Hokeyboy

No worries. I'm gonna do the bonus tracks from SOMETHING ELSE probably later today, and I want to do VGPS justice so I'm taking my time on that one. I hope I can for the 5 of us actively participating in the thread!

nando820

Oh man I been dying to listen to this album, maybe I can find it on Youtube

cungar

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Else.../dp/B000002KOC

nando820

^ those are only samples, yes I can buy it (and I do buy all my CD's Cassettes, and precious Vinyls) but it won't get here on time to discuss on this thread.

Hokeyboy

Well I CERTAINLY wouldnt suggest illegally downloading the album while waiting for your legal purchase to arrive from elsewhere. Because I've never done that. Nope...

*cough* So anyway, I can totally recommend VGPS as a blind buy. Wonderful album. Top tier classic album. Worth every penny, especially the 3CD Deluxe edition. Awesome stuff. Ugh I promised wendersfan I'd hold off talking about it.

If you're really committed to buying it, then I see no moral issue with "listening" to it early. YMMV of course...

Supermallet

Anyone who reads this thread and doesn't immediately purchase every Kinks album from Something Else through Muswell Hillbillies (Percy's okay to leave off) is worse than Pol Pot.

Hokeyboy

Now you're cooking with gas. Pol Pot, indeed.

Face to Face through Muswell is, to me, almost as essential as Rubber Soul through Abbey Road (leaving off Percy and Yellow Submarine). In some ways, maybe just as essential, but only because I came to discover The Kinks albums MUCH later in life, so they're fresher to me now.

Not to turn this into a Beatles vs. Kinks debate, mind you. I love both. The Beatles will always be my favorite band, but these days I'll spin VGPS over Sgt. Peppers any day of the week, or Face To Face over Rubber Soul.

Supermallet

I discovered The Kinks in high school, but I didn't appreciate them until I was older.

Hokeyboy

I was really only a surface-level Kinks fan for a long time. I knew "the hits" and a few other tracks but I never really bothered going deeper into the catalog. Then, when was it, 10 years ago, when HP used "Picture Book" for a commercial. I bought VGPS based off of a friend's recommendation and... well that was it. Even still, my knowledge of their earliest albums and almost all of the Arista/RCA albums was spotty until recently.

I was 10 when "Destroyer" came out and it was a HUGE hit. All over Top-40 radio. That was pretty much my introduction to The Kinks. Well, that and Van Halen's "You Really Got Me" cover.

nando820

I found a play-list of "Something Else" on Youtube my idea was always to buy it, I just want it to listen it so that I can confidently say how fucking Awesome The Kinks are

This is some good shit, having recently experienced "Village Green Preservation Society" this should pale in comparison but it doesn't. Every song is its own story, and carries its own identity. "Death of a Clown" already shows Davies respect for the past an old traditions, lines like "The old fortune teller lies dead on the floor Nobody needs fortunes told anymore" are brutally honest, its almost tragic that a circus is an almost dead form of entertainment, and the mystery of things like magic and fortune tellers are gone.

The music is pretty good all around but what I appreciate the most is the honesty in the writing, a woman jealous of her own sister, a mother-in-law getting in the way of her daughter marriage, these are things that happen all the time but are not usually written on songs. While many artists would write about love and heartbreak the Kinks were writing about the everyday happenings, about the everyman and that connects.

cungar

I remember a conservative group listed Two Sisters from Something Else as one of the top 20 conservative songs of all time. It was because Percilla was jealous of her wayward (ie liberal) sister until she saw her children and decided she was better off. I think the same list had Get Back in Line listed because it was "anti-union". Not sure I agree but these are some of Ray's best and most poignant lyrics.

