View source for The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

{{Short description|1968 studio album by the Kinks}}
{{Redirect|Village Green Preservation Society|the song|The Village Green Preservation Society}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Italic title|force=true}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[the Kinks]]
| cover      = TheKinksVillageGreenPreservationSociety.jpg
| alt        = The Kinks stand facing the camera while enclosed in hazy orange-brown concentric circles
| released   = {{start date|1968|11|22|df=yes}}
| recorded   = *February{{nbsp}}1967 ("[[Village Green (song)|Village Green]]")
*March–October{{nbsp}}1968{{refn|group=nb|The Kinks recorded numerous songs between late{{nbsp}}1967 and March{{nbsp}}1968, but which songs were recorded is unclear due to a lack of surviving studio documentation.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=4–5, 110}} Hinman dates "Phenomenal Cat" and "Monica" to sometime between late{{nbsp}}1967 and May{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=110, 121}} The archivist [[Andrew Sandoval]] writes "Sitting by the Riverside", "Starstruck", "Phenomenal Cat" and "All of My Friends Were There" may have been done anytime between late{{nbsp}}1967 and mid-1968.{{sfn|Sandoval|2018}}}}
| studio     = [[Pye Studios|Pye]], London
| genre      = {{flatlist|
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Rock music|rock]]
* [[baroque pop]]
* {{nowrap|[[folk-pop]]}}
}}
| length     = {{Duration|m=39|s=11}}
| label      = [[Pye Records|Pye]]
| producer   = [[Ray Davies]]
| chronology = [[The Kinks]] UK
| prev_title = [[Live at Kelvin Hall]]
| prev_year  = 1968
| next_title = [[Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)]]
| next_year  = 1969
| misc       = {{Extra chronology
|artist=[[The Kinks]] US
|type=studio
|prev_title=[[Something Else by the Kinks]]
|prev_year=1968
|title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
|year=1969
|next_title=[[Then Now and Inbetween]]
|next_year=1969
}}
{{Extra album cover
| header = Alternative cover
| type = studio
| cover = The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (Swedish & original UK cover).jpg
| caption = Unreleased UK twelve-track cover, instead issued in [[Scandinavia]] on {{nowrap|9 October 1968}}
| alt = A black-and-white photo depicting the four band members smiling while standing in long grass, set against trees and Kenwood House far off in the background
}}
{{Singles
| name        = The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
| type        = studio
| single1     = [[Starstruck (The Kinks song)|Starstruck]]" / "[[Picture Book (song)|Picture Book]]
| single1date = January 1969 (US)
}}
}}
'''''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''''' is the sixth studio album by the English [[Rock music|rock]] band [[the Kinks]]. Released on 22{{nbsp}}November 1968, ''Village Green'' was a modest seller, but it was lauded by contemporary critics for its songwriting and has subsequently been regarded by commentators as an early [[concept album]]. The album was the band's first which failed to chart in either the United Kingdom or United States, and its embrace by America's new [[Underground press#North America|underground rock press]] completed the Kinks' transformation from mid-1960s [[pop music|pop]] hitmakers to critically favoured [[cult following|cult]] band.
[[Ray Davies]], the Kinks' frontman, loosely conceptualised the album as a collection of character studies, an idea he based on [[Dylan Thomas]]'s 1954 radio drama ''[[Under Milk Wood]]''. Centring on themes of nostalgia, memory and preservation, the album reflects Davies's concerns about the increasing modernisation and encroaching [[Americanization|influence of America]] and [[Europeanisation|Europe]] on English society. Musically an example of pop or rock music, the album incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including [[music hall]], [[folk music|folk]], [[blues]], [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]] and [[calypso music|calypso]]. It was the first album which Davies produced on his own and was the last to feature the original Kinks line-up, as bassist [[Pete Quaife]] departed the band in March{{nbsp}}1969. It also marked the final collaboration between the Kinks and session keyboardist [[Nicky Hopkins]], whose playing features heavily on piano, [[harpsichord]] and [[Mellotron]].
Other than "[[Village Green (song)|Village Green]]", which was recorded in November{{nbsp}}1966 and re-recorded in February{{nbsp}}1967, sessions for the album began in March{{nbsp}}1968 at [[Pye Studios]] in London. In addition to the non-album singles "[[Wonderboy (The Kinks song)|Wonderboy]]" and "[[Days (The Kinks song)|Days]]", the sessions resulted in numerous tracks, some of which went unreleased for years. The album's planned September{{nbsp}}1968 release was delayed by two months in the UK after Davies's last-minute decision to rearrange and augment the track listing, but release of the earlier twelve-track edition went ahead in several European countries. The album had no accompanying [[lead single]] in the UK, but "[[Starstruck (The Kinks song)|Starstruck]]" was issued in the US and Europe.
Despite its initial commercial shortcomings, ''Village Green'' has influenced numerous musical acts, especially American [[Independent music|indie]] artists from the late 1980s and 1990s and [[Britpop]] groups including [[Blur (band)|Blur]] and [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]]. Driven in part by this influence, the album experienced a critical and commercial resurgence in the 1990s, and it has been reissued several times, including an expanded edition in 2018. The album has since become the Kinks' best-selling album in the UK, where the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) certified it silver in 2008 and gold in 2018. It has been included in several critics' and listeners' polls for the best albums of all time, including those published by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine and in the book ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]''.
{{TOC limit|3}}
== Background ==
In July{{nbsp}}1965, [[The Kinks' 1965 US tour#Ban|the Kinks were informally blacklisted]] from performing in the United States by the [[American Federation of Musicians]].{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=60}} The circumstances that led to the ban are unclear but likely stemmed from several incidents during [[The Kinks' 1965 US tour|the band's first US tour]];{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=58–60}}<ref name=godfather>{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=Dave |title=Ray Davies: 'I'm not the godfather of Britpop{{nbsp}}... more a concerned uncle' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/16/ray-davies-kinks-not-godfather-of-britpop-concerned-uncle |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726222922/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/16/ray-davies-kinks-not-godfather-of-britpop-concerned-uncle |archive-date=26 July 2015 |language=en |date=16 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ray Davies later attributed it to a combination of "bad luck, bad management, [and] bad behaviour".<ref name=godfather />{{refn|group=nb|On {{nowrap|2 July 1965}}, while backstage of [[Dick Clark]]'s show ''[[Where the Action Is]]'', Ray fought a member of the [[American Federation of Television and Radio Artists]]. Two days later, the Kinks refused to perform a concert in San Francisco after the promoter declined Ray's request that the band be paid in cash.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=60}}; {{harvnb|Roberts|2014|pp=188–189}}.</ref> The ban persisted until Ray negotiated its resolution in mid-April{{nbsp}}1969.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=128}}}} Despite the Kinks' recent commercial successes, the band's extensive touring and promotional appearances led Ray to a nervous breakdown in March{{nbsp}}1966.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=10}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=75, 78–79}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Adding to Ray's stresses was litigation by [[Larry Page (singer)|Larry Page]], the Kinks' former manager, and [[Edward Kassner]], their former publisher,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=10}} who had been claiming publishing rights and 10 per cent of the band's earnings since November{{nbsp}}1965.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=90}} Ray's songwriting earnings from November{{nbsp}}1965 on remained in [[escrow]] during the legal proceedings,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=10}} which persisted until October{{nbsp}}1970.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=120, 145}}}}
{{quote box|quote= I hope England doesn't change. I'm writing a song now called "You Ain't What You Used to Be" which expresses what I feel. I hope we don't get swallowed up by America and Europe. I'm really proud of being British{{nbsp}}... I don't care if a bloke votes [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] or [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] as long as he appreciates what we've got here. We have so much that is great, compared with other countries, and people just don't realise it. I want to keep writing very English songs.<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1966|p=3}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=73}} & {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|pp=266–267}}.</ref> |source=– [[Ray Davies]], April{{nbsp}}1966|width=25%|align=left|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}
Following Ray's breakdown, the band reduced their touring commitments and spent more time recording in the studio, a change which allowed Ray to develop as a songwriter while leaving him increasingly separated from the emerging [[youth culture|youth]] and [[Counterculture of the 1960s|drug culture]]s.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=75, 94, 109}} Author [[Ian MacDonald]] further suggests that the band's US touring ban left the group comparatively isolated from American influence, guiding them away from their earlier [[blues]]-based riffing towards a distinctly English style.{{sfn|MacDonald|2007|p=189n3}} In the year that followed, Ray grew obsessed with aspects of [[English aristocracy]] and the country's dying traditions.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=73}} He expressed his pride of Britain in an April{{nbsp}}1966 interview with ''[[Melody Maker]]'' magazine, wishing its culture could remain distinct from that of America and Europe. He further indicated his desire to keep writing "very English songs" and hoped to convey his feelings in a new composition.<ref name="Davies April 1966">{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1966|p=3}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=73}} & {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|pp=266–267}}; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=99}}.</ref>
According to author [[Johnny Rogan]], ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'' (often shortened as ''Village Green'') reflects a progression in the thematic linking apparent on the Kinks' albums.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|pp=47, 53, 61}} Originally known as a singles act,<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=98}}.</ref> the band assembled their earliest [[LP record|LPs]] without thought towards making a larger artistic statement.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|pp=47, 61}} Their 1964 hit singles "[[You Really Got Me]]" and "[[All Day and All of the Night]]" focused on simple boy-girl relationships, a format Ray derided on his May 1965 B-side "[[I Need You (The Kinks song)|I Need You]]". Over the next year, Ray shifted his songwriting approach towards social commentary about contemporary British society, exemplified in the September{{nbsp}}1965 song "[[A Well Respected Man]]" and February 1966 single "[[Dedicated Follower of Fashion]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Lupro|2006|p=193}}; {{harvnb|Fitzgerald|2000|p=59}}.</ref>
The band's November{{nbsp}}1965 album ''[[The Kink Kontroversy]]'' marked the first time Ray composed songs specifically for a single project, resulting in an LP which the band considered their most unified work to date.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=65}} Ray further shifted his approach with the band's 1966 album ''[[Face to Face (The Kinks album)|Face to Face]]'', conceptualising an LP made up of songs connected through the use of sound effects and segues.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=47}} Though [[Pye Records]]'s objections forced him to reestablish the traditional separation between tracks,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=86}} retrospective commentators often regard the album as one of [[rock music]]'s first thematically linked albums,<ref>{{harvnb|Kitts|2002a|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=47}}.</ref> dealing loosely with themes of [[Social class in the United Kingdom|English class and social structures]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author1-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=The Kinks – ''Face to Face'' |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/face-to-face-mw0000190542 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422090620/https://www.allmusic.com/album/face-to-face-mw0000190542 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite these later sentiments, Ray was unsatisfied with ''Face to Face''; in interviews after its release, he disparaged the album as lacking in cohesion.<ref>{{harvnb|Jopling|1967|p=3}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=9}}.</ref>
== Inspiration and conception ==
In November{{nbsp}}1966, as the Kinks started sessions for their next album, ''[[Something Else by the Kinks]]'', Ray began envisioning an LP unified around his newest composition "[[Village Green (song)|Village Green]]".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=92}} He considered numerous concepts over time, including writing a piece of [[musical theatre]] or [[pantomime]] or filming a [[television special]] with live bands and an orchestra.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=92, 101}}: (numerous concepts; television special); {{harvnb|Doyle|2020|loc=chap. 3}}: (musical theatre, pantomime).</ref> The band shelved the idea while they worked on ''Something Else'', deeming it more appropriate for a potential solo album than a Kinks LP.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=92}} Ray spent the first half of 1967 increasingly thinking about the form his solo project would take;{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=13}} press releases in June announced that his solo LP would be released in September,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=102}} and magazine articles in July and August reported that the album would be made up of "orchestra and things like that",<ref>{{harvnb|Walsh|1967|p=9}}, quoted {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=13}}.</ref> "ideas and songs"{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=13}} or one with "the songs linked up in a musical story".<ref>{{harvnb|Farmer|1967|p=16}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=13}}.</ref>
{{multiple image
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|image1 = Fortis Green in 1973.jpg
|image2 = Waterlow Park 20171022 122023 (49369853257).jpg
|footer = Among the album's inspirations are Ray and [[Dave Davies]]'s childhood neighbourhood, [[Fortis Green]] in [[North London]] (''pictured left, 1973''), and {{nowrap|[[Waterlow Park]]}} in the nearby suburb of [[Highgate]] (''right,{{nbsp}}2017''), which Ray regularly visited.
