doing on that recent tour, he said he would like to go and see Ray perform it in concert at last.
     
  5. rkt88

    rkt88 The unknown soldier

    Location:
    malibu ca
    sounds right. i was south of the tracks in beverly hills in 65 until winter. by 66 was in laurel canyon.

    i remember music geographically.

    i just heard celluloid heroes :) funny how that works.
     
  6. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I remember it was 1966 because Ray had fond memories of the song, talking about how England won the World Cup that summer (not that I'm a soccer fan). Also it knocked the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" out of the #1 spot in the UK charts.
     
  7. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Man .... I can imagine how pumped the guys would have been about that!
     
  8. rkt88

    rkt88 The unknown soldier

    Location:
    malibu ca
    i remember what a great and unlikely song it was.

    ...."telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty. now i can't sail my yacht, they've taken everything i've got" etc etc.

    brilliant.
     
  9. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    This Strange Effect
    I think I've known this song for most of my life. Maybe it was played a lot on oldies stations? And assume it was the Dave Berry version. For me, this is a great love(lust?) song. I know Adam Ant covered this live in recent years, so that's when I became re-familiar with it. And then to figure out that Ray wrote it, that was a lovely bit of news.

    Regarding this recording: Understated vocals that really convey a contented sort of love. Great guitar sound. Almost makes me swoon. LOL This song kicks some major butt. Can you tell I'm excited?

    Hide and Seek
    Can't figure out if I knew this song before hearing the Kinks version today(maybe listening to my parents 50s records?)...or if I've heard this version a few times in the past. Anyway, I think this is a great cover. Good energy and I'll be going back to listen again. This song is a good fit for the Kinks.
     
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  10. Filip1701

    Filip1701 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Croatia
    I think I'll do a Kwyet Kinks LP playlist. Put those four Kwyet Kinks EP tracks on there and the 6 demos we went through 'cause they're, well, quiet.
     
  11. Steve E.

    Steve E. Doc Wurly and Chief Lathe Troll

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    Much better performance than the single. wow. it's got a great groove.
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Kinkdom

    [​IMG]
    Studio album by
    the Kinks
    Released
    November 1965
    Recorded Pye Studios, London
    February to August 1965 except:
    "It's Alright": April or June 1964
    "Louie Louie": October 1964
    "Who'll Be the Next in Line": December 1964[1]
    Genre Rock and roll
    Length 27:23
    Label Reprise R-6184
    Producer Shel Talmy

    Kinkdom (sometimes referred to as Kinks Kinkdom) is the third US-only album by the English band the Kinks, released in 1965. As with the Kinks-Size album, it is made up mainly of songs not released on an equivalent UK LP. The album charted, peaking at number 47.

    The album takes all four tracks from the UK Kwyet Kinks EP (including both sides of the recent hit US single "A Well Respected Man"), adding "Naggin' Woman" (left off the US version of their previous LP, Kinda Kinks), recent US singles "Who'll Be the Next in Line" (its B-side had already been included on the US version of Kinda Kinks) and "See My Friends"/"Never Met a Girl Like You Before", and B-side "I Need You" (A-side "Set Me Free" had again already been included on the US Kinda Kinks LP), as well as two older tracks: "It's Alright" was the B-side of breakthrough 1964 single "You Really Got Me" but had not yet been included on a US LP, and "Louie Louie" was another 1964 track, originally released on the Kinksize Session EP in the UK, although it had already been included on Kinks-Size in the US.

    This was the last US only studio album released by the Kinks. Starting with The Kink Kontroversy, Reprise issued albums identical to the UK versions.

    The tracks are currently available on the extended CD editions of Kinks and Kinda Kinks.

    Side one
    1. "A Well Respected Man" - 2:43
    2. "Such a Shame" - 2:19
    3. "Wait Till the Summer Comes Along" - 2:07
    4. "Naggin' Woman" (Anderson, West) - 2:36
    5. "Never Met a Girl Like You Before" - 2:05
    6. "See My Friends" - 2:46
    Side two
    1. "Who'll Be the Next in Line" - 2:02
    2. "Don't You Fret" - 2:45
    3. "I Need You" - 2:26
    4. "It's Alright" - 2:37
    5. "Louie Louie" (R. Berry) - 2:57
    Rhino 1988 US Re-edition: Track list
    All songs by Ray Davies. Two tracks changes respect original release.

