Hidden Gems From The Kinks Discography

In a recording career that spanned over 30 years, The Kinks created a huge catalogue of records. 24 studio albums, 6 E.P.s and 78 singles, as well as a mass of live and compilation albums, are clearly a huge body of work.
Most people will be familiar with the big hits and best known albums, but there is a wealth of lesser known hidden gems from The Kinks discography.
Here are my picks of these hidden gems - one album and one single.
Album - Phobia
The last Kinks studio album was released in 1993. It failed to chart in the UK and charted at only 166 in the US. This I find a travesty because not only is this my personal favourite Kinks album, but I think it's as fine a rock album as you're ever likely to hear. The listener is treated to no less than 16 tracks, with a 17th bonus track, Did Ya, on some formats, in some territories. It's one of those albums that if you didn't know better, you'd swear it was a greatest hits package. There are so many great songs. Wall Of Fire, Drift Away, Still Searching, Over The Edge, The Informer and Hatred - these were all good enough to have been singles. As it was, Scattered (UK / Europe only) and Only A Dream (UK only) were the singles. Scattered was the pick of the bunch - a truly fantastic record.
Single - Sweet Lady Genevieve
This track, from the Preservation Act 1 album, was released in the UK only in 1973. It failed to chart. It is a beautifully uplifting ballad with a strong 4/4 beat but with lots of 2/4 bars thrown in. It's the song of a tramp, yearning for the love that he lost, and all because he went and blew it. My favourite lines are those of the first verse: -
"Once under a scarlet sky, I told you never ending lies,
But they were the words of a drunken vagabond
Who knew very well he would break your heart before long
Oh forgive me Genevieve"
This really is the lost Ray Davies masterpiece and Kinks Classic.
There are many other hidden gems in The Kinks catalogue and you may have your own favourites, but if you have a listen to my recommendations I'm sure you'll agree that despite their lack of "hit status" these were both utterly fabulous records.

Five Great Reasons to Buy Your Kid a Guitar

Learning to play guitar is not only fun, scientific studies it's highly beneficial for growing kids. Learning to play guitar will develop language skills, self-esteem, and even fight childhood obesity. And the guitar is the perfect instrument for a child, read about why that is.
Five Great Reasons to Buy Your Kid a Guitar
Studies show that playing music has a profoundly positive effect on child development. So, what better way to get your teen, tween or adolescent child into music than by getting your kid a guitar.
Sure, studying any instrument will have the same benefits. But the guitar is perfect. If you have a small child you can buy guitars in 1/2 and 3/4 sizes -- real instruments, not toys. No matter what style of music your child is getting interested in, a guitar will fit the bill -- from classical to heavy metal. Plus guitars are just plain cool -- just pick up a teen magazine and look for some guitar players (for example Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift).
Here are five great reasons to get your kid a guitar:

• Improved Language Skills
• Stress Relief
• Builds Brain Dexterity
• Enhanced Motor Skills and Finger Dexterity
• Fight Childhood Obesity

Guitar Playing Improves Language Skills
Learning to play guitar has major advantages for a child's growing brain. It should be a key part of school education, according to neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus of Northwestern. But, in most schools instrumental music is not being taught. Professor Kraus finds strong evidence to show that music lessons help children improve their language skills. Prof Kraus's research shows that playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brain's sensitivity to speech sounds.
Play Guitar for Stress Relief
Playing a musical instrument can reverse stress, according to Dr. Bittman of the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Dr. Bittman, the principal investigator of the study, reports that involvement in playing music is calming and satisfying.
One key, according to Dr. Bittman is to play music in a recreational manner. While it's fine to practice hard and study music, that's not the point of playing music to relieve stress. And that's why the guitar is an ideal instrument. Sure, you can diligently practice scales and work toward becoming a virtuouso. But, in a few minutes you can learn how to play two or three chords. After ten or twenty mintutes of practice, you can be strumming a simple tune and, there are thousands of simple songs that only require two or three chords.
Improve Motor Skills and Finger Dexterity by Playing Guitar
Learning to play guitar also helps kids improve their fine motor skills and finger dexterity. Guitar students learn to isolate muscles that independently move their fingers. This builds enough strength to help protect their hands and fingers from injury.
Playing guitar also helps young ones learn to relax tense muscles. It may seem like minor movement, but hand dexterity actually helps overall circulation and blood flow.
Guitar Playing is Brain Exercise
Playing an instrument exercises the brain. Scientists have performed magentic resonance imaging scans on the brains of subjects playing musical instruments. Scans show that subjects playing music used more parts of their brain than subjects put to other academic disciplines. Studies also show that instrumentalists -- especially stringed instrumentalists -- score higher on college entrance exams than the general student population.
Fight Childhood Obesity by Playing Guitar
Childhood obesity is a growing problem. Music lessons and practice can help counteract the scads of time that kids would otherwise spend sitting around eating, playing computer games and watching TV. The guitar can be a physical instrument. This is especially true when your child gets to the point where she is standing up and playing guitar.
Playing guitar involves arm, shoulder and forearm muscles. Obviously, playing guitar won't substitute for physical fitness, unless of course your kid is jumping around like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. But he'll still benefit from regular guitar-playing session that keep him away from the video games.
While all of these are great reasons to buy your kid a guitar, the best reason of all is that playing music is fun. It's a great activity and hobby that can last a lifetime. Obviously, I'm partial to guitar. But, the fact is any other musical instrument that appeals to your child will reap the same benefits. So, these are still five great reasons to buy your kid a musical instrument -- even if it isn't a guitar.