|footer_align = center
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In later interviews, Ray has regularly cited the Kinks' five-year ban from American performance as producing his pivot towards English-focused lyrics.<ref>{{harvnb|Field|2002|p=66}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=80–82}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=123}}.</ref> Author [[Andy Miller (writer)|Andy Miller]] instead connects Ray's writing to a broader tradition of English pastoral poetry – made up of authors like [[William Blake]], [[William Wordsworth]] and [[Oliver Goldsmith]] – which often yearned for an idealised past rural England.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=80–82}} Academic Carey Fleiner writes that his idealisation of both rural and home life fitted in the revival of the "heritage escapism" trend, which surged across English popular culture following the [[Second World War]].{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=123}}{{refn|group=nb|The original "heritage escapism" trend arose during the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era]]s, as working-class society reacted against rapid industrialisation and crowded urban environments.{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=123}}}} Ray has also discussed his childhood as influencing his lyrics' sentiments towards village life.{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=210}}<ref name="Independent">{{cite web |last1=McNair |first1=James |title=Ray Davies' well-respected legacy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ray-davies-wellrespected-legacy-1709342.html |website=[[The Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514210549/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ray-davies-wellrespected-legacy-1709342.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |language=en |date=18 June 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both Ray and his brother [[Dave Davies|Dave]] grew up in [[Fortis Green]], a suburban neighbourhood of [[Muswell Hill]] in [[North London]];{{sfn|Kitts|2008|pp=1–3}} though the area did not have a traditional [[village green]] as a common area,<ref>{{harvnb|Fleiner|2017a|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Baxter-Moore|2006|p=163n3}}.</ref> Ray has regularly described the area in rural terms and has compared its atmosphere to that of a village.{{sfn|Baxter-Moore|2006|pp=157–158}}{{refn|group=nb|Ray has sometimes termed the area "the leafy suburbs".{{sfn|Kitts|2008|p=1}} In a 2011 interview, he explained that "North London was my village green, my version of the countryside".<ref name="Independent" />{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|pp=121, 210}}}} He has also mentioned [[Waterlow Park]] in the nearby suburb of [[Highgate]] and its small lake as an influence.<ref name="Independent" />{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|pp=121, 210}}{{refn|group=nb|In 1966, Highgate residents founded The Highgate Society, which sought to block plans for construction of a major road through the village, a change which organisers argued would "ruin one of the finest rows of houses" anywhere.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=Tim |title=The battle for Highgate: George Michael's old house at centre of face off over 'resort for super-rich' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/30/george-michael-house-resort-super-rich-highgate-london |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127101738/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/30/george-michael-house-resort-super-rich-highgate-london |archive-date=27 November 2022 |language=en |date=30 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
In writing the songs on ''Village Green'', Ray was initially inspired by [[Dylan Thomas]]'s 1954 radio drama ''[[Under Milk Wood]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Kitts|2002b|p=134}}; {{harvnb|Cott|1970|p=31}}.</ref> a work which focuses on the townspeople of a small Welsh town on a typical spring day.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=92}} Miller further connects Ray's writing the works of English author [[George Orwell]].{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=51–52, 74n17, 80n23}}{{refn|group=nb|Miller compares [[Winston Smith (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Winston Smith]]'s dreams of the golden country in Orwell's 1949 novel ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' to the album and the larger pastoral tradition,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=80}} and Ray subsequently compared his notion of the village green as a safe haven to the secret place Smith goes in the novel.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}} The title of the song "[[Animal Farm (song)|Animal Farm]]" additionally references Orwell's 1945 [[Animal Farm|novella of the same name]].{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=80n23}}}} He and other commentators draw particular comparison between ''Village Green'' and Orwell's 1939 novel ''[[Coming Up for Air]]'', a work which presents a similarly ambivalent view of nostalgia.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=51–52, 74n17, 80n23}}; {{harvnb|Irvin|McLear|2003|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2010}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=126}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|pp=353, 677}}: "The first person to spot the George Bowling connection in print was Andy Miller in his mini-book on the album."</ref>{{refn|group=nb|''Coming Up for Air''{{'s}} protagonist George Bowling goes back to the country town of his childhood and experiences disappointment when comparing it to his nostalgic expectations.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=353}} Orwell biographer [[Bernard Crick]] writes that the novel presents an ambivalent view of nostalgia, and that while "[t]here are so many good things in the past we should preserve{{nbsp}}... clinging to the past indiscriminately is no solution.<ref>{{harvnb|Crick|1980|p=254}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=80n23}}.</ref>}} Journalist and musician [[Rob Chapman (journalist)|Rob Chapman]] suggests that in addition to ''Coming Up for Air'', Ray's lyrics further allude to other English writings, including [[Harold Nicolson]]'s short stories, [[E. M. Forster]]'s [[Bloomsbury Group|Bloomsbury]] essays and the writings of [[Philip Larkin]].{{sfn|Irvin|McLear|2003|p=147}} Author Ken Rayes compares the album to the 1925 novel ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' by American author [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], a relationship he thinks is hinted at in the song "Village Green" by the presence of the characters Tom and Daisy, who have the same names as the novel's characters Tom and [[Daisy Buchanan]]. Rayes writes that Ray's notion of "an encroaching modern English culture" parallels the novel's motifs of "mythic America and the changing American dream".{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=154}}
{{clear}}
== Recording history ==
=== 1966–1967 ===
[[File:Fanclub1967TheKinks2.jpg|thumb|alt=The Kinks miming a performance in a television studio.|The Kinks performing for Dutch television in April{{nbsp}}1967, two months after re-recording "Village Green"{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=95, 99}}]]
The Kinks first recorded "Village Green" at the beginning of the sessions for ''Something Else'' on 24–25 November 1966.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=92, 104}} They re-recorded the song in February{{nbsp}}1967.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=92, 95}}{{refn|group=nb|Band biographer [[Rob Jovanovic]] writes that all the November{{nbsp}}1966 recordings, including "Village Green", were "early versions" and [[Demo (music)|demos]].{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=127}} Ray and Hinman both write "Village Green" was re-recorded entirely in February{{nbsp}}1967.<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|1995|p=336}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=92, 95}}.</ref> Miller raises the possibility that the band recorded the basic track in November{{nbsp}}1966 and [[overdubbing|overdubbed]] additions in February{{nbsp}}1967.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=78n19}}}} Though the song was recorded during the sessions for ''Something Else'', Ray did not include it on that album in September{{nbsp}}1967.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=78}} In November, the Kinks shifted to working on a project [[Working title|tentatively titled]] ''Village Green'', at that time still envisaged as a Ray solo project.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=104–106}} Ray wrote most of ''Village Green''{{'s}} songs from late 1967 into 1968,{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=124}} though he later suggested that several had been half-finished from years earlier.<ref name=Esquire /> He generally composed songs on his [[Fender (company)|Fender]] Malibu [[acoustic guitar]] in his living room at 87 [[Fortis Green]], North London.<ref name=Price />{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=17}}
The band began rehearsing Ray's new songs at his home in late{{nbsp}}1967.{{sfn|Hasted|2011|pp=124–125}} Around the same time, they stockpiled studio recordings for later use without initially knowing when or in what format they would be released.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=106, 110}} "[[Mr. Songbird]]" and numerous other songs on ''Village Green'' may date to around this period.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=106, 110, 121, 170}}{{refn|group=nb|name=M&PC|No paperwork from the Kinks' 1960s recording sessions at Pye Studios survive, forcing later to authors to estimate recording dates from other sources.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=4–5}} In Hinman and Brabazon's 1994 discography, they date "Phenomenal Cat" from late{{nbsp}}1967 to mid-1968 and "Monica" to spring{{nbsp}}1968,<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|Brabazon|1994}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Doggett|1998}}.</ref> while in Hinman's 2004 discography he dates both songs to sometime between late{{nbsp}}1967 and May{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=110, 121}} Archivist [[Andrew Sandoval]] instead writes "Sitting by the Riverside", "Starstruck", "Phenomenal Cat" and "All of My Friends Were There" may have been done anytime between late{{nbsp}}1967 and mid-1968.{{sfn|Sandoval|2018}}}} Between late{{nbsp}}1967 and early{{nbsp}}1968, the Kinks remained generally inactive as a band; Dave spent time promoting his recent solo single "[[Susannah's Still Alive]]", and Ray wrote weekly songs for the BBC variety series ''At the Eleventh Hour'' between 30{{nbsp}}December and 2{{nbsp}}March.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=107–111}}
=== 1968 ===
==== March–April ====
The Kinks began recording ''Village Green'' in earnest in March{{nbsp}}1968.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=111}}; {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=143}}.</ref> Most of the album was recorded in Pye Studio 2, the smaller of two basement studios at Pye's London offices. The band recorded any time they were able to obtain studio time, generally in the late afternoon or in the middle of the night.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=21–22}} While Ray produced,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} Pye's in-house [[Audio engineer|engineer]]s operated the [[Multitrack recording|four-track]] [[mixing console]];{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=21}} the band's longtime engineer Alan "Mac" MacKenzie{{refn|group=nb|name=Mac}} worked on the album until departing from Pye in early{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=111}} Brian Humphries engineered from May onward,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=111}} beginning with the recording of "[[Days (The Kinks song)|Days]]".{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}}{{refn|group=nb|name=Humphries|In a 2018 interview, Humphries stated that he mixed the entirety of ''Village Green'',{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}} but Hinman writes that Ray did all of its mixing in August and October{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 121}} Quaife later recalled that Humphries and MacKenzie's contributions only extended to "[making] sure the needles didn't go into [[Overcurrent|the red]]".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=21}}}}
The band's initial March{{nbsp}}1968 sessions produced numerous recordings, only some of which ended up on the final album, including "[[Animal Farm (song)|Animal Farm]]" and "[[Johnny Thunder (song)|Johnny Thunder]]".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=111–112, 121}} Other tracks like "[[Berkeley Mews]]", "[[Did You See His Name]]" and "[[Rosemary Rose]]" went unreleased for years.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=111, 142, 161, 170}}{{refn|group=nb|"Berkeley Mews" was released in the UK as the [[B-side]] to the 1970 single "[[Lola (song)|Lola]]", "Did You See His Name" in 1972 on the US-only compilation album ''[[The Kink Kronikles]]'' and "Rosemary Rose" in 1973 on another US-only compilation album, ''[[The Great Lost Kinks Album]]''.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=111, 142, 161, 170}}}} The band also recorded two songs for Dave's next solo single, "[[Lincoln County (song)|Lincoln County]]" backed with "There Is No Life Without Love". Pye planned to issue Dave's single in the second week of April at the same time as the Kinks' next single, but the band negotiated with the label to delay the release of Dave's until August.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=89}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=111, 119}}.</ref>
