Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 224 The Kinks

Kinda Kinks - The Kinks

Reprise

Produced by Shel Talmy

Released 11th August 1965

US Chart #60

 Tracklist US Version

 A1     Look For Me Baby
A2     Got My Feet On The Ground
A3     Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl
A4     Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight
A5     Set Me Free
B1     Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy
B2     Dancing In The Street
B3     Don't Ever Change
B4     So Long
B5     You Shouldn't Be Sad
B6     Something Better Beginning

Like yesterday where we got stuck in the 1960s with The Mamas and The Papas, we rewind a couple of years to 1965 and the release of the second album from The Kinks.

In the States Kinda Kinks was actually the third release by their American label Reprise. Kinks-Size was the second one and had been released in March 1965 and was kind of a compilation of an EP, album tracks and Singles and had reached #13 in the charts.

On this day in musical history Kinda Kinks was released in America five months after its release in the United Kingdom.

For the US version, three tracks were dropped: "Naggin' Woman" would be held over for the US only Kinkdom LP, and both sides of their recent hit single, "Tired of Waiting for You" and "Come On Now", were already placed on the previous US album Kinks-Size. These were replaced with the recent single "Set Me Free" and "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" (recently issued as a B-side in the US but originally a single in the UK).

The album didn't do as well as their US Debut Album You Really Got Me, it was basically Kinks renamed minus a few tracks from the original UK release. The Debut had reached #29 in the US but the follow up stalled at #60.

Now the reasoning behind this could be the fact that when the album was recorded it was basically rushed out two weeks after recording was completed and therefore it's not mixed as well as it should have been. The band apparently were not too happy with the mix believing that they actually had much better songs than the Debut Album but due to the roughness of the mix those songs maybe didn't stand out as well as they should have.

Tired of Waiting for You became their second #1 single in the UK and peaked at #6 in the US.

Kinda Kinks - The Kinks

Pye 

Produced by Shel Talmy

Released 5th March 1965

UK Chart #3

Tracklist UK Version

A1     Look For Me Baby    
A2     Got My Feet On The Ground    
A3     Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl    
A4     Naggin' Woman    
A5     Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight    
A6     Tired Of Waiting For You    
B1     Dancing In The Street    
B2     Don't Ever Change    
B3     Come On Now    
B4     So Long    
B5     You Shouldn't Be Sad    
B6     Something Better Beginning

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Rewind: 1966 The Kink Kontroversy Released in The USA

The Kink Kontroversy was the third studio album from North London based The Kinks. It was released on this day in the USA, having had an original release date in the UK back in November 1965. Quite why it took so long to get released there I don't know but it could have something to do with the fact that there had been onstage fights (a famous one being between Drummer Mick Avory and Dave Davies which left Davies with 16 stitches in his head after being hit with a cymbal! That was in Cardiff and took place after the first song of the set!), and riots at shows in Europe that saw them banned from playing live in the USA for four years!

It's one of my favourite albums from The Kinks and it contains the brilliant Till the End of the Day single that had Where Have All the Good Times Gone as the B-Side!

The Kink Kontroversy - The Kinks

Pye (UK) / Reprise (US)

Produced by Shel Tamy

Released 26th November 1965 (UK)

Released 30th March 1966 (US)

UK Chart #9

US Charts #95

Track list:
Side One
1. "Milk Cow Blues"
2. "Ring the Bells"
3. "Gotta Get the First Plane Home"
4. "When I See That Girl of Mine"
5. "I Am Free"
6. "Till the End of the Day"

Side Two
1. "The World Keeps Going Round"
2. "I'm On an Island"
3. "Where Have All the Good Times Gone"
4. "It's Too Late" 22:53
5. "What's in Store for Me"
6. "You Can't Win"

Personnel
    Ray Davies – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
    Dave Davies – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on I Am Free and What's in Store for Me, shared lead vocals on Milk Cow Blues and You Can't Win
    Pete Quaife – bass guitar, backing vocals
    Mick Avory – drums (tracks Milk Cow Blues,Ring the Bells  and Where Have All the Good Times Gone), percussion
    Clem Cattini – drums (tracks Gotta Get the First Plane Home, When I See That Girl of Mine, I Am Free,Till the End of the Day,The World Keeps Going Round, I'm On an Island, It's Too Late, What's in Store for Me and You Can't Win)
    Nicky Hopkins – keyboards
    Rasa Davies – backing vocals (track Till the End of the Day and Where Have All the Good Times Gone)
    Shel Talmy - guitar on It's Too Late

Rewind: 1968 Live At Kelvin Hall - The Kinks

Recorded on 1st April 1967 in Glasgow's Scene '67 Theatre inside Kelvin Hall. The Kinks played two sets along with the supporting cast of Sounds Incorporated and The Fortunes. The show was the last of a ten day Teen music festival sponsored by the Daily Record and a local disco.

