The Kinks started out as a heavy R&B band, churning out riff
laden rock that was the mid-60s hard rock --songs like "You
Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night".
This was the heavier part of the R&B scene, along with groups
like The Pretty Things. Certainly the Who and the Beatles also
came from the same genre, but they had a greater emphasis on pop.
Ironically, the Kinks turned to a lighter sound later, as Ray Davies
became a talented songwriter in a different way from his
contemporaries, focusing on social satires or character portraits
much like "Eleanor Rigby". In the later 60s, the
Kinks didn't embrace psychedelia; instead their music evoked pastoral
scenes and British whimsy in a lighter vein. The Kinks are
the Village Green Preservation Society was the culmination of
this approach, and sounds about as removed from works like Led
Zeppelin as can be. The Kinks represented an alternative
rock path --one that didn't involve synthesizers, lighting fast
guitar or massive amounts of LSD-- a path that was as worthwhile and
interesting as the more popular ones around it. The result was
that their records didn't always chart. But their peak period
was similar to that of the many other first generation English bands,
from around 1966 to 1971 or so.
If you're going to buy Kinks albums on CD, buy the re-releases.
The bonus tracks are necessary --the Kinks focused mainly on the
singles market, and as a result many of their greatest songs were
left off of albums. Their singles continued to chart long after
their albums ceased to make an impact. If you already own their
albums and don't really want to buy them over again, try the double
CD The Kink Kronikles which contains most of these tracks,
with some duplication of album tracks. It is what a compilation
should be - their best tracks, regardless of how they did in the
charts.
So - Ray Davies was one hell of a songwriter. The rest of
the group was good, sometimes great. Excepting Mick Avory, who
I think is the best pop-rock drummer of all time (hear Arthur
for proof).
Personnel:
Mick Avory (drums) Raymond Douglas Davies
(rhythm guitar, some keyboards, vocals) Dave Davies (lead
guitar, some vocals) Peter Quaife (bass, background
vocals)
Quaife replaced by John Dalton in 1969. John
Gosling (keyboards) added starting with Lola. The
rhythm section was replaced during the 1980s with Argent's.
Kinks (1964)
"You
Really Got Me" was the star on their debut.
Kinks-Size (1965) American
LP. Like many other bands (Beatles, Stones) the Kinks' American
albums added singles to the LPs and goofed up the order. Now
you know the real reason why I haven't reviewed the Beatles.
Kinda Kinks (1965)
Kink Kontroversy
(1965)
Kinkdom
(1965), **1/2 On
the American side of things, this was the Kinks' fourth album,
following The Kinks, Kinks-Size and Kinda Kinks.
It is a false transitional album, because the tracks were drawn from the
band's entire existance. Ray does have a few excellent ideas - the
biting piece of satire of "A Well Respected Man", the
droning Indian-like "See My Friends" which foreshadows the
popular use of sitars without using them, and a classic Kinks-style
pop-rock song "Who'll Be the Next in Line". Aside from
these, Ray is not particularly inspired, writing lukewarm tracks like
"Such a Shame", "Don't You Fret" and the
Beatles-style knock-off "Never Met a Girl Like You Before".
He even cannabilize previous work, with the opening of "Never
Met a Girl Like You Before" copying "Tired of Waiting for
You", and "I Need You" is another re-write of "You
Really Got Me.". Dave contributes one song, the decent country
"Wait Till the Summer Comes Along". The album's cover
versions are sinkholes - the annoying "Naggin' Woman" and a
pointless version of "Louie, Louie". With "You Really
Got Me" masquerading as "I Need You", and "Louie
Louie" this album should have just been called Ray Davies'
Few New Ideas and the Hits of 1963-64. Warning: the "stereo"
version of this album is just a poorly spread mono version, and can
cause headaches with headphones. Since the UK albums are easily
available on CD there is no reason to buy this.