After being quickly written and recorded earlier in March, "[[Wonderboy (The Kinks song)|Wonderboy]]" was selected by Pye from the available recordings to be the band's next single.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=111, 112}}{{refn|group=nb|Other candidates considered for the single appear on surviving [[acetate disc]]s. Pairings included "Animal Farm" and "Did You See His Name" as well as "Rosemary Rose" and "Berkeley Mews".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=111}}}} Despite Ray's protestations that the song was insufficiently commercial for release as a single,{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=89}} Pye rush-released it in the UK on 5 April.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=111, 112}} Its B-side "[[Polly (The Kinks song)|Polly]]", also recorded in March, indicated Ray's continued interested in ''Under Milk Wood'' by directly referencing a character in the drama, Polly Garter.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=111}} Though it was moderately advertised and was well received by music critics,<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=112}}; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=102}}.</ref> "Wonderboy" flopped in the UK and was the band's worst performing British single since 1964.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=89}} The failure ended the band's streak of twelve consecutive top twenty hits, the last five of which had made it into the top five.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=20}} It sold 26,000 copies in the UK, roughly one-tenth of each of the band's two most recent singles, "[[Waterloo Sunset]]" (May 1967) and "[[Autumn Almanac]]" (October 1967).<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=99, 105, 112}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=28}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|To make up for the lack of sales by "Wonderboy", Pye released two EPs in the UK on 19 April – ''Dave Davies Hits'' and ''The Kinks'' – mostly made up of material from ''Something Else''.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=113}}}}
Recording for the album paused from 6 to 28 April 1968 as the Kinks toured [[Movie theater|cinemas]] across the UK. Further indicating their diminishing status, the band were unable to support themselves as the headlining act but instead shared the bill with [[The Herd (British band)|the Herd]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=112}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=89}}.</ref> Supporting acts included [[the Tremeloes]] and [[Ola & the Janglers]], among other groups.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=112–113}} Contemporary reviewers criticised the Kinks for their poor stage presence and often inaudible vocals; Dave later recalled that the band were insufficiently rehearsed due to Ray's intense focus on his songwriting and a lack of motivation among the other Kinks.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=89}}
==== May–June ====
The band resumed work on the album in May{{nbsp}}1968, recording "[[Picture Book (song)|Picture Book]]", "[[Misty Water]]" and "[[Pictures in the Sand]]".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=114}}{{refn|group=nb|"Misty Water" and "Pictures in the Sand" remained unreleased until 1973 on ''The Great Lost Kinks Album''.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=114, 170}}}} After the commercial disappointment of "Wonderboy", Ray opted to record his new composition "Days" as quickly as possible in order to reestablish the Kinks' status.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=114}} Recording for the song concluded in early June and it was issued as a single in the UK on the 28th.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=115, 117}} Though the single was not as successful as the band's earlier hits, it received strong airplay and helped them return to the top twenty of the British charts,{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=90}} reaching {{Numero|12}} and {{Numero|14}} in ''[[Record Retailer]]'' and ''Melody Maker'', respectively.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=117}}; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=111}}.</ref> Hinman writes that by early June, Ray's solo LP and the band's next album had "[slowly] mutated into one" under the expected title ''Village Green''.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=115}} Pye Records allowed the band extra time to record more tracks for ''Village Green'' and made plans to release the album in September in the lead-up to Christmas 1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=115}}
Throughout the 1960s, the Kinks were on different record labels in the US and UK and had differing contract schedules between the two countries. By June{{nbsp}}1968, the band were contractually obligated to immediately submit a finished LP to their US label, [[Reprise Records]]. Of those songs the band had already recorded, except "Village Green", Ray sent fifteen to the label.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=115, 116}} The label titled the album ''[[Four More Respected Gentlemen]]'' in reference to "A Well Respected Man". After Reprise learned about the Kinks' plans for a September release of ''Village Green'', the label planned to not issue ''Four More Respected Gentlemen'' immediately but instead scheduled a November release.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=115, 116}} The band again took time off from recording for a tour of Sweden from 8 to 23 June 1968.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=115}} Because of the band's weakening reputation, the booking agency and the band's new agent, Barry Dickens, scheduled them to perform at outdoor public parks, seeing it as the only realistic way for the band to turn a profit.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=115}}.</ref>
{{clear}}
==== July–August ====
[[File:87 Fortis Green.jpg|thumb|Ray Davies's former home at 87 [[Fortis Green]], North London (''pictured 2016''), where he composed and first rehearsed most of the LP's songs]]
After returning from Sweden, the band began rehearsing more songs for ''Village Green'' in July at Ray's Fortis Green home. To boost the album's track listing, the Kinks spent most of the second half of July recording new songs. New tracks included "[[Do You Remember Walter?|Do You Remember Walter]]", "[[Wicked Annabella]]", "[[Starstruck (The Kinks song)|Starstruck]]", "[[People Take Pictures of Each Other]]" and "[[Sitting by the Riverside]]".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=117}} In late July, Ray and his family moved out of their Fortis Green home to a larger [[Tudor architecture|Tudor house]] in [[Borehamwood]], [[Hertfordshire]].{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=118}} Ray's previous work had been heavily inspired by life in the original area, not far from his and his brother's childhood home.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=17, 17n2}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=118}}.</ref> He later reflected that as soon as he moved into the new house he felt unhappy.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=17n2}}{{refn|group=nb|In his autobiography, Ray dates the move to before the writing of ''Village Green''.<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|1995|p=362}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=17, 17n2}}.</ref> Band biographers instead write it occurred during the band's two-week holiday from 27{{nbsp}}July to {{nowrap|12 August 1968}},{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=118}} after the album had been mostly written and recorded.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=17n2}} Miller connects Ray's bleak memories of moving to both the commercial failure of ''Village Green'' and his early work on both "[[Plastic Man (song)|Plastic Man]]" (1969) and ''Arthur''.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=17n2}}}}
In mid-August{{nbsp}}1968, the Kinks recorded Ray's new composition "[[The Village Green Preservation Society]]". Ray intended for the song to be the last recorded for the album, making it a twelve track LP. With its recording, he changed the album's title to ''The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society'' and did its final mixing. Publishing was assigned for the LP's songs on 16 August.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=118}} Around the same time, Ray interviewed with ''[[Record Mirror]]'' and ''[[New Musical Express]]'' (''NME'') magazines in anticipation of the album's release,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=118}} and the album cover was photographed.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=37}}
==== September–November ====
In September{{nbsp}}1968, with recording for ''Village Green'' finished, the Kinks returned to Pye to record Ray's composition "Till Death Us Do Part" for a [[Till Death Us Do Part (film)|film of the same name]].{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=119}} Extracts from the LP were played by Pye executives at the label's international sales conference, held on 5 and 6 September at London's Europa Hotel,{{sfn|Anon.(b)|1968|p=67}} and around 11 September, Keith Altham of ''NME'' listened to a tape of the album at the band's manager's office.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=119}}.</ref> Before Altham's favourable review was published in the 21 September issue of ''NME'', Ray had Pye halt the album's production and postpone its planned UK release of 27 September.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=39–40}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=119–120}}.</ref>
Ray's reason for delaying ''Village Green''{{'s}} release is unclear.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=40}} Hinman writes the last-minute decision foreshadowed major conflicts between Pye and Ray in late 1968. Ray later suggested he was annoyed that the label demanded hit singles from him and afforded little support for full-length LPs, and Hinman suggests this annoyance moved Ray to withhold from Pye any potential Kinks singles.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}} Miller suggests Ray may have desired to increase ''Village Green''{{'s}} track listing after becoming aware that both [[the Beatles]] and [[the Jimi Hendrix Experience]] would be issuing [[double album]]s.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=41}}{{refn|group=nb|[[Apple Records]] announced on 22 September that the Beatles' November release would include 24 songs on two LPs.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=310}} When released, the Beatles' "White Album" featured 30 songs.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=314}}}} On 30 September, a press release stated that the Kinks' next album would be released in a month as a double-record with at least eighteen songs.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}} Interviewed in October for next month's issue of ''[[Beat Instrumental]]'' magazine, drummer [[Mick Avory]] explained that the band were talking to their record label about the possibility of having twenty songs on two LPs but sold for the price of one, something they hoped would give fans more for their money.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|1968|p=38}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=120}}.</ref> After Ray suggested the change to Pye, the label rejected it for financial reasons but accepted a compromise of a fifteen-song single-disc LP.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=40}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=120}}.</ref>
The Kinks returned to Pye Studios around 12 October 1968 to record more tracks for the album, including "[[Big Sky (song)|Big Sky]]", "[[Last of the Steam-Powered Trains]]" and "[[All of My Friends Were There]]", though the latter may have been recorded in July.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}} Ray remixed several songs from the July sessions on 28 October, likely because his original mixes from August had been rushed. He submitted the final tapes to Pye for the fifteen-track LP in November.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} In anticipation of the UK release of ''Village Green'',{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=354}} Reprise cancelled ''Four More Respected Gentlemen'' in October, only a month before its planned release.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=115, 120}}
== Production ==
=== Studio aesthetic and sound ===
''Village Green'' is the Kinks' first studio album which credits Ray as its producer.<ref>{{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=37, 50, 72, 92, 98, 104, 121}}.</ref> Halfway through the sessions for ''Something Else'', he and the band's longtime producer [[Shel Talmy]] experienced a breakdown in their relationship, resulting in a mixture of tracks produced by one or the other.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=96, 98}}{{refn|group=nb|name=Talmy|Though Talmy produced the song "Village Green", the liner notes of ''Village Green'' instead credit Ray, who produced all of the album's other tracks.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=95–96, 121}}; {{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1968}}.</ref>}} Engineer Brian Humphries later reflected that though Ray was not formally trained as a producer, he had become "quite knowledgeable" by the time of ''Village Green'' due to his practice of standing behind Talmy during the production process of the band's earlier albums.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}} Ray's production of ''Village Green'' is subdued and his [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mix]] is generally light on the [[Bass (sound)|bottom end]].<ref name=AllMusic /><ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 121}}: (Ray's mix)</ref><ref name="Picture Book" /> Author [[Nicholas Schaffner]] describes the production as "unassuming in the extreme, with embellishments kept to a minimum".{{sfn|Schaffner|1982|p=102}} Ray subsequently suggested he under-recorded the songs, either deliberately or out of inexperience, resulting in a [[Demo (music)|demo]]-like sound.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=72–73}}
