Ever since the 50th anniversary reissue of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (2018), considered the first concept album from The Kinks, the group has been rolling out some box sets befitting its exalted place in the pantheon of rock and pop music history.
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society was followed by Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) in 2019 (the group’s last ’60s concept album) and Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, in 2020, its first concept album in the ’70s. Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was a biting critique of the music industry and cast a jaundiced eye on the pitfalls of musical stardom, or obscurity, clearly from first-hand experience. It would be the group’s last album released by Reprise in America, surprisingly a very artist-friendly record label at that time.
While Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One is certainly a bitter album from a veteran pop music insider, it isn’t heavy. Davies conceives these albums as conceptually thematic, but unlike some others who created concept albums in this period, he avoids the weighty pretentiousness and grandiose egotistical bombast that often mars otherwise ambitious and worthy works. Also, Davies does not write about working-class people from the lofty perch of a rich and famous pop star, or simply paint the rich and famous as bad either, but instead brings empathy to the writing of both kinds of characters.
Between Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One and Muswell Hillbillies (1971), its RCA debut, the group was involved in the soundtrack for the film Percy, released in 1971. It was directed by Ralph Thomas and was based on the novel by Raymond Hitchcock, and the screenplay was co-written by Michael Palin.
The Kinks had not performed in America for four years from 1965 through 1969. After that period the group performed only sporadically at first, but American music and culture clearly impacted Muswell Hillbillies. Although there is an obvious inherent country influence, the jazz influences can be traced back to the British love of trad jazz and music hall styles—something Davies could have been musically influenced by, without having to soak it up first-hand by traveling extensively in America. The album also arrived just as glam was starting to rear its head.
It’s important to note that between Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star, the retrospective double album The Kink Kronikles came out in the US, summing up the group’s Reprise years, with lots of non-album tracks and one previously unreleased track.
Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star, was even more influenced by first-hand inspiration of the United States, mainly of The Kinks’ 1971 tour. Using the world of old Hollywood as the main storyline, with the studio album’s closing song “Celluloid Heroes” the album’s thematic centerpiece, Davies creates an even more timeless narrative. In years to come, some of these plotlines would apply to the rock stars who emerged in the ’60s and ’70s, making listening to this album even more poignant all these years later.
This new reissue box actually covers the group’s first two albums to be released by RCA in America—Muswell Hillbillies and the double-album Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star, which comprised one studio album and one live album. This box is closer in presentation to the The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society box than to the Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) and Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One reissues.
The Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) reissue was presented in a 45-RPM-shaped box and Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was in a 10-inch box, and both included CDs and 45s, but no 12-inch vinyl. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society set was in a 12-inch vinyl album-sized box and included 12-inch vinyl records, 7-inch vinyl records and CDs. This new set includes 12-inch vinyl albums and CDs, but no 45s. It does, however, mark the first time a Blu-ray is included with one of these boxes. All of the sets include some variation of extensive extras like memorabilia, posters, photos, and other band merch.
The Muswell Hillbillies records are presented as a gatefold, blue double-vinyl set, with an insert and the lyrics displayed on the inner gatefold spread and a picture of the long-gone Cats on Holiday pub on Retcar Street in London. The album cover photo shot was taken inside the Archway Pub in London and is one of the most iconic album covers in rock history. The bonus album is comprised of 12 tracks, including three John Peel live sessions, three alternate tracks, a backing track, a demo, and a radio spot.
Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star, originally released as a double album (one studio album and one live album), is a gatefold, triple-album yellow vinyl set, with a bonus disk that includes seven additional Carnegie Hall live performances not on the original live album, one outtake and one alternate mix, as well as a lyrics insert and another insert of liner notes about the live bonus disc. The Remixes album is a single heavyweight black vinyl release. It includes 11 tracks from Muswell Hillbillies. Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star were remixed in 2022 by Ray Davies. Both albums were remastered for vinyl by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio, back in 2016.
The four CDs include the 2022 remaster of the original Muswell Hillbillies album on CD1, the 2022 remaster of the original Everybody’s in Show-Biz Everybody’s a Star 1972 album on CD2, the Remixes album on CD3 and, from The Kinks’ 1971 US tour, “Traveling Montage,” comprised of the 2022 mix of both “Traveling With My Band” and “Celluloid Heroes” on CD4. What is on CD4 is not on any of the vinyl albums. CDs one and two do not include all the material on the vinyl reissues in this box. The Ray Davies remixes, “Travel Montage,” “Traveling With My Band,” and “Celluloid Heroes” were all mixed, compiled and edited at Konk Studios in London in 2022 by Ray Davies and Matt Jaggar. The Blu-ray includes a Ray Davies 1971 16mm home movie of life on the road.
Included with the albums, CDs and Blu-ray is a 52-page, hardcover book, five color photos, one replica of a black-and-white photo contact-sheet, a “London Roots Map” poster depicting the history of The Kinks, and a pin. All of The Kinks deluxe anniversary boxes have included a plethora of swag that are fun for hardcore fans of the group. There are no 45s in this set, as The Kinks were now focused on making albums and, signed to RCA, would no longer be pressured to come up with hit singles, as they were with Pye.
These are classic albums and two releases that have become even more adored over the years. They reflect a zenith for The Kinks as album makers, on equal footing with the group’s peak as singles makers in the ’60s. These Muswell Hillbillies are truly stars.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A+
