To me, The Kinks have always been something of an enigma. Though firmly part of the British Invasion that swept America in the mid-1960s, the band were also so idiosyncratically British that American audiences, myself included, were often baffled by their music. And at the height of rock’s hippie moment, when music fans were rolling around in Woodstock’s mud under the haze of psychedelic drugs, Ray Davies and the Kinks were releasing a quaint ode to pastoral days gone by. Their landmark 1968 album, 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society', was so out of step with the zeitgeist of its day, that it took years to be recognized as one of the outstanding records of the rock and roll era.
This enigmatic quality has served their legacy well. By ignoring
fashions and trends, the Kinks forged a body of work that is an enduring
paradox: so out-of-step with its time, it’s timeless. The quirky,
theatrical, and oh-so British Kinks albums of the late 1960s and early
1970s remain much more interesting than much of the
popular music from their contemporaries.
1971’s 'Muswell Hillbillies' was the Kinks 10th studio LP, and the first to feature the rhythm section of John Dalton on bass and backing vocals and Mick Avory on drums and percussion. It also has a horn section composed of Mike Cotton on trumpet, John Beecham on trombone and tuba, and Alan Holmes on saxophone and clarinet. Oh, and John Gosling contributed on keyboards.
'Muswell Hillbillies' is more or less a concept album, in which While not a commercial success at the time (probably due to lack of a hit single), it's gained recognition as a high point in The Kinks' discography.
The freeload is the 2CD remastered limited edition Japanese reissue SHM-CD, from 2013
'Muswell Hillbillies' is more or less a concept album, in which While not a commercial success at the time (probably due to lack of a hit single), it's gained recognition as a high point in The Kinks' discography.
The freeload is the 2CD remastered limited edition Japanese reissue SHM-CD, from 2013
When I look up from my pillow I dream you are there with me.
ReplyDeleteThough you are far away I know you'll always be near to me.
I go to sleep, sleep, and imagine that you're there with me.
I go to sleep, sleep, and imagine that you're there with me.
Gbrand
Sunny Afternoon became somewhat of a staple with a few jazz bands in NO:
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend's run off with my car
And gone back to her ma and pa
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty
Now I'm sitting here
Sipping at my ice cold beer
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
Ya stole me thunder pmac
DeleteIts such a sublimely subversive line.
DeleteNot any particular favo(u)rite, but apropos to the present day and from the album du jour as well:
ReplyDelete"I'm too terrified to walk out of my own front door
They're demonstrating outside I think they're gonna start the third world war"
Victoria
ReplyDeleteI was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I'm poor, I am free
Not a deep guy:
ReplyDeleteSee, 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
Not much better:
Each little tear that falls from your eyes
Makes, makes me want
To take you in my arms and tell you
To stop all your sobbing
Hey, it's rock'n'roll
Though
1966 - "I'm Not Like Everyone Else" (B-side to Sunny Afternoon)
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't want to ball about like everybody else,
And I don't want to live my life like everybody else,
And I won't say that I feel fine like everybody else,
'Cause I'm not like everybody else,
I'm not like everybody else.
But darling, you know that I love you true,
Do anything that you want me to,
Confess all my sins like you want me to,
There's one thing that I will say to you,
I'm not like everybody else,
I'm not like everybody else.
If my friends could see me now, dressing up in my bow-tie,
ReplyDeletePrancing round the room like some outrageous poove,
They would tell me that I'm just being used
They would ask me what I'm trying to prove.
They would see me in my hotel,
Watching late shows till the morning,
Writing songs for old time vaudeville revues.
All my friends would ask me what it's all leading to.
And I wholly concur with your assessment of Muswell Hillbillies, Babs!
DeleteI'm sitting by the side of a river
ReplyDeleteUnderneath the pale blue sky
I've got no need to worry, I'm in no hurry
I'm looking at the world go by.
Just sitting in the midday sun,
Just soaking up that currant bun,
With no particular purpose or reason
Sitting in the midday sun.
Anon RF:
ReplyDeleteI am a dull and simple lad
Cannot tell water from champagne
And I have never met the Queen
And I wish I could have all that he has got (Whey!)
I wish I could be like David Watts
(Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa...)
Anon RF: Don't know if I've already shared this, but earlier this year, at the pipsqueak age of 71, I finally realized that The Kinks had always and forever been my favorite group (apart from The Beatles and The Stones, which are gimmees). I'd known it since hearing YRGM in shop class in 64 (?), but never really articulated it. But that's it. The Kinks. Always and forever.
ReplyDeleteThe Dalton and Gosling era was golden. This tour was my first time seeing the Kinks. Glorious.