The album uses a variety of contrasting instruments and sounds, such as [[harmonica]], [[harpsichord]] and [[flute]], as well as [[guitar feedback]].{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=98}} The Kinks' recording process generally consisted of laying down the [[backing track|rhythm track]] first, featuring drums, bass and Ray on piano or rhythm guitar. The band would next [[overdubbing|overdub]] percussion, keyboards and a guitar contribution from Dave, before [[mixdown|mixing down]] the recording to make room for vocal contributions.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=22}} The recordings are generally driven by Ray's 1965 Fender Malibu acoustic guitar, while Dave often supplemented an electric guitar contribution on Ray's 1963 [[Fender Telecaster]] or with one of his own guitars, such as his 1959 [[Gibson Flying V]] or [[Guild Guitar Company|Guild Starfire III]].<ref name=Price>{{cite web |last1=Price |first1=Andy |title=The Genius of{{nbsp}}... The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |url=https://guitar.com/review/album/the-genius-of-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-by-the-kinks/ |website=[[Guitar.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625074919/https://guitar.com/review/album/the-genius-of-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-by-the-kinks/ |archive-date=25 June 2022 |date=12 January 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dave's typical [[Vox AC30]] amplifier was likely used for most tracks, though the long [[Envelope (music)|sustain]] heard on "Wicked Annabella" suggests the use of an early-era [[solid-state amplifier]].<ref name=Price /> Four microphones were placed around Avory's drum kit and [[Pete Quaife]]'s [[Rickenbacker]] bass was [[DI unit|plugged directly into the mixing desk]]. Avory altered his drum sound on "Wicked Annabella" and "Picture Book" by disengaging the [[snare drum|snare]] and deadened the sound on "Phenomenal Cat" by placing newspaper over a [[floor tom]].{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=150}}
[[File:Mellotron, Museum of Making Music.jpg|thumb|A 1960s-era [[Mellotron]], similar to the one used during the ''Village Green'' sessions as an inexpensive alternative to real [[String section|string]] and [[brass section]]s]]
Among the songs on ''Village Green'' with real string sections are "Village Green" and possibly "Animal Farm", as arranged by English composer [[David Whitaker (composer)|David Whitaker]].{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=20}}{{refn|group=nb|name=AnimalFarm}} String and brass sections are generally absent from the Kinks' late 1960s recordings, likely because Pye executives saw the hiring of an [[Arrangement|arranger]] and [[Session musician|session players]] as too expensive to warrant; the album prominently employs a [[Mellotron]] as an inexpensive alternative.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=25, 79n22}} A predecessor to the [[synthesiser]], the Mellotron is a [[keyboard instrument]] on which the keys trigger tape loops of recordings of a variety of instruments, enabling its user to play keyboard parts using those voices.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodriguez|2012|p=109}}; {{harvnb|Faulk|2010|p=123}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=101}}.</ref> Ray was introduced to the instrument in May{{nbsp}}1967 while visiting the home of [[Graham Nash]], a member of the contemporary English rock band [[the Hollies]].{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=25}} He purchased his own soon after and likely first employed it in early June{{nbsp}}1967 on the Kinks' song "[[Lazy Old Sun]]".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=101}} The sounds it mimics on ''Village Green'' include a [[horn section]] ("Do You Remember Walter"),<ref name=M62&R156>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=62}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=156}}.</ref> [[accordion]] ("Sitting by the Riverside") and flute ("Phenomenal Cat"), among others.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=26, 74–75, 77, 85, 87}}
Session musician [[Nicky Hopkins]] contributed extensive keyboard work for the album on piano, harpsichord and Mellotron.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=9, 22–23}} Hopkins had first contributed to a Kinks LP in 1965 on ''The Kink Kontroversy'' and his playing featured heavily on the band's releases to 1968.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=72}}: (''The Kink Kontroversy''); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=9}}: (to 1968).</ref> He later estimated he played "about seventy per cent" of the LP's keyboard work,{{sfn|Dawson|2011|pp=82–83}} while Ray played the rest,{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=22, 26}} though the album's liner notes credit all of the keyboard playing to Ray.{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=132}}{{refn|group=nb|Hopkins expressed his anger towards Ray over the crediting in a 1969 interview, and he later suggested that the band did not compensate him for his work during the sessions.{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=132}} The issue led to a dissolution in the relationship between Hopkins and the band, which Hinman describes as "yet another nail in the coffin of the classic 1960s Kinks sound".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=117}}}}
Ray sings lead on each song except "Wicked Annabella", where Dave sings lead.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} Ray's vocal is generally [[Double tracking|double tracked]] throughout.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=60}} The group sang [[harmony]] vocals together, often supplemented by a [[falsetto]] from Ray's wife Rasa Davies,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=23}} who had sung backing vocals on all of the band's studio albums to that point.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=37, 50, 72, 92, 104}} Typical of the band's vocal work, their [[Barbershop music|barbershop harmonies]] include falsettos and wordless sounds like "''la la''" ("Village Green"), "''na na''" ("Picture Book") and "''ba ba''" ("Johnny Thunder") or nonsense phrases like "''fum fum didle um di''" ("Phenomenal Cat").{{sfn|Sullivan|2002|p=88}}
=== Band dynamics ===
When the Kinks rehearsed and recorded Ray's new compositions, he typically avoided sharing the songs' lyrics or melody with his bandmates.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=20–21}} Quaife recalled: {{blockquote|Rehearsals took place at Ray's house, but they were often quite odd. He would keep us waiting for ages, then appear, play a song on a piano and we'd try it. Then he'd announce, "You've got it!" and disappear again. I didn't know what to think.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=354}}}} Avory suggested the practice arose out of Ray's paranoia that his songs would be stolen, while Quaife ascribed it to "Ray playing silly buggers". Both Avory and Quaife recalled being annoyed by the method since it prevented them from easily adding [[Fill (music)|fills]] and [[Ornament (music)|embellishments]] that fitted the song.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=20–21}}{{refn|group=nb|When recording "Village Green", Ray advised Avory that it was a [[Soul music|soul]] track and that he should play like [[Al Jackson Jr.]], drummer of R&B singer [[Otis Redding]]. Ray later recalled the event marked "how dysfunctional [the band had] become", since it was only after they overdubbed the orchestral arrangement and vocals that Avory realised "he'd been totally conned".{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=354}}}} Ray explained to his bandmates that he wanted the songs of ''Village Green'' to relate to a single subject but he otherwise remained secretive about the details. Quaife later stated that the band began to understand the album's message once several compositions had been finished and that "[a]bout the time of 'Animal Farm', it all clicked".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=30}}
{{quote box|quote= [[Pete Quaife|Pete [Quaife]]] and I were trying to get the excitement of our performances on record and that's just the way it came out. On songs like "[[Big Sky (song)|Big Sky]]," I'd think of a bass part and give it to him and he'd change it around – play off the melody, like [[Paul McCartney]] was starting to do at the time, because they both started as guitar players – and it would create something completely different and also really new-sounding.<ref name=Esquire>{{cite web |last1=Slate |first1=Jeff |title=The Best Rock Album You've Never Heard |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a29811/kinks-village-green-preservation-society/ |website=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126094903/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a29811/kinks-village-green-preservation-society/ |archive-date=26 January 2022 |date=25 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> |source=– [[Dave Davies]], 2014|width=30%|align=left|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}
In contrast to the Kinks' work under Talmy, Ray ensured the group ran through numerous takes of songs on ''Village Green''. Avory recalled that after Talmy's departure, the group spent more time collaborating and "[fleshing] out the sound" in studio.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=22}} All group members contributed to the recording process, though Ray held final say over all decisions.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=22–23}} He required all band members to attend all sessions, regardless of whether they were expected to play on the particular song. Quaife recalled: "He'd keep you there for hours and he wouldn't let you out of the studio either. You'd have to be there even though you weren't doing anything."{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=22–23}}
By 1968, the Kinks had developed a reputation for group infighting, especially between Ray and Dave, and the group sometimes broke into physical altercations during rehearsals, recording sessions and concerts.{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|pp=74, 88, 95}} Humphries later said that the band's dysfunction has been overemphasised in later accounts, adding that rather than fistfights, disagreements typically led to verbal arguments between Ray and Dave.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}} Rasa often served as an intermediary in the studio between Ray and his bandmates.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=23}}{{refn|group=nb|In subsequent interviews, Humphries recalled that Rasa "kept the peace a lot".{{sfn|Cavanagh|2022}} Quaife has sometimes said that she eased group tensions, but he has also suggested that her presence catalysed anger within the band.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=23}}: (eased); {{harvnb|Morisset|2006}} and {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=106}}: (catalysed).</ref>}} Tensions within the group culminated on 27 May 1968 during a session for "Days", during which Ray and Quaife argued before the latter left the studio.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=114}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|In both Ray and Dave's mid-1990s autobiographies, they recall the argument starting after Quaife crossed out the word ''Days'' on the track's tape box and substituted ''Daze''.<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|1995|p=360}}; {{harvnb|Davies|1996|pp=107–108}}.</ref> Quaife instead recalled that while he was bored listening to numerous playbacks of the song, he doodled a cartoon character on the tape box.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=33}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=114}}.</ref> He further stated that Ray changed the cartoon character to the word ''Daze'' in retellings because "it makes a better story".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=33}}}} Quaife remained unhappy following the incident,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=114–115}} and he later recalled that he and Ray remained distant from one another during the band's June tour of Sweden.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=33}}{{refn|group=nb|As the Kinks prepared to fly to Dublin for an evening show on 1 June, Quaife stepped off the plane shortly before it departed. His absence was not noticed by his bandmates until after their arrival and necessitated the cancellation of the performance.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=114–115}}}}
{{quote box|quote= For me [''Village Green''] represents the only real album made by the Kinks. It is probably the only album made by us in which we all contributed something.<ref>{{harvnb|Morisset|2006}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=367}}.</ref> |source=– [[Pete Quaife]], 2005<!--The interview took place in November 2005 and was published in May 2006--> |width=25%|align=right|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}