Rockabilly Cat Carl Perkins Saw Child Abuse Prevention As More Than Just a Charity Cause

Rockabilly's brightest luminary, Carl Perkins, once said that of all the honors he'd received in his life, having a child abuse prevention center named after him was the one he cherished the most. Perkins, whose 1956 smash crossover hit "Blue Suede Shoes" (it was the first song ever to sit near the top of each of the pop, country, and R&B charts) defines the essence of rockabilly, was the cofounder of the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center For the Prevention of Child Abuse in Jackson, Tennessee.
The story goes that in 1979 Perkins viewed a news piece about a terrible case of a youngster who died as a result of child abuse in the Jackson area. Perkins was deeply affected by the story because he thought the picture of the abused child resembled one of his own children when they were young. So, he decided to get involved.
Perkins scheduled a benefit concert to help establish the Exchange Club for the Prevention of Child Abuse. With the money raised, along with some grant money, the center opened their doors in 1981 and as a tribute to the man who'd helped get things started, Perkins' name was added to the official name of the center. Today the center is recognized as one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the entire United States and serves almost all of western Tennessee. The center has grown from one location in Jackson to 18 centers with one located in almost every west Tennessee county. This reflects the kind of man Perkins was: If something was worth doing, it was worth doing big and it was worth making the most out of it that you could.
For the past 16 years the center has held an annual fundraising dinner and auction called the Blue Suede Dinner. So even after Perkins' death in the late 1990s, his legacy continues to help raise money for the cause he believed so strongly in during his life.
For Perkins, the prevention of child abuse was much more than just a worthy charity to give a few bucks to. It was a cause worthy of getting actively involved in. He turned his considerable talents, and his resulting financial success, into something bigger than himself. He knew that he had to give back to the world that had given him so much success and it was just like the man to find a way to do this while helping those members of our society who are the weakest and most vulnerable: children.
Child abuse prevention became a life cause for Perkins. He loved to visit his young friends at the center. He loved nothing more than helping them put their lives back together and most importantly, helping to break the cycle of child abuse. He knew first hand what it meant to have lost control of life. And he knew that if it scared him as much as it did when he was a grown man (Perkins had fought a major battle with alcohol in his younger years), it must be completely overwhelming for a child. He knew these children needed help and he did something about it. So, if you thought that Perkins' amazing contribution to rock and roll was accomplishment enough for one man, now you know that Perkins was no ordinary man. To the abused children of West Tennessee, he was truly a superstar of a completely different caliber!

Musicians Are Real People With Hobbies

Hobbies
As I am sure you can imagine whatever your passion is you need to get away from it and do something entirely different from time to time.
This is where having a hobby or several comes in so very handy. Imagine how dreary life would be if we all had to do only the one thing over and over. At times it seems like that is what life is made up of - doing the same things over and over. But, one can develop a subordinate passion and call it a hobby.
Bridge
Obviously the list of possible hobbies is practically endless, but there are certain ones which I, as a musician, have found particularly wonderful.
My first passion outside music is the game of bridge. I find that it is a terrific thing to do something that involves people who are not necessarily musicians. It is so easy to have friends almost exclusively from the people you work with or with whom you share your number one passion.
When playing bridge most of us addicts talk about nothing but bridge. I will tell you a personal story that demonstrates this kind of kink that bridge players seem to share.
I formed a bridge partnership with a guy named Martin. We were quite successful and really enjoyed playing together. As I was going off to yet another tournament to play with Martin my wife asked me what his last name was. I had to confess that I had no idea. She then asked what his profession was. I again had to admit that I didn't know. She seemed amazed that I could spend so much time with anyone, even travelling to other cities for tournaments, and not know these basic facts about him. I tried my best to explain that all we talked about was bridge and what we had to do to improve our partnership.
Eventually Martin came to dinner and my wife was able to find these answers for herself.
Hobbies That A Musician Can Enjoy
Just a few of the other things that can be of great pleasure as hobbies (some even an become addictions) are:

• Golf;
• Reading;
• Pets, including such things as dog shows etc;
• Plays;
• Concerts;
• Driving; and
• Skiing.

