Big Black Smoke

1966 single by the Kinks

"Big Black Smoke" is the B-side to The Kinks' single "Dead End Street", written by Ray Davies. The song was not originally included on any album, but has since appeared as a track on the popular 1972 Kink Kronikles compilation and as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Face to Face.

The Big Smoke is a euphemism for London, the setting of the story told in the lyric.

The song makes reference to the recreational use of the drug Drinamyl with the lyric "And every penny she had was spent on purple hearts and cigarettes."

Personnel

According to band researcher Doug Hinman:^[2]

The Kinks

• Ray Davies – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Dave Davies – backing vocals, electric guitar
• John Dalton^{[nb 1]} – backing vocals, bass
• Mick Avory – drums

Notes

1. After Pete Quaife was injured in a 3 June 1966 car accident, Dalton served as a temporary replacement.^[3] Dalton replaced Quaife as the Kinks' full-time bassist on 12 September 1966, making "Big Black Smoke" among Dalton's first recordings as an official member of the group.^[4] Quaife returned to the band on 14 November 1966, replacing Dalton.^[1]

References

1. Hinman 2004, p. 91.
2. Hinman 2004, p. 93.
3. Hinman 2004, p. 84.
4. Hinman 2004, pp. 89, 91.

Sources

• Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day by Day Concerts, Recordings, and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.