Here we are in August and I’ve already found several songs containing it. It remains to be seen how many will be checked off by others before the month is over.
The one I went with today is The Kinks, with “Picture Book.” With Kinks songs, you really can’t go wrong. They are up there with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pearl Jam, Joni Mitchell, and Jethro Tull. Reading through a lot of material, it seems like the band being banned from performing in the US for five years was a mixed blessing. Unfortunate because they couldn’t capitalize on it like other big bands, but it is believed because they were confined to the UK, Ray turned his songwriting to UK matters without being unduly influenced by what was happening over the pond.
From wiki:
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks. Released on November 22, 1968, Village Green was a modest seller, but it was lauded by contemporary critics for its songwriting and has subsequently been regarded by commentators as an early concept album. The album was the band’s first which failed to chart in either the United Kingdom or United States, and its embrace by America’s new underground rock press completed the Kinks’ transformation from mid-1960s pop hitmakers to critically favored cult band.
Tidbits:
It was the first album which Ray Davies produced on his own and was the last to feature the original Kinks line-up, as bassist Pete Quaife departed the band in March 1969. It also marked the final collaboration between the Kinks and session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, whose playing features heavily on piano, harpsichord and Mellotron.
The album had no accompanying lead single in the UK, but “Starstruck” was issued in the US and Europe, with Picture Book the b-side.
After being reissued in the UK several times over the years, it’s become their best selling album in the UK.
“Picture Book” remained an obscure song until its use in a 2004 commercial for Hewlett-Packard advertising digital cameras and their accessories. The song subsequently became one of the Kinks’ most popular songs, something journalist Andy Price thinks was furthered by the American band Green Day using its opening riff in their 2000 single “Warning“.
Although the lyrics are pretty self-explanatory, per wiki:
“Picture Book” describes an aging narrator’s experience flipping through a photo album reflecting on happy memories from “a long time ago”. The vocals include wordless barbershop-like harmonies as well as Ray singing “scooby dooby doo” in reference to Frank Sinatra’s 1966 single “Strangers in the Night”. The song employs two acoustic guitars and an overdubbed electric guitar. Quaife doubles Ray’s rhythm guitar with his bass in playing the song’s distinctive hook. Unlike most of the album’s songs, its mix emphasizes the low-end, particularly Quaife’s bass guitar and Avory’s drums.
There is a wealth of info on this album on wiki.
Picture Book
Picture yourself when you're getting old
Sat by the fireside, a-pondering on
Picture book
Pictures of your mama
Taken by your papa
A long time ago
Picture book
Of people with each other
To prove they loved each other
A long time ago
Na, na, na, na na na
Na, na, na, na na na
Picture book
Picture book
A picture of you in your birthday suit
You sat in the sun on a hot afternoon
Picture book
Your mama and your papa
And fat old Uncle Charlie
A-boozing with their friends
Picture book
A holiday in August
Outside a bed and breakfast
In sunny Southend
Picture book
When you were just a baby
Those days when you were happy
A long time ago
Na, na, na, na na na
Na, na, na, na na na
Picture book
Picture book
Picture book
Picture book
Picture book
Na, na, na na
Na, na, na na
A-scooby-dooby-doo
Picture book
Na, na, na na
Na, na, na na
A-scooby-dooby-doo
Picture book
Pictures of your mama
Taken by your papa
A long time ago
Long time ago
Long time ago
Long time ago
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Written by: Raymond Davies
Album: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Released: 1968
Tao Talk 
Good one!
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Yeppers :)
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New for me Lisa. It’s a bit different than what I would expect from The Kinks but I really liked it!
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Randy, it is amazing to me that it’s new to you. So happy you like it. There is a lot of info on that album at wiki. The Kinks were on the ropes when they wrote it. So strange!
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It surprised me too! Just an album I skipped over apparently.
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Nice find, Lisa.
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Thanks, Jim.
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Love the Kinks. Another great song by them. Cool choice, Lisa.
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Nancy, there are so many, and I choose them often when I get a chance. Thank you <3
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Great choice Jade. (K)
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The Kinks plug into something deep every time, even when they are smiling. Your card is going out today. Finally finished them all. Challenging but so rewarding.
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Looking forward to it!
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Good song! It’s very strange, I know the title of the Kinks album very well, yet when looking at the track list, I couldn’t recall one song. While I’ve listened to Kinks music from throughout their career, it comes down to specific songs. Unlike The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who, I really haven’t listened to entire albums. It’s a bit odd since I really like The Kinks!
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Glad you like it and happy to introduce you to the song — and the possibility of your listening to the whole album :) There’s a wealth of info at wiki about this album and the context it was created within.
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Great choice Lisa. The Kinks are up their as one of my favourite bands.
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Thanks, Glyn. Mine also.
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Thanks Lisa! I’m a Kinks fan from way back.
Jim
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Happy to highlight The Kinks anytime. Haven’t seen you much in blogland. How are you?
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All good here Lisa, thanks for asking. Bit of a busy summer, got a bunch of half baked writing ideas hanging around, that need more time in the oven!😀. Always enjoy your music posts! Jim
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Jim, I hope you make space for those ideas to bake. I understand being distracted. Glad things are good there. Happy you enjoy the music. Always enjoyable to share music with others.
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I don’t know a lot of Kinks stuff and this was new to me; really enjoyed it… the acoustic guitars bring a nice vibe. Thanks for highlighting it and happy August to you, Lisa!
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So happy you are hearing it and liking it. My pleasure on the introduction. Happy August back to you, Steve.
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This was one of the Kinks album my parents had. So I played it a lot before I realised how important music would become to me. The Kinks are a very important band in the UK. Kind of a working class right of passage.
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I appreciate your sharing on the album and the band. To me, they are unique, and to you, you have an insider’s view of who they are to the UK. They had/have a special way of speaking truth to power.
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That they do. They’re often Funny, regularly clever warm and occasionally definitely perverse. In the most English of ways.
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I love this record, so many great cuts.
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Yes!
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Look what i stumbled on.
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:)
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