Face
to Face (1966), **** Ray
Davies was already a mature songwriter at this point, with a lighter,
but not less substantial style than many of his contemporaries.
Face to Face was pretty sparsely recorded, without orchestral
backing or any session players outside of Nicky Hopkins (my guess).
Ray's songs take the form of character sketches ("Dandy",
"Little Miss Queen of Darkness"), social satire ("A
House in the Country", the hit single "Sunny Afternoon")
and are splendid. The opening track "Party Line"
echoes the Beatles' own Rubber Soul, and there are few
respectable rockers ("You're Lookin' Fine", "I'll
Remember") that don't quite measure up. Ray even comes up with a
wonderful Eastern song ("Fancy" with sitar-like, droning
guitar). Despite some shortcomings in performances, the album
is a real delight. Bonus tracks on the Castle re-release
include the excellent singles "Dead End Street/Big Black Smoke"
and "Mister Pleasant/This is Where I Belong" along with
Dave's "I'm Not Like Everybody Else". Produced by
Shel Talmy.
Live at Kelvin Hall (1967)
From
what I've read, it's plastered with screaming girls and sloppy
performances.
Something
Else (1967), ****1/2 This
sounds like nothing else from 1967. While the Beatles and
Stones and everybody else were experimenting beyond belief, the Kinks
churned out an even better collection of "normal" pop
songs. Their strengths lie deeply in Ray Davies's songwriting
(there are few solos by anyone anywhere) --his words and melodies are
enough to captivate the listener. The Kinks were still a
charting singles group, and each one of these songs is written like a
single - short, melodious, some with sing-along chorus. Above
all you get the feeling that it was a hell of a lot of fun to make
this album as well. Ray has his usual portraits ("David
Watts" ,"Tale of Two Sisters") and satire ("Tin
Soldier" for one), and Dave even places three songs (the circus
oddity story "Death of a Clown", "Love Me Till the Sun
Shines" and the slightly disturbing "Funny Face"), and
they are about par with his brother's songs. The only
psychedelic influences are on "Lazy Old Sun" where Ray
sounds stoned (or possibly just blasted), and the bonus single
"Autumn Almanac" with its backwards effects towards the
end. The real gem is Something Else's final track, Ray's
first production job, "Waterloo Sunset" with its background
vocals and simple Dave line. This song is gorgeous, and widely
considered one of the group's best tracks, and one the era's best.
The good bonus tracks are the singles "Autumn Almanac/Susannah's
Still Alive" and "Wonderboy/Polly", the rest are kinda
bleh. Produced by Shel Talmy, with the exception previously
mentioned. This was their last album to chart in the UK during
the period covered by this page.
The
Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968),
***** What
the heck year is this? 1968? You'd never know it from this
album; granted, some unobtrusive mellotron crops up here and there,
but one of these tracks was recorded two years prior and blends right
in. Anyway, this is Ray Davies' first attempt at a concept
album and it is focused on pastoral life, fairy tales and a faint
sense of the glorious past. Ray throws in
some satire ("Big Sky" and "Do You
Remember Walter"), but it is much more subtle than before.
This is about as uncool as one could be in the age of psychedelia.
Ok, Dave's distorted
guitar and creepy vocals on "Wicked Annabella"
gets close to
psychedelia, but that is about it. Instead, we
are treated to more of the usual --short songs (with one exception)
that are imbued with happiness and fun, not to mention the sing-along
choruses. Picking stand-out tracks is hard - the title track is
great, um, and "Big Sky", "Monica" and
"Starstruck" are among my favorites. I am hard
pressed to find a bad track here, so I won't try. I will
mention what may be perceived as faults in the album - Ray Davies'
simple production, and some similarity between song subjects.
(I didn't even notice the latter until another web site pointed it
out.) I think that Ray Davies' songwriting more than makes up
for such perceived shortfalls. Ray also picks up keys and Nicky
Hopkins is somewhere (probably just on the older track).