    Side one
    1. "A Well Respected Man" 2:38
    2. "Wait Till the Summer Comes Along" 2:06
    3. "Such a Shame" 2:16
    4. "See My Friends" 2:50
    5. "Never Met a Girl Like You Before" 2:05
    6. "Sittin' On My Sofa" 3:03
    Side two
    1. "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion" 2:58
    2. "Who'll Be the Next in Line" 1:56
    3. "Don't You Fret" 2:42
    4. "I Need You" 3:30
    5. "It's Alright" 2:38
    6. "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" 3:25
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    So thinks Kinks release schedule still looks pretty frantic from a modern perspective.
    This was the US release that came out in November, but we also have the band's real next album come out in November, and the lead single off that album.
    It seems like anyone aware of all the releases could well have been quite confused, and the mish mash of times when these albums were released give a somewhat staggered reality as to where the band were .... and they also somewhat disjoint the progress the band was making in terms of their writing and such....

    but this was the sixties and times were very different to what they are now.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Based on the recording dates, there probably also wasn't much of a uniform sound (in terms of dynamics) across the LP either.
     
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  14. FJFP

    FJFP Host for the 'Mixology' Mix Differences Podcast

    I mean, isn't that par for the course with US re-jigging of UK LP tracklists? The worst for me has always been The Hollies' Bus Stop LP, which has r'n'b covers from early 1964 on an LP in the latter half of 1966!
     
  15. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    "Till the End of the Day"
    [​IMG]
    Single by the Kinks
    from the album The Kink Kontroversy
    B-side
    "Where Have All the Good Times Gone"
    Released 19 November 1965 (UK) 2 March 1966 (US)
    Recorded 23–30 October 1965
    Studio Pye Studios (No. 2), London
    Genre Rock
    Length 2:20
    Label Pye 7N 15981 (UK) Reprise 0454 (US)
    Songwriter(s) Ray Davies
    Producer(s) Shel Talmy

    "Till the End of the Day" is a song by the Kinks, written by Ray Davies and released as a single in 1965 and later on their album The Kink Kontroversy. It centres on a power chord, like many of the group's early hits, and was similarly successful, reaching number eight in the United Kingdom[1] and number 50 in the United States, spending eight weeks or more in each chart.[2]

    Davies recalled of the process of writing the song,
    "I remember how 'Till the End of the Day' came about. I had a bit of writer’s block, and my managers were getting worried because I hadn't produced anything in almost a month. [Laughs] They sent Mort Shuman 'round to my house, one of my hit-writing heroes. He wrote 'Save the Last Dance For Me” with Doc Pomus. This mad, druggy New Yorker came 'round to my little semi-detached house in London. He said, 'I'm here to find out what you’re thinking about. I’m not interested in what you have written; I'm interested in what you're gonna write.' He was completely paid off by my managers to say it. I thought it was ridiculous that there was so much importance put on it. If I don’t want to write for a month, I won't. To say the least, I was pressured into doing it. Then I went off to stay with my sister and bought a new toy, a little upright piano, and wrote 'Till The End Of The Day.'"[3]


    Chart (1966) Peak
    position

    Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 63
    Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 34
    Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 37
    France (IFOP)[8] 35
    Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 19
    Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 4
    Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 6
    Norway (VG-lista)[12] 7
    Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[13] 3
    UK Singles (OCC)[14] 8
    US Billboard Hot 100[15] 50
    US Cash Box Top 100[16] 43
    -----------------------------------------------------


    mono mix (2:18), recorded 25-30 Oct, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    Baby, I feel good
    From the moment I arise
    Feel good from morning
    Till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day

    Yeah, you and me
    We live this life
    From when we get up
    Till we go sleep at night
    You and me were free
    We do as we please, yeah
    From morning, till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day

    Yeah, I get up
    And I see the sun up
    And I feel good, yeah
    'Cause my life has begun
    You and me were free
    We do as we please, yeah
    From morning, till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day

    You and me were free
    We do as we please, yeah
    From morning, till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day
    Till the end of the day

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Davray/Carlin Music

    This opens with a descending chord pattern. It is a technique I have only really noticed recently that Ray uses. It's like he likes to put down a little chordal announcement that a song is about to begin. It is actually quite clever and for me at least gets the attention..... "ok, what is this then.

    I have known this song from my first Kinks album, due to it being on the 1980 live album, and it was a song I liked instantly.
    This version is slightly different, but it is a solid single and I think that it still holds up well.

    Lyrically this song is a pretty simple observation of being free, and living a life on our terms. I suppose it is slightly simplistic, but I like the picture being painted that we live this life from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep at night, and what our lives are is going to depend on what we decide to do in those waking hours ... and sure we are alive when we are asleep, but we aren't really in much control of anything, or particularly leading exciting sleep lives.

