"...Big Sky..."
Arguing the merits of this
cracking British album is probably something of a mute point 52 years after the
November 1968 event. But I would like to shout to the top about the stunning
job BMG and its assembly teams have done for the 50th Anniversary celebratory
reissue of "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society".
Let us break it down first...
Formats: for punters, it can
appear that there are a dizzying amount of variants (there are). Yet setting
aside Downloads and Vinyl Represses – there are three digital shots worth your
spondulicks - all newly Remastered for 2018 in what BMG is calling a first in
their 'The Art Of The Album' Series. Here goes...
UK released 26 October 2018
- '1CD Standard Edition' of "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society" by THE KINKS is on BMG/Sanctuary BMGAA09CD (Barcode 4050538402179)
and that offers you the STEREO version of the 15-Track album on a single CD in
limited edition '50th Anniversary' Book packaging and retails for about eight
quid or less. There is also a VINYL Variant of the STEREO LP in gatefold repro
artwork on BMG/Sanctuary BMGAA09LP (Barcode 4050538402216) retailing for about
£22.00.
The one I'd buy is the next
grade up, the 2CD Deluxe Edition on BMG/Sanctuary BMGAA09DCD (Barcode
4050538402186). That peach (which I'm reviewing here) offers you the STEREO
album on Disc 1 with 9 Bonus Tracks and the MONO Album on Disc 2 with a further
10 Bonus Tracks. Seven of the nineteen Bonuses are Previously Unreleased Mono
and Stereo versions while the rest are either stand-alone singles mixes or from
rare Kinks compilation LPs from the early Seventies. There is the hard card
book sleeve and more in the way of presentation – an attached 20-page booklet,
new liner notes, unseen photos and of course those new 2018 HD Remasters. It's
about thirteen quid or less secondhand.
The next up is the big daddy
and an object of serious lust for KINKs aficionados - the '50th Anniversary
Super Deluxe Box Set' on BMG/Sanctuary BMGAA09BOX (Barcode 4050538402049) which
BMG allocate a whole page advert to in the 2CD booklet. A 12" x 12"
behemoth - it offers the 2CDs of the Deluxe Edition with a further 3CDs,
Remastered VINYL LPs in both Mono and Stereo, 3 x Repro 7" singles,
52-page hardback book, memorabilia poster and quite possibly (if they could) -
original 1968 underpants signed and authenticated by Ray Davies. In May 2020
Barcode 4050538402049 is technically still available and ranges from £90 to 140
depending on what site you use. Just to annoy fans further, in October 2018 the
first 1000 came with an exclusive single and in June 2019, Ray Davies signed 50
copies that were only available on the Kinks website - all of course, sold out
now.
Let's get back to the twofer
Deluxe Edition we can have...
CD1 Stereo Album 2018
Remaster (65:44 minutes):
1. The Village Green
Preservation Society [Side 1]
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 [Side 2]
9. Village Green
10. Starstruck
11. Phenomenal Cat
12. All Of My Friends Were
There
13. Wicked Annabelle
14. Monica
15. People Take Pictures Of
Each Other
Tracks 1 to 15 are their
sixth studio album (seventh overall) "The Kinks Are The Village Green
Preservation Society" - released 22 November 1968 in the UK on Pye Records
NSPL 18233 in STEREO and February 1969 in the USA on Reprise RS 6327.
BONUS TRACKS:
16. Days (Mono Single Mix) -
28 June 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17573, A-Side
17. She's Got Everything
(Original Stereo Mix) - first issued on the 25 March 1972 US 2LP set "The
Kinks Kronikles" on Reprise 2XS 6454
18. Mr. Songbird (Stereo
Mix) - 2018 Previously Unreleased
19. Wonder Boy (Mono Single
Mix) - 5 April 1968 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17468, A-side
20. Polly (Original Stereo
Mix) - first issued on the 25 March 1972 US 2LP set "The Kinks
Kronikles" on Reprise 2XS 6454
21. Berkeley Mews (Stereo
Mix) - 2018 Previously Unreleased
22. Rosemary Rose (Stereo
Mix) - 2018 Previously Unreleased
23. Misty Water (Stereo Mix)
- 2018 Previously Unreleased
24. Till Death Do Us Part
(Mono Mix) - first issued on the 25 January 1972 LP "The Great Lost Kinks
Album" on Reprise MS 2127
CD2 - Original MONO Album,
2018 Remaster (66:55 minutes):
1. The Village Green
Preservation Society [Side 1]
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 [Side 2]
9. Village Green
10. Starstruck
11. Phenomenal Cat
12. All Of My Friends Were
There
13. Wicked Annabelle
14. Monica
15. People Take Pictures Of
Each Other
Tracks 1 to 15 are their
sixth studio album (seventh overall) "The Kinks Are The Village Green
Preservation Society" - released 22 November 1968 in the UK on Pye Records
NPL 18233 in MONO and February 1969 in the USA on Reprise RS 6327 (Stereo
Only).
