| "A Gallon of Gas" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Kinks | ||||
| from the album Low Budget | ||||
| B-side | "Low Budget" | |||
| Released | 7 August 1979 (US) | |||
| Recorded | January 1979 - June 1979 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:49 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Davies | |||
| Producer(s) | Ray Davies | |||
| The Kinks USsingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Low Budget track listing | ||||
11 tracks
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 Japanese single sleeve | ||||
"A Gallon of Gas" is the ninth track from The Kinks' album, Low Budget. It was written by Ray Davies.
"A Gallon of Gas",like many songs by The Kinks from this period,tells of economic problems of the time,in this case the gas shortage. [2] The singer laments about how he "can't buy a gallon of gas",even "for any amount of cash". Author Nick Hasted describes it as "a heavy electric blues." [3]
The song was the second single released from "Low Budget",and is one of two singles from the album to be released in America but not in Britain (the other being "Catch Me Now I'm Falling"). The single version was longer than the album version. [2] It was backed with "Low Budget". In addition to its release as a single in America,the single was also released in Japan that same year.[ citation needed ]
"A Gallon of Gas" also appears on the greatest hits albums Come Dancing with The Kinks and the live album To the Bone . An alternate edition of the song appears on Picture Book.
Record World said it has "cool,cocky,British vocals observing an American crisis with plenty of wit and rocking rhythm." [4] The track was praised by AllMusic [5] as well as Rolling Stone ,who said that "A Gallon of Gas" is "no great poetic achievement,but its slow,bluesy arrangement—meant,no doubt,to re-create the effect of a snail's pace gas line —heightens the good-natured irony of a situation in which drugs are easier to come by than gasoline." [6] Hasted also refers to the song's humor in that it is easier to buy drugs than gas. [3] Hasted further notes that Davies,who years earlier wrote "Apeman," a song about abandoning the city to live in the jungle,"can't disguise his pleasure" in the fact that without gas there are no planes in the sky or cars on the road so that "the air smells unnaturally clean." [3] Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Rob Sheffield calls it an "embarrassing novelty." [7] Critic Johnny Rogan commented on the song's comedy and wryness. [2]
"The Village Green PreservationSociety" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Written and sung by the band's principal songwriter Ray Davies,the song is a nostalgic reflection where the band state their intention to "preserve" British things for posterity. As the opening track,the song introduces many of the LP's themes,and Ray subsequently described it as the album's "national anthem".
Soap Opera or The Kinks Present a Soap Opera is a 1975 concept album by the Kinks. It is the fourteenth studio album by the Kinks.
The Great Lost Kinks Album is a compilation album by the English rock band the Kinks. Released in the United States in January 1973,it features material recorded by the group between 1966 and 1970 that had mostly gone unreleased. The compilation served to satisfy Reprise Records after executives determined that the Kinks contractually owed them one more album,despite the band's departure from the label in 1971.
Low Budget is the eighteenth studio album by English rock group the Kinks,released in 1979. Following the minor success of their 1978 album Misfits,the band recorded the majority of the album in New York rather than London. Unlike the more nostalgic themes of many Kinks albums prior to Low Budget,many of the album's songs allude to contemporaneous events. Musically,the album is a continuation of the band's "arena rock" phase,resulting in a more rock-based sound and more modern production techniques.
Misfits is the seventeenth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks,released in 1978. Following the minor success of Sleepwalker in the United States,Misfits featured a more rock-oriented style than many other Kinks records of the 1970s. Despite internal conflicts within the band,leading to both bassist Andy Pyle and pianist John Gosling quitting the band,the album made the Top 40 in America. The album also contained the minor hit single "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy",as well as less successful releases "Live Life" and "Black Messiah".
"Victoria" is a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks. It is the opening track on the band's 1969 concept album Arthur.
"Wicked Annabella" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their 1968 album,The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968). Written by Ray Davies,it was recorded by the Kinks in July 1968. The song is Dave Davies's only lead vocal contribution on the album. It is one of several character studies on Village Green,recounting the wicked deeds of the local witch as a warning to children. Employing an eerie tone,its lyrics are darker than the rest of the album and have been likened by commentators to a dark fairy tale.
Kinks-Size is a studio album by the English rock band the Kinks,released as their second album in the United States. It was issued by Reprise Records in March 1965 in both mono and simulated stereo formats. It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard album chart in the third week of June 1965,the same week the Kinks began their first US tour. It is the Kinks' fourth-highest charting album on the Billboard album chart and the second-highest of their 1960s albums. The album ranked number 78 on Billboard's year-end album chart for 1965.
Kinkdom is a studio album by the English rock band the Kinks,released as their fourth album in the United States. It was issued by Reprise Records on 24 November 1965 in both mono and simulated stereo formats. It peaked at number 47 on the Billboard album chart.
"Come Dancing" is a 1982 song written by Ray Davies and performed by British rock group the Kinks on their 1983 album State of Confusion. The song was inspired by Davies' memories of his older sister,Rene,who died of a heart attack while dancing at a dance hall. The lyrics,sung from the perspective of an "East End barrow boy," are about the boy's sister going on dates at a local Palais dance hall.
"Picture Book" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Written and sung by Ray Davies,the song's lyrics describe the experience of an ageing narrator flipping through a photo album reflecting on happy memories from "a long time ago". Recorded in May 1968,its cheerful sound is defined by the jangle of an acoustic twelve-string guitar and a disengaged snare drum. In continental Europe,the song was issued as the B-side of the album's lead single,"Starstruck",in November 1968. The same single was issued in the United States in January 1969,though it failed to appear in any charts.
"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" is a song written by Ray Davies that was first released on the Kinks' 1979 album,Low Budget. The song,inspired by Superman:The Movie,employs a disco beat and lyrics that describe the singer's wish to be like the fictional character Superman. The song's disco style was created as a response to Arista Records founder Clive Davis's request for "a club-friendly record," despite Ray Davies' hatred of disco.
"Catch Me Now I'm Falling" is a song written by Ray Davies and first released by The Kinks as the second track on their 1979 album Low Budget. Written as a criticism of America's allies,the song depicts the fall of Captain America as a symbol of the United States' dire circumstances at the time. The song features multiple solos on different instruments as well as a riff similar to "Jumpin' Jack Flash".
"Low Budget" is the sixth track from The Kinks' album of the same name. It was written,produced and sung by Ray Davies.
"Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" is the opening track on The Kinks' poorly received 1975 concept album,Soap Opera. It was written by The Kinks' primary songwriter,Ray Davies.
"You Can't Stop the Music" is a song by the British rock band The Kinks. The song,appearing on the band's 1975 album Soap Opera,was written by the band's principal songwriter,Ray Davies.
"Ducks on the Wall" is a song by the British rock band the Kinks. The song,appearing on the band's 1975 album Soap Opera,was written by the band's principal songwriter,Ray Davies.
"Johnny Thunder" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their sixth studio album,The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968). Written and sung by Ray Davies,the song was recorded in March 1968. Davies was inspired to write the song after seeing the 1953 film The Wild One,basing it on Marlon Brando's character Johnny as well as on a classmate Davies admired as a child. A rock song,its recording features a countermelody played by Dave Davies on electric guitar,wordless vocal harmonies and one of the album's few instances of a single-tracked vocal by Ray.
"Big Sky" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks. Written and sung by Ray Davies,it was released in November 1968 on the album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. While Davies has typically avoided providing a direct answer on the song's meaning,commentators often interpret it as describing God as unsympathetic towards the problems of humans.
"If You're Gone" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first released on the Byrds' 1965 album Turn! Turn! Turn!.