ReplyDeleteAnswering phones and dictating letters
ReplyDeleteMaking decisions that affect no one
Stuck in an office from nine until five -
Life is so incredibly dull, working from nine to five
And time goes by
The hours tick away
First seconds, then minutes,
Then hours into days
Each day, each week
Is just like any other
All work, no play
It's just another day...
D in California (who is retired, thank you)
The entirety of "20th Century Man"
ReplyDeleteI think I mentioned it before but it has to be the whole of "Do you remember Walter?".
ReplyDeleteAnon RF: Quite agree. Such a compassionate piece. Walter my old friend where are you now?
DeleteSet me free, little girl
ReplyDeleteAll you gotta do is set me free, little girl
You know you can do it if you try
All you gotta do is set me free, free
Free
Wow, I am impressed by all of your contributions...I really need to look further into this Kinky stuff!
ReplyDeleteA personal anthem:
ReplyDelete"I won't take all that they hand me down
And make out a smile though I wear a frown
And I'm not gonna take this all lying down
Cause once I get started I go to town
Cause I'm not like everybody else[11]"
I see someone has posted the second verse as well
DeleteI realized I screwed up the lyrics I posted after reading your post. It should have been:
DeleteVerse 2 --
But darling, you know that I love you true
Do anything that you want me to
Confess all my sins like you want me to
There's one thing that I will say to you
Chorus 2 (following pre-chorus)
And I don't want to walk about like everybody else
And I don't want to live my life like everybody else
And I won't say that I feel fine like everybody else
'Cause I'm not like everybody else
I'm not like everybody else
Somehow the word "ball" got substituted for "walk" on Chorus 2 in my original post. I hate when I make mistakes like that. The devil is in the details. The record stands corrected.
Link
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/yfPjRjPHMKf
Celluloid Heroes never fails to bring a tear to my eye.
ReplyDeleteIf you covered him with garbage,
George Sanders would still have style,
And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney
He would still turn round and smile,
But please don't tread on dearest Marilyn
'Cos she's not very tough,
She should have been made of iron or steel,
But she was only made of flesh and blood.
Those were the words of a drunken vagabond
ReplyDeleteBreeze blows leaves of a musty-coloured yellow
So I sweep them in my sack
Friday evenings, people get together
Hiding from the weather
Tea and toasted, buttered currant buns
Can't compensate for lack of sun
Cause the summer's all gawn
Well Mr. Churchill says, we gotta hold up our chins
ReplyDeleteWe gotta show some courage and discipline
We gotta black up the windows and nail up the doors
And keep right on till the end of the war
note the brilliant cod-Russian guitar solo in this.
We are the Village Green Preservation Society
ReplyDeleteGod save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety
We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties
You really got me!
ReplyDeleteYou really got me!
You really got me!
Zen like in its simplicity.
DeleteI haven't listened to any Kinks for so long nothing comes immediately to mind though "You really got me" rings a bell?! Many thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteBrian
A couple:
ReplyDelete"My girlfriend's run off with my car/and gone back to her mar and par/telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty"
I thought of this earlier this morning, coincidentally, when I emailed my former in-laws about something, for I used to and still do call them Ma and Pa, but with an exaggerated 'ar' ending on the words. It's not just the words, it's Ray's vocals, especially following up 'mar and par' with the dramatic reading of 'drunkenness and cruelty'.
And:
'Well, I'm not the world's most masculine man/but I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man/and so is Lola'.
I love me great wordplay, and that ranks right up there with the best. The only other rock song that comes to mind with a similar clever twist in the denouement is Tommy Tutone's '867-5309/Jenny' and its couplet 'I tried to call you before, but I lost my nerve/I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed'. Tommy's no Ray, tho, for cranking out the pithy observations set to memorable tunes.
C in California
Tea in the morning, tea in the evening, tea at supper time,
ReplyDeleteYou get tea when it's raining, tea when it's snowing,
Tea when the weather's fine.
You get tea as a mid-day stimulant
You get tea with your afternoon tea
For any old ailment or disease
For Christ sake have a cuppa tea
Any of the verses from Low Budget.
ReplyDeleteBig Black Smoke
ReplyDeleteWell, she slept in cafés and coffee bars and bowling alleys,
And every penny she had
Was spent on purple hearts and cigarettes.
She took all her pretty coloured clothes,
And ran away from home
And the boy next door,
For a boy named Joe.
And he took her money for the rent
And tried to drag her down in the big black smoke,
In the big black smoke.
For non anglos the Big Black Smoke was how London called especially from outside London in the era of steam trains and coal fires and smog...people still refer to going to London as the Big Smoke..
ReplyDeleteRay Davies went to Hornsey College of Art 20 years before I did...I lived on next road to Konk studios would see him going fro a cuppa at cafe across road too young to think I should have said hello..
ReplyDelete