Tensions in the group eased after the Kinks returned to England and resumed recording in July,<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=35}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=115, 117}}.</ref> at which time Ray reluctantly allowed for more creative input from his bandmates.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1968|p=9}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=35}}.</ref> Avory recalled it was the first time in the group's history that they worked together during recordings. Quaife was unsure what precipitated Ray's change, but remembered the period as being "amazing", with a "lightened up" Ray allowing them to suggest things during both the rehearsal and recording process. He further remembered Ray's reluctance returning near the end of the album's recording sessions.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=35–36}} Though Quaife departed the Kinks roughly four months after the release of ''Village Green'',<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=126}}; {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|pp=151–152, 155}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=133}}.</ref> he reflected decades later that the album was the high point of his career, mostly due to the collaborative nature of its recording.{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|pp=146, 156}}
=== Mono and stereo versions ===
Despite an industrywide trend towards [[Stereophonic sound|stereo]] sound,{{sfn|Barry|2015|pp=131, 137}} Ray still favoured [[Monaural|mono]] when he mixed ''Village Green''.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=54n10}} As was typical for the time, he mixed the album in both formats,{{sfn|Gelbart|2003|p=233n87}} and Pye released both versions of the album in the UK.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} In the US, Reprise's parent company [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]] halted mono production in January{{nbsp}}1968;{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=109}} ''Village Green'' was therefore the Kinks' second US LP after ''Something Else'' to be issued exclusively in stereo.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=37, 41, 50, 52, 72, 88, 92, 103, 104, 121}}
The album's stereo and mono mixes contained obvious difference from one another.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=54n10}}{{refn|group=nb|The mono mix of "Do You Remember Walter" has more electric guitar, less Mellotron and no tambourine, while "Wicked Annabella" has more reverb and is louder.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=54n10, 93n29}} The mono mixes of both "Starstruck" and "People Take Pictures of Each Other" last for a few extra seconds.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=85n25, 97–98n30}}}} Because Ray remixed some tracks in late October{{nbsp}}1968 after finding his original August mixes rushed,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 121}} the twelve- and fifteen-track editions contained additional differences.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=54n10}}{{refn|group=nb|The original stereo mix of "Do You Remember Walter" featured on the twelve-track album has no acoustic guitar or tambourine.{{sfn|Miller|Sandoval|2004}}}} The original stereo ending of "People Take Pictures of Each Other" featured a [[jazz band]] [[coda (music)|coda]] lifted from a pre-existing tape,{{sfn|Miller|Sandoval|2004}} which Miller writes served to express "That's All, Folks!" at the album's close.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=97n30}} Ray was forced to erase it from subsequent mixes due to copyright issues,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=97n30}} but not before it was included on the stereo release of the twelve-track edition of ''Village Green''.{{sfn|Miller|Sandoval|2004}}
== Songs ==
=== Overview ===
==== Music ====
Among musicologists and band biographers, Andy Miller and Mike Segretto say that ''Village Green'' is composed mainly of [[rock music|rock]] and [[pop music]],<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=139–140}}; {{harvnb|Segretto|2022|p=180}}.</ref> while Mark Doyle sees it as an album of various genres; Doyle writes it draws from "eclectic and cosmopolitan" styles, fitting in the contemporary [[Pop art]] movement.{{sfn|Doyle|2020|loc=chap. 3}} According to Doyle and Segretto, the music incorporates the stylistic influences of "[[English folk music|English folk]]-[[pastoral]] traditions", [[music hall]], [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]], [[Calypso music|calypso]], blues, [[raga rock]] and [[acid rock]].<ref>{{harvnb|Segretto|2022|p=180}}: (blues, psychedelia, raga rock, acid rock); {{harvnb|Doyle|2020|loc=chap. 3}}: ("English folk-[[pastoral]] traditions", music hall, psychedelia, calypso and blues).</ref>
Music critics Jonathan Donaldson and Jem Aswad each place the album with the [[baroque pop]] of the late{{nbsp}}1960s – exemplified by [[the Zombies]]' 1968 album ''[[Odessey and Oracle]]'', [[Love (band)|Love]]'s 1967 album ''[[Forever Changes]]'' and the music of [[the Left Banke]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Donaldson |first1=Jonathan |title=Live Review: The Zombies stand the test of time, and the season, at the Wilbur Theatre |url=https://vanyaland.com/2015/10/09/live-review-the-zombies-stand-the-test-of-time-and-the-season-at-the-wilbur-theatre/ |website=Vanyaland |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=18 February 2020 |archive-date=18 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218090001/https://vanyaland.com/2015/10/09/live-review-the-zombies-stand-the-test-of-time-and-the-season-at-the-wilbur-theatre/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Aswad |first1=Jem |title=Album Review: Weyes Blood's 'Titanic Rising' |url=https://variety.com/2019/music/reviews/album-review-weyes-bloods-titanic-rising-1203181479/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615174257/https://variety.com/2019/music/reviews/album-review-weyes-bloods-titanic-rising-1203181479/ |archive-date=15 June 2021 |date=5 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> – a trend critic [[Greg Kot]] terms "orchestral [[guitar-pop]]".{{sfn|Kot|2000|loc=sec. 7, p. 19}} The [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s book on the history of music groups the album with the [[pop rock|pop-rock]] of the 1960s and the genre's trend towards cohesive albums rather than collections of popular singles.{{sfn|Elnaggar|Wilcox|2022|pp=396–397}} Musicologist Stan Hawkins describes the album's sound as generally "flowery, tranquil and dreamy", influenced equally by music hall and American [[rock and roll]],{{sfn|Hawkins|2017|p=50}} and author Patricia Gordon Sullivan writes that many of its songs further the music hall overtones first established the previous year on ''Something Else''.{{sfn|Sullivan|2002|pp=94, 99}}{{refn|group=nb|Ray later recalled that though he never went to a music hall performance as a child, his style of composition was heavily influenced by his father, who regularly went to musicals and dances and encouraged his children to sing songs at the piano; Miller and Sullivan suggest the [[sing-along]] style is evident on songs like "People Take Pictures of Each Other" and "All of My Friends Were There".<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=18–19}}: (Ray recalled, "People Take Pictures of Each Other"); {{harvnb|Sullivan|2002|pp=88–89}}: ("All of My Friends Were There").</ref>}} Ray instead subsequently characterised the album as departure from the band's previous music, terming its songs "rock/folk tunes".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slate |first1=Jeff |title=The Best Rock Album You've Never Heard |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a29811/kinks-village-green-preservation-society/ |website=Esquire |date=25 August 2014 |access-date=10 February 2023}}</ref> Hal Horowitz of ''[[American Songwriter]]'' magazine similarly writes that the album's generally acoustic approach and simple production made it more readily described as "melodic [[Folk-pop|folk/pop]]" than as rock music.<ref name="horowitz">{{cite web |last1=Horowitz |first1=Hal |title=The Kinks: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (50th Anniversary Edition) |url=https://americansongwriter.com/kinks-kinks-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-edition/ |website=[[American Songwriter]] |date=25 October 2018 |access-date=10 February 2023}}</ref>
==== Lyrics and concept ====
In contemporary interviews, Ray explained that the songs on ''Village Green'' are "all related in a way",<ref name=HqM37>{{harvnb|Henshaw|1968|p=7}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=37}}.</ref> and Dave suggested that the album is "about a town and the people that have lived there", where "the [[village green]] is the focal point of the whole thing".<ref>{{harvnb|Nolan|1968|p=9}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=37}}.</ref> The tracks often serve as portraits of the village's inhabitants or as a description of local attractions or activities;{{sfn|Schaffner|1982|p=102}} character studies include "Johnny Thunder", "Monica" and "Do You Remember Walter",{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=26}} about a [[Motorcycling|biker]], a prostitute and a lost friend, respectively.{{sfn|Schaffner|1982|p=102}} Other songs display an interest in memory and its relationship with photographs, such as "Picture Book", "People Take Pictures of Each Other", the unreleased song "Pictures in the Sand" and "Village Green", where the value of the community consists in being photographed by American tourists.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=26, 58, 96, 120–121}}: ("Picture Book", "People Take Pictures of Each Other", "Pictures in the Sand"); {{harvnb|Costambeys-Kempczynski|2014|p=185}}: ("Village Green").</ref> In a May{{nbsp}}1969 interview, Ray stated that the album expressed his love of "traditional British things" and his hope that they would persist.<ref name="Boltwood q Rogan">{{harvnb|Boltwood|1969|p=5}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|pp=355–356}}.</ref> He added: {{blockquote|I never go watch [[cricket]] any more, but I like to know it's there. It's like not being able to read ''[[Eagle (British comics)|Eagle]]'' any more. And it's bad for people to grow up and not know what a [[Bone china|china cup]] is – or a village green. In other words, I'd rather have the actual things here not just pictures of things we used to have.<ref name="Boltwood q Rogan" />}}
While the songs on ''Village Green'' vary in their adherence to the village concept, the album displays a consistent preoccupation with the past.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=26}} Academics [[Robert Polito]] and Carey Fleiner write that while some listeners regard the album as an indulgence in nostalgia, its songs often instead rebuff those who constantly reminisce on the past.<ref>{{harvnb|Polito|2004|p=133}}; {{harvnb|Fleiner|2017a|pp=125–126}}; {{harvnb|Fleiner|2017b|p=21}}.</ref> Gentle sentiments about the past are often directly contrasted against a general cynicism or rude voicing.{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|pp=125–126}}{{refn|group=nb|Miller writes that several of Ray's compositions employ a similar format of having one stinging line, an idea Ray elucidated in a December{{nbsp}}1969 interview: "If you can make a funny song and then have one very hard line, you reach people."<ref>{{harvnb|Alterman|1969}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=95}}.</ref> Miller contends the technique can be heard on "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", "Big Sky", "All of My Friends Were There", "Mr. Songbird" and especially "People Take Pictures of Each Other",  which he thinks ends with a whimper of, "please, don't show me any more".{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=95–96, 107}}}} Like Polito, academic Barbara Carroll writes that its songs yearn for refuge from the alienating present while recognising that it is impossible to go back,<ref>{{harvnb|Carroll|2002|p=168}}; {{harvnb|Polito|2004|p=133}}.</ref> and Fleiner contends that it recommends using the common cultural experiences of the past to cope with issues in the present.<ref>{{harvnb|Fleiner|2017a|pp=125–126}}; {{harvnb|Fleiner|2017b|p=21}}.</ref>
=== Side one ===
==== "The Village Green Preservation Society" ====
{{quote box|quote= Everybody's trying to change the world; I've tried and I'll probably try again, but I don't think you can change Britain that much, because we're the way we are. So I'm just going to try and hang on to a lot of the nice things.<ref>{{harvnb|Himes|2019}}: "Everybody's trying{{nbsp}}..."; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=46, 148}}: (26 November 1968).</ref> |source=– Ray Davies, November{{nbsp}}1968 |width=25%|align=right|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}
In a contemporary interview, Ray explained that he composed "[[The Village Green Preservation Society]]" after someone suggested to him that the Kinks had been preserving "nice things from the past".<ref name=Paste>{{cite web |last1=Himes |first1=Geoffrey |author1-link=Geoffrey Himes |title=The Curmudgeon: Ray Davies—Preserving Old, Rural Ways as a Kind of Rebellion |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/ray-davies/the-curmudgeon-ray-daviespreserving-old-rural-ways/ |website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124001936/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/ray-davies/the-curmudgeon-ray-daviespreserving-old-rural-ways/ |archive-date=24 January 2022 |language=en |date=11 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=46}} The song states the band's intentions to "preserve" things and consists of a listing of British institutions to be saved for posterity,<ref>{{harvnb|Faulk|2010|p=118}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=62}}.</ref> including [[vaudeville]], the [[George Cross]] medal and its recipients, [[draught beer]] and virginity, among others.<ref>{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=149}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=356}}.</ref> Ray subsequently described the song as the album's "national anthem".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=46}} Employing a simple composition, its arrangement is defined by what Miller terms Avory's "especially exuberant" drumming and the "similarly light and effective" piano contribution.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=47}}{{refn|group=nb|Miller believes Hopkins played the piano, since a version the Kinks recorded for the [[BBC]] on 26 November 1968 features Ray playing the keyboard with "a somewhat less steady hand".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=47n8}} Hinman instead writes Hopkins's last appearance on a Kinks' song was likely around mid-July{{nbsp}}1968 on "People Take Pictures of Each Other", before the mid-August recording of "The Village Green Preservation Society".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=117, 118}}}} Ray and Dave closely harmonise throughout, while Ray's voice is emphasised at the midway point and its closing.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=47–48}}
