Followers of this blog will know most of my comps aim to celebrate artists who've been somewhat underappreciated over the years, and to bring them a bit more exposure. Well, with today's comp I guess many would think that's the total opposite! But, while The Kinks are widely appreciated for releasing several excellent singles over the years, there are many overlooked gems to be found on their albums. This collection features no (hit) singles, mostly album tracks or outtakes from album sessions.
Like many who knew of the band, I never really took much notice of the albums, something I didn't rectify until I bought in 2004 the deluxe CD reissue of their (to me) finest album, "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" which was originally released in 1968. I now have every Kinks album up to 1978's "Misfits" (I really didn't like any of their albums after that), though the quality in their albums dipped somewhat after "Muswell Hillbillies" in 1971. Maybe I'll do another comp, featuring tracks from the much derided mid/late 70s releases, as there are still plenty of excellent songs to be found on each.
For this collection I decided to concentrate on their peak album years. Eagle-eyed fans will notice I've picked no tracks from their first album. Like most artists in the early 60s, albums seemed like an afterthought, only brought out to promote the successful singles from them, and consisted of way too many cover versions. With each release The Kinks mastered the art of making an album, I have a couple of tracks from their second and third albums, but for me their first consistently good album was 1966's "Face to Face". My two favourite albums by them are 1967's "Something Else by The Kinks" and the aforementioned "Village Green", so unsurprisingly tracks from those albums feature the heaviest here.
The origin of this collection started back in 2008, for a music site on which I was quite an active member. One of the members made a request for others on the site to compile their own "best of" of certain artists, as an introduction for those who knew very little of their work. Initially I made 3 compilations, 2 were of The Fall and 1 was of Tim Buckley. Some other member made a Kinks comp and while it had excellent choices, for me it had way too many familiar singles and somewhat missed the point. So I decided I'd make my own compilation of their lesser known songs. The tracklisting here is almost the same as the original I made, but I've replaced 4 tracks which I'm not too fond of anymore (if anyone wishes to know which tracks I removed and replaced with, feel free to ask!) and kept almost the same track order.
As per usual, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Once more thanks to Manerg for his advice with choosing the cover art and the title. Stay safe, and I hope you enjoy!
1. 20th Century Man (5:55)
2. Do You Remember Walter (2:23)
3. Fancy (2:26)
4. Love Me Till the Sun Shines (3:20)
5. Where Did My Spring Go? (2:08)
6. Denmark Street (1:59)
7. Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl (2:43)
8. David Watts (2:38)
9. Rosemary Rose (1:58)
10. People Take Pictures of Each Other (2:11)
11. Have a Cuppa Tea (3:42)
12. Lazy Old Sun (2:44)
13. The Way Love Used to Be (2:12)
14. Time Will Tell (2:33)
15. Last of the Steam-Powered Trains (4:09)
16. Shangri-La (5:19)
17. No Return (2:00)
18. Get Back in Line (3:00)
19. Little Miss Queen of Darkness (3:13)
20. Wicked Annabella (2:40)
21. Here Comes Yet Another Day (3:54)
22. Rainy Day in June (3:12)
23. Some Mother's Son (3:24)
24. Harry Rag (2:15)
25. Big Sky (2:49)
26. Muswell Hillbilly (4:56)
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