I have just now downloaded and listened to several of these ballads all they way through. Don’t remember hearing ANY of them on FM rock radio during the 1970s or later. The first record I ever bought was by the Kinks (in 1964). I was a huge early fan, but they were off my "active" radar after 1966. Thanks for this!
Stormy Sky was the first one that popped into my head, one of my top five Kinks songs, just gorgeous. The way you describe the closing part of the song is just perfect, much like the song itself.
Frankly, a band not discussed nearly enough in the various classic rock circles and channels. So thanks for reviving the lesser known tracks, all of which I know. Misfits and Sleepwalker are among my favourite albums and I might have selected one or two more ballad-ish cuts from there. Not sure it’s deep enough cut to qualify, but Shangri-La is a great track. And if you want to go a layer deeper, into the solo material, Dave Davies’ Death of a Clown. I only mention that because his songwriting abilities were overshadowed by his brother’s greatness. And yes, I was at their Low Budget show, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, and I remember that Misfits acoustic moment. I saw them a few more times in years following, always a great performance.
@GoneButNotGone The Kinks and other bands from the time period don't get discussed much because they aren't the Beatles, the Stones, or the Who. To us, we're glad that the Kinks are the Kinks. Those other 3 bands were great...but so are the Kinks, the Animals, etc.
Beautifully done. I especially adore (and sometimes play out) "Some Mother's Son" and "The Way Love Used To Be." It's so nice to hear the latter on a 45; that should've ruled the airwaves!
SO pleased to hear Some Mother’s Son get some attention. That final wordless vocal of empathy, heartbreak, and love. Strangers from Lola is another for the list. And a great list it is.
There are a ton of them, as you said. Everyone you mentioned is a gem, no, a masterpiece. “No More Looking Back” is such a great track, it might be my favorite example of Dave Davies’ guitar virtuosity. From the period you covered I think I would add “Daylight” from the same Preservation album as “Sweet Lady Genevieve,” as well as “Get Back in Line” from Lola vs. Powerman, etc. and “Trust Your Heart (Dave Davies) from Misfits. There are some extraordinary ballads on some of the later albums that are worth investing time in: “Little Bit of Emotion” from Low Budget, “Killer’s Eyes” from Give the People What They Want, “Property” from State of Confusion (a heartbreaking ballad about divorce), “Missing Persons” from Word of Mouth, “How are You?” and “When You Were a Child” (Dave Davies) from Think Visual, “Still Searching” and “Scattered” from Phobia. Of course, I’m assuming great ballads like Celluloid Heroes and Strangers are not “deep cuts” for the purposes of this topic. Well done and thank you for this survey.
I agree with all your choices, especially "No More Looking Back" - which is brilliant - and very relatable. I have only one (small) issue with "Little Bit Of Emotion" in that, while I think that it's a terrific song, I don't like the way that Ray sings it. He messes around with his vocalizing in a way that annoys me. Other than that, two thumbs up.
@@total.strangerThank you so much. Is it the silent “t”s in “little” that annoy? To me it sounds a bit twee, innocent and vulnerable, and so contrasts with the heavier rockets on the album. But I take your point, Ray’s vocalizations can be confounding sometimes, though I rather think this ballad wouldn’t work the same way had Ray sung it “straight.”
@@charlesandrews2360 Thank you. I wish I had seen that tour and I’m not sure why I didn’t; I hadn’t missed a tour since Schoolboys, which is probably my favorite show of all time.
The Kinks are one of my favorite bands. "Oklahoma USA" has some of the most poignant lyrics I have ever heard: "All life we work, but work is a bore, if life's for living, what's living for...." It seems to me we all have to answer that question.
Wow! Fantastic list! Oh was trigger ready to write in and add “no more looking back” And “some Mother’s son” but you recognized them and gave them the reverence they deserve! I was getting scared that topping your list would be Waterloo sunset, which of course is a masterpiece but cannot be considered a deep cut because of its popularity. kudos also for listing Moments- a real hidden gem! Here are a couple more deep cuts to add: Nothing Lasts Forever (off of preservation ) and the Last Assembly from school boys in disgrace. Also check out the songs “tell me now” and “there is a new world”. Kinks level of greatness really not well acknowledged or appreciated until you look past the most well known songs and realize that their deep cuts may be even better!
