The Kinks Are The Village GreenPreservation Society (1968)
3 CDs Of Ray Davies' Spectacular Failure
From The Boat's September, '07 Archives...
No less an authority that Pete Townshend calls it "Ray Davies' masterwork... his Sgt. Pepper." It took two years to complete and was released in Europe, withdrawn, then re-released with different songs a month later. Unfortunately, it came out around the same time as Beggar's Banquet, Electric Ladyland, Led Zeppelin and The White Album, and was just plain out of step with the times. To top it off, The Kinks were still "barred" from playing in the USA, so promotion in the States was almost non-existent. All of this explains why the liner notes for this 2004, 3-CD Deluxe Edition refer to The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society as "pop music's best kept secret." It's daring, folky, very British, non-commercial, off-kilter and - with its nostalgic themes - even a bit experimental. However, of more concern to fans, Village Green was a distinct departure from the band's hit single/garage band roots. In retrospect, it's not surprising it failed to even chart anywhere in the world. Still... despite it all, it remains one of The Kinks' great works. While this 3-CD re-issue is a might overblown (with the requisite rarities and both stereo & mono mixes), it's still a treat to get lost in the details of the elaborate world Ray Davies stitched together from his memory and imagination. It may take a few spins to appreciate its strangeness (it did then, too), but it's well worth the investment. The track you can hear below is the mono version of "Picture Book." Track list is in Comments.
- Disc One (Stereo Mix + Bonus Tracks)
- Disc Two (Mono Mix + More Bonus Tracks)
- Disc Three (Rarities)
13 comments:
#DISC ONE (Stereo Mix + Bonus Tracks)
The Village Green Preservation Society
Do You Remember Walter
Picture Book
Johnny Thunder
Last Of The Steam Powered Trains
Big Sky
Sitting By The Riverside
Animal Farm
Village Green
Starstruck
Phenomenal Cat
All Of My Friends Were There
Wicked Annabella
Monica
People Take Pictures Of Each Other
Mr. Songbird [from 12 Track Edition]
Days [from Single]
Do You Remember Walter [Original Stereo Mix]
People Take Pictures Of Each Other [Original Stereo Mix]
#DISC TWO (Mono Mix + Bonus Tracks)
The Village Green Preservation Society [Mono]
Do You Remember Walter [Mono]
Picture Book [Mono]
Johnny Thunder [Mono]
Last Of The Steam Powered Trains [Mono]
Big Sky [Mono]
Sitting By The Riverside [Mono]
Animal Farm [Mono]
Village Green [Mono]
Starstruck [Mono]
Phenomenal Cat [Mono]
All Of My Friends Were There [Mono]
Wicked Annabella [Mono]
Monica [Mono]
People Take Pictures Of Each Other [Mono]
Days
Mr. Songbird
Polly
Wonderboy
Berkeley Mews
Village Green [No Strings Version]
#DISC THREE (Rarities)
Village Green [orchestra overdub]
Misty Water [stereo]
Berkeley Mews [stereo]
Easy Come, There You Went [stereo]
Polly [stereo]
Animal Farm [alternate stereo mix]
Phenomenal Cat [mono instrumental]
Johnny Thunder [stereo remix]
Did You See His Name?
Mick Avory's Underpants
Lavender Hill
Rosemary Rose
Wonderboy
Spotty Grotty Anna
Where Did My Spring Go?
Groovy Movies
Creeping Jean
King Kong
Misty Water [mono]
Do You Remember Walter? [BBC session remix]
Animal Farm [BBC session remix]
Days [BBC session remix]
I dunno, it was obvious to me from the first time I heard it (in high school) that it was Ray's sixties masterpiece. It quickly became one of my top five albums and has remained there ever since. I don't understand what's so elusive about it- the songwriting is superb, the performances are electrifying, the sound is not great but that's true of most great albums from the period. How this got overlooked is utterly amazing.
Thanks for this one Willard. I wasn't should about this one--this is a rare case of OVERKILL by a music label--but I'll give it a listen anyway. The Kinks, for some damn reason, gets overlooked for the likes of The Doors or The Stones so I hope their time will come.
-->D.Moose
Thanks for the comments guys. Only problem with Village Green was few knew about it. I know it wasn't until 71 or 72 that I caught up with it. Distribution for non-charting albums in the 60s certainly wasn't like it is today.
GREAT ... this one too... not found anywhere else... greatly appreciate... cheers
thanks willard - i have kind of gotten into the kinks very late (pops steered me way out of the way of rock music, towards pure soul/jazz) so i know just the obvious songs that everyone knows... was recently amazed by an album (cant remember the name!) of theirs that came my way and to know that ray davies had his own 'masterwork' in the vein of the other great masterworks of the time... quite interested to hear this! funny, even my stones, beatles, beach boy fanatic friends have never mentioned this album....
Personally... when it comes to The Kinks, I'm a Muswell Hillbillies disciple. But, I'm not about to argue with Pete Townshend. Thanks for commenting.
I'm a huge Kinks fan. If you put a gun to my head, i'd probably give the Beatles the overall edge for nostalgic reasons. But the Kinks are right there next to them. I firmly believe that. The songwriting and pop compositional abilities of Davies are equal to Lennon/McCartney, or anyone else you care to think of. The album tracks, the B sides, the bootlegs, everything has quality all over it.
I didn't take to Village Green right away. I had a bunch of their albums, but didn't understand that one for a few years. It sounded alien to me, like nothing else. There are a few albums out there like that. You have to get used to the sound of it, train your ears, so to speak.
But my love affair for them kept growing, and then one day it just clicked, and I got it. And now I think of it as not only their best album, but also perhaps my favorite album, alongside What's Goin' On.
I think it was necessary to know Ray Davies better. Once I really felt like I understood him, his heart on his sleeve, the sentimentality, the vulnerability, the self-effacing sense of humor, then the album had a proper context. And it was in that context that I could see he was at his best doing all those things simultaneously on that album.
Well said.
Thanks for this, the overlooked masterpiece that was the Kinks. Forget al the other Rock Operas, this was the one
The tragedy of the Kinks is not so much lack of distribution as lack of production. Where the other great sixties' groups were polishing their sound to a high gloss (or being wildly experimental), the Kinks production sound remained forever ham-fisted and amateurish. What this lovely album needed was Gold Star Studios, and may Curt Boettcher (sp?) behind the glass.
dont know about that but Ray certainly needed better musicians. avory and quaife are just showband plodders. listen to the rhythm section and tell me its up to scratch! no way.
hi guys,
the kinks are one of those bands i still have to discover but there is one song that i found thanks to chris goes rocks' blog called "this i know". WOW, hauntingly beautiful...have they recorded anything else this good? if so, please let me know.
thanks for the great blog, just found it and i'm looking forward to checkin' out hal willner and a few others.
spaceboy
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