“You guys really like
The Kinks.”
The above is a quote
from a London Walker from Austin, Texas (a great music city, too) on the
Rock’n’Roll London walk recently.
A regular follower of
The Daily Constitutional, he was observing that in our Friday Rock’n’Roll
London slot we often come back to The Kinks.
And here we go again…
The Kinks Are the
Village Green Preservation Society was released in November 1968… and failed to
chart. In the intervening 40-odd years the album has progressed from runt of
the Kinks’ commercial litter to cult classic to finally be recognised as a
landmark in English popular songwriting. Ray Davies, it is said, once described it as, "The
Davies, as ever,
ploughs his own unique furrow. As Jagger fantasised about being a Street
Fightin’ Man and Lennon challenged us to a debate on Revolution, Ray holds his
head in his hands and bemoans the pace of change, encroaching concrete and the
demise of the steam trains.
His wistful, witty and
poetic take on such themes later found more vitriolic expression when, having
passed through the prism of punk, it begat the sentiment of Blur’s 1993 album
title Modern Life Is Rubbish (you can see that sleeve HERE.)
The sleeve shows
record label Pye’s customary and fundamental misunderstanding of the artistic
aims of their act – casting an incongruous, psychedelic pall over the whole
affair.
The photoshoot took place
on Hampstead Heath, near Kenwood House. It captures the original line up of the
group for the very last time. Bass player Pete Quaife would quit the band in
1969.
The sleeve for the
Swedish version of the album…
The Deluxe Edition of
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society is availalable to buy
through Ray Davies’s official website www.raydavies.info (follow the Merchandise Shop link).
Join the
Rock’n'Roll London Walk on Friday at 2pm, meeting at Tottenham
Court Road Station (Exit 3) – to book a Private Walk call 020 7642 3978 or
email london@walks.com
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