Well done. I love the Kinks, one of my favourite band, in my top 5. "Some mother's son" is special for me, a sad but powerful song. A true masterpiece about children's loss during world war and finding the strength to get over, in the family. Wonderful and essential song. Otherwise, I abolutely love "Death of a clown", "Days", "Animal farm", "This strange effect", "Rosie won't you please come home", "Daylight", "Berkeley mews". And so many other gems. God save the village Kinks.
The Kinks released two great expanded albums of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society from 1968, there’s a great live orchestral/choir version of Days on one of them, often the highlight of a Kinks live gig!
Australia is also a standout cut from the great Arthur album. Not sure whether it can be considered a ballad or not but great tune. It does get wild as far as some guitar histrionics toward the end or ladder part.
@@etamommy It’s a phenomenal track. My favorite part is where it breaks down right before the jam part and the backup vocals are ascending. Incredible…
Maybe not a ballad directly, but quite emotional though, I think Heart of Gold off the Word of Mouth album, just love it Otherwise I agree to most of the choices ... Till Death Do Us Part off the Kronickles is quite neat too
Cap Of Etish...........Know em all..Have em all!!! This was Sweet!!!....If I could just toss a few in the pot.. School Day's off the "Disgrace"LP... A absolute Golden album!..And one other...."Art Lover" off "Give The People"...A bit weird subject matter on that one but...Still love it!.......Ok time to head to the bunkers!!!! Until next time........
Ray returned from a tour, once, to find that his wife, Rasa, had left him and taken his two daughters. That trauma, I believe, is the back-story for "Art Lover", which I consider a classic Ray Davies/Kinks song - although it creeps out some women I've known. It's deliberately creepy, though - and totally 'harmless'. They performed it during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, but before they began it, someone walked onstage holding Dave's new baby as some sort of reassurance that the song the viewers were about to hear (and maybe be shocked by) was from men who were "family men".
Thanks for the great video. I would like to add an obscure song by the band which appears in a Mexican film The Blue Eyelids called This Strange Effect. I don't think it appears on any one their official album but you can find it on The Kinks at the BBC CD boxed set. A lost gem, I think.
From "Preservation: Part 1: "Lady Genevieve," ---you just mentioned it. Also "Sitting in the ---There you go again, Will you name the greatest, "One of the Survivors?" Well, "Life Goes On.." so I'm going to have some "Motorway Food" and head back to Muswell Hill." where my friend is quacking up from those "Ducks on the Wall." Want a ballad? How about "Shangra La?" from "Arthur..."? might as well send a medal to his wife...My friend saw me dancing and started calling me "Jack, Jack, the Idiot Dunce.,"
Last but not least.........Long Distance, The Road, Pictures In The Sand, Did You See His Name, My Diary, Million Pound Semi Detached, Mr Songbird, This Is Where I Belong!
Nice list, but I do miss in the Deep Cut list the essentioal (A) Face In The Crowd from Soap Opera. It is an absoluite masterpiece ballad from Ray opening up about his own insecurity in barely 2 minutes...
Since your definition of a "ballad" appears to be anything that isn't a rocker, then how can you omit "Stop your sobbing"??? IMO the best of all their album cuts. Great lyrics and melody.
Oaklahoma USA, how does he make authentic Americana so ?! I dont know. If i didnt hear it off a Kinks tape my brother made i would guess it was written by JPSousa, or Glen Miller, J Mercer etc
I'm sorry: " A great vocal from Ray." That would be a first. Although he wrote some good songs, his pitch problem drives me crazy. Kinks fans are always saying: "I don't know why the Kinks weren't as popular as they Beatles, Stones, Who, etc al." Because all of those bands had better singers. Even Mick Jagger isn't nearly as pitch challenged as Ray. But if you like it anyway, we'll that's your right.