    We get the Kinks staccato chord delivery, which although related to the big rockers that came before, is quite a different kettle of fish really. Also each phrase is moved into the chorus where we get a more legato delivery from the guitars, even though the drums still have that consistent stabbing of the beat.

    I reckon the melody stands up well too.
    I like the way we run into the lead break, and Dave lays don't a nice spikey, even though short, lead break.

    When we come out of that lead break we get a chorus that has a drop back in attack, but then it burst into this frantic sort of rave up, like they are trying to fit in as much as they can, before the end of the day, and then we have a ritard that slows everything right down, as if the they are now laying back down to rest through the night.

    Perhaps the band doesn't break any new ground here, but this is a very solid track, and although not a top ten song for me, it would end up on any kind of decent compilation that I would put together.

    A great energetic rocker that to me, is a sign of Ray's growing consistency as a writer..... and I reckon the band knock it out of the park

     
  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    "Where Have All the Good Times Gone"

    [​IMG]
    Single by the Kinks
    from the album The Kink Kontroversy
    A-side
    "Till the End of the Day"
    Released 19 November 1965 (UK) 2 March 1966 (US)
    Recorded 23–30 October 1965
    Studio Pye (No. 2), London
    Genre Rock garage rock
    Length 2:49
    Label Pye (UK) Reprise (US)
    Songwriter(s) Ray Davies
    Producer(s) Shel Talmy

    Ray Davies said, "We'd been rehearsing 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone' and our tour manager at the time, who was a lot older than us, said, 'That's a song a 40-year-old would write. I don't know where you get that from.' But I was taking inspiration from older people around me. I'd been watching them in the pubs, talking about taxes and job opportunities."[2]

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    mono mix (2:48), recorded 25-30 Oct, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London

    Well, lived my life and never stopped to worry 'bout a thing
    Opened up and shouted out and never tried to sing
    Wondering if I'd done wrong
    Will this depression last for long?

    Won't you tell me
    Where have all the good times gone?
    Where have all the good times gone?

    Well, once we had an easy ride and always felt the same
    Time was on my side and I had everything to gain
    Let it be like yesterday
    Please let me have happy days

    Won't you tell me
    Where have all the good times gone?
    Where have all the good times gone?

    Ma and Pa look back at all the things they used to do
    Didn't have no money and they always told the truth
    Daddy didn't have no toys
    And mummy didn't need no boys

    Won't you tell me
    Where have all the good times gone?
    Where have all the good times gone?

    Well, yesterday was such an easy game for you to play
    But let's face it things are so much easier today
    Guess you need some bringing down
    And get your feet back on the ground

    Won't you tell me
    Where have all the good times gone?
    Where have all the good times gone?
    Where have all the good times gone?

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Davray/Carlin Music

    Again we get a descending chord pattern that announces the beginning of the song.

    For me this is another great track ... and I think it is an excellent lyric that is an observation of others, but written in the first person, showing Ray's ability to get inside a lyric and be the character. To some degree this shows clearly how easy it is for folks to feel like these songs are all about Ray.
    Although to some degree one could think that this was shaky territory to step into territory outside ones own experience, I think Ray manages to really share the idea behind the song really well.
    He wonders if he has done something wrong, as if his actions have all led to this particular place that seems built around depression, and a failure to just enjoy everything.
    We have the observation that everything seemed so easy before, but now it seems like time is running out and everything is rushed.
    We get the observation that parents didn't have money, but they had integrity, and they were satisfied with each other, not looking outside for distractions .... fidelity and focus.
    The conclusion comes that yea, yesterday was an easy game, but frankly things are easier these days, sort of turning the ideas on their heads.

    Again this is a song I loved when I first heard One For The Road, and this is a quite different version that took me a couple of listens to recalibrate to this version, but it didn't take much and I really love this song too.

    Musically this track manages to reflect the feeling of the lyrics really well.
    It is punchy, but it has this loping back and forth feeling about it, that is accented by the punch chords the reprise the intro chords. It is quite a simple idea, but it manages to capture the feeling of the lyrics really well.

    Also we get this brilliant vocal delivery from Ray that shows how he is managing to infuse his personality into the songs, rather than just sing them.
    I t is one of my favourite things about the Kinks and Ray himself, in the way he puts little twists on words and phrases that accentuate a feeling rather than just pronounce a word.

    Anyway. this is a wonderful single. The A and the B side are just both really solid songs, and in my opinion both songs could easily have been A-sides.

