The Classic Record Review 10.03.08: The Kinks - Something Else...
Posted by Rob Samuels on 10.03.2008
I’m back baby... and this time it’s personal.
The Introductory blurb bit
Welcome men, women, children, animals, bacterium and whomever else is browsing the internet at this time of the day! For those who have missed me, I'm sorry I stole your heart and rode out of this town like a bandit into the night. I still love you all, and appreciate you coming back for a second dose. For those who are new to my ‘writing' a hearty "How do" to you all. I promise to stick around longer this time.
This is the Classic Record Review, an article dedicated to albums you just may have forgotten about. The aim of this column is simple - to go back in time and enjoy some classic music from yester-year. I tend to stick to the more obvious classics but I may just remind you about a lost gem. Now and again I intend to write a special essay focusing on a particular era of music history that interests me, which I hope will spark a bit of debate amongst all of you Muso-holics.
Much like the classic Classic Record Review (can I call it that?) the format is still the same. I have however added a ‘stats' section with the basic album info that no one really cares about. Just to spice it up a bit I've also taken the liberty of modifying my ratings system slightly. Exciting eh?
Classic is a term that is often over-used, and how I define a ‘classic record' may be different to you. If you have any opinions to add then please feel free to mass-debate in the old comments section at the bottom - we're a very liberal democracy here at the Classic Record Review and I would love to hear what you all have to say. After all music is completely and utterly objective, and your opinion counts. Unless it's stupid.
So what do we have for you this week?
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Something Else by the Kinks - The Kinks
Yes - it's The Kinks! A band that is so quintessentially 60's in it's sound, but still had the ability to craft some absolutely timeless songs. Is ‘Something Else...' their finest work? Read on to find out...
The stats
Release date: September 15th 1967
Label: Reprise
Written by: Ray Davies and Dave Davies
Produced by: Ray Davies with Shel Talmy
The line-up
The Kinks:
Ray Davies: Vocals, guitar, piano and organ
Dave Davies: Vocals and guitar
Pete Quaife: Bass and backing vocals
Mick Avory: Drums and percussion
Additional Personnel:
Rasa Davies: Backing vocals
Nicky Hopkins: Piano, harpsichord and organ
Ken Jones: Bongos
The background
The Kinks were and will always be about the Davies brothers. Born in North London, England, older brother Ray and his younger sibling Dave spent their formative years jamming anything from Skiffle to Rock ‘n' Roll. In 1962 they were joined by school friend Pete Quaife on bass and eventually Mickey Willet on drums. This new four-piece started playing under various names including ‘The Ray Davies Quartet' and ‘The Pete Quaife Band'.
After a year and multiple name changes the band settled on a new title; ‘The Ravens'. Their demo was eventually picked up by American producer Shel Talmy, and they were subsequently signed to Pye records, but not before replacing Willet with Mick Avory on drums. It was before the release of the first single that ‘The Ravens' became ‘The Kinks' allegedly because of their ‘kinky' stage gear. The band gained popularity on both sides of the Atlantic with their 3rd single ‘You Really Got Me'. Unfortunately, in 1965 The Kinks were controversially banned from the United States for unspecified reasons - a move which severely hindered the bands selling power abroad.
Despite this the band continued to develop, and in 1966 released their fourth album ‘Face to Face'. It was this record that saw The Kinks grow into more than just a ‘Mod Invasion' band, the album demonstrating the maturity of Ray Davies songwriting. The huge critical success of ‘Face to Face' was followed up in 1967 with ‘Something Else by The Kinks', which once again showed how much the band had developed since the early days. Once again, despite critical acclaim ‘Something Else...' didn't shift the numbers expected (mainly due to the ban in the States). Despite the perceived commercial failure of both records at the time both ‘Face to Face' and ‘Something else...' have gone on to be regarded as classics of the era, and It was these two albums that really cemented The Kinks in Rock ‘n' Roll history.
It is the latter that we will be looking at today.
The music
First, the track listing:
1. David Watts
2. Death of a Clown
3. Two Sisters
4. No Return
5. Harry Rag
6. Tin Soldier Man
7. Situation Vacant
8. Love Me ‘till the Sun Shines
9. Lazy Old Sun
10. Afternoon Tea
11. Funny Face
12. End of the Season
13. Waterloo Sunset
Now, to the good stuff...