"Everybody got the right to speak their mind / So don't shoot me for saying mine ..." . Fair enough, Terry. You've made your point. The thing that I've always liked about Ray and The Kinks is that they never lied. They are what they are. For the better part of their career, they never over-produced their work - take it or leave it. It wasn't until Preservation Act 2 in the summer of 1974 that they utilized all the studio tricks that were available - and that was ten years after their start in the music business. I love them the way they are - even if sometimes, I've wanted to strangle Ray for one reason or another.
Ray’s voice had nothing to do with their lack of success compared to those other bands. They were banned from the states for four years from 65-69. As a result they started writing more British themed albums which didn’t appeal to U.S. audiences. After the success of Lola in ‘70 they could have capitalized on that hit, but started churning out timeless concept albums which still resonate today. They did have a comeback in the late 70’s/early 80’s, but for the most part they didn’t sell out in extreme fashion like their contemporaries because simply they couldn’t play the game.
@tomrobinson5776 That's your opinion, but don't state it as fact because it isn't. Pitch, however, is a scientifically provable fact. The opinion comes in when you say his lack of anything resembling pitch doesn't bother you or, even better, you like it. Then it's all to each his own.
@@TerryTutor-cv3hh Everything in music is "to each his own". You don't care for Ray's pitch issues, and I suppose that it's too bad that "auto-tune" didn't exist in the 60s or 70s. If it had, Ray still wouldn't have used it because neither he nor The Kinks lied about their abilities. They were (and are) the way they were (and are) - and I'm good with that. In the end, it's all about the songs - and the emotional intent within the songs, which Ray has excelled at.
@total.stranger No, I can't stand auto-tune, so that isn't a solution. I only went as far with the pitch issue that I did because Tom stated his opinion as fact as to why the Kinks weren't as commercially successful as the bands I referred to. By that way, I was demonstrating the difference between a fact and an opinion. Don't worry. Life is too short to worry what some misguided guy with his "critics list" thinks on TH-cam. Unsubscribe
@@etamommy "Autumn Almanac" is slightly longer in the fade-out, depending upon which upload or release you listen to. Here's a link (with lyrics I've provided) to a 3'15" version. th-cam.com/video/XBa8tsGJwGI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xZ21Qm8PJyHLLY34
“Strangers” from the Lola album was always a standout for me..
What a band they were…
Huge Kinks fan here. Thanks.
I have just now downloaded and listened to several of these ballads all they way through.
Don’t remember hearing ANY of them on FM rock radio during the 1970s or later.
The first record I ever bought was by the Kinks (in 1964). I was a huge early fan, but they were off my "active" radar after 1966. Thanks for this!
Stormy Sky was the first one that popped into my head, one of my top five Kinks songs, just gorgeous. The way you describe the closing part of the song is just perfect, much like the song itself.
Frankly, a band not discussed nearly enough in the various classic rock circles and channels. So thanks for reviving the lesser known tracks, all of which I know. Misfits and Sleepwalker are among my favourite albums and I might have selected one or two more ballad-ish cuts from there. Not sure it’s deep enough cut to qualify, but Shangri-La is a great track. And if you want to go a layer deeper, into the solo material, Dave Davies’ Death of a Clown. I only mention that because his songwriting abilities were overshadowed by his brother’s greatness. And yes, I was at their Low Budget show, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, and I remember that Misfits acoustic moment. I saw them a few more times in years following, always a great performance.
@GoneButNotGone The Kinks and other bands from the time period don't get discussed much because they aren't the Beatles, the Stones, or the Who. To us, we're glad that the Kinks are the Kinks. Those other 3 bands were great...but so are the Kinks, the Animals, etc.
@ well said. 👏
Beautifully done. I especially adore (and sometimes play out) "Some Mother's Son" and "The Way Love Used To Be." It's so nice to hear the latter on a 45; that should've ruled the airwaves!
SO pleased to hear Some Mother’s Son get some attention. That final wordless vocal of empathy, heartbreak, and love.
Strangers from Lola is another for the list. And a great list it is.