==== "Do You Remember Walter" ====
Ray was inspired to compose "[[Do You Remember Walter?|Do You Remember Walter]]" after running into a childhood friend and finding they no longer had anything in common.<ref name="Dawbarn 1968 8">{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=53}}.</ref> The singer recalls his and Walter's various childhood exploits, which he contrasts against the older Walter who he expects is now fat and married.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=62}} He mocks Walter's early bedtime, while he imagines that Walter would be uninterested in his reminiscing of the past.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=53}} Rogan compares the song to Ray's 1967 composition "[[David Watts (song)|David Watts]]" and suggests it conveys "a loss of almost tragic proportions" when the Walter character is "demythologised in adulthood".{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=97}} In his November{{nbsp}}1968 interview with ''Melody Maker'', Ray stated that the song's message was summarised in its closing line: "People often change but memories of people can remain".<ref name="Dawbarn 1968 8"/> After opening with what Rogan terms "machine gun drumming",{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=62}} the song is defined by a dominant piano and bass guitar, alongside snare [[Drum roll|rolls]].{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=62}}
==== "Picture Book" ====
{{listen|filename= "Picture Book" by the Kinks.mp3|pos=left|title=Excerpt from the chorus of "Picture Book" |description= Unlike the rest of the album, the mix of "Picture Book" is comparatively [[Bass (sound)|bottom]]-heavy by emphasising Avory's drumming and Quaife's bass playing.<ref name="Picture Book" />}}
"[[Picture Book (song)|Picture Book]]" describes an ageing narrator's experience flipping through a [[photo album]] reflecting on happy memories from "a long time ago".<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=96}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=62}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=57}}.</ref> The vocals include wordless barbershop-like harmonies as well as Ray singing "scooby dooby doo" in reference to [[Frank Sinatra]]'s 1966 single "[[Strangers in the Night]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Sullivan|2002|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=62}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=56}}.</ref> The song employs two acoustic guitars and an overdubbed electric guitar.{{sfn|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}} Quaife doubles Ray's rhythm guitar with his bass in playing the song's distinctive [[Hook (music)|hook]]. Unlike most of the album's songs, its mix emphasises the low-end, particularly Quaife's bass guitar and Avory's drums, the latter of which critic Stewart Mason terms "cleverly sloppy".<ref name="Picture Book">{{cite web |last1=Mason |first1=Stewart |title=''Picture Book'' – The Kinks |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/picture-book-mt0010717186 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=31 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506153143/https://www.allmusic.com/song/picture-book-mt0010717186 |archive-date=6 May 2022 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}
==== "Johnny Thunder" ====
Ray composed "[[Johnny Thunder (song)|Johnny Thunder]]" after watching [[László Benedek]]'s 1953 film ''[[The Wild One]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=358}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=59–60}}.</ref> which had been banned by British censors until February{{nbsp}}1968.{{sfn|Finler|2001|p=574}} Like the film's lead character Johnny, played by [[Marlon Brando]],{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=60}} Johnny Thunder is a rebellious biker and an enemy of [[conformity]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=193}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=358}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=157}}.</ref> A straightforward rock song, the recording joins acoustic guitars, bass and drums with an electric guitar contribution by Dave, who plays a countermelody low in the mix. The backing vocals are wordless and imitate the sound of a brass section, while it is one of the few instances on the album of Ray's lead vocal not being double-tracked.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=60}}
==== "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" ====
[[File:The Fifteen Guinea Special passing Spring Vale.jpg|alt=A steam locomotive on its route|thumb|The [[Fifteen Guinea Special]] in August{{nbsp}}1968 (''pictured'') marked Britain's final mainline passenger service by [[steam locomotive|steam-powered locomotive]].<ref name=MoneyWeek>{{cite web |last1=Chandy |first1=Mathew |title=11 August 1968: the last steam passenger service in Britain |url=https://moneyweek.com/403807/11-august-1968-the-last-steam-passenger-train-in-britain |website=[[MoneyWeek]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602073208/https://moneyweek.com/403807/11-august-1968-the-last-steam-passenger-train-in-britain |archive-date=2 June 2022 |language=en |date=11 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
"[[Last of the Steam-Powered Trains]]" is likely the last song Ray wrote for ''Village Green''.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=62}} Its lyrics describe a [[Steam locomotive|steam train]] that has outlived its usefulness and moved to a museum.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=157}} The composition coincided with a years-long reduction in the [[Rail transport in Great Britain|British railway network]] and the replacement of steam trains by [[Diesel locomotive|diesel engines]],{{sfn|Gildart|2013|p=140}} a change which went into effect two months before the song's recording.<ref>{{harvnb|Chandy|2020}}: (Fifteen Guinea Special in August{{nbsp}}1968); {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}: (song recorded in October{{nbsp}}1968).</ref> Based around the riff of [[Howlin' Wolf]]'s 1956 song "[[Smokestack Lightning]]" – a popular recording among early 1960s British R&B groups{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=63}} – the song recalls the Kinks' roots as an R&B focused band.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=63}} Several commentators regard the song as Ray's criticism of early British R&B groups for being inauthentic compared to the American blues artists who wrote many of the songs they recorded,<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=66}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=157}}.</ref> while others think it expresses his feelings of disconnect from contemporary culture.<ref>{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Moore|2001|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Savage|1984|p=102}}.</ref>
==== "Big Sky" ====
Ray composed "[[Big Sky (song)|Big Sky]]" in late January{{nbsp}}1968 while attending the second annual ''[[MIDEM]]'' festival, a music publishers gathering held in [[Cannes]], France.<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=110}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=69–70}}.</ref> While watching the sunrise from his balcony at the [[InterContinental Carlton Cannes Hotel|Carlton Hotel]], he noticed the businessmen walking below, a moment which inspired the line "Big Sky looking down on all the people".{{sfn|Savage|1984|pp=101–102}} While Ray has typically been coy about interpreting the song's meaning,{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=149}} retrospective commentators often interpret it as describing God as unsympathetic towards the problems of humans.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=70}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|pp=359–360}}; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=102}}.</ref> Ray's lead vocal alternates between singing, speaking and harmonising with Dave while Rasa contributes a wordless falsetto harmony.<ref>{{harvnb|Kitts|2008|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=72}}.</ref> Ray compared his spoken lyric to the voice of God,{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=19}} and Dave later suggested that Ray was impersonating American actor [[Burt Lancaster]].{{sfn|Doyle|2020|p=26}}
==== "Sitting by the Riverside" ====
"[[Sitting by the Riverside]]" joins [[Tack piano|honky-tonk piano]] with an accordion produced via Mellotron.<ref>{{harvnb|Sullivan|2002|p=89}}: (honky-tonk piano); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=74–75}}: (accordion, Mellotron).</ref> The singer enjoys the calmness and warmth offered by a pastoral setting before closing his eyes results in a rush of overwhelming memories and fear. Accompanying the eye-closing moment is a swelling cacophony reminiscent of the orchestral crescendos heard in the Beatles' 1967 song "[[A Day in the Life]]".<ref name=M75R156>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=75}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=156}}.</ref> When the singer reopens his eyes, he is overtaken by the area's splendor.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=156}} Ray contemporaneously described the composition as a "fishing song" and related it to his time spent fishing when he was a child.<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=74}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Miller suggests the song was further inspired by Orwell's ''Coming Up for Air'', since the happiest childhood memories of protagonist George Bowling relate to his time spent fishing.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=74n17}}}}
=== Side two ===
==== "Animal Farm" ====
{{listen|filename= "Animal Farm" by the Kinks.mp3|title=The beginning of the first verse of "Animal Farm" |description= In addition to heavy [[Reverberation|reverb]] on its drums, percussion and [[tack piano]], the song being recorded in Pye's bigger studio provided it with a noticeably larger sound than the rest of the record.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=77}}}}
Side two of the LP opens with "[[Animal Farm (song)|Animal Farm]]". While its title references Orwell's 1945 [[Animal Farm|novella of the same name]], the song does not relate to the book's [[Dystopia|dystopic]] themes,<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=64}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=80n23}}.</ref> but instead displays an anti-urban theme.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=64}} The song's narrator expresses feelings of pastoral bliss,{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=97}} recalling an earlier time when he was happy living a simple life on a small farm.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=76}} He yearns for his idealised world where people can be authentic rather than insincere actors.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=156}} Recorded in Pye Studios's bigger studio, {{Numero|1}}, the song has a larger sound than the rest of the album, featuring [[Reverberation|reverb]] on the drums, percussion and tack piano.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=77}}
==== "Village Green" ====
Ray composed "[[Village Green (song)|Village Green]]" in August{{nbsp}}1966 while touring in rural England.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=88}} He later recalled the song spawning from his disappointment after finding out that the beer at a [[pub]] was stored in a pressurised [[Keg beer|metal keg]] rather than in a traditional wooden [[barrel]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bailey|1974|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=125}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|In a 1974 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Ray connects the pub story to the album's "original song, 'Village Green Preservation Society{{'"}}, which he says was written "about eight years ago".{{sfn|Bailey|1974|p=12}} Hinman and Hasted each write Ray meant "Village Green".<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=125}}.</ref>}} The song's lyrics lament the decline of a fictional English community's traditional village green.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=64}} The singer mourns the town's invasion by American tourists and the community's cheapening atmosphere,{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=64}} while remembering it as the place he left his romantic love Daisy.{{sfn|Marotta|2002|p=75}} He declares that he will return to see Daisy so they can reminisce about the green as it was.{{sfn|Marotta|2002|p=75}} The composition and instrumentation of "Village Green" evoke [[Baroque music]];{{sfn|Moore|2001|p=101}} Hopkins played the prominently featured harpsichord,<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=79}}: (Hopkins); {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=96}}: (prominently featured).</ref> and Whitaker's orchestral arrangement features [[oboe]], [[cello]], [[viola]] and [[piccolo]], all played by session musicians.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=79}}
==== "Starstruck" ====
