September 2020
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 25, No. 9
Live meetings are Cancelled due to CoronaVirus.
However, we will be attempting on-line Zoom meetings.
We will send details under a separate e-mail, and in the Facebook group page.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
On The Record Part 5
By Jackie Mason
This article continues my evaluation of a 2009 interview with head Kink Ray Davies by Will Hodgkinson.
This is the YouTube link to that interview. Split up into eleven parts but finally running chronologically with all eleven parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8B_LYW1lB0
I am now reviewing Part 8 of the video series and the discussion turns to the song “Lola.” Ray refers to it
as a nothing song. He expresses a reluctance to play it and, in a jocular manner, claims he can’t remember it.
Even going as far as to ask his Gibson acoustic if it remembers the song. Then he proceeds to show us some
interesting points on the song. I suspect he’s played it so often he’s tired of it. Hodgkinson points out it’s hardly
a nothing song and Ray seems unconvinced. He then reiterates a point he’s made earlier in this interview. It’s
not the song that’s important, it's the sound of the record. That’s what he’s chasing. He stresses the importance
of a good introduction and explains how he came up with it. He uses the instrumental end of the verse as the intro.
He’d bought a Martin guitar and a National Steel Dobro guitar. He combined both guitars in the recording. For those
with little guitar knowledge, the National is a famous brand of resonator guitar. The National was used on the intro.
National also made banjos and I’ve always thought I heard a banjo picking in the recording. Perhaps it was the dobro
that I was hearing?Another important aspect of the recording is the careful use of piano. Ray explains that piano takes
up a “lot of space sonically.” The we’re using famed session pianist Nicky Hopkins and by that time they had their own
pianist in the group, John Gosling. The trick was to get the piano “popping” at just the right time. He also talks about the
“sloppy” drum style of Kinks drummer Mick Avory. It’s the loose grip style of a jazz drummer like the one used by Charlie
Watts of The Rolling Stones. Consequently the song rolls along. Ray sings an octave below his brother Dave and this
creates a unique texture. There is no discussion about the lyrics or the subject matter of the song. It’s about a crossdresser
and in 1970 that was a revolutionary, taboo subject. I’ve observed that it’s The Kinks most popular song. That’s from my
perspective as a humble bar performer.
http://www.nickyhopkins.com/?page_id=6
Here’s Lola with the lyrics, give or take the odd mistake!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWS6fuVw1o
I am also providing you with this fine cover from 2016 by The Bridge 909.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_Lg5dd_9g
The conversation returns to the album “The Village Green Preservation Society.” The next song to be examined
is “Johnny Thunder.” Once more we are talking about outsiders and misfits. The character Johnny Thunder is a composite
of two people. One who Ray “knew at school, an older person who he looked up to, one he didn’t want to fall out with,
an outsider, a rebel.” Almost every song on the album had been written prior to recording. The band rehearsed at the house.
It’s a lo fi recording with no snare. If one listens to enough Ray Davies interviews one will discover that the snare is an
important consideration in the recording process. The album of course flopped. It was “out of step with it’s time.” This part
of the interview ends with a new version of “Johnny Thunder,” featuring the choir and guitarist Bill Shanley.
This is a link to the original recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IPiHd4bPGU
The whole album is an attempt to be deliberately unfashionable. Ray talks about his aversion to swinging London and the
hippy movement in America. He recalls a party at his house, full of stoned hippies invited by his wife and, just to be a
contrarian, he played Max Miller and then Frank Zappa’s “We Are Only In It For The Money.” Max Miller was an old, English
musical hall performer. The album is considered by some to be their best. It’s grown in popularity since it was first released.
It has turned into something of a cult album. There were people in the USA who took up the band’s cause. “God Save the
Village Green” which morphed into “God Save the Kinks.” Enough said. I think it’s a good album.
See you again. Stay safe.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association,
Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the
interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more
information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig or live stream announced here? Members in good standing call SusieCool
with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153 or e-mail her the details at isgorlando@gmail.com
If you are interested in open mics in the Central Florida area, SusieCool has compiled a list.
https://sites.google.com/site/susiecoolsongs/Home/open-mic-directory-central-florida
SusieCool is the admin for a Facebook group called "Orlando Creative Music Network"
where we give out info on songwriter meetings, playing circles, open mics, workshops and concerts.
We have a Facebook page for this group if you want to join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/274152179716552/
No Critique scores for August, since no live meeting.
New members and guests are always welcome!
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