     
    Last edited: May 14, 2021
  17. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Till the End of the Day was my first Kinks crush. I understand it’s often seen as another avatar of the heavy riff You Really Got Me template, but it’s not derivative at all and it’s proven incredibly seminal in its own right, as the track that more or less defined power pop : crunchy chords, relentless energy and unapologetic melodicism. Big Star’s Alex Chilton covered it, of course, and it's an important part of pop history, as the two geniuses developed a real friendship later in New Orleans (as told by Ray in the spoken prelude to Rock'nRoll Cowboys). But beyond Big Star, you hear the influence of this song in everyone, Badfinger, Dwight Twilley, The Nerves, Weezer and many more, up until Ty Segall’s Fuzz (who had to cover the song at breakneck speed to approximate the frantic energy level of the original).
    The band arrangement (guitar, drums, backing vocals) is spectacular and you've got to admire the way the main melody circulates between the vocals and guitars, to the extent that it's impossible to hum the song without “humming” the guitar chords. “Baby I Feel Good/ Bam Bam Ba-bam Bam”, it’s almost a call & response structure. Perfection !
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Also, it is interesting the contrast between the two songs ... We're free to live our lives and everything is Dandy .... All the good times have gone and I'm a bit depressed. That's some bi-polar action if ever I have seen it
     
  19. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    After first hearing this it took me a long time to appreciate as i had been spoilt by the supreme chordal riffing of their two epic 1964 singles.
    But this is a different beast, like them it is also original but also full of optimism that is so genuinely uplifting that i find it hard not to sing along with as iam propelled by the song!
     
  20. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    'Til The End Of The Day' from the same late 65 German 'Beat Beat Beat' concert as 'Well Respected Man', except this time with the correct live audio. This is once again, the only contemporary surviving footage of this key track.

     
  21. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    'Til The End Of The Day' remained a consistent concert staple for the Kinks for the rest of their career, and was the regular set opener for years. Here's a much later live version from the other end of their time together, on Later.. With Jools Holland in 1993.

     
  22. Vagabone

    Vagabone Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Two classics, two cornerstones of the classic album we're about to hear. Even surpasses "Set Me Free"/"I Need You" in terms of double-sided goodness.

    Of the two, I prefer the a-side, one of the most instantly appealing, infectious, danceable and sing-alongable of Kinks singles. Is it the first of the many sixties songs on this theme? (The Stones' "I'm Free" for example)

    It's amusing there's such a contrast between the lyrical mood of the two songs.
     
  23. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Til The End Of The Day"/"Where Have All The Good Times Gone?"

    Surely the strongest Kinks single so far in terms of the combined quality of the A and B side - both cast-iron Kinks Klassics?

    Both of them have elements of the crunching riffs of their breakthrough hit singles, but both take it in new directions. The A side grafts a more sophisticated song structure onto the riffs, and includes Dave's best guitar solo to date. It has the same irresistable energy of those earlier singles, but it's deeper and more rounded, and what about that final chord??

    The B side brings together the crunching riff and the social commentary to create the prototype of so many Kinks songs over the next few albums. Great tune, unforgettable chorus with Dave supplying stellar harmonies, and Mick really drives it along with his drumming.
     
  24. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Exactly. Let's call it a double A side, even if it wasn't!
    The very title of this stellar track could be the defining Kinks sentence. Where Have All the Good Times Gone ! You can hear it with an exclamation mark or with an interrogation mark, and the sentiment will be quite different. There’s an element of satire, like someone is asking the question out loud in a pub or something (the inebriated singalong nature of the chorus magnified by Dave’s screaming backing vocals certainly points in that direction). By mimicking Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone voice and phrasing, plus quoting some Stones and Beatles lyrics (“Time was on our Side” / “Yesterday was such an easy game for you to play”/ “Get Your Feet Back on the Ground”), I think Ray is saying something about the state of the Beat and pop culture, certainly at a crossroad in 1965, and his ambivalent attitude towards it. Something is ending and it’s not clear yet if something better is beginning or not, and if he’ll manage (or be willing) to be part of it. Ray is certainly singing from the perspective of an older guy, but he’s also perfectly aware that he could be – or become – that guy himself.
    This single is so strong it’s ridiculous.
     
  25. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I'm not sure if The Kinks performed 'Where Have All The Good Times Gone' live much in the 60s, if at all. It certainly wasn't a concert staple (though it should have been!). It seemed to take until Bowie selected it for his Pin Ups LP in 1973 that it began to grow in stature, and would eventually be reclaimed by The Kinks to become a live anthem from the late 70s onwards. Bowie's cover is a case where the influential cover was damn good.. but.. sorry, it's just not the original. It's no 'Stop Your Sobbing' as The Kinks had already nailed it in 1965.

     
    Last edited: May 14, 2021

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