Enough, this album is awesome! Released with little publicity,
the album disappeared quickly, and there was no tie-in single.
The CD bonus tracks are the original pulled 12-track album in stereo
(the rest is in mono) with one unreleased song "Mr. Songbird",
and the subsequent single "Days". So, not as a good
as some other albums, and the stereo tracks aren't quite CD quality,
but still nice.
Arthur
or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1969), ****1/2 Initially
dismissed as a Tommy clone, Arthur proved that the
Kinks could rock after all, and it and Village Green are two
of the best albums never to hit the charts. Granted, Arthur
continued some of the themes of Village Green ("Victoria"
which should have been a hit single), but it was also a stunning
indictment of contemporary society that was at least as intense as
their older work ("Brainwashed", "Shangri-La"),
and anti-war themes ("Some Mother's Son which is the most
beautiful and poignant anti-war song ever.) It's not an
even a double-album, for pete's sake! The band's playing is
also good - Dave starts playing leads and gets pushed up in the mix
with great results ("Brainwashed"). Plus, Avory's
drumming is not to missed ("She's Bought a Hat like Princess
Marina"). The lyrics are probably Ray's best, lifting such
lighter songs as "Drivin'" and "Young and Innocent
Days" far above previous works. There's only one
questionable patch, and that's the overlong jam that mars the end of
"Australia" ("Moonchild" anyone?), which prevents
this album from getting five stars. Gosling appears on
keyboards but stays in the background like a good session man.
Ray produced, and the re-released CD is in stereo (yeah!).
Bonus tracks include the "Plastic Man/King Kong"
"Drivin'/Mindless Child of Motherhood" singles (the latter
is far better).
Lola
versus Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Part One (1970), ***1/2 You
could hear the beginnings of the Kinks' new sound in the title track
of Arthur. Always having a good time, the band went kinda
Stones-like with new guy Gosling playing like Nicky Hopkins' younger
brother, and Dave picking up the banjo. While the sound may be
closer to the Stones than the music hall, the writing is far
different. Ray took this time to put together a album around
the music industry and fighting/escaping it. Some of the songs
like "Denmark Street" and "The Moneygoround" may
be accurate, but are not up to Ray's usual level. He still
dishes out the goods on songs like "This Time Tomorrow",
"Get Back In Line" which is in their earlier style (sounds
like a single) and the delightful "Apeman". Let's not
forget "Lola" either - it was the groups first big single
in a few years. Dave also shapes his act up, delivering two
strong songs "Strangers" and "Rats", which prove
he can sing fairly well, and otherwise sounding a lot heavier ("Top
of the Pops"). Although not as strong as previous albums,
well worth it. R.D. produced.
Percy (1971) Soundtrack
to a TV film. Usually slagged.
Muswell
Hillbillies (1971), **** Ray
had been writing about the evils of the city and society (with a
smirk), and the treasures of the country (with a sigh) for most of
his career. Certainly there were feelings besides sarcasm and a
desire to mock trends behind Ray's songs all along, but here he
gives in to his own disillusionment. The trouble is that by
1971, the hippie's idealism had also worn out, with plenty retreating
to the hills musically with the fallout from Altamont. While
the Kinks were certainly not among this group they went the same
route, giving a frank voice to the doubts Ray had been voicing all
along. The problem is that they chose the same route as
everyone else - roots-rock - and a touch later than most. It
may be less innovative and authentic for the Kinks to delve into
folk/country/rock, but it really suits them. At the center of
the sound is usually Ray banging out a song on an acoustic guitar,
Dave contributes plenty of slide guitar and the rest of the band fill
out the sound as usual. One of the more disturbing aspects of
this is that the band sounds so American, rarely delving into the
overtly English demeanor used so often in the past ("Holloway
Jail" is a slight exception). There's a great deal of
American roots-rock of the Grateful Dead ilk ("Uncle Son")
and Dixieland jazz arrangements on some tunes ("Acute
Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues", "Alcohol") a la Randy
Newman. It may lead one to wonder if this is really the Kinks,
but at the heart of it all are Ray's lyrics, and if there's anyone
who'd use rustic music with lyrics on the plight of suburban/urban
people, it's him. Ray's attitude towards his songs' subjects
has changed; before he was mocking or commenting (think "Sunny
Afternoon") and here he either does a good job portraying ("Here
Come the People in Grey", "Holiday") or is personally
invested in the lyrics ("Alcohol", the beautiful, expansive
ballad of a working girl's dreams "Oklahoma U.S.A.").
