My face when The Kinks play

Hajidub

Hajidub

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I've always been a Beatles fan, since I was a kid, but I was listening to a mix tape my brother made me that included The Kinks. I have to say The Kinks are one of the most under appreciated bands in the history of music. I think to myself that IF The Kinks came out during the none Beatles years they'd be so much bigger than they are. The Davies were genius song writers and performers that in my honest opinion got the short end of the stick due to timing. I think they have written better songs than the Beatles (not only quantity, but close to quality), but still get hosed. They were years ahead of their time and continued to produce hits well into the later years!

My face = :)
 
fuzzywobbles said:
http://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-8/kinks-ban/

The “ban” from playing the US didn’t help.
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Exactly. The Kinks were pretty "big" during The British Invasion, enjoying A LOT of chart action. However as FW points out above, they were banned for their "unprofessional behaviour" @ their first tour of The States and did not return for many years, @ the urging and (some say) strong-arm tactics of one Alan Klein, he of Apple Records fame...so we've even got a Beatles connection @ this episode of The Kinks story. The British Invasion has The Four Horsemen and they are The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. All others, e.g., Spencer Davis, Dave Clarke Five, The Animals, etc., are @ the second rank. My friend The Kinks were plenty "big" ca 1964-5 to those of us who were buying those BI-era albums. My brother and I had more albums & singles by The Kinks, The Who, and The Stones than we did of The Beatles. Many other did, too. But of course in the grand scheme The Beatles loomed largest of all as they were a WORLDWIDE phenomenon that the other three bands could not match even added together.

I like this thread b/c as you've aptly pointed out The Kinks do not "come up" in conversation often re: the foundations of Rock; there are those who'd argue that The Kinks, with the number "You Really Got Me", are the fomenters of Heavy Metal. No shit. And they might be correct...
 
My first rock & roll LP was the Kinks. My fave band prior to being seduced by the Stones' darkside.
 
P.S. Of course they sorta shot themselves in their collective foot when, during the early Seventies, they abandoned "popish" Rock and started their journey down Concept LP Lane, beginning in 1968 with The Village Green Preservation Society and persisting through and including Preservation Act 2 (1974). They re-emerged from the haze @round 1977 with the release of Sleepwalker, a helluva good album, and dollowed by (some say) an even better LP, one Misfits (1978). That was followed by Low Budget (1979) and (seemingly) suddenly The Kinks were back in the game.
 
P.P.S. Don't get me wrong re: The Concept Album Years: I own every one of them and really like, even love, a couple of them, in particular Arthur (1969).
 
I'm a fan of the Kinks' latter 70s into the 80s "arena rock" phase. They still maintained their humor. Prefer that to the "concept" years.

A good CD Kinks sampler, that tracks the old Ronco Hits LP from the 70s at the beginning, is The Ultimate Collection.

5050159010929-1_720x600.jpg
 
What, another postscript? Well, um, yes: but even when The Kinks returned to America's stages, they weren't quite on a par with The Stones or The Who, two bands that ruled the stages from circa 1969 until 1975/6. Seriously good stuff from each of 'em @ that span of years. The Beatles of course stopped "live" appearances altogether in '66, regrouping only for that rooftop thingie in Manhattan ('69?) and of course the one-number appearance/performance ("All You Need Is Love") @ Sullivan in '67 IIRC. Not thta The Kinks were not a good live act; they were, just not @ the level of The Who or The Stones @ those years. Of course they would surpass The Who in the live setting in the Post-Moon era, but The Stones still loomed large despite Exit Taylor / Enter Woodie. In fact The Stones' '75 tour w/ then brand-new Woodie is regarded by many as among their best tours. Who knew?
 
The Kinks were able to pull off a great live album in 1980 thanks to a carefully culled, zero chit-chat One For the Road where the forgotten Davies brother, Dave, raged like his old amphetamine days. Compare this to The Stones' heavily overdubbed Love You Live (released 1977, containing lots of '76) which, other than the El Mocambo side, is a sloppy affair, reflecting Mick and Keith's growing antagonism.
 