I don’t know if it’s quite a ballad, but Animal Farm from VGPS is just about perfect.
There are a ton of them, as you said. Everyone you mentioned is a gem, no, a masterpiece. “No More Looking Back” is such a great track, it might be my favorite example of Dave Davies’ guitar virtuosity. From the period you covered I think I would add “Daylight” from the same Preservation album as “Sweet Lady Genevieve,” as well as “Get Back in Line” from Lola vs. Powerman, etc. and “Trust Your Heart (Dave Davies) from Misfits. There are some extraordinary ballads on some of the later albums that are worth investing time in: “Little Bit of Emotion” from Low Budget, “Killer’s Eyes” from Give the People What They Want, “Property” from State of Confusion (a heartbreaking ballad about divorce), “Missing Persons” from Word of Mouth, “How are You?” and “When You Were a Child” (Dave Davies) from Think Visual, “Still Searching” and “Scattered” from Phobia. Of course, I’m assuming great ballads like Celluloid Heroes and Strangers are not “deep cuts” for the purposes of this topic. Well done and thank you for this survey.
I agree with all your choices, especially "No More Looking Back" - which is brilliant - and very relatable.
I have only one (small) issue with "Little Bit Of Emotion" in that, while I think that it's a terrific song, I don't like the way that Ray sings it. He messes around with his vocalizing in a way that annoys me. Other than that, two thumbs up.
Those songs from Phobia are gorgeous. I was lucky enough to see them tours in support of that album.
@@total.strangerThank you so much. Is it the silent “t”s in “little” that annoy? To me it sounds a bit twee, innocent and vulnerable, and so contrasts with the heavier rockets on the album. But I take your point, Ray’s vocalizations can be confounding sometimes, though I rather think this ballad wouldn’t work the same way had Ray sung it “straight.”
@@charlesandrews2360 Thank you. I wish I had seen that tour and I’m not sure why I didn’t; I hadn’t missed a tour since Schoolboys, which is probably my favorite show of all time.
@tkingsley5761 I'm so jealous. I only saw them twice.
Huge Kinks fan, all those are great songs.
The Kinks are one of my favorite bands. "Oklahoma USA" has some of the most poignant lyrics I have ever heard:
"All life we work, but work is a bore,
if life's for living, what's living for...."
It seems to me we all have to answer that question.
@@davidskidmore4189 Indeed my friend. 😉
Wow! Fantastic list! Oh was trigger ready to write in and add “no more looking back” And “some Mother’s son” but you recognized them and gave them the reverence they deserve! I was getting scared that topping your list would be Waterloo sunset, which of course is a masterpiece but cannot be considered a deep cut because of its popularity. kudos also for listing Moments- a real hidden gem! Here are a couple more deep cuts to add: Nothing Lasts Forever (off of preservation ) and the Last Assembly from school boys in disgrace. Also check out the songs “tell me now” and “there is a new world”. Kinks level of greatness really not well acknowledged or appreciated until you look past the most well known songs and realize that their deep cuts may be even better!
@@etamommy I’ve always thought their deep cuts were phenomenal. Nothing Lasts Forever from Preservation Act 2 is gorgeous, musically and lyrically.
Yes! No More Looking Back is a life-changer. As good as anything by anybody.
I Go To Sleep,This Strange Effect,Two Sisters, Dont Forget To Dance and Sitting By The Riverside spring to mind.
It was the Kinks that first brought me to your channel.
Which one drove!!!!! Ha!!!!
Scattered..........the ultimate Kinks ballad!!!
Well done. I love the Kinks, one of my favourite band, in my top 5. "Some mother's son" is special for me, a sad but powerful song. A true masterpiece about children's loss during world war and finding the strength to get over, in the family. Wonderful and essential song.
Otherwise, I abolutely love "Death of a clown", "Days", "Animal farm", "This strange effect", "Rosie won't you please come home", "Daylight", "Berkeley mews". And so many other gems. God save the village Kinks.
Thanks man I needed that.