In fact, the weakest tracks are those "typical Kinks songs"
where Ray gets mocking or overly happy (the tongue-in-cheek "Skin
and Bones" and the happy "Have a Cuppa Tea"). A
bittersweet retreat by a man from the perils of the modern city.
Produced by Ray.
Everybody's
In Showbiz, Everybody's a Star (1972), **1/2 Everybody's
In Show-Biz, Everybody's a Star marks the start of the Kinks'
mid-70s decline, which was largely a result of Ray's theme and music
recycling, and a simultaneous idea shortfall. The album is half
studio, half live, and the band's problems show most obviously on the
studio side (Everybody's in Show-Biz). Their new material is
a hybrid of Muswell Hillbillies and Lola: rootsy
loosely based around a rock star's experiences, and with a strong
satirical bent. The music sounds like Muswell Hillbillies warmed
over - more Dixieland horns ("Maximum Consumption", the
drunken "Unreal Reality") and roots-rock ("Here Comes
Yet Another Day", the middling "Hot Potatoes" or the
gentle, escapist "Supersonic Rocket Ship" which perplexedly
was a UK hit). Little of the band's rock really clicks; "Here
Comes Yet Another Day" kicks off the album and is the only true
good rock song. While the others are not bad ("Motorway,"
"You Don't Know My Name") they are not going to make anyone
forget about the Faces. Instead, Ray's taste further reverted to
prancing Salvation Army music-hall ("Look a Little on the Sunny
Side") and his biting lyrics have taken a oddly gastronomical
turn (the sing-along "Hot Potatoes" or "Motorway").
Well, Dave Davies does have a spotlight song ("You Don't Know
My Name"), but it's more an opportunity to debate whether his
strained voice sounds more like Ray's merged with Dylan or Ronnie
Lane.
You
can almost predict that after all the clever songs about indulgence,
the "comedown" song will crop up; a slower, more
introspective or observant work, similar to Muswell Hillbillies'
"Oklahoma U.S.A." This album has a pair, and the fine
"Sitting in My Hotel" is the more bitter and honest of the
two. The songs' lyrics of confusion and dissolution probably refer to
Ray himself; who else was "writing songs for old time vaudeville
reviews?" The other settled track is "Celluloid Heroes"
- Ray's guided tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and antithesis to
the stars ("everybody's in movies, everyone's a star"). The
latter is an excellent track, and one that I still hear on the radio.
Ray being Ray, he would later revisit this topic with A Soap
Opera. Altogether, Everybody's in Show-Biz is a
disappointment, and fails to continue Muswell Hillbillies'
vector.
The
live side (Everybody's a Star) holds few surprises. The band
eschews their earlier hits, only going as far back as Arthur once
("Brainwashed" with the horns put to good use); the rest
are Muswell Hillbilly tracks. Ray sounds like a drunk showman
throughout, tossing in snippets of extraneous songs ("Mr.
Wonderful", "The Banana Boat Song", "Baby Face")
and generally acting up (is his pandering, faux version of "Alcohol"
ironic, or was the original written with this jokey exaggerated
attitude neatly concealed?). Dave never gets to do much, and the half
ends in the most ignoble way possible, with a pointless audience-led
rendition of "Lola". The juxtaposition of a satire on rock
stars and a sloppy performance is rather odd; was Ray commenting on
himself throughout? Perhaps his subsequent retreat into Preservation
themes simply a better way of dealing with whatever problems he had,
after the moments of self-reflection. Or it could have a reflection
of his greater ambition, that of Show-Biz, of writing movies or
scripts, so frustratingly reduced to the concept albums that
followed. Or he could have just be sloshed throughout. Either way,
this was the start of an artistic lull.
