Latest Kinks box set: First albums on RCA

[Brian]

If each page view weighed a pound, my threads about the first three 50th anniversary deluxe box sets by the Kinks are nearing a ton of clicks, amazing for this message board.  The three albums that anchored the box sets representing 1968 to 1970 are not only among Ray and Dave Davies' finest work, they also bear the longest titles in their group's catalog, so I'll refer to each of them by their nicknames: Village Green, their greatest achievement; Arthur, the first rock story album (not "Tommy" by the Who); and Lola, which justly returned the Kinks to the top of the pops on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.  I think those threads hold up well -- and very few of the You Tube video embeds I posted have been taken down so far.

After the success of "Lola," the Kinks handed their British and American labels a mostly instrumental soundtrack album, "Percy," to fulfill their contracts then signed with RCA Records.  "Muswell Hillbillies," their first RCA release in 1971, was a surprise because it sounded like some English dudes had made a Pure Prairie League album, but I've come to adore it over the decades.  The next album marked the beginning of a steep decline in Ray's songwriting powers.  The only thing still worth hearing on "Everybody's in Show-Biz - Everybody's a Star" is "Celluloid Heroes," one of Ray's most popular songs.


BMG released this "brand new edit" of the U.S. single version on Wednesday.

I'm trying to figure out whether there is any reason to buy this monstrosity on preorder by September 9.  BMG's website offers little guidance -- and no track lists for the many redundant LP's and CD's:

store.thekinks.info/browse/the-kinks-usa/products/muswell-hillbillies-slash-everybodys-in-show-biz-everybodys-a-star-deluxe-box-set

[Sharon W]

Saw this article and immediately thought of you, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/the-kinks-dave-davies-talks-lola-sexual-experimentation-nervous-breakdown-ray-relations-220737225.html

[anni]

To promote the release of the "Muswell Hillbillies/Everybody’s in Show-Biz - Everybody’s a Star" box set this month, BMG put out a video of one of the bonus tracks, the previously unheard "Travelling with My Band" from 1972. It starts out just like another Ray Davies song, "You Can't Stop the Music," the last track on the "Soap Opera" album in 1975. Not a lost gem, but better than some songs on the "Everybody's in Show-Biz" studio album, such as "Supersonic Rocket Ship."