The Kinks - Autumn Almanac
OK, it's one thing to be a clever songwriter, but that only gets you so far. If you can be clever, warm, funny, sad - human - not only are you showing how fantastic popular song can be, you are creating great art.
Uncle Ray is one of the finest song writers of the last century, certainly up there with Cole Porter. That's pretty high up, Mister.
Here's one of his greatest bitter sweet songs: it starts with a whimsical bit of nature observation, descends into feelings of entrapment but then talks itself round to some kind of cheerfulness with Ray chanting "Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes". There are psychedelic touches, but no sense of abandon, no floating downstream.
This is my street, and I'm never going to leave it. Very British.
I lost three years to The Kinks. That's one more than Big Star. Mind you, Alex Chilton swallowed The Kinks songbook whole and came up with an even more twisted version of melancholy pop.
And didn't Big Star record Porter's "Nature Boy"? Funny, that...
Buy - The Kink Kronikles
Visit - Ray Davies
Visit - The Kinks Fansite
Visit - The Kinks Preservation Society Fansite
Mike.
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