Ray later said he wrote "[[Starstruck (The Kinks song)|Starstruck]]" as a tribute to his favourite [[Motown]] groups, including the [[Four Tops]] and [[the Temptations]],<ref name=D2002qM2003p84>{{harvnb|Davies|2002}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=84}}.</ref> and Miller writes it has a slight resemblance to the Four Tops' 1965 single "[[It's the Same Old Song]]".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=84}} Rogan instead writes "Starstruck" displays "a distinct [[Acapulco]]-flavouring" with vocal harmonies influenced by the American band [[the Turtles]].{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=65}} In the song, the singer politely chastises a female listener for failing to distinguish between stardom and real-life and further warns her about the risks of the big city.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=65}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=84}}.</ref> Miller suggests the song's warning about city life is similar thematically to "Village Green",{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=84}} and Rayes writes its comparison helps contrast "rural with urban, spirituality with materialism, and the natural with the manufactured".{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=157}}
==== "Phenomenal Cat" ====
{{listen|pos=left|filename= "Phenomenal Cat" by the Kinks.mp3|title= The beginning of "Phenomenal Cat"|description= The recording's flute opening was achieved by holding down the keys on the Mellotron and allowing each tape loop to spool all the way through.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=87}} Author Steve Alleman considers the song's Mellotron contribution one of the few times in the Kinks' discography where they approach [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]].{{sfn|Alleman|2002|p=47}}}}
"[[Phenomenal Cat]]" tells the story of a flying cat who has visited exotic places like [[Katmandu]] and [[Hong Kong]]. After discovering "the secret of life", he decides to spend the rest of his life eating.{{sfn|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}} Rogan compares its "vaguely [[Victorian literature|Victorian]] flavour"{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=65}} to the work of English 19th-century authors [[Edward Lear]] and [[Lewis Carroll]],<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=65}}.</ref> while Miller instead describes it as a blend of contemporary [[children's music]] and psychedelia.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=86, 86n27}} Miller suggests Ray intended the song to satirise the contemporary psychedelic scene,{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=87–88}} and Rogan similarly thinks it satirises the late-1960s trend of searching for spiritual enlightenment.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=361–362}}{{refn|group=nb|In particular, Rogan thinks Ray was thinking of contemporaries like [[Pete Townshend]] in his following of Indian spiritual master [[Meher Baba]] or the Beatles learning [[Transcendental Meditation]] from [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]].{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=361–362}}}}  Ray's lead vocal is double tracked while Dave sings as the cat, his voice altered by recording the master tape slowly and then playing it sped-up.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=87}}
{{clear}}
==== "All of My Friends Were There" ====
"[[All of My Friends Were There]]" was inspired by a Kinks concert at [[Rectory Field]] in [[Blackheath, London]] on 1 July 1967.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=102}} Ray later recalled falling ill with a fever, but the event organisers persuaded him to perform due to the agreed contract.<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=90}}.</ref> In the song, the singer describes his embarrassment after his friends attend his missed performance.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=158}} After struggling during his next show,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=91}} he goes to a café he frequented during happier times in his life, only to find all of his friends there as well.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=158}} Rayes describes the ending "another typical [Ray] Davies twist", where "in the end, the presence of the singer's friends both deepens his embarrassment and strengthens his stability and sense of companionship".{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=158}} Played in the style of music hall,<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=65}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=90}}.</ref> the song employs an organ and a jerky rhythm,{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=158}} shifting between what Miller terms a "music-hall gallop" in the verses and a "lilting, wistful [[waltz]]" during the choruses.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=90–91}}
==== "Wicked Annabella" ====
"[[Wicked Annabella]]" features Dave's only lead vocal contribution on the album;{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} his voice is double tracked and ranges from frightened whispers to raging screams.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=92}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=159}}.</ref> The lyrics recount the deeds of a local witch as a warning to children to stay in their beds and avoid the woods.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=93}} In his November{{nbsp}}1968 interview with ''Melody Maker'', Ray suggested the recording was his attempt at getting a song "to sound as horrible as it could", resulting in an overall "rude sound".<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=92}}.</ref> Employing guitar feedback, the song's main [[riff]] is reminiscent of [[the Doors]]' 1967 song "[[Light My Fire]]", while its conclusion of interplay between drums and guitar features Dave's laughter and heavy [[Echo#Music|echo]] and reverb.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=65}}: ("Light My Fire", interplay); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=93}}: (echo, reverb, laughter).</ref> Critic [[Jim DeRogatis]] counts the song as the only example of psychedelia in the Kinks' discography,{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=387}} while author Steve Alleman instead writes that its "freakout ending" is one of the few times the Kinks approached the genre, without actually achieving it.{{sfn|Alleman|2002|p=47}}
==== "Monica" ====
"[[Monica (song)|Monica]]" is a calypso number, a genre Ray first explored in his 1965 song "[[I'm on an Island]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1998|pp=44–45, 66}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=94}}.</ref> The composition incorporates [[Afro-Caribbean music|Caribbean rhythms]] and [[jazz]] [[tempo]] changes,{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=160}} while the recording features acoustic guitar, [[conga]]s and [[Organ (music)|organ]].{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=94}} Possibly inspired by the character Polly Garter from Thomas's ''Under Milk Wood'', the lyrics are a serenade for a prostitute. In order to avert a radio-ban, Ray was deliberately subtle in its writing and never directly mentions her profession.<ref>{{harvnb|Breyer|Vittenson|1976|p=8}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|pp=97–98}} & {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=66}}.</ref>
==== "People Take Pictures of Each Other" ====
"[[People Take Pictures of Each Other]]" satirises the absurdity of using photographs to prove one's existence.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=96}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=66}}.</ref> Ray was inspired to write the song after he attended a wedding and found it strange that the newlywed couple took turns photographing one another.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=96}} Its lyrics recall the oak tree from "Village Green" and the theme of photography from "Picture Book", leading Miller to hypothesise that Ray composed it specifically to be a closing track.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=96}} Rogan describes the song's sound as a cross between a [[Hopak|Cossack dance]] and a Greek wedding, something he relates to its original wedding inspiration.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=66}} It employs a quickly strummed acoustic guitar and fast a breathless lead vocal from Ray.{{sfn|Rayes|2002|p=161}} Hopkins plays harpsichord,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} along with what Miller terms a "silly vaudeville piano [[Vamp (music)|vamp]]".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=97}}
=== European format ===
The original twelve-song edition of the album had been completed in mid-August{{nbsp}}1968 and was released as such in Sweden, Norway, France, Italy and New Zealand.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 119–120}} In addition to a rearranged track listing, it includes the songs "Days" and "Mr. Songbird" while being without "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", "Big Sky", "Sitting by the Riverside", "Animal Farm" and "All of My Friends Were There".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}}
"[[Days (The Kinks song)|Days]]" recalls a past relationship,{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=20}} the singer remembering either a friend or lover.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=117}} The song's theme of nostalgia lyrically relates it to the rest of ''Village Green'',{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=119–120}} and Alleman writes its motif of "looking back yet trying to start anew" makes it the composition most representative of Ray's songwriting in the 1966–1968 period.{{sfn|Alleman|2002|p=47}} Instrumentally, the recording incorporates acoustic and electric guitars, bass, [[harmonium]], piano and a Mellotron which mimics a string section.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=118}} "[[Mr. Songbird]]" is about a [[songbird]] whose call helps the singer's problems go away.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=107}} Hopkins plays Mellotron to duplicate the sound of a flute, [[Trill (music)|trilling]] during the [[Refrain|chorus]] to mimic the sound of a bird.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=108}} Miller suggests the song's [[escapism|escapist]] sentiment is comparable to other contemporary Ray compositions like "Picture Book",{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=31}} and author Christian Matijas-Mecca writes the song is thematically related to the album's "loose narrative about a desire for a lost England".{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2020|p=108}}
== Title and packaging ==
[[File:Witanhurst House from Hampstead Heath-geograph-2225693-by-Julian-Osley.jpg|thumb|left|The Kinks photographed the album cover in mid-August{{nbsp}}1968 on [[Hampstead Heath]], north-west London (''pictured 2011'').]]
The album cover was photographed in mid-August{{nbsp}}1968 during a photo session outside [[Kenwood House]] in [[Hampstead Heath]], north-west London.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=37}} Pye's in-house photographer John Prosser and Barrie Wentzell of ''Melody Maker'' photographed the session.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1968}}: (Prosser); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=37}}.</ref> After drinking tea on the terrace with the photographers, the band were photographed in their casual attire walking through the Heath's long, uncut grass to emphasise a country-feel.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=37–38}} Prosser took the album's cover shot;<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1968}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=37–38}}.</ref> the original twelve-track edition featured a black-and-white cover design,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=39}} while the fifteen-track edition featured a different image, retouched to show the band enclosed in what Rogan terms "hazy, psychedelic circles".{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=355}}{{refn|group=nb|Pye had not informed Wentzell that the photo session was for an album and he was not aware one of his images was used on its rear sleeve until he purchased his own copy of the LP. He was neither credited nor compensated for the photograph until the album's later reissues.{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=147}}}} The album's twelve-track releases in Scandinavia, France, Italy and New Zealand all feature unique album sleeves which have subsequently become valuable [[Record collecting|collectors' items]].{{sfn|Neill|2000|p=49}} Having been [[Record press|pressed]] in Britain,{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=214}} the Scandinavian edition features Pye's original black-and-white sleeve design.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Doggett|1998}}; {{harvnb|Anon.(c)|1968|p=23}}.</ref> Fleiner suggests the New Zealand sleeve's depiction of the band standing next to several horses sought to emphasise the band's "[[English national identity|Englishness]]".{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=49}}{{refn|group=nb|Author [[Peter Doggett]] suggested in 1998 that the New Zealand pressings were "[p]ossibly the rarest commercially pressed Kinks [LPs]".{{sfn|Doggett|1998}} In a 2000 piece for ''[[Record Collector]]'' magazine discussing the different album sleeves, Andy Neill valued a mint copy of the New Zealand edition the highest at around £400 ({{Inflation|UK|400|2000|fmt=eq|r=-1|cursign=£}}).{{sfn|Neill|2000|p=49}}}}
[[File:The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (New Zealand cover).jpg|thumb|The album's twelve-track releases in different countries all feature unique sleeves (New Zealand cover artwork pictured).]]
