Days (The Kinks song)

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"Days"
File:"Days" by the Kinks, Italian picture sleeve.jpg
Italian picture sleeve
Single by the Kinks
B-side"She's Got Everything"
Released28 June 1968
Recorded27 May – early June 1968[1]
StudioPye, London
GenrePop[2]
Length2:50
Label
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Ray Davies
The Kinks UK singles chronology
"Wonderboy"
(1968) 		"Days"
(1968) 		"Plastic Man"
(1969)
The Kinks US singles chronology
"Wonderboy"
(1968) 		"Days"
(1968) 		"Starstruck"
(1969)
Mono single mix
"Days" on YouTube

"Days" is a song by the Kinks, written by lead singer Ray Davies, released as a single in 1968. It also appeared on an early version of the album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (released only in continental Europe and New Zealand). It now appears as a bonus track of the remastered CD. On the original Pye 7N 17573 label, the name of the song is "Day's" due to a grammatical error.

Release and reception

The song was an important single for Davies and the Kinks, coming in a year of declining commercial fortunes for the band. The song had been intended as an album track but after the relative failure of the previous single "Wonderboy" (which only reached No. 36 in the UK), "Days" was rushed out as a single with an old unreleased track "She's Got Everything" (recorded in February 1966 in the same session as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion") as the B-side. Billboard praised the single's "groovy rhythm" and "clever lyric."[3] It reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart,[4] but failed to chart in the U.S. This did not help future releases, as the next four Kinks singles failed to reach the top 30 (two of them failing to chart altogether) in the UK.

The song appeared on an advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet in 2011 and, in the 2013 comedy film, The Harry Hill Movie when Hill saves Abu the Hamster from being killed by a crazy vet.

Personnel

According to band researcher Doug Hinman:[5][nb 1]

The Kinks

Additional musicians

Kirsty MacColl version

"Days"
File:Kirsty MacColl Days 1989 single cover.jpg
Single by Kirsty MacColl
from the album Kite
B-side"Happy"
Released19 June 1989 (1989-06-19)[7]
Length2:59
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Steve Lillywhite
Kirsty MacColl singles chronology
"Free World"
(1989) 		"Days"
(1989) 		"Innocence"
(1989)

Kirsty MacColl covered "Days" on her second studio album Kite (1989). It was released as the album's second single on 19 June 1989 and reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart, the same position achieved by the Kinks in 1968. In Ireland, MacColl's version charted seven places higher than the original, at No. 9. It was re-released in 1995, charting much lower, reaching only No. 42 in the UK. It is one of MacColl's most popular singles.[8]

Background

"Days" was released as the second single from Kite, following "Free World". MacColl's label, Virgin, had intended to release "Days" as the lead single, but MacColl felt the first single from Kite had to be one which she wrote.[9]

Recalling her version of "Days", MacColl told James Bennett in 1994: "I think my version is a bit slower [than the Kinks' original], I wanted to give it the ABBA treatment. I wanted people to think that it's a Kirsty MacColl song when they hear it."[9]

Music video

The video features MacColl in old fashioned clothing sitting on a meadow and riding in a boat whilst encountering animated animals. The video, which features MacColl's friend and songwriting partner Pete Glenister on guitar, was directed by Simon West and produced by Kate Sylvester.[10] It was shot in April 1989 at Godalming.[11]

Critical reception

On its release, Music & Media wrote, "A tasteful, folky sing-along tune that many people will know by heart at the end of this summer."[12] Tim Nicholson of Record Mirror considered the song to be "slower and more considered" than "Free World", but added that it "should be right on target [for] the charts."[13] Jerry Smith, reviewer of British music newspaper Music Week, expressed an opinion that after the low performance in the charts of the previous single, the new song, especially the cover version, is unlikely to have any prospects.[14] Barbara Ellen of New Musical Express commented, "'Days' isn't one of Kirsty's own but remains a good choice. An uneven ballad, it stares with wide and serious eyes at the more sentimental end of the charts."[15] In a retrospective review of Kite, Stewart Mason of AllMusic described MacColl's version of "Days" as a "gorgeous cover" with "thick, lush harmonies".[16]