The album did not do well on it's release and in the States and it did no better with the UK release five months later! It's easy to see why it went down like a deflated pudding.

The crowd noise throughout the album is basically a tape loop and the band clearly went into the studio after the recording to "sweeten" the sound. It all makes the album sound very tinny I think. It's an interesting document from the point of view that not a lot of the bands at the time like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who had thrown their hats in the ring to release a live record.

Live At Kelvin Hall - The Kinks

Pye Records (Reprise US)

Produced by Ray Davies

Released 12th January 1968 

(In the US it was actually released 16th August 1967)

UK Chart N/A

US Chart #162

Track list:
1."Till the End of the Day"
2."A Well Respected Man"
3."You're Lookin' Fine"
4."Sunny Afternoon"
5."Dandy"
6."I'm On An Island"
7."Come On Now"
8."You Really Got Me"
9.Medley: "Milk Cow Blues", "Batman Theme", "Tired of Waiting for You"

Personnel
    Ray Davies: lead vocal, backing vocals on "Come On Now", rhythm guitar
    Dave Davies: lead guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocal on medley, lead vocal on "You're Looking Fine", "Come On Now"
    Pete Quaife: bass guitar, backing vocals
    Mick Avory: drums

Rewind: 1968 The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks

Pye (UK) Reprise (US)

Produced by Ray Davies

Released 22nd November 1968

Did Not Chart!

Personnel
The Kinks
    Ray Davies – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, accordion, oboe, flute
    Dave Davies – lead guitar, backup vocals, lead vocals on "Wicked Annabella"
    Pete Quaife – bass, backup vocals
    Mick Avory – drums, percussion

Additional musicians
    Nicky Hopkins – keyboards, mellotron
    Rasa Davies – backing vocals

Rob Webb writing for the BBC in 2004 said, "In 1968 The Kinks released The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, an album curiously closer in spirit to that year's new sitcom hit, Dad's Army, than to the more familiar rock 'n' roll preoccupations of the day. While his contemporaries were revolting in style or getting mystic, Ray Davies spent much of the summer putting together a concept album steeped in nostalgia for an 'Olde England' of corner shops, custard pies and steam trains; an album which seemed to draw as much on the prewar music-hall of Max Miller as it did the blues. While the rock mainstream embraced Satanism and free love, Davies sang about preserving virginity and Sunday School. The Kinks' latest heroes were, apparently, Desperate Dan and Mrs Mopp, rather than Abraham, Martin or John. It was seriously out of step with prevailing trends."

Released on the same day in 1968 as The White Album by The Beatles and there were two very different reactions to both albums. The Beatles album was massive worldwide, The Kinks album made no impact upon the charts in the UK or anywhere else for that matter! It is considered to be one of their most influential and important works and yet at the time it was not the case. Critics praised the album (Read Paul Williams review for Rolling Stone, the album was released in America in January 1969), the public ignored it, and Davies -- surveying the scene-- asserted that it wasn't created for public consumption.

The album was the last one that featured the original quartet as Pete Quaife left the band early 1969 before work began on Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). They had basically spent the better part of two years recording the album and added the finishing touches in October 1968.

Original European 12-song version

Side one
    "The Village Green Preservation Society"
    "Do You Remember Walter?"
    "Picture Book"
    "Johnny Thunder"
    "Monica"
    "Days"

Side two
    "Village Green"
    "Mr. Songbird"
    "Wicked Annabella"
    "Starstruck"
    "Phenomenal Cat"
    "People Take Pictures Of Each Other"

This 12-song version was the original track listing intended for the European market. It was released in France, Sweden and Norway in October 1968, New Zealand in December 1968 and Italy in January 1969. However, before its release in the U.K, Ray and Pye had it withdrawn before it was manufactured and a re-sequenced version, expanded to 15 songs. Apart from sequencing, this early version differs by the absence of "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", "Big Sky", "Sitting by the Riverside", "Animal Farm" and "All of My Friends Were There", and the inclusion of "Mr. Songbird" and "Days" (the latter a #12 UK hit single released in June 1968). The stereo mixes of "Do You Remember Walter" and "People Take Pictures Of Each Other" featured slightly different parts from the mono mixes. This version is extremely rare to find.

The 1998 CD version of the album contained a Stereo Mix of 12 songs from the album and also a mono mix of Days. The 2004 3CD Special Deluxe Edition had a number of bonus tracks including three Stereo Mixes from the withdrawn 12 track edition and a disc of alternate and unreleased versions of songs.

Over the years there has been a major rethink about the album and as I said before many now declare it as their finest work. In Rolling Stone Magazine it was ranked at #255 in their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  Pete Townshend of The Who later said that "For me, Village Green Preservation Society was Ray's masterwork. It's his Sgt. Pepper, it's what makes him the definitive pop poet laureate."