Two Sisters

Sylvilla looked into her mirror
Percilla looked into the washing machine
And the drudgery of being wed
She was so jealous of her sister
And her liberty, and her smart young friends
She was so jealous of her sister

Sylvilla looked into the wardrobe
Percilla looked into the frying pan
And the bacon and eggs
And the breakfast is served
She was so jealous of her sister
And her way of life, and her luxury flat
She was so jealous of her sister

She threw away her dirty dishes just to be free again
Her women's weekly magazines just to be free again
And put the children in the nursery just to be free again
Percilla saw her little children
And then decided she was better off
Than the wayward lass that her sister had been
No longer jealous of her sister
So she ran 'round the house with her curlers on
No longer jealous of her sister

Get Back In Line

Facing the world ain't easy when there isn't anything going
Standing at the corner waiting watching time go by
Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time
'Cos when I see that union man walking down the street
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line
Now I think of what my mamma told me

She always said that it would never ever work out
But all I want to do is make some money
And bring you home some wine
For I don't ever want you to see me
Standing in that line
'Cause that union man's got such a hold over me
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line

nando820

Yeah that line had me thinking "and then decided she was better off than the wayward lass that her sister had been" I think wayward could also be taken as disobedient or capricious, but the way its written is like she suddenly realized she didn't need to be her, kinda like an epiphany "screw other people's ways" so maybe its not necessarily that Sylvilla was a bad person but that Percilla realized it wasn't for her.

Hokeyboy

A quick word about the Something Else BONUS TRACKS....

14. Act Nice and Gentle (B-side to "Waterloo Sunset" 5/5/1967)
15. Autumn Almanac (Single 10/13/1967)
16. Susannah's Still Alive (Dave Davies single 11/1967)
17. Wonderboy (Single 4/5/1968)
18. Polly (B-side to "Wonderboy")
19. Lincoln County (Dave Davies single 1968)
20. There Is No Life without Love (B-side to "Lincoln County)
21. Lazy Old Sun (Unreleased Alternate Stereo Take)

A country-fried but strictly pop number, Act Nice and Gentle is an absolute charmer. Beautiful sound and production, it served as the B-side to "Waterloo Sunset" in the UK. I want a pristine copy of THAT 45 A.S.A.F.P. This is one of my favorite unearthed treasures I've come across so far.

The slightly thin-sounding production doesn't impinge upon the joyful bounce of Autumn Almanac. Ray is back in his "slice of English life" mode, and this song has almost everything you want from a 1967 Kinks single. Great hooks, a catchy chorus, and wonderful musicality throughout.

Susannah's Still Alive was recorded by The Kinks, but written and sung by Dave, and it was released as a solo single. Dave songs are hit and miss with me, but this one definitely hits well. I love the circular lick that anchors the song after each chorus. On the other hand, I'm not particularly enamored with Wonderboy. The "La-la-la, La-la-la" refrain that opens the chorus and runs underneath the verses is plenty silly. I do like the chorus and bridge quite a bit though. The vocal harmonies and harpsichord undercurrent help a lot. The song is a bit too schizo for my tastes but I recognize its appeal. It's B-side, Polly, is silly. It sounds like the band is doing their damndest to sound like The Who. Perhaps an homage of sorts? Davies and Townshend were pretty tight. It'd make a fine earlier-era Who song, but as a Kinks number, I can live without it.

We got another Dave Davies single with Lincoln County / There Is No Life. "Lincoln County" is swell enough, with tight organ work from Nicky Hopkins (GOD that sounds wrong) and some choice-sounding strings. Dave's vocals almost always sound strained and affected to me, and this song is no different. Almost like he's trying to ape a Dylanesque delivery. Still, a good single. It's B-side, "There Is No Life Without Love"... very different sounding from "Lincoln County". Softer, more mournful, it reveals a new style of songwriting/vocals from Dave that we haven't seen before. I'm not sure it's that great a song -- it drones and gets excessively repetitive -- but I like that Dave was trying to do something different, which makes the song more interesting to me than some random styled riffing.

The Lazy Old Sun alt-take is just that. I'm not the biggest fan of the album track, so this one doesn't do anything to change my overall feelings about the song. Good to have I guess for the hardcore or completists.

Hokeyboy

OK! VGPS coming up next. Everyone due your due diligence and meet back here with your best slow-cooker deal. Corned beef and onions? ON!

nando820

I recommend you guys Rate Your Music its a free online database where you rate, review, list and organize your collection.

Its database its pretty varied and includes cassettes and Vinyl releases from all over the world. Its a cool place to create Music, Movies or Mixtape listings too

Hokeyboy, I think the RYM community would greatly benefit from your reviews

Now to the "Village Green Preservation Society" which i do own

Hokeyboy

^ Sounds pretty cool. And thanks for the words about my reviews. I think I might go back and give the earlier albums some more write-up after we finish the entire discography, just to give the whole thing a sense of perspective. I ordered the Deluxe editions of the first 3 albums from Amazon UK. By the time they arrive (May 18th... sheesh) hopefully we'll be much further in. Hard to believe we're only at 5 out of 24 studio albums!