Preservation
Act I (1973), ** Preservation
Act I is problematic in several ways. First, it is a vague and disorganized concept
album. There are plenty of
songs that are story-related, but have no plot in them at all
("There's a Change in the Weather, "Here Comes Flash").
Second, if the name seems reminiscent of VGPS, it is no
mistake - Ray borrowed from the Kinks' own back catalogue. It is
pretty blatant too - "Where Are They Now?" reworks
"Dedicated Follower of Fashion", and "Sitting in the
Midday Sun" turns the relaxed sound of "Sitting by the
Riverside" into a video-game soundtrack.
Finally, the
brothers Davies were not getting along too well at this point, and
Dave is pretty much absent from this album. Without him the
band really lacks any edge, and the addition of the Mike Cotton horn
section and female backing singers this album sounds like a B-grade
musical with Ray Davies singing almost all of the parts. It
would not be so bad if Ray had not also lost his lyrical sharpness.
Lerner and Loewedown present Ray Davies, Stuporstar.
Still, Preservation Act I has a few decent moments, such
as the album opener "Morning Song" whose wordless opening
is nice but best suited as entertainment in a retirement home, the
inflated "Demolition", or parts of "I Am Your Man".
The album's main redeeming grace is the flop single "Sweet Lady
Genevieve", a vaguely rootsy mid-tempo rock ballad which sounds
like it was shoehorned onto the album, but stands far above
everything else here. Produced by Ray.
Preservation
Act II (1974), **1/2 This
album is better in almost every imaginable way than Act I.
As Paul Harvey says, "and now, the rest of the story,"
or in this case, the actual story. Yes, there is plenty of
action delivered in the form of radio announcements periodically, and
consequently the need for story-only songs mainly disappears.
Dave effectively rejoined the fold, enabling the band to rely on
their basic, solid sound and giving them a harder edge. All of
this would be meaningless if Ray had not come up with some good
songs. Most of these are cast in a fairly dark and/or bluesy
mold and rely on stong playing from the three non-Davies ("He's
Evil", "Nobody Gives", "Introduction to
Solution", "When a Solution Comes"), and "Money
Talks" is frighteningly close to the Stones. Seriously -
stinging slide guitar from Dave, female backing singers, basic yet
competent rhythm section, and horns to boot - all they needed was
another guitar and Jagger's vocals. Like Act I, the
group's latest romantic single ("Mirror of Love") is
irregularly placed, but it is nothing special. Act II's
largest problem is one that plagues many a double album: there simply
is not enough good material to fill out two LPs. There is some
light experimentalism like the mock Cromwellian "Shepherds of
the Nation" or "Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow)", a
conversation between a sound-altered Ray Davies and a nasty Ray
Davies followed by a boring sound collage. All of this is
compounded by Ray's inexplicable decision to turn most of the lead
vocals over to one of the inferior female backing singers on the
final side of the album (ruining the dreamy, jazzy "Nothing
Lasts Forever"). If this were condensed into one album it
would help, but as is it absolutely pales next to contemporary
efforts like Quadrophenia, or Dark Side of the Moon.
Kinkdom
(1965), **1/2
Face
to Face (1966), ****
Something
Else (1967), ****1/2
The
Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968),
***** 
Arthur
or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1969), ****1/2
Lola
versus Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Part One (1970), ***1/2
Muswell
Hillbillies (1971), ****
Everybody's
In Showbiz, Everybody's a Star (1972), **1/2
Preservation
Act I (1973), **
Preservation
Act II (1974), **1/2