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The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks Village Green album (a long-time favorite of mine) is getting the deluxe/boxset reissue treatment in the very near future. The album was part of the group’s fantastic "middle period" Face To Face/Something Else By/Village Green trilogy. After Village Green, original bassist Pete Quaife left the group, and Ray Davies started thinking in terms of the dreaded concept album. Thanks, The Beatles ;-) . The Kinks next album was Arthur, and it was all downhill from there.

The Kinks remained a great live band (I saw them in 1969 and ’70, or was it ’70 and ’71?), but their albums became less and less interesting with every release (to me, anyway). By the time their Reprise contract expired, and they signed to RCA, they were almost out of gas. They had one pretty good album left in them, Muswell Hillbillies, after which it was pretty much over. They had a real good run there for quite a while.

@bdp24 Agreed, Village Green was great and sounds fine(as does Face to Face) in Tidal MQA streaming. Arthur is arguably the best ever rock concept album. The high points thereafter(all from the ’70s) are Muswell Hillbillies, Everybody’s In Showbiz, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneyground Pt. One, Preservation Act One, Sleepwalker, and Misfits.

I followed them live in the mid and late ’70s. John Dalton on bass was a worthy replacement for Pete Quaife, and John Gosling on organ was big contributor to their updated sound. Soap Opera and Schoolboys in Disgrace were nadirs as concepts, but the music was always well made. Dave Davies was the spiritual George Harrison of this band. Check out his two solo albums from the mid ’70s. Ray’s recent solo albums since his transformational gun shot wound around Katrina are very solid illustrations of a trademark elegiac style that echoes the strongest middle period albums.

I can’t think of any band from the early ’60s with such a long and worthy arc.

Ray Davies is my favorite writer of all the British bands, including the Nerk Twins ;-) . He is SO British, capturing and invoking the soul of that country in the same way Brian Wilson does the U.S. A. To continue the comparison, he is, as is Brian, an excellent melodist; "Waterloo Sunset" is absolutely magnificent, and he has written many others of equal caliber.

It was therefore disappointing to me when he embarked on his concept period, where the songs were written to support the greater whole, rather than standing on their own. Some of the songs were good, but many just served the function of furthering the narrative, sounding, as songs---their chords, the chord structures and sequences, melodies, etc.---more like the filler songs that lesser bands always fill out their albums with.

Ray Davies was also a great entertainer---very charismatic and amusing. And The Kinks had that very unique, trademark band sound. Ray was a true rhythm guitarist, as was John Lennon. But my God was his Telecaster loud! Extremely piercing and bright, as Tele's can be. And Dave is an under-rated lead guitarist, very exciting in a pure Rock 'n' Roll way (very little real Blues influence, rare for a Brit). He also has written some great songs (sprinkled throughout the group's albums), and is himself an interesting singer. Mick Avory is a wonderful drummer, and perfect for The Kinks in the way Ringo was for The Beatles. Very musical---a song player, not just a drummer. I think The Kinks may be my favorite British group of them all! Snappy dressers, too ;-) .

Big Kinks fan here. I have a very special affection for Village Green Preservation Society. It never gets old for me, and there are no filler songs. Great lyrics and songs.

I can see why some fans were turned off by the concept album thing. I didn't let it ruin my enjoyment of individual songs, but I would have been happier without it. Still, even an album as concept driven as Preservation Act II has some great songs. And don't forget Everybody's in Show Biz. It has great live and studio cuts.