I'm a little late on VGPS guys, sorry about that. I plan to have something up tonight.

wendersfan

Isn't "Two Sisters" about the jealousy Ray had towards his brother Dave and the latter's carefree, bachelor life?

Supermallet

I spent the weekend relistening to all the Kinks' classic albums, and I have to amend my opinion on Something Else. It's still one of the best albums in rock, but it's not the best Kinks album. What is? You'll just have to wait till we get to it!

statcat

no idea there but I don't think a lot of people know that Dave is bisexual and had some relationship going with Long John Baldry.

I also thought this was pretty interesting and not well known

“Brush With Death”
Ca 1964: Kinks attend party in home of small-time music promoter in northern Illinois. Host seems to be after young Dave all evening. Party mainly attended by young men. Noticing that party is totally lacking in female guests, Kinks decide to split. Group later finds out identity of solicitous host: JOHN WAYNE GACY.

Hokeyboy

The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks



Original Release Date: November 22, 1968

Original Track Listing
1. The Village Green Preservation Society
2. Do You Remember Walter?
3. Picture Book
4. Johnny Thunder
5. Last of the Steam Powered Trains
6. Big Sky
7. Sitting by the Riverside
8. Animal Farm
9. Village Green
10. Starstruck
11. Phenomenal Cat
12. All of My Friends Were There
13. Wicked Annabella
14. Monica
15. People Take Pictures of Each Other

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (referred to as VGPS from here on) is the musical equivalent of the perfect trip to Disneyland. Warm and sunny weather with cool breezes, barely any crowds, no lines, the best seats to every parade or attraction, Dole Pineapple Floats are on the house, FastPass machines are turned off cuz you don't need them, walk-on-in-with-no-reservations dinner at Chef Mickey's... fuck where was I?

Oh yeah. VGPS. The Kinks's most heralded album. A rock classic. A peerless 60s album in style, tone, and attitude. A gentle iconoclastic work from a premiere songwriter.

I have NO IDEA how to do this write-up. VGPS has been written-up plenty enough. Perhaps one of Ray's contemporaries put it best:
I didn't dig hard for that quote. It was right there in the CD booklet, Page 1.

The best tack for me at this point would just be straight up. There's a zillion resources online that go into the history of the album, its genesis, its production, and its commercial failure upon initial release. The long and short of it is that Ray was inspired by a visit to rural, rustic Devon, and wrote and recorded "Village Green" during the "Something Else" album sessions. Obviously an idea took hold, and after "Something Else" had been completed Ray ran with his Village Green theme. Longtime producer Shel Talmy was COMPLETELY out of the picture. This album was all Ray's baby; he wrote every song on the album, and sang all save for Wicked Annabella. An early version shipped to Continental Europe, one with which Ray was completely dissatisfied, and he was allowed to cut two new tracks and resequence the album. It was release in late 1968, to absolutely stunning accolades and totally dismal commercial response. Basically it stiffed. But the album's reputation over time led to VGPS becoming the band's best selling record over the last four decades.

I wrote the following about the album in another thread:
Yes it's a conventional choice, but VGPS is my absolute favorite Kinks album. It pretty much in a class by itself, and I easily recognize it as one of the best albums of all time, period. I'd say it's in my Top 10, or I would, if I *had* a Top 10, which I don't. But I hold it in the same highest regard as all my "Top Albums". It's not just great music. The album is magical.

The Disneyland analogy holds for me simply because Ray was evoking warmth and nostalgia for a times and traditions that always look magical in the rearview mirror. In a single album he created slices of British life with universal appeal, a reflexive album that circles back on itself; it's not just wistful reminiscing. It's a journey in which the book of the past is opened, enjoyed, but has to be closed at the end. Even if you want to listen to the album all over again. I usually do.

For example take Starstruck, a bouncy, catchy piece of pop with lush string undertones. The character sadly warns another to not leave the comfort of British pastoral life in favor of the excitement, high falutin culture and debauchery of the Big City. Which is exactly what the singer of folksy, minor-chord Village Green did, by leaving his beloved Daisy behind to make his way in the world, only to return home to find her married to the local grocer. You can almost imagine him returning home, with his long-lost girl married and happy, while also yearning to know what happened his long-lost mate in Do You Remember Walter?.

