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
16. The Village Green Preservation Society
17. Do You Remember Walter
18. Picture Book
19. Johnny Thunder
20. Monica
21. Days
22. Village Green
23. Mr. Songbird
24. Wicked Annabella
25. Starstruck
26. Phenomenal Cat
27. People Take Pictures Of Each Other
28. Days

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1611 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 73 minutes

CD Description
It's easy to imagine the confusion with which this manifesto for the defense of the status quo was received on its release in 1968. The world was in turmoil and the pose of the Street Fighting Man, rebellious and politically aware, was farsexier than the quaint homebody image the Kinks present here. The title track finds Ray Davies proudly declaring himself a preservationist of custard pies, vaudeville, and such comic book characters as Desperate Dan. However, these slices of suburban life have weathered a lot better than most of their contemporaries.
The Kinks were working in their own homey little world, as evidenced by songs such as the album'stitle track, "Picture Book", about family snapshot albums, and "All of My Friends Were There" whose very un-rebellious subject is public embarrassment. To compound the weirdness there's also "Big Sky", a classic Kinks song about God that'snot remotely religious, and a rocker about a steam engine. The overarching theme of VILLAGE GREEN is that of unalloyed nostalgia--it's only today, now that many of the things Davies feared would disappear have actually vanished, that the truth and clarity of his vision is apparent.

Customer Reviews

Kinks Well Preserved
Old sounds for summer. The Kinks were kept out of the States for three crucial years in the sixties, on some spurious basis concerning the undeniable occasional violent outbursts between band members on stage. This must have encouraged them to explore even more deeply than they might otherwise have done the aspirations and foibles of their fellow countrymen. By 1968 they had become the quintessentially English rock group, chronicling the lives of ordinary people with extraordinary insight, making the mundane glamorous.

"The Village Green Preservation Society" runs like a series of pictures, sepia tinted photographs of an idyll that was already in decline. The band utilise a basic rock format of drums, guitar, bass, piano, without the big brass arrangements etc that are employed on a number of later albums. The album is lightly produced, under-produced even, giving it a stripped, open feel. These songs don't need fancy costume to stand out from the crowd. They shine all the more brightly for their near-nakedness.

Throughout there is an underlying air of sadness and regret in these evocations of a world gradually slipping from view. In the edgy atmosphere of 1968 - flower power was so last year - this album, more John Betjeman than Hunter S Thompson, must have sounded out of place and sales at the time were negligible. Fortunately history has been kind and it has since acquired classic status, with complete justification. So we can still enjoy its nostalgic reverie for an England before the DIY superstore and the Drive-Thru McDonalds that to many of us living in towns and cities now seems little more than a dream.

Arguably The Kinks Greatest Album
Ray Davies was very much swimming against the tide by 1968 (the year of 'The Village Green Preservation Society's release) when he began writing about his regret of the passing of time and his yearning for simpler days filled with village greens and lost friends - after all this was the period of rebellion, psychedelia and increased drug consumption. This is perhaps the reason this album had been so utterly neglected at the time. However, in retrospect, 'The Village Green Preservation Society' is arguably the best album the Kinks have ever released.
'Village Green' isn't too different in musical direction to the Kinks previous album 'Something Else' with its mellow sound and occasional music hall influences except that it is a lot better produced with a much richer sound and Ray's writing tends to focus on one particular theme - that of the passing of time and loss of innocence. This has resulted in many commentators referring to 'Village Green' as a concept album which is perhaps true yet unlike many concept albums which seem rather indulgent in their grand (and overblown) ideals, 'Village Green' is rather quiet and modest. I think a 'themed' album is, perhaps, rather more fitting.
'Village Green' is uniformlly strong from start to finish but if i had to pick a favourite song it would have to be the title track 'The Village Green Preservation Society' where Ray effectively lays out all the things he misses from days gone by before going into more specific detail in the songs that follow.
'Village Green' isn't self conscious like some of the concept albums the Kinks would record in the future - it's fairly measured and relaxed in tone which makes it a great pleasure to listen to. Because of this its theme is all the more effectively understood by the listener making it one of Ray Davies' most effective and enjoyable ventures.

For Kinks fans in particular and music fans generally 'The Village Green Preservation Society' is indispensible.

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Wow, this thing completely took me by surprise. '60s pop has always let me down, yet I ended up listening to this obsessively when I was in New York; something about it just hit me hard. Ironically, it made me value the traditional aspects of England a bit more, as well as invoking strong feelings of nostalgia. Village Green Preservation Society just runs deep with memories, whether it's the physical ("Picture Book") or just recalling those who drifted away ("Do You Remember Walter?"). Despite being near-perfect pop, I'm greatly surprised that this album has so many fans, as it's just so English. This isn't even the England I'm used to either, as The Kinks are strictly down with the Sunday games of cricket, tea, crumpets and churches. These are areas of my culture that I've only had glimpses of when I've left the bright lights and violent streets of Manchester, yet, oddly enough, feel I know all too well.

It's all very quaint, yet extremely and subtly powerful. Not bad for a pop album, eh?