Kinda Kinks is the second album by English rock bandthe Kinks, released in 1965. Recorded and released within two weeks after returning from a tour in Asia, Ray Davies and the band were not satisfied with the production. The single "Tired of Waiting for You" was a #1 hit on the UK Singles Charts.
Production
The album was recorded immediately after the return of the group from an Asian tour, and was completed and released within two weeks. Consequently, the production was rushed and, according to Ray Davies, the band was not completely satisfied with the final cuts. Due to record company pressure, however, no time was available to fix certain flaws present in the mix. Ray Davies has expressed his dissatisfaction towards the production not being up to par. Commenting on this, he said: "A bit more care should have been taken with it. I think Shel Talmy went too far in trying to keep in the rough edges. Some of the double tracking on that is appalling. It had better songs on it than the first album, but it wasn't executed in the right way. It was just far too rushed."
Releases
It was released by Pye in the UK on 5 March 1965, and by Reprise in the USA on 11 August 1965. The US release had a rearranged track listing and repackaged cover. Several tracks were removed, and the single "Set Me Free", released two months after the UK issue of Kinda Kinks, was unique to the album's US release. In the UK, the album was only released in mono; no stereo mix was made. The single "Tired of Waiting for You" was a #1 hit on the UK Singles Charts. The album itself hit #3 on the UK Album Charts. "Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight" was released as a single in Norway and Sweden in 1966, backed with "I Need You", reaching 7 on the Swedish charts.
Legacy
Bruce Eder, in a restrospective summary for AllMusic, wrote that the album was uneven, but that "...what was first-rate was also highly memorable, and what wasn't also wasn't bad." They also made note of some maturing in Ray Davies's songwriting.
Track listing
All songs written by Ray Davies, except as indicated.
For the US version, three tracks were dropped: "Naggin' Woman" would be held over for the US only Kinkdom LP, and both sides of their recent hit single, "Tired of Waiting for You" and "Come On Now", were already placed on the previous US album Kinks-Size. These were replaced with the recent single "Set Me Free" and "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy".
Dave Davies - lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Got My Feet on the Ground", "Naggin' Woman", "Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight" and "Come On Now"
"Something Better Beginning" was released by the Honeycombs as a single in 1965.
"Tired of Waiting for You" was covered by Green Day for the Howard Stern movie Private Parts. It also appeared on their 2002 B-sides compilation, Shenanigans.