Great to hear anything by the band-thank you. Couple of my faves..."Little Bit of Emotion", "Missing Persons".
@@floydstoner2962 I love A Little Bit Of Emotion. 😉
The Kinks released two great expanded albums of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society from 1968, there’s a great live orchestral/choir version of Days on one of them, often the highlight of a Kinks live gig!
You mentioned “Don’t Forget To Dance” in your intro, which I bought back in the day. Haven’t heard it in years.
Ahhh.......The "Flip" side was...."Don't Forget To Listen"
Great song!
Australia is also a standout cut from the great Arthur album. Not sure whether it can be considered a ballad or not but great tune. It does get wild as far as some guitar histrionics toward the end or ladder part.
@@etamommy It’s a phenomenal track. My favorite part is where it breaks down right before the jam part and the backup vocals are ascending. Incredible…
Awesome video tom have a great day ❤😊
@@aminahmed2220 You as well 😊
Maybe not a ballad directly, but quite emotional though, I think
Heart of Gold off the Word of Mouth album, just love it
Otherwise I agree to most of the choices ...
Till Death Do Us Part off the Kronickles is quite neat too
Cap Of Etish...........Know em all..Have em all!!! This was Sweet!!!....If I could just toss a few in the pot..
School Day's off the "Disgrace"LP... A absolute Golden album!..And one other...."Art Lover" off "Give The People"...A bit
weird subject matter on that one but...Still love it!.......Ok time to head to the bunkers!!!! Until next time........
Ray returned from a tour, once, to find that his wife, Rasa, had left him and taken his two daughters. That trauma, I believe, is the back-story for "Art Lover", which I consider a classic Ray Davies/Kinks song - although it creeps out some women I've known. It's deliberately creepy, though - and totally 'harmless'.
They performed it during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, but before they began it, someone walked onstage holding Dave's new baby as some sort of reassurance that the song the viewers were about to hear (and maybe be shocked by) was from men who were "family men".
@@total.stranger Thanks Man.....absolute Gem!!!
nice list.... I think I am going to dig out Muswell Hillbillies today and listen to that one.... so many great tunes on that one.
@@GeeAitch-r1r Indeed 😉
Thanks for the great video. I would like to add an obscure song by the band which appears in a Mexican film The Blue Eyelids called This Strange Effect. I don't think it appears on any one their official album but you can find it on The Kinks at the BBC CD boxed set. A lost gem, I think.
@@georgecheung4271 Yes, that’s a gem indeed. 😉
The Kinks were also my first concert, in Binghamton, NY - and my first Fosters lager. I was attending Broome Community college - 1977 to 1979.
That concert was during The Superman period.
From "Preservation: Part 1: "Lady Genevieve," ---you just mentioned it. Also "Sitting in the ---There you go again, Will you name the greatest, "One of the Survivors?" Well, "Life Goes On.." so I'm going to have some "Motorway Food" and head back to Muswell Hill." where my friend is quacking up from those "Ducks on the Wall." Want a ballad? How about "Shangra La?" from "Arthur..."? might as well send a medal to his wife...My friend saw me dancing and started calling me "Jack, Jack, the Idiot Dunce.,"
I like every one of those. I would add:
Holiday
Where are They Now?
@@pauldaniels2019 Both awesome. 😉
All good, CF 👍😊
What about "Big Sky", one of my favourite Songs?
Otherwise great choices!
@@dreammachine2013 Big Sky is phenomenal. My fave off Village Green. Always thought of it as more of a mid tempo rocker.
I guess Sunny Afternoon and Tired of Waiting is out of the question. Oh well, I love the Kinks. They are the first band I saw live.
The list was limited to album cuts, and doesn't even include B-sides of singles.
Great list, but I'd like to add: "Art Lover" and "Something Better Beginning".
Last but not least.........Long Distance, The Road, Pictures In The Sand, Did You See His Name, My Diary, Million Pound Semi Detached, Mr Songbird, This Is Where I Belong!
Probably not a ballad , but Ive always loved the song “strangers” from the Lola album. The band “Golden Smog” do a great version
@@rohantredinnick4021 One of Dave’s best tracks. Awesome!
