Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber)
Lola – The Kinks – Song Breakdown
A very busy production, many tracks — multiple pianos, guitars etc. I simplified things a bit for this arrangement.
Melody
Nice melody with the range of B2 to A4. I transcribed the “Coca-Cola” rendition … there is also a “cherry cola” rendition. It was originally “Coca-Cola”, but the BBC had a strict rule against product placement, so singer Ray Davies had to change it to “cherry cola”. The problem was he was in New York, on tour, and the session was in London. But he made the 1 day round trip to change 2 words. Nowadays that’d be an email.
Download the Melody Music Here
Keyboard
The keyboard is the piano part of the recording. There are a couple of tracks of piano, so I consolidated them into 1 part. One seems to be playing higher notes than the other, and in the end I went by what stands out the most in the finished recording.
Download the Keyboard Sheet Music Here
Lead/Rhythm Guitar
I combined the acoustic guitar at the beginning with the electric guitar that starts at the 1st interlude because the rest of the guitar is mostly strumming, which is covered with the strum guitar. There is more acoustic picking in verse 3, but the piano covers that type of thing nicely. I also had this part switch to the guitar solo at bar 64 (with bits and pieces of the comp guitar). The piano and strum should fill the rest in good.
Download the Lead Guitar Tab Here
Strum Guitar
The strum guitar/ukulele is based on the strum guitar that goes through most of the song. It’s filled out a bit in places making it better suited for solo performances.
Download the Strum Tab Here
Ukulele
Download the Ukulele Tab Here
Bass
A more high-register bass part that sounds like it’s played with a pick.
Download the Bass Tab Here
Drums
A pretty busy bass drum-heavy part that will keep your feet working.
Download the Drum Music Here
Download the Lead Sheet Here