All of three of those songs are linked by nostalgia, but there's no real "story" here. It's all feeling, yearning, warmth, regret, whimsy, fancy, and even a bit of "enough of this rubbish" at the end. Kicking off with the title track, VGPS sets its tone immediately. "Preserving the old ways from being abused / Protecting the new ways for me and for you. / What more can we do?" The various societies introduce themselves throughout the song, celebrating the little pieces of rustic life that charm, delight, befuddle, bemuse, etc. Musically it's a peach of a tune, infectious as all hell. It leads into the aforementioned "Walter", which in turn opens up the reflective, nostalgic Picture Book. Yup, I gotta thank Hewlett-Packard now, because if they hadn't so prominently featured "Picture Book" in a marketing campaign, I never would have bought the album and fallen in love with it. It's just a great song, with a killer hook and cheeky vocals (and lyrics). It has its own reflexive connection with the last track on the album, but I'll get to that one in a little bit.

Johnny Thunder is the village sociopath, or misfit, or loner. One that apparently lives with his Mum, who considers him a darn good boy. The song is so commanding, with the punchiness of its main riff accentuating each verse. The superb Last of The Steam Powered Trains is equally as austere and powerful, a "hat's off" to a noble breed of travel now confined ot the local museum. I picture the faster rocking instrumental section that builds in the last third of the song, back into the verses, as a dream sequence in which said train is flashbacking on its previous glory days. Big Sky -- however you want to interpret it, as a "Let Go, Let God" sentiment, or a more secular "Don't Sweat The Small Shit" affirmation -- is another winning rocker, alternating between shimmering 12-string acoustic picking and thicker, deeper riffing, as if a stark musical expression of the troubled earthbound mortals and the immortal, ethereal heavens.

If I'm not too crazy about Down By The Riverside as an individual song, it still makes for a decent album cut, almost a breather of sorts as a moment of contemplation as the gentle river flows by. It almost has a Parisian vibe. It leads into the beautiful shimmer of Animal Farm. The world is big and wild and half-insane indeed; the "real animals" have got it right. Ray would get a TON more cynical about the subject matter two albums from now with the radio classic "Apeman". But let's not get THAT ahead of ourselves. Animal Farm is one of the best songs on album full of best songs.

The double-reeded woodwinds and harpsichords anchor the somewhat melancholic but hopeful Village Green. I mean he does end up having tea with Daisy and laughing over happy memories at the end of the song! We discussed Starstruck earlier, and how that ties in with Village Green. Daisy warned the singer that he was truly in love with her, and if he left he'd end up losing her. Stupid fucker. Oh well.

Now I must admit I love Phenomenal Cat, as ridiculous as it is. We're in fairy tale storybook time, and if the creepy gnome la-la-la voice is a bit overboard -- a BIT -- it's almost forgiveable during this brief exploration of whimsy and childhood. But if Phenomenal Cat is Fantasyland, Wicked Annabella is pure HAUNTED MANSION baby. It's been written that the creepy rocker feels out of place musically with the rest of the album. It's a departure, no question, but it's SUPPOSED to be. Dave takes over vocal duties, and he does a great job playing up the song's creepiness, about the local town witch. Probably some old lady who lives by herself that all the local kids are afraid of, and she's accumulated her share of local legends throughout the years. Musically maybe it's different from the rest of the album, but thematically it fits in PERFECTLY.

Sandwiched between those two bits of fantasy is All Of My Friends Were There, a music hall bit of piffle in which our narrator relates a moment of on-stage embarassment, which was only helped by having good friends around to take some of the sting off of the occurrence, and how next time he had to speak publically, he was good-to-go. Reminds me of something Dick Van Dyke might have sung in "Mary Poppins", that kind of silly bouncy feel. It's a cute song, but little more. Far more interesting to me is the Latin-flavored Monica, a breezy piece of Iberian-flavored awesomeness. Obviously the narrator of our tale found a spicy piece of Spanish tail in his travels abroad, and even back home in the Village Green he's still enraptured by her charms. Another great song, catchy and toe-tapping, almost like a warm tropical breeze.

