None more black! This here is the 1970 double vinyl-style Kinks kompendium (hey - they should of called it that) what has accrued beaucoup kudos for sound kuality. After decades of trying to enjoy their albums, I toe the "singles band" line when it comes to these guys, and this is a nifty-swell agglomeration of the art of the 45rpm at which they excelled. They had a greater run of Top Ten hits than The Beatles, invented the heavy metal riff, were the first band to use a sitar sound (before anyone had a sitar), and in Ray Davies had a songwriter without peer - like a sharper, literate, homelier McCartney. But they suffered from brotherly hate, the shittiest of shit labels, a showband rhythm section, and - in spite of many fans' klaims to the kontrary - a fundamental inability to come up with an album you don't have to make excuses for.
I've seen both these bands live. The Kinks were cynical, hateful, audience-baiting, bitter. The Pretties gave it all they had, like they always did.
I'll up these just as soon as I rinse my nylons.
ReplyDeleteFill em with coffee grinds and put em in da fridge
ReplyDeleteWill that work for Raw Selvedge denim?
DeleteAsking for a friend....
I cain't bend me legs what with all th' coffee grinds in me hosiery, leave alone climb into th' fridgerator.
DeleteYes it will, JKC. And how I know that is not up for discussion.
Delete"The Pretty Things, meanwhilst, had everything except songs."
ReplyDeleteThat was worth a small LOL from my part.
In general I would agree on the Kinks as a single band, though if you had to choose an album I think "The Village Green Preservation Society" holds up pretty well.
Agreed, on Village Green, there isn't a misfire anywhere; the only drawback is Ray's limited repertoire of chord progressions and Dave's predictable pentatonic riffing.
DeleteVillage Green - believe me, I tried. It's a bit dull, ain't it? Their singles were (mostly) noisy, thrilling, or great tunes. There's none of that here - no singles, no hook that hooks. Doesn't make it a bad album, plenty of concept albums fall into the same trap - just disappointing. I have to defend it on some level (mostly abstract critical concerns like evocation of Englishness) for it to work. There may be no misfires, but they were aiming pretty low.
DeleteWell, you don't even have to cheat for a slightly better version of "Village Green", just swap the 15-track mono for the 12-track stereo edition, that's got "Days" on it, one of Ray Davies' very finest, wouldn't we say.
DeleteNow, as for that dull thing, 'tis true, but isn't that sort of going with the concept of describing nostalgic small town Britain which, uh, is pretty dull.
That doesn't sound quite like enough to make excuses for it. Granted, the retropsective praise that is heaped on "Village Green", "Muswell Hilbillies" and a bunch of their other 'concept albums' is a bit much for what are nice, unassuming, melodic, ever so slightly dull records. But that is hardly their fault now, innit?
There's a lot of love for the Kinks, based on their imperial run of singles. We all want the albums to be better than they are. Something Else regularly gets hyped - "a fantastic album from beginning to end". Uh-huh. The U.K.'s other great singles band, The Who, managed to come up with a few albums that worked well enough not to need the hype. But the Kinks? *yawns, blinks, looks at watch*
DeleteIt's also funny that you can draw a pretty clear line between The Who as a singles band where albums are market necessities ripe with filler and them as an album band from Tommy onwards (Hell, maybe even The Who Sell-Out) , only to then more or less revert into a singles band after Quadrophonia. it's also true that something like "Who's Next" kicks the ass of pretty much all Kinks albums...
DeleteThe Pretty Things suffered mainly because they had an ex-member of a bigger band in their ranks. Never works, it's the law:
ReplyDeleteJimmy Winston's Fumbs - not The Small Faces.
Mike Pender's Searchers - not The Searchers.
McDonald & Giles - not King Crimson
Peter Frampton & The Herd - not Humble Pie (ok, the exception that proves the rule)
Denny Laine's Electric String Band - not The Moody Blues (yeah, yeah, ignore the Wings thing)
Pete Best's The Pete Best Band - not The Beatles
Peter Banks's Flash - not The Yes
H from Steps (no details available)
See? If you leave an established band to form another band it never works.