Certainly this is in no way extensive, but obviously there are often musicians found doing these things and enjoying them.
Conclusion
Just because musicians are somehow different from anyone else doesn't mean they can't possess a few real human traits.

Making Music in Hindi Films - Then and Now

Better Technology makes for Better Listening. Right?
There are people who listen to music, and then there are the audiophiles -- the ones who get turned on by the sheer quality of the sound, who may or may not have the same interest in music as the former group. Then again, there are some of us, who sit somewhere in the middle.
I remember an old conversation back in my rock music days. Our band, which went by the whimsical name of "Rockingers," not only had a very talented ensemble of musicians, but we were also very particular of the quality of sound that reached the audience. We frequently used the (then) best sound system, which had 10,000 Watts of serious power for outdoor shows. A sound engineer, with a booth erected some 200 feet away, completed the picture. We would agonize over every single piece of sound that came out of the system, and ensured that we had a thorough sound check before any of the enthusiastic crowd members were let in.
One day, in the early eighties, I went to watch a Hindustani classical music concert with a buddy who was himself a decent Sitar player. I believe it was a Pt. Jasraj concert. After the concert, I remarked on the fact that if Panditji had the quality of sound that WE used in our rock band, the output would have been so much better. To which my friend argued, that it wasn't about the sound; it was about the singer!
I reasoned that while it was true it was about the singer, wouldn't it be so much better if we used state-of-the-art sound mixers and speakers? That way, everything that came out of Panditji's divine vocal chords would be faithfully reproduced, instead of being distorted by a lesser quality sound system with ordinary microphones, as was the case that day. Here was a case that technology could help the music industry to actually enhance the experience.
Fast forward some 20 years, and I was thinking about the quality of sound and sound systems once again. A music-lover friend brought up the fact that these days, music didn't sound "warm." While there are many technical reasons for this, lets take the simple ones.
In the olden days, the recording used to be done with all musicians getting together and recording at the same time. Today, that's hardly the case. Each musician comes and records his piece and goes home. The sound engineer then pieces it together using complex software and recording equipment at his command. What that kills, is the bleed that we got when the musicians played over each other, and that takes away the "warmth" from the music.
The Hindi film industry in the 40s and early fifties used scores of artistes -- violins, Cellos, Guitars, Rhythm section, Brass section, piano, accordions, saxophones, flutes, Sitars and other percussion instruments. Yet they had only 3-4 microphones between them. So the sound engineers improvised as they went. The positioning of the microphone often determined the "mix" of the music.
The singer too was not separated from the musicians in the early days. The separate "singer's box' came only in the early 50s. To help the singer get the rhythmic and tonal notes, a "song violinist" would follow along with the singer and would be the connection between the singer and the orchestra. And yet, the music sounded well balanced and harmonious. Sure the sounds had a lot more hisses and crackles than what we are used to today. But the sound had a certain fuzziness and, to repeat myself, "warmth" that cannot be duplicated today.
An example closer to home, if I may. The occasion was a small musical get-together at a friend's place. We had two sound systems (mixer and amplifier) each of which could handle 4 microphones and so we had to arrange it so that the instruments' sounds came through one speaker system and the singer's voice came through the other speaker system. My initial reasoning was that as in modern day recording, each track was recorded separately, if I had a vocal sound coming from a different system, it shouldn't matter.
To my surprise, the result was terrible! The singer's voice, coming from the other sound system and mixer didn't sound like a part of the ensemble at all. It was the "bleed" thing at work. When the composite sound comes out of one single system, there is a certain distortion that comes from the system because of the interaction of all the sounds -- which makes it sound good.
There is another thing at work here. When I am singing in a live show, whether with a band of using the Karaoke system, I am fanatical about the settings and effects being applied to my voice. Depending on what the settings are, I find myself throwing my voice differently to achieve the effect that I am trying to achieve. But when I record a song, and if the effects are applied POST recording, then I don't know how I should be throwing my voice to get the effect that I want. Hence I always end up not liking what I have done in the recorded version of the song, while I am reasonably happy with the live rendition. Thus, this notion of having all the musicians available together, and having SOME say in the sound that comes out, does help.
The musicians today do not get together to produce "Music" any more. They go to the studio, play their part, and often don't even get to understand how they fit into the song in its entirety. The musician should then be excused if he does not play with the passion that he is expected to have for his craft. Hence, though the technology has allowed the music to be created this way, it has robbed the "soul" from the music.
And this is the lament of technology over craft in all fields. Each machine that was created took the skill of the single skilled artisan and made it available to many, lesser gifted, individuals. Computer Aided Design Systems made it possible for a person with no drawing skills to be able to draw straight lines and perfect circles. But even now, the work of a true artisan can never ever be replicated. Its the slight imperfection of the human being that a machine cannot reproduce and that imperfection is what we call "warmth."
And so we have rhythm machines belting out automated and perfectly repeatable and precise beats, but they can never replace a true rhythm player. And its these songs that are created in such cold, clinical ways, that leave us feeling, well, cold!
The bottom line -- technology is great in what it allows us to do. When technology is doing the job of amplifying and recording clearly, its great. But in itself, technology is not about the soul. When technology becomes about using machines to replace a human, such as a drum machine, or synthesizer, its starts loosing its charm for me. A perfect sound, a perfect beat, is in essence, soulless. Its the "almost" perfect sound that comes out of the great singers like a Lata Mangeshkar or an Asha Bhosle, or from the hands of the Ustad Zakir Hussains of this world, that holds the magic.