The album ends with People Take Pictures Of Each Other. It's not a particularly strong ending. If you're expecting something akin to "A Day In The Life" or "You Can't Always Get What You Want", you're inevitably walking away disappointed. There's no epic closer. What there is, though, is a closing of the book, an end to our visit to the Village Green... at least for now. Again we flash back to Picture Book back towards the beginning of VGPS... where looking back into our past was swell, shimmering, fun, silly, and awesome. Here it's faster-paced, hurried, and perhaps a bit over the whole return to the past. We need pictures to prove things actually happened. OK, the narrator agrees, they happened. But the past wasn't always that great. Don't show me any more please. I wanna head back out to find Monica. The local girl who married the grocer isn't doing it for me anymore. It's nice to look back, it's nice to return to traditional life every once in awhile, but it's also time to move on. Our journey is complete. For now.

It's difficult to imagine how VGPS could have been made any better. I suppose the production values could have been a bit more substantial; there's an "thinness" to the album which haunted many early Kinks LP. Nonetheless, VGPS as an album is a singular experience, and a wondrous album experience at that. Many complaints tilted towards the album is that it's a bit top-heavy; that the "best" songs tend to appear in the first half and by the end it wears out its welcome and gets a bit grating. I disagree with that assessment entirely. As thematic storytelling, VGPS is a cohesive whole. As music, it's almost entirely delightful from start to finish. Even the lesser songs are reasonable, and the great songs are plentiful. VGPS is a personal album, a decisively non-commercial album, and as it stood apart from the prevailing musical trends of the day -- to put it in perspective, it dropped on the very same day as The White Album -- it achieved an air of timelessness. It's a nostalgic celebration of a parallel-universe past that never really existed, yet one that remains just as real to everyone who spends time lazying about the Village Green.

And as a final note:
(Extensive bonus material to be covered in another post)

Supermallet

Personally, I find this one to be overrated. I certainly don't think it's better than either Sgt. Pepper or Pet Sounds, let alone the two combined. For me, I feel like the album doesn't have enough standout tracks. That's not to say any of the tracks are bad, but on a lot of the other Kinks albums from this period, every track was stellar, and I just don't feel like VGPS hits those heights.

The best tracks on here, like Do You Remember Walter? and Village Green are among the best songs the band ever recorded, and Days is one of my personal favorite Kinks songs (although I prefer the Elvis Costello cover from the Until The End of the World soundtrack). But on the whole, I play VGPS probably the least of all the classic Kinks albums.

Hokeyboy

The album just works for me. Songs like the title track, Big Sky, Picture Book, Steam Powered Trains, Walter, Johnny Thunder, Animal Farm, Village Green, Starstruck, and Monica are all standouts... plus I love its consistency and evocative feel. As a statement, as a musical presentation... dare I say, as "art", the album is stunning.

Anyway its all good. By the by, Sgt Pepper is my least favorite of the 'classic' run of Beatle albums, and I'm well on record stating that I'm not impressed by Pet Sounds as music (with the exception of God Only Knows). VGPS smokes em both, IMO.

nando820

I think the Disneyland analogy its a pretty good one. This album does exactly what Disney did, look back into the past and the inner child within ourselves "I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past."- Walt.

While many of their contemporaries where looking into breaking the old barriers ,The Kinks where saying well lets not forget about our past too. And I think its themes are more relevant today than they were 30 or so years ago when it was made. With technology having reach global instant connectivity we have suddenly turned ourselves into a society of the NOW, every second there is a new post on Facebook which becomes the News of the moment then a new post comes and we totally forgot what was said before. Yes the world keeps spinning and we have to keep moving with it but sometimes its nice to stop go 'by a dirty old shack among the cats and dogs ...And where people are real people not just playing sitting down by the riverside, watching the water go flowing by."

CRM114

Mine was released in 1970. Village Green is easily my 2nd favorite Kinks album.

wendersfan

As I mentioned the other day, this is one of my top three pop/rock albums ever, along with Sister Lovers and The Band. A few years ago I realized that Village Green Preservation Society and The Band are almost identical, thematically - they are a nostalgic journey into the past of the country that inspired them, but a past that existed more in myth and fable than reality. To me that's what makes each so powerful. They play on our collective myth of a shared past. Besides, who but Ray could get away with a line like, "God bless little shops, china cups, and virginity"? In 1968.