''Village Green'' served as the album's working title to mid-1968, though Ray remained unsatisfied that it was too narrow to encapsulate the album's broader themes. In a November{{nbsp}}1968 interview, he recalled that in August, while searching for a new title, someone mentioned to him in conversation that "one of things The Kinks have been doing for the last three years has been preserving".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=46}} The comment prompted him to compose "The Village Green Preservation Society",{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=46}} which subsequently became the new title track.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=46}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 121}}.</ref>
The LP was the Kinks' first to feature a [[gatefold]] sleeve.{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=36}} The gatefold image is the same photograph as the cover but flipped horizontally, tinted and placed alongside a George Cross medal.{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=14}}{{refn|group=nb|Commenting on the album's gatefold in early 1969, critic Robert Christgau suggested that "the promotional value of such extravagance has apparently dissipated".{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=36}}}} The lyrics of the title track appear on the sleeve's rear.{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=132}} The album's title appears on the cover in small font,{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=132}} with ''The Kinks'' written large and detached from ''Are the Village Green Preservation Society''.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=677}} Rogan hypothesises that the album was supposed to be titled ''The Village Green Preservation Society'' but suspects it was changed during the production process. He contends that the simpler title would align with the title track and adds that Ray has typically used the shorter name in his interviews and writings.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=677}}
== Release and commercial performance ==
=== United Kingdom and Europe ===
In the United Kingdom, Pye planned to release ''Village Green'' on {{nowrap|27 September 1968}}.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}} Ray began press interviews in mid-August to promote its release, the band performed some of its songs for [[BBC Radio]] in July and Pye placed advertisements in several British pop magazines.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=117, 118}}: (interviews, BBC); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=39}}: (ads).</ref> Following Ray's last-minute request that its release be postponed, only test-pressings of the twelve-track edition were made in the UK. Because Pye had already made and sent production masters to several other countries, release of the twelve-track LP went ahead in Sweden and Norway on 9 October, with subsequent releases of that edition following in France, Italy and New Zealand.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=119–120}}
Ray's last-minute delay of the LP resulted in confusion for both the music press and recording-buying public.{{sfn|Rogan|1984|p=96}} Pye instead issued the rearranged and expanded edition of the album in the UK on 22 November 1968.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=42}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}.</ref> The album had no associated [[lead single]] in the UK,{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=364}} but "Starstruck" was released in parts of [[continental Europe]], backed with "Picture Book".<ref>{{harvnb|Savage|1984|p=101}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=85}}.</ref> To promote the European single, the Kinks filmed a [[Black and white|black-and-white]] promotional film in {{nowrap|late November 1968}}. It depicts the band walking around [[Waterlow Park]] in [[Highgate]] on a cold day and is similar in style to the photographs taken for ''Village Green''{{'s}} album cover.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=121–122}}: (black-and-white, late November 1968); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=85}}: (Waterlow Park, similar to ''Village Green'' cover shots).</ref>{{refn|group=nb|The promo film was later broadcast on Dutch television in December and is likely the last surviving footage of the band's original line-up.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=121–122}} Both sides of the single appeared on charts in the Netherlands and Belgium's French-speaking region of [[Wallonia]].<ref>{{ubl|{{cite web |title=Nederlandse Top 40 – The Kinks |url=https://www.top40.nl/the-kinks/the-kinks-starstruck-7906 |publisher=[[Dutch Top 40]] |access-date=5 June 2022 |language=nl}}|{{cite web |title=The Kinks – Starstruck |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Kinks&titel=Starstruck&cat=s |publisher=[[Dutch Single Top 100]] |access-date=5 June 2022 |language=nl}}|{{cite web |title=The Kinks – Starstruck |url=https://www.ultratop.be/fr/song/2fd2/The-Kinks-Starstruck |publisher=[[Ultratop]] |access-date=5 June 2022 |language=fr}}|{{cite web |title=The Kinks – Picture Book |url=https://www.ultratop.be/fr/song/448b0/The-Kinks-Picture-Book |publisher=[[Ultratop]] |access-date=5 June 2022 |language=fr}}}}</ref>}} To promote the UK album release, Pye again placed advertisements in several British music magazines, the band performed songs for BBC Radio in November and [[lip sync]]ed for television performances on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and [[BBC Television]] in December{{nbsp}}1968 and January{{nbsp}}1969.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=42}}; (ads); {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}: (BBC Radio, ITV and BBC Television).</ref>
The release of ''Village Green'' was timed to correspond with the Christmas rush,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} and it was coincidentally issued the same day as the Beatles' [[The Beatles (album)|eponymous album]] (commonly known as the "White Album"),<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=4}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}.</ref> and [[the Rolling Stones]]' ''[[Beggars Banquet]]'' followed a week-and-a-half later.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Miles|1980|pp=18–19}}: (Beggars Banquet release date).</ref> ''Village Green'' was moderately advertised and reviewed, but its sales were quickly eclipsed by the other albums{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} – the "White Album" sold two million copies worldwide in its first week, while ''Village Green'' failed to chart in the UK or anywhere in Europe.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=4}} Exact figures for LP sales in the UK in the late 1960s are generally unavailable;{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=366}} in 1995, Ray suggested "worldwide we'd be lucky if it [sold] 100,000 [copies]".<ref>{{harvnb|Marten|Hudson|2007|p=97}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=365}}.</ref> Rogan writes that the available context clues and Ray's later estimate suggest that the album was likely "a {{em|modest}} seller".{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=365, 366}} Stiff competition from other releases during the holiday season kept the album from appearing in any UK album charts, which often only listed the top fifteen LPs. After ''Something Else'' failed to appear on most UK charts, ''Village Green''{{'s}} absence from all UK charts continued a decline in the performance of the Kinks' studio albums.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=365–366}} The album marked the beginning of a commercial low for the band, from which they did not recover until their late 1970s US revival.{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=135}}
Both Miller and author [[Jon Savage]] suggest ''Village Green'' failed to register with the public, something they attribute to its separation from the contemporary culture's focus on [[revolution]], protest and [[free love]].<ref>{{harvnb|Savage|1984|p=102}}: (free love, revolution); {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=42–43}}: (revolution, protest).</ref> Rogan counters that Ray and authors like Miller have overstated the album's commercial failings.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=363–365}} Rather than finding the album out of step with contemporary culture, he writes its release corresponded with a surge of nostalgia and escapism in England, and that its championing of country living over city life aligned with the burgeoning [[Environmental movement|ecology movement]].{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=367}}{{refn|group=nb|Rogan writes the English desire for nostalgia and escapism was apparent in television programmes ''[[Dad's Army]]'' and ''[[The Forsyte Saga (1967 TV series)|The Forsyte Saga]]'' and popular literature like [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and [[Mervyn Peake]]'s ''[[Gormenghast (series)|Gormenghast]]'' series.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=367}} He connects Ray's calls for preservation and "bucolic bliss" to the British public's reaction after a May{{nbsp}}1968 gas explosion at [[Ronan Point|a tower block in London]], which led to the partial collapse of the building and several deaths.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=679}}}} Rogan adds that the contemporary music press were typically excited by unified albums and that ''Village Green''{{'s}} disconnect from psychedelia fitted with the [[Rock and roll revival|back-to-basics approach]] adopted by many of the Kinks' contemporaries.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=367–369}}{{refn|group=nb|Rogan mentions unified projects like ''Sgt. Pepper'', [[Small Faces]]' ''[[Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake]]'' (1968) and [[Keith West]]'s single "[[Excerpt from A Teenage Opera]]" (1967) as both exciting the press while being commercially successful.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=367–368}} He writes the back-to-basics approach is apparent in the Beatles' "[[Lady Madonna]]" (March{{nbsp}}1968), Dylan's ''[[John Wesley Harding]]'' (December{{nbsp}}1967), [[the Band]]'s ''[[Music from Big Pink]]'' (July{{nbsp}}1968) and [[the Byrds]]' ''[[Sweetheart of the Rodeo]]'' (August{{nbsp}}1968).{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=368–369, 679}}}} Rather than laying blame with the album's content or its marketing, Rogan attributes ''Village Green''{{'s}} commercial shortcomings to the Kinks' waning popularity and the album's lack of an associated single in Britain, which resulted in fewer opportunities for television appearances and publicity.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|pp=364, 369}}
=== United States ===
In the United States, Reprise Records received ''Village Green''{{'s}} master tapes on 20&nbsp;December 1968 and planned to issue the album in {{nowrap|late January 1969}}.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=120}} The label issued "Starstruck" as the album's lead single on {{nowrap|8 or 15 January 1969}}.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=123, 124}} The single was initially afforded little critical attention as Reprise neglected to send review copies to US magazines.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=123}} Reviewers in both ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' and ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' predicted the single would help the Kinks return to each magazine's chart,<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1969|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Anon.(b)|1969|p=79}}.</ref> though it ultimately failed to position in any American chart.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=124}}
Reprise likely issued ''Village Green'' in the US on 5&nbsp;February 1969, though it may have been released in January.{{refn|group=nb|Hinman dates the release to {{nowrap|5 February 1969}}, adding it was "[p]ossibly a week earlier".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=125}} Neill and Miller each write it was January{{nbsp}}1969, without specifying a day.<ref>{{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=24}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=32}}.</ref>}} It was not advertised or announced in any American music magazines.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=125}} After critic [[Robert Christgau]] requested press material regarding the band in preparation for his album review, [[Warner Records|Warner Bros. Records]] sent him a group biography from 1964.{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=31}} Like in the UK and Europe, the album failed to appear in any American charts.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=4}} The failure continued a trend of the Kinks' studio albums being outsold by [[Compilation album|compilations]] collecting their mid-1960s hits;{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} by 1969, the 1966 US compilation ''[[The Kinks Greatest Hits!]]'' had sold over 200,000 copies,{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=31}} while the combined American sales of both ''Village Green'' and ''Something Else'' were estimated to be 25,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=4}}; {{harvnb|Hyland|1969|p=10}}: "[The Kinks'] last album on Reprise "The Village Green Preservation Society" sold only 25,000 copies{{nbsp}}..."; {{harvnb|The Editors of ''Rolling Stone''|1971|p=140}}: "The Kinks' last two albums, ''Something Else'' and ''Village Green Preservation Society'' sold a combined total, in America, of 25,000 copies."</ref> In June{{nbsp}}1969, it appeared on ''Cash Box''{{'s}} "Basic Album Inventory", a list intended to indicate to wholesalers and retailers which LPs were selling steadily despite having failed to appear on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Album chart.{{sfn|Anon.(c)|1969|p=54}}
== Contemporary critical reception ==
=== United Kingdom ===
On release, ''Village Green'' gained favourable reviews from the majority of music critics.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=24}}.</ref><ref name="AllMusic bio">{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author1-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=The Kinks Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-kinks-mn0000100160/biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528060832/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-kinks-mn0000100160/biography |archive-date=28 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The album was reviewed in most contemporary UK pop music publications.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=363}}{{refn|group=nb|Reliable sources have sometimes erroneously reported that ''Village Green'' received no reviews in the UK music press.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=363}} The liner notes to the 2008 box set ''[[Picture Book (The Kinks album)|Picture Book]]'' state that the album received no reviews,{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=363}} and Miller says its only write-up was in ''Disc and Music Echo''.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=42}} Rogan instead writes that it "certainly received a fair shout", having been reviewed in ''Melody Maker'', ''Disc and Music Echo'' and ''NME'' at a time when British pop publications did not automatically review albums.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=363}}}} Additionally, while discussions of popular music in [[broadsheet|broadsheet newspapers]] was still uncommon in 1968, critic Judith Simons provided a brief assessment of the album in London's ''[[Daily Express]]''.{{sfn|Rogan|2015|p=363}}
Among British critics, Bob Dawbarn of ''Melody Maker'' declared in a feature review that the LP was "easily [the Kinks'] best".<ref>{{harvnb|Dawbarn|1968|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=42}}.</ref> In another positive assessment,{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=42}} ''[[Disc (magazine)|Disc and Music Echo]]''{{'s}} reviewer stated that Ray "managed to bypass everything psychedelic and [[Electronic music|electronic]]" by continuing to focus on "simple, even rustic melodies with words of wisdom". The reviