The remarkable history of this album is told by British writer Andy Miller and was published in print in 2003 by Continuum Publishing. The book is part of Continuum's modestly successful "33 1/3" series, which now consists of 74 titles (with more in the works), each telling the story of a single, seminal pop album: from The Beatles' Let It Be and Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark to Meat is Murder by The Smiths and Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica -- something for everyone! The audio edition is produced by Audible.com.
The Audible production begins and ends with the nostalgic cracks and pops of a good old vinyl LP -- only fitting, since, rather than attempting to be a definitive history of The Kinks, this is simply the story of one extraordinary LP.
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society was the brainchild of Ray Davies, The Kinks' neurotic perfectionist of a front-man and composer. He labored on the album's 15 songs over a period of two years, during which time The Kinks slipped from the top of the charts to the verge of collapse.
By the time of the album's release in late 1968, the public's taste in pop music had turned decidedly psychedelic and electronic. As music fans rushed to buy the Beatles' White Album, Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, the Stone's Beggar's Banquet, and The Who's Tommy, Davies and company put out a "suicidally unhip" album, focused on fully drawn character studies and nostalgia for a disappearing way of life.
But for author Miller and for truly dedicated Kinks devotees, the LP was "Davie's masterpiece," a tightly constructed "concept album," "whose songs seemed to talk to each other."
Davies, ever the contrarian, appears not to have cared that his album was so terrifically out of step with the mood of 1968. He had already been through the wringer of the hit machine, suffered the obligatory pop-star nervous breakdown, watched his band's fortunes rise and fall, and become estranged from his wife. Amazingly, he had done all this by the age of 24.
For convenience, Miller chooses to abbreviate The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society as "TKATVGPS". While this may have made sense on the printed page, it proves to be a bit of a mouthful for narrator Victor Bevine. It would probably have been better to handle this in some other way, but after the first few dozen repetitions, one gets used to it.
Despite the jumble of alphabet soup, Bevine's reading is straightforward and accessible. It would have been nice if someone had directed him not to say "quote" and "end quote" at the beginning and end of each and every one of the book's many quotations, but this too proves to be only a minor annoyance.
In retrospect, TKATVGPS actually sounds very 60's, however much it may have failed to hit the mark in '68. And Miller's praise for the album, though lavish, is not misplaced. If -- like me -- you consider yourself to be something of a Kinks fan but have never heard the album, you most definitely owe yourself a listen. The opening track serves as the curtain-raiser for the collection and shows Davies at his best as composer and lyricist. It's full of catchy riffs and amazingly clever rhymes, including "vernacular/Dracula" and "consortium/awarded them." Here's thirty seconds' worth to get you in the mood:
CLICK TO PLAY: The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society (sample)
Miller's book is a solid introduction to a little-known jewel of late 60's pop. It is to be hoped that this work of rock 'n' roll scholarship will help strengthen the reputation of TKATVGPS and bring it to the attention of a new generation of Kinks fans. God save the village green!
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Posted by David Perrotta, MLIS
Playaway Senior Content Strategist
Twitter: david_perrotta