The record kicks off in style with the stunningly addictive ‘David Watts'. Beginning with some inane studio banter the song suddenly leaps into life with the addictive "Fa fa fa fa" hook line. The driving rhythm is head-bobbingly good, and the lyrics as witty as you would expect from the Kinks. A simply excellent opener.
‘Something Else...' famously features the songwriting debut of Dave Davies with the excellently dark ‘Death of a Clown'. The themes and structure immediately bring a certain Bob Dylan to mind, as do the almost mumbled vocals. Another brilliant song which builds well on the opener, taking the record down a more melodic route.
‘Two Sisters' kicks in with the always melancholic sound of a harpsichord. The song intelligently builds into a powerful anthem, avoiding the obvious psychedelic path. ‘Two Sisters' is a short song that leads directly into the acoustic ditty ‘No Return', which features a pleasurable upright bass sound (if I'm not mistaken). ‘No Return' is a great example of The Kinks moving away from their earlier Rock sound to a more melodic style, which this album exhibits throughout.
The almost militant ‘Harry Rag' is next, the marching drum beat leads into a dirty chorus sung in a true cockney style. You can almost hear the Eel Pie when you listen to this number - A real ‘down-souf' English pub anthem.
‘Tin Soldier Man' follows beautifully, taking the records tempo up a notch. The song features a coy brass section which follows the melody of the vocals nicely. The flowing verse contrasts nicely with the more staccato chorus creating another stylish song. ‘Situation Vacant' marks the return of the Rock ‘n' Roll side of The Kinks including some clever Organ punctuation in the chorus, and a nice little guitar solo to boot.
‘Love Me ‘till the Sun Shines' starts with a building guitar riff, which leads off into yet another catchy hook-line. The song is nicely layered with some surprisingly chunky distorted guitar work and a crisp Organ line, which give the song a heavier feel than the rest of the record.
We then get a real taste of Psychedelia with the Beatles-style ‘Lazy Old Sun', featuring the ever-present tambourine throughout (I'm convinced that every studio in the 60's was stocked with rooms full of tambourines). This is a song that is much different to anything else on the album and displays another side to the Kinks arsenal.
Suddenly we then take a step back into the realms of reality with the delightfully idyllic ‘Afternoon Tea'. A song whose guitar-heavy chorus lies nicely under the floating vocals. The bouncy ‘Funny Face' offers the album a pick me up, in a typically quirky 60's style. ‘Funny Face' almost feels like a Medley squashed down into a two minute song.
The penultimate track ‘End of the Season' brings us into a more reflective mood, described by the blurb on the back of the record as "The saddest comedy song of all". I can't really put it any better than that, the song does however bring the mood down nicely for the final track...
... which is of course the infamous ‘Waterloo Sunset'. Such a beautiful song which really paints a picture of Davies' home town. The laid-back acoustic rhythm accompanies the lead guitar beautifully, providing a stunning backdrop for the lyrics. Arguably one of finest songs of it's generation, Waterloo Sunset has aged just as well as any classic of the era. A cracking sendoff.
The 411
Something Else by The Kinks is universally regarded as a classic record and rightly so. Each song could stand on its own as a single, which is an impressive feat in itself. Despite this the songs also fit together beautifully as a unit creating an all round stunning album. The versatility shown throughout makes this the ultimate Kinks album for me.
As promised I have changed the rating system slightly. Instead of the old 'five [insert picture here]' system, I'm now basing it on the patent-pending ‘Bootsy Collins school of Funking good music' theory, which is as follows:
Below 5 = Back to the Funkin' studio fella's.
5-7 = Pretty Funkin' good.
7-9 = Funk me!
10 = Damn, that suckah's FUNK-AY!
On this basis I have no choice but to award ‘Something Else by The Kinks' the prestigious Bootsy Collins Gold Award for Funk-ay Excellence:
10/10
Damn, that suckah's FUNK-AY!
Thanks for reading, I hope you had fun. I'll be back on Monday with the eagerly anticipated return of Ask 411 Music, where I try to prove that there is life after Blake. So please start sending me any questions, queries, quibbles or quandaries to rob.samuels@yahoo.co.uk, and I'll get round to answering them in a witty yet informative manner... probably.