Track listing

  1. "Days"
  2. "Happy"
  3. "El Paso"
  4. "Still Life"
  5. "Please Help Me, I'm Falling"

The single was released in multiple formats. Each featured "Days" and "Happy", and all bar the 7" and cassette featured "Still Life". Both CD formats (the standard case and the Kite-shaped case) had "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", whilst "El Paso" was only available on the 10".[17]

Other versions

The song was covered by a number of artists at the time including Petula Clark on her 1968 album Petula, The Hillsiders as a B-side to their 1969 single "Kentucky Woman" (RCA 1804) and James Last in an instrumental version on Non-Stop Dancing No. 7 (also 1969).

Pop/rock band Guster faithfully covered the song during the sessions for their 2003 album Keep It Together. This version was released as a bonus track for the 10th anniversary edition of the album.

Wim Wenders’ 1991 film Until the End of the World features two covers of the song: one by Elvis Costello (which appeared on the soundtrack as well as his 1995 covers album Kojak Variety) and during a new year's party scene in which several characters perform the song in the Australian desert using didgeridoos, drums, guitar and piano, with Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) singing lead vocals.

"Days" / "This Time Tomorrow" – by Ray Davies and Mumford & Sons is featured on Ray Davies solo album, See My Friends.

The song was also covered by Flo & Eddie on the album Flo & Eddie, which was originally released in 1974 and was re-released in 2008 as a double CD with The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie, which was originally released in 1972.

Charts

Notes

  1. ^ Hinman writes Hopkins played piano and Mellotron on the song.[5] Author Andy Miller writes the song includes Hopkins on Mellotron, along with unidentified contributions on piano and Harmonium.[6]

References

  1. ^ Hinman 2004, pp. 114–115, 117.
  2. ^ Miller 2003, pp. 117, 120.
  3. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 10 August 1968. p. 64. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Ray Davies". Raydavies.info. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b Hinman 2004, p. 117.
  6. ^ Miller 2003, p. 118.
  7. ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 17 June 1989. p. 35. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  8. ^ "freeworld – Kirsty MacColl: singles". Kirstymaccoll.com. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Interviews 1994 – Titanic Days". Kirsty MacColl. 25 February 1994. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  10. ^ From Croydon to Cuba... The Videos [Days] (Motion picture). Virgin, EMI. 2005.
  11. ^ MacColl, Jean (4 May 2009). Sun On The Water – The Brilliant Life And Tragic Death Of My Daughter Kirsty ... – Jean MacColl – Google Books. ISBN 9781782192671. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Previews: Singles". Music & Media. 8 July 1989. p. 16.
  13. ^ Nicholson, Tim (24 June 1989). "45". Record Mirror. p. 31.
  14. ^ Smith, Jerry (24 June 1989). "Review: Kirsty MacColl – Days" (PDF). Music Week. London: Spotlight Publications Ltd. p. 25. ISSN 0265-1548. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022 – via World Radio History.
  15. ^ Ellen, Barbara (24 June 1989). "45s". New Musical Express. p. 23.
  16. ^ AllMusic Review by Stewart Mason. "Kite – Kirsty MacColl | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  17. ^ "freeworld – Kirsty MacColl: Official Releases". Kirstymaccoll.com. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  18. ^ "The Kinks – Days". ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  19. ^ "The Kinks – Days". ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Kinks" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  21. ^ "The Kinks – Days" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. ^ "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  23. ^ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 919727125X.
  24. ^ "Disc Top 30 Chart Topper" (PDF). Disc and Music Echo. 17 August 1968. p. 3.
  25. ^ "Melody Maker Pop 30" (PDF). Melody Maker. 17 August 1968. p. 3.
  26. ^ "NME Top 30" (PDF). Melody Maker. 24 August 1968. p. 5.
  27. ^ "Kinks singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  28. ^ "The Kinks – Days". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Kirsty MacColl – Days" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 32. 12 August 1989. p. IV. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  31. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Kirsty Mc Coll". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  32. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  34. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2019.

Sources

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