BONUS TRACKS:
16. Lavender Hill (Mono Mix)
17. Rosemary Rose (Mono Mix)
18. Pictures In The Sand
(Mono Mix)
19. Where Did My Spring Go?
(Mono Mix)
Tracks 16 to 19 first issued
on the 25 January 1972 US LP "The Great Lost Kinks Album" on Reprise
MS 2127
20. When I Turn Off The
Living Room Light (Mono Mix) - first issued in April 1970 on the
Promotional-Only Various Artists 2LP Compilation "The Big Ball" on
Warner Bros PRO 358. First commercial issue (like tracks 16 to 19) on the 25
January 1972 US LP "The Great Lost Kinks Album" on Reprise MS 2127
21. Did You See His Name
(Original Stereo Mix) - first issued on the 25 March 1972 US 2LP set "The
Kinks Kronikles" on Reprise 2XS 6454
22. Time Song (Monitor Mix -
Stereo) - March 1973 outtake from the "Preservation Act 1" sessions,
remixed by Ray Davies in May 2018 - 2018 Previously Unreleased
23. The Village Green
Preservation Society (Preservation Version - Stereo Mix) - February 1973
outtake from the "Preservation Act 1" sessions - 2018 Previously
Unreleased
24. Medley: Picture
Book/People Take Pictures Of Each Other (Preservation Version - Stereo Mix) -
February 1973 outtake from the "Preservation Act 1" sessions - 2018
Previously Unreleased
25. Village Green Overture
(Preservation Version - Stereo Mix) - February 1973 outtake from the
"Preservation Act 1" sessions - 2018 Previously Unreleased
The 20-page attached booklet
is beautifully done. As a Rarities Buyer for Reckless Records in London's
Islington and Soho branches for nearly 20 years – I saw my fair share of Kinks
45s from all corners of the world (there are two pages of them here). And you
would see the Reprise Records double-album "The Kinks Kronikles" turn
up because it was a US swap-meet staple. But I've honestly never seen most of
the international covers for the LP displayed in a set of nine on Page 16
(Norway and Sweden and even a Mexican reissue). Another nice touch is that both
CDs feature the original Pye Records LP colouring (separate card flaps for each
at the back of the booklet). There are colour photos of the band on Hampstead
Heath in August 1968, trade adverts for the Record Mirror and NME along with a
concert poster and more (lovely things). ANDY NEILL provides a superb and
knowledgeable appraisal of the album and its out-of-step place in the landscape
of November 1968 – Ray Davies hankering not for change (like everyone else) but
instead to put a stay of execution on a way of British life that was fast
disappearing under the big city wrecking ball of progress (God save strawberry
jam and all its different varieties). Pye had in fact vetoed a 20-track
double-album, so Ray edited it down to a paltry 15. But as the LP charts show –
neither side of the pond seemed particularly interested. Village Green didn't
chart in either England or the USA – a famous flop that somehow seems a wee bit
myopic on our parts.
A team of four have done the
Audio - longtime associate with Kinks 2CD Deluxe Editions ANDREW SANDOVAL did
the mixing and audio restoration, tape transfers fell to RICHARD WHITTAKER and
KEVIN VANBERGEN while Final Mastering was carried out by Rhino's long standing
Audio Engineer - DAN HERSCH. It's all so good - even the unreleased "Misty
Walter" in Stereo boogies with power and shocking presence. To the
music...
The album opens with Ray
wanting Desperate Dan, Donald Duck and the village green saved from progress in
the opening title track. The Stereo separation in "Do You Remember Walter?"
is fab but my heart went straight to the wicked groove of "Picture
Book" which sounds so damn good. Re-hearing its Scooby-dooby-do chipper
chorus - you can't help but feel that Pye missed a serious trick here by not
issuing it as a lead in single for the album. Reprise USA did just that when
they coupled "Picture Book" with "Starstruck" in January
1969 (Reprise 0806) - a month before the album hit the shops there in February.
Everyone tried his or her best but "Johnny Thunder" rides the highway
- another cracking melody that easily could have been single No. 2.
I'm sure there are many
Kinks fans who have their blood moved by the cool harmonica R 'n' B of
"Last Of The Steam-Powered Trains" - a once mighty puffer now
gathering dust in a museum (the remaster rocks). The feeling that you're in the
middle of a great album continues with the one-day-we'll-be-free "Big
Sky" - a fabulous tune with spoken and sung lyrics. The piano-jaunty
"Siting By The Riverside" conjures old English bars while at the same
time segueing into Psyched-up Guitars and Accordions. Take me where the animals
are playing, Ray sings on "Animals" - another 'wanna be back there in
the easier past' song. Churches with steeples and a girl called Daisy fill up
"Village Green" while another woman is "Starstruck" drinks
deep because she can't have what the famous man she wants. Whimsy returns with
the fat moggy song "Phenomenal Cat" while "All Of My Friends
Were There" begins with a how's-yer-father rhythm only to go into a softer
melody. The album races to a close with the rocky "Wicked Annabella",
the shuffling Salsa rhythms of "Monica" and the rapido-shaking
tambourine of "People Take Pictures Of Each Other".
Of the Bonus tracks my
remote went not to the overplayed "Days" in Mono but the
"Kronikles" Stereo Mixes of "She's Got Everything" and
(pretty) "Polly" and they're every bit as Kinks-Kool as I remember
them including that wild guitar solo in "She's Got Everything" that
seems to encompass both 60ts Rock and Psych in one 15-second outburst. I can't
believe how cool the Previously Unreleased Stereo Mixes are - the 'you make me
happy' Stereo Mix of "Mr. Songbird" and the piano-rolling
"Berkeley Mews" - previously unreleased variants fans will have to
have. And on it goes on CD2...
Re-listening to the album
now, I can hear why a 1968 young audience weren't taken - too much going on in
the present and future to be focusing on the old English past. But make no
mistake, in 2020 the Kink's past has been brought to life by this exemplary big
sky set of reissues. Top marks to all involved...
The SUPER DELUXE BOX SET Edition