Alphabet Beats Bonus #3: More Kinks

As a wee Alphabet Beats Bonus today here's a couple of Top Ten Countdowns spotlighting the music of The Kinks. First up is a S4L Top Ten Tracks by The Kinks and that will be followed by a S4L Top Ten Cover Versions of songs written and performed by The Kinks.

The S4L Top Ten of The Kinks

10. A Well Respected Man.

09. Sunny Afternoon.

08. Tired of Waiting For You.

07. Waterloo Sunset.

06. Lola.

05. Dedicated Follower of Fashion.

04. Better Things.

03. You Really Got Me.

02. Till The End of The Day.

01. All Day And All Of The Night

The S4L Top Ten Covers of Songs

by The Kinks.

10. Set Me Free - Sonny and Cher.

09. Lola - Madness.

08. See My Friends (Live) - Richard Thompson.

07. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (Live) - Supergrass.

06. Waterloo Sunset - First Aid Kit.

05. Dead End Street - Graham Coxon.

04. David Watts - The Jam.

03. Stop Your Sobbing - The Pretenders.

02. Days - Kirsty MacColl.

01. Better Things - Bouncing Souls.

Alphabet Beats #074: K is for...The Kinks

K is for....

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Dave Davies and Ray Davies with Pete Quaife in 1963. The band, which rose to fame during the mid-1960s and were part of the British Invasion of the U.S., are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era.

Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues, British music hall, folk and country. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Longest serving member Mick Avory (drums and percussion) was replaced by Bob Henrit formerly of Argent in 1984. Original bassist Pete Quaife was replaced by John Dalton in 1969 and Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford in 1978. Session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band in the studio for many of their recordings in the mid-late 1960s. In 1969 keyboardist John Gosling joined the band, making them an official five-piece, while Ian Gibbons replaced him in 1979, playing in the band until its eventual demise.

The band first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of singles and LPs most of which were critically successful but commercial failures, and gained a reputation for songs and concept albums reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style. Albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround and Muswell Hillbillies, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period.

The band's subsequent theatrical concept albums met with less success, but the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s with albums Sleepwalker, Misfits, Low Budget, Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion. In addition, groups such as Van Halen, the Jam, the Knack, the Pretenders and the Fall covered their songs, helping to boost the Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence. The Kinks broke up in 1996, a result of the commercial failures of their last few albums and creative tension between the Davies brothers.

The group had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.

 The Albums

    Kinks (1964)
    Kinda Kinks (1965)
    The Kink Kontroversy (1965)
    Face to Face (1966)
    Something Else by The Kinks (1967)
    The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

Live At The Kelvin Hall (1968)
    Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969)
    Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970)
    Percy (1971)
    Muswell Hillbillies (1971)
    Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972)
    Preservation Act 1 (1973)
    Preservation Act 2 (1974)
    Soap Opera (1975)
    Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975)
    Sleepwalker (1977)
    Misfits (1978)
    Low Budget (1979)

One For The Road (1980)
    Give the People What They Want (1981)
    State of Confusion (1983)
    Word of Mouth (1984)
    Think Visual (1986)
    UK Jive (1989)
    Phobia (1993)

To The Bone (1994)

The Singles Collection (1997)

BBC Sessions 1964-1977 (2001)

Picture Book (2008)

Kinks Kollected 1964-1994 (2011)

The Kinks At The BBC (2012)

The Antology 1964-1971 (2014)

Other Bits

The Kinks - The Biography Channel.

The Kinks Live 1967.

In Koncert 1973.

The Kinks BBC 1973.

Rockpalast 1982. 

Up Next An Alphabet Beats Bonus on The Kinks

Rockpalast Concerts

Rockpalast (Rock Palace) is a German music TV show broadcasting on WDR. It began in 1974 and continues to this day. So many great bands have appeared on it and seeing that You Tube these days has a loads of the shows I thought I'd post a few links here to some of the best ones.

All the shows are full sets. Just click on the links.

The Jam 30/11/80 Dortmund.

The Stray Cats 1981 Köln.

Steel Pulse 1979 Köln.

Bob Marley and The Wailers 1980 Dortmund.

The Kinks 1982 Essen.

The Smiths 1984 Hamburg.

Peter Gabriel 1978 Essen.

David Bowie 1996.

Siouxsie and the Banshees 19/07/81 Köln.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers 1995.

Ian Hunter Band featuring Mick Ronson (not sure of the year).

The Who 28/03/81 Essen.

The Pretenders 1981.

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band 2008.

XTC 10/02/82.

Little Feat 1977.

U2 1983 Dortmund.

The Undertones 17/10/81.

Squeeze 1985.

Thin Lizzy 1981.

Stevie Ray Vaughan 1984.

The Mission (2004).

The Hold Steady 2009.

Mink DeVille 1981.

Glasvegas 2008.

Gang of Four 1983.

Magazine 1980.

Burning Spear 1981.

Simple Minds 1987.

R.E.M. 1998.

Graham Parker and the Rumour 1978.