YouTube video: Andrew Sandoval joins Jason Barnard to talk about THE KINKS – ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT, The Day-By-Day Story Pt 1: 1940-1971, the mammoth new book he co-authored with the original researcher Doug Hinman. This is the most comprehensive record of the Kinks’ early career ever assembled.
Andrew and Jason cover what it actually took to document The Kinks, from chasing down Shel Talmy’s original studio invoices (Pye Records kept almost no paperwork). They dig into Ray Davies’ songwriting arc, the commercial failure of Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur, the on-stage fight in Cardiff that nearly ended the band in 1965, and the years of visa problems that kept the Kinks out of America. There’s also a discussion of Ray’s unreleased material that were better than most bands’ released work, why Ray refused to release Pictures in the Sand for decades, and how the Granada Television deal that funded Arthur eventually fell apart.
The book is self-published and sold exclusively through Beatland Books
I have some books by Andrew Sandoval and also the 2004 book about the Kinks by Doug Hinman. All well done – but I definitely will not buy this new book. Simply because I live in Germany and will not order a big and heavy book with all the fees from America and may even have to deal with customs.
I grew up to the music of the Kinks, “Sunny Afternoon” is probably the first song I can remember hearing on the radio. But in those days we had no idea, what the lyrics were about. As long as the melodies were great, everything was fine. No idea what “Lola” was about at all……then…
In later years I got the impression, that Ray was a great songwriter – but that was not enough for him. He wanted to be more, he wanted to write movies or complicated stories. Or he wrote about the music unions. Nice for him, but by doing so he often left the audience behind. Saw the Kinks live twice in later years when the had a comeback in Germany. They were great when they just made music. On the second tour I saw, Ray put in some theatric elements with actors on stage….and again it went downhill. It is what it is, many great singles and some great albums like “Vilage Green”. Most musicians can only dream of having just one hit…
I like the early 70s Kinks stuff best, Powerman, Rats, Gotta Be Free etc. A band with a connection to everyday life and the skills to make likeable, resonant tunes. Helmut mentioned Sunny Afternoon, and I’ve often wondered if it was a wry ‘answer tune’ to the Beatles’ Taxman, with the rich moaning on one side, and the Kinks mocking them on the other? You’d have to ask Ray if my theory is true or not, but it’d be fun if it was…..