Mystic said:
P.S. Of course they sorta shot themselves in their collective foot when, during the early Seventies, they abandoned "popish" Rock and started their journey down Concept LP Lane, beginning in 1968 with The Village Green Preservation Society and persisting through and including Preservation Act 2 (1974). They re-emerged from the haze @round 1977 with the release of Sleepwalker, a helluva good album, and dollowed by (some say) an even better LP, one Misfits (1978). That was followed by Low Budget (1979) and (seemingly) suddenly The Kinks were back in the game.
Click to expand...

Found a mint copy of Sleepwalker at my GW for a buck. Was very happy to see Robert Ludwig did the mastering, noticed he did a handful of Kinks albums. I have yet to listen to it, but a local attorney/big time record collector that heard me talking about that album in one of my local record stores stated he was a Kinks fanatic and SW was toward the top of his list. I do have a lot of Kinks albums (some on Pye), but man o' man was their discography ginormous.
 
Did this just turn into a playlist thread, @Mystic style? I think it did.

Some lunch time music:
Face To Face (Deluxe Edition), the mono disc.
 
Face to Face. So good. My wife's favorite Kinks song is "Sunny Afternoon" because of the "telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty" line. Here's your monaural mix:

 
In my mind and the minds of many other Kinks fans they are firmly entrenched on the Mount Rushmore of the British invasion along with their compatriots, The Beatles, The Stones & The Who. Ray Davies is the most under-rated songwriter in the British rock canon if not all of rock muisc. How many other songwriters can claim hits over a span of decades?

Look at the track listing on the cd posted by KeninDC,( a fantastic collection for those looking to delve into the subject matter at hand) besides the obvious hits the Kinks put out over their career, i.e.You Really Got Me, All Day & All Of The Night, Lola, Celluloid Heroes, Victoria, etc there are the timeless classics from Ray Davies pen, Waterloo Sunset & Tired of Waiting For You. Are there better songs written by ANYONE during that period? How about Set Me Free? David Watts, Stop Your Sobbing, (nicely covered by The Pretenders BTW), & She's Got Everything? Which is just a great rock song.

Even their concept album period, mentioned by Mystic, has it's gems as well. Cricket, Demolition, Money Talks, He's Evil, The Hardway, Jack The Idiot Dunce, Education, Rush Hour Blues, I could go on. Then after they were left for dead by the music industry, The Kinks release the well received Sleepwalker, garnering well deserved radio play for the title track & Jukebox Music, followed by the album Misfits and then their "commercial" period with Gallon of Gas, Superman, Low Budget...

There are rumors that the Davies Brothers are getting the old gang together to do a limited tour this summer after so many years. Having seen them a dozen or so times I can highly recommend them as a live show. Even at their sloppy worst they can summon the magic on command. I set down to create a best of track list of The Kinks in chronological order from my collection. It ended up running to 4x80 minute cdrs. Yeah, I would say The Kinks are "Well Respected" group, deserving more so than many others, their place in the pantheon of rock & roll heroes.
 
KeninDC said:
Face to Face. So good. My wife's favorite Kinks song is "Sunny Afternoon" because of the "telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty" line. Here's your monaural mix:

Click to expand...
Good stuff. Do the liner notes name the keyboard player?
 
brian222 said:
Good stuff. Do the liner notes name the keyboard player?
Click to expand...

Not sure what the liner notes say since I only have the LP, but it is Nicky Hopkins. Nicky also played keyboards for some band called the Rolling Stones. There's an album called Exile on Main St. that is worth checking out. Sorry. I could not help myself. Nicky Hopkins is awesome. Nicky did 4 albums w/ the Kinks, but left after Ray started taking credit for Nicky's work.

Ray and Dave Davies were the prototype violent (toward each other) rock & roll siblings, setting the stage for the Gallagher (Oasis) brothers and the Robinson (Crowes) brothers. Not to mention the Glimmer Twins (I know, not exactly bros, but close enough).
 
KeninDC said:
Not sure what the liner notes say since I only have the LP, but it is Nicky Hopkins. Nicky also played keyboards for some band called the Rolling Stones. There's an album called Exile on Main St. that is worth checking out. Sorry. I could not help myself. Nicky Hopkins is awesome.
Click to expand...
Well, ain't I slow! Took me 3 minutes to type 13 words, lol.
 
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