TRES Cool!
How many albums do you have? How long have you been collecting?
@@Blackhillssd Not sure. I’ve been buying albums since I was 5 years old.
“Nothing Lasts Forever” off of Preservation Act 2
Great pick. Gorgeous track lyrically and musically.
Nice list, but I do miss in the Deep Cut list the essentioal (A) Face In The Crowd from Soap Opera. It is an absoluite masterpiece ballad from Ray opening up about his own insecurity in barely 2 minutes...
@@gvcalcar I agree 😉
Father Christmas!
Sitting In The Midday Sun was released as a single, got fair airplay in the UK, but never charted. It wasn't quite a ballad. but a good song.
Since your definition of a "ballad" appears to be anything that isn't a rocker, then how can you omit "Stop your sobbing"??? IMO the best of all their album cuts. Great lyrics and melody.
Oaklahoma USA, how does he make authentic Americana so ?! I dont know. If i didnt hear it off a Kinks tape my brother made i would guess it was written by JPSousa, or Glen Miller, J Mercer etc
Was your #1 cut about the Election?
Omg you didn’t even play samples of the songs?
I'm sorry: " A great vocal from Ray." That would be a first. Although he wrote some good songs, his pitch problem drives me crazy. Kinks fans are always saying: "I don't know why the Kinks weren't as popular as they Beatles, Stones, Who, etc al." Because all of those bands had better singers. Even Mick Jagger isn't nearly as pitch challenged as Ray. But if you like it anyway, we'll that's your right.
"Everybody got the right to speak their mind / So don't shoot me for saying mine ..." . Fair enough, Terry. You've made your point. The thing that I've always liked about Ray and The Kinks is that they never lied. They are what they are. For the better part of their career, they never over-produced their work - take it or leave it. It wasn't until Preservation Act 2 in the summer of 1974 that they utilized all the studio tricks that were available - and that was ten years after their start in the music business. I love them the way they are - even if sometimes, I've wanted to strangle Ray for one reason or another.
Ray’s voice had nothing to do with their lack of success compared to those other bands. They were banned from the states for four years from 65-69. As a result they started writing more British themed albums which didn’t appeal to U.S. audiences. After the success of Lola in ‘70 they could have capitalized on that hit, but started churning out timeless concept albums which still resonate today. They did have a comeback in the late 70’s/early 80’s, but for the most part they didn’t sell out in extreme fashion like their contemporaries because simply they couldn’t play the game.
@tomrobinson5776 That's your opinion, but don't state it as fact because it isn't. Pitch, however, is a scientifically provable fact. The opinion comes in when you say his lack of anything resembling pitch doesn't bother you or, even better, you like it. Then it's all to each his own.
@@TerryTutor-cv3hh Everything in music is "to each his own". You don't care for Ray's pitch issues, and I suppose that it's too bad that "auto-tune" didn't exist in the 60s or 70s. If it had, Ray still wouldn't have used it because neither he nor The Kinks lied about their abilities. They were (and are) the way they were (and are) - and I'm good with that. In the end, it's all about the songs - and the emotional intent within the songs, which Ray has excelled at.
@total.stranger No, I can't stand auto-tune, so that isn't a solution. I only went as far with the pitch issue that I did because Tom stated his opinion as fact as to why the Kinks weren't as commercially successful as the bands I referred to. By that way, I was demonstrating the difference between a fact and an opinion. Don't worry. Life is too short to worry what some misguided guy with his "critics list" thinks on TH-cam. Unsubscribe
Autumn Almanac - the longer version - is my all-time favorite Kink track.
Where is longer version found? I have it on various CDs but initially from Kink Chronicles I think.
@etamommy I think the 'Something Else' reissue.
@@etamommy "Autumn Almanac" is slightly longer in the fade-out, depending upon which upload or release you listen to.
Here's a link (with lyrics I've provided) to a 3'15" version. th-cam.com/video/XBa8tsGJwGI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xZ21Qm8PJyHLLY34