Musicians Have Learned How To Indulge

Indulgence
We are all guilty of indulgence from time to time, aren't we? I plead guilty and am proud of it.
It seems to me that in order to really enjoy life to the full the passion that drives us to our niche must also help us find other things in which to indulge.
Hopefully we can do this in a positive and wonderful way while avoiding harmful overindulgence.
Food and Drink
Certainly we can find a way to consume a great deal of food and drink. It is an indulgence, but a terrific one. I think that having a curiosity about food and drink and really going out looking for as many experiences as possible is very exciting.
As musicians we can easily get into the habit of treating food and drink more as fuel than pleasure. Certainly to indulge in it sensibly takes discipline and interest. However, once you begin to experience the excitement and fun of trying all sorts of food and drink it can become no longer an indulgence, but a very satisfying pastime or hobby.
Because musicians often travel a lot there is that world of other cultures and other cuisines to experience.
Also since we often can't really have our relaxed main meal and drink until after the performance which may be around 11pm, we can experiment with the kind of foods that are pleasant and absorbable at that hour rather than always having to have meat and potatoes as we rush out to work.
Other Things To Consider
One thing that I and a lot of my colleagues do is to discover kinds of music which we do not or cannot perform ourselves. For instance I enjoy good jazz very much but am totally square when it comes to performing it. When travelling I also try to experience the local music both popular and classic. It is a real indulgence, but can also be wonderful fun.
Conclusion
Along with hobbies which can at times fit into this category we certainly have a wonderful world out there to explore. Not only can we do it ourselves, but we can also live through our children and families. Those of them who are not musicians can help open our eyes to a world which may be strange, but which other people do inhabit.

Must See British Music Festivals

Music festivals have been a staple of the UK music scene since the late 1960s and began to flourish in the 1970s. Today the festival experience is a big part of summer in the UK for fans of music of all types to gather and enjoy entertainment from diverse artists. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in a movie called "The Bucket List." It was about making a list of things to do before you die. In the same vain, here is a list of five music festivals you should go to before you die.
1. Wireless Festival - This festival takes place at Hyde Park in London, usually in June. Live Nation runs this festival that attracts big names each year. Some of these include The Strokes, David Gray, James Blunt, Pink and Jay Z. The Black Eyed Peas and the Chemical Brothers are among acts confirmed for 2011.
2. V Festival - This festival is held on the next to the last weekend of August simultaneously at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex and Weston Park in Staffordshire. The same artists play both locations, playing once on Saturday and again at the other site on Sunday. Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of the band Pulp, came up with the idea in 1996 when he thought it would be fun to play two outdoor events in one weekend.
3. Reading and Leeds Festivals - This is a pair of music festivals taking place in Reading and Leeds in the United Kingdom. Events take place simultaneously from Friday through Sunday during the bank holiday in August. Campsites are available at each location, but there are also day tickets for those who do not want the camping experience. Many festivals include camping, it is something festival-goers should enjoy at least once. Generally most festival crowds are friendly. More than 150,000 people come to each location annually.
4. The Big Chill - This festival has been held since 1994 and takes place at historic Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire, England. The festival got its start as a series of parties before officially being organized into a festival. The festival attracts many of Europe's top DJs and live acts including M.I.A., Lol Hammond and the Parrish. The castle grounds are an ideal setting offering an amazing view and plenty of space to enjoy the energetic live performances.
5. Isle of Wight Festival - The Foulk brothers created the original incarnation of this festival in 1968. It was revived in 2002 and has taken place at Seaclose Park in Isle of Wight, UK every year since. Bob Dylan made a famous appearance at this festival in 1969, choosing to play here rather than at the Woodstock festival going on at the same time in the United States. This festival continues attract big names, including Jay Z, Paul McCartney, Blondie and the Foo Fighters. This festival has been given the honor of "Best Major Music Festival in the UK" and one not to be missed for any fan of music.