The Kinks

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, in 1963 by brothers Dave and Ray Davies. They are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era. The band emerged in 1964 during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the US until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of hit singles; studio albums drew good reviews but sold less than compilations of their singles. They gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style. Albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround and Muswell Hillbillies, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period.

Kinks (album)

Kinks is the self-titled debut album by English rock band The Kinks, released in 1964. It was released with three tracks omitted as You Really Got Me in the US.

The album was re-released in 1998 in the UK on Castle Records with twelve bonus tracks. This reissue was itself reissued in 2004 on the Sanctuary label. A deluxe edition was released on 28 March 2011.

Reception

Allmusic assessed the album as lacking in consistency, commenting that "As R&B cover artists, the Kinks weren't nearly as adept as the Stones and Yardbirds; Ray Davies' original tunes were, "You Really Got Me" aside, perfunctory Mersey Beat-ish pastiches; and [the] tunes that producer Shel Talmy penned for the group... were simply abominable."

Track listing

All songs by Ray Davies, except where noted.

UK release (Pye NPL 18096 mono: NSPL 83021 stereo)

US Release You Really Got Me (Reprise R-6143 (mono) RS-6143 (stereo)) track listing

Long Tall Sally

"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Richard Penniman (known as "Little Richard"); recorded by Little Richard; and released in March 1956 on the Specialty Records label.

The flip side was "Slippin' and Slidin'". Both songs were subsequently released in the LP Here's Little Richard (Specialty, March 1957). The single reached number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, staying at the top for six of 19 weeks, while peaking at number six on the pop chart. It received the Cash Box Triple Crown Award in 1956. The song as sung by Little Richard is #55 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

It became one of the singer's best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists.

The song was originally called "The Thing", recorded in New Orleans by Little Richard.

History

"Tutti Frutti" had been a big hit for Little Richard and Specialty in early 1956, reaching No. 2 in the R&B charts. Pat Boone's cover version of the song reached No. 12 in the pop charts. Although this meant an unexpected cash income for the Specialty publishing firm, A&R man and producer "Bumps" Blackwell and a proud Richard decided to write a song that was so up-tempo and the lyrics so fast that Boone would not be able to handle it (Boone eventually did record his own version, getting it to No. 8).

Long Tall Sally (EP)

Long Tall Sally by the Beatles was their fifth official EP release, and the first British EP that included songs not previously released on an album or single in the United Kingdom (two of the tracks had seen an American release earlier in the year on The Beatles' Second Album, with the other two released on the North American album Something New). It was released by Parlophone in mono with the catalogue number GEP 8913 and released in the United Kingdom on 19 June 1964. It was also released in Spain and France. The four songs from this EP were remastered for compact disc by George Martin, and released in 1988 on the Past Masters, Volume One compilation.

"I Call Your Name" was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, a song they originally gave to Billy J. Kramer and his backing band The Dakotas. Kramer released it as the B-side to "Bad to Me", a Lennon song that Kramer took to number 1. The remaining songs were covers.

The picture on the album cover was taken by Robert Freeman as stated on the back-side