‘Long Tall Sally’: How The Kinks’ debut single signalled the arrival of the swinging sixties
Bright colours, bold fashions, and defiant music: The arrival of the swinging sixties was the Wizard of Oz moment where the perpetual grey drizzle of post-war England transformed into technicolour. Young people across the nation were increasingly seeking to widen the generational gap between themselves and their parents, and one of the most effective weapons in their arsenal was music. London produced a wealth of infectious, anarchic, and inventive groups during the 1960s, but The Kinks always stood out among all the rest.
A core part of this infallible appeal came from the ordinary nature of The Kinks themselves. They weren’t untouchable, ethereal rock stars hailing from halfway across the world; Ray Davies was an ordinary working-class kid from London, and he reflected that fact within his songwriting. Anthems like ‘All Day and All of the Night’ or ‘Dead End Street’ resonated with audiences both because of their defiant rock and roll rebellion and for their inherent relatability to countless young people across the UK at that time.
Bedecked in their modernist garb and with an inventively rebellious approach to rock and roll songwriting, the arrival of The Kinks typified the swinging sixties era, reflecting the attitudes of the younger generation more adeptly than most. It was their smash-hit single ‘You Really Got Me’ which firmly established the Ray Davies-led outfit in the musical mainstream of the time, earning them a number-one single in the UK and setting a commercial standard for the band which they would struggle to recapture.
It might have been the first single to cement The Kinks among the era’s most iconic outfits, but ‘You Really Got Me’ was not the band’s first release. That honour is bestowed upon the band’s recording of ‘Long Tall Sally’, which hit the airwaves in February 1964. A pivotal moment in music history, 1964 was also the year that The Beatles made their first steps on American soil, Motown established itself in the UK, and the first episode of Top of the Pops was broadcast. In comparison, ‘Long Tall Sally’ didn’t have quite the same impact, but its release was vital nonetheless.
Originally recorded by Little Richard back in 1956, the single was utterly instrumental in the development and popularisation of the first rock and roll age. Never before had audiences heard such a fast, uptempo anthem awash with the kind of spectacular energy that Little Richard was renowned for. When The Kinks came to record the track the following decade, however, they updated its sound for this bold, modern age of rock.
The Kinks decided – or were told, depending on who you ask – to record ‘Long Tall Sally’ as a means of capitalising on the success of The Beatles, who often performed a version of the Little Richard track during their live shows. Although this attempted cash-grab didn’t really pan out, with the single only reaching number 42 in the singles charts, their modern recording of the rock and roll classic formed an incredible bridge between the two distinct musical eras.
With ‘Long Tall Sally’, Davies and the gang were essentially picking up the baton of youthful expression, which had been started by the architects of rock and roll back in the 1950s. It was a means of reflecting this idea that rock and roll was not just a passing fad; it was here to stay.
At the same time, The Kinks’ cover of Little Richard helped to establish the distinctive sounds of the swinging sixties, drawing upon the influence of the past, but always looking forward and pioneering new sounds. So, although the song was a bit of a flop, and it would take a few more months before The Kinks courted the attention of the mainstream with ‘You Really Got Me’, the band’s trailblazing debut was vital in signalling the arrival of the swinging sixties in the UK.
