Are The Village Green
Preservation Society (1968)
3CDs Of Ray Davies’ Spectacular Failure
No less an authority than 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 It took two years to complete and was released in Europe, withdrawn, then re-released with different songs a month later.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, 3CD 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 use of nostalgic themes – even a bit experimental. Of more concern to fans, however, Village Green was a distinct departure from the band’s hit single/garage band roots. In retrospect, it’s not all that surprising it failed to chart anywhere in the world. Still… it remains one of The Kinks’ great works. While this 3CD 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. This 2003 version is out of print, but the same music was reissued as an official “Deluxe Edition” in 2009.
#1 (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]
#2 (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]
#3 (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]
31 Comments
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
Thanks for this…I have a cd of it and it sounds pretty rough. Bad re-mastering maybe? I'll check these out. It's one of those albums that goes far too unmentioned in the big picture…Muswell Hillbillies is great too!
I am saddened to see some commenters bagging on the sound quality and the rhythm section of the Village Green" era Kinks.
I find no fault with ether . In fact I think both of these elements add to the seductive charm of this record.
Yes WAVGPS is "odd" sounding, but it's also raw and ambitious.Most of all it's honest. This approach is something which many bands today could learn a lesson from.
To see this record "smoothed" out with "finer" musicians would absolutely destroy the charm.
And to claim that production value and performance had anything to do with the albums sales would be unfair if not disingenuous.
I for one am happy to have this deluxe edition ( I love the mono version) untouched and just perfect.
Agreed.
Jacko = Word!
Though I do agree with Willard that Muswell was the pinnacle for the brothers Davies, Village is surely fantastic stuff. Also very fond of Something Else.
While I think all the Kinks' sixties output should be preserved in gold, my fave of faves is their "Arthur". To me, this was Ray at his finest. I still get a chill when I hear "Victoria" & especially "Shangrila". To think that this was knocked off as the soundtrack to a telly production is mind-boggling. This was a well-conceived work of genius & totally over-looked here in the states. But that's usually been the case for the Kinks (or Kase for the Kinks-there's the title for their new cd.)Be sure to check out Ray's new project, the Kinks Choral Collection, which finds Ray in fine fettle & backed by a terrific & beautiful chorus. Here's hoping the next Kinks project is as well-conceived.
Totally agree. I'm a Muswell man, but the two songs you've mentioned exceed almost anything Ray's ever done. I understand the 'chill' you speak of, because there's something transcendent about both of those tunes. And that's despite (or probably because of) the sloppy production that was referenced earlier. They just wouldn't be the same any other way. Thanks for all the comments.
this is SUCH an interesting music blog!
thanks for the kinks village green. i've heard it's good.
Many thanks! Wonderful blog!
A three CD version of one of the Kinks's greatest albums is " a might overblown" but 3 CDs (each) for Jellyfish's two albums is not? Hmmmmm…
More is better. And we are all the better for these re-ups.
As always, many thanks.
Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of stereo AND mono releases. Not against them, I'm appreciative of completists, it's just that in the long run, I'll generally only listen to one or the other (while paying for both). Just for the sake of debate, each of those 3 Jellyfish's will fit on a CD and a half… and the extra half was never officially sold or released. Thanks for commenting.
Cap: Many thanks for this truly incredible blog. I was a Kinks fan from the beginning and always thought they were the best of the British invasion bands. Their first album rocked harder than anybody else's at the time, maybe the first punk album. Certainly, they had attitude. Lyrically, they were the most British of all those bands, so that this album was not that much of a surprise, if one had been listening closely. Waterloo Sunset was only one harbinger. I got to see them when they toured the US (great show) after the release of Arthur, which, to me, was kind of Village Green Part 2. Muswell Hillbillies, then, is Part 3 of a nostalgic portrait of British society. To me, anyway. Again, thanks for all your efforts.
Can't argue with a word of that. Thanks, Monty.
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Find it HERE.
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Was going to say thanks a million…but these are coming down as unknown files = any ideas Willard? So for now thanks a thousand :)
Don’t understand. Just tried them and all three links are working fine. You might try again, in case it was a glitch, or try different browser. But, I’m getting the usual 60 second countdown and all seems ok. Let me know.
Hi sorry did not explain – yes 60 second countdown fine and seem to download but not as usual rar files – look different as soon as download starts – any ideas? cheers
Well, the title (of the first one) is simply K-ATPS-1, so it may not have a suffix. You can try adding .rar or .zip to the file to see if it’ll open ok. Or try a different browser. I can’t duplicate any problems on my end.
OK cheers
If you haven’t tried it yet, you should upgrade whatever downloader you’re using. That seems to work wonders. Don’t get a new one… just go to the website and upgrade whatever you currently have.