Thus, Dick Taylor's Pretty Things - not The Rolling stones. Never stood a chance. Also, they were unphotogenic.
Cheers, Peanuts Molloy.
It's an interesting theory, but Taylor was very briefly in the Stones in '62, before they were an established band, leaving them to resume his "studies" at Sidcup Art College before starting the Pretties the following year. The band had reasonable singles chart action during his tenure (and the first album reaching no. 6), but none at all after his departure, when they became an "albums band" with a long succession of low or non-charting albums. So yer theory is basically pants, is what ten minutes of research is sayin'.
DeleteYup, they were as homely a bunch as could be imagined (most U.K. groups were), but Phil May had the necessary looks and style for a front man - groups needed only one pretty face to be viable.
Well, no pop music theory stands up to scrutiny does it? Concocting that theory took less time than your ten minutes research so what does that tell you? Eh?
DeleteAnyways, I've got a 7" single by the Pretties called "Buzz the Jerk" and I can tell you it's not very good. (Actually, I see now that it's the B side. Oh well.)
However, I also have the "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Honey I need" singles and if I had a jukebox, they would be on it, that's for sure.
And what about Phil May's haircut? That was the full Phil Oakley - he missed a trick there.
By chance, I was listening to the wonderful Cherry Red box set "Lullabies for Catatonics" earlier this eve and "Parachute" popped up. What a lovely track, co-written by Phil with Norman "Hurricane" Smith, which amuses me.
Cheers, Peanuts Molloy.
Parachute is a swell long-playing record. With a shit cover. Was it you who mentioned in Another Place how it being a Rolling Stone Magazine record of the year is a myth?
DeleteNo. Not me. I don't mention much there for fear of being ignored.
DeleteThey don't actually know much about music.
DeleteIf anyone wants these swell waxings, put your hand up!
ReplyDeleteI saw Phil May at the Led Zeppelin after-party at Earls Court 1975 (or was it 76?) and I can't say he was anything but ugly. Also 4 feet tall. I thought "Joey's In A Dream" was a good song though.
ReplyDeleteI have a full set of Kinks albums. The live 1967 is pretty good and I really like Face to Face. But really singles, yes.
It's all about context - he was the pretty one of the group. *ulp*
DeletePmac with his hands in the air, like he just doesn't care. Throw me something, mister!
ReplyDeleteComing up, special for youse, and nobody else, what is just a bum.
DeleteThis link for come-with Four Or Five Guy pmac's exclusive use. Any of you other freeloadin' bums clicking it will suffer th' CURSE O' FOAM© (*FX: doomy organ chord*), today manifest as increased earwax build-up.
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/RM8dKLJraCj
Pretty Things "Don't Bring Me Down" (True stereo version) [wav]
ReplyDeletehttps://app.box.com/s/5samthg408jr8rf3kjeisryi8imln9ab
Never on CD, never will be. Only ever on a few cheep-o "budget" comps a few dozen or more decades ago. NO place else. Oh, except YooToob. Ho ho ho.
Oh, and... This link only for come-without foam heads who have nothing better to do than hang around a fake island hurling pithy epithets and sipping colortinis.
Thanks for this, UncleB. But point of order - nothing fake about th' Isle O' Foam©. Check your false memory foam mattress - no trace of you, right?
DeleteFinally, you've thrown us some Meat! Neat! Arrrrr-Rolllllwwwwwllllll!
ReplyDeleteNice compilation which was released to early to include any selections from Arthur (1969) and Lola...(1970). Where it founders is with the inclusion of three barely competent covers of garage band standards at the expense of early original classics, Set Me Free, Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Sitting On My Sofa or I Need You. Make that switch and the selection is well nigh perfect...
ReplyDeleteOne of the best comps is The Golden Hour Of The Kinks, a budget 20 tracker which was released late enough to include a couple of tracks from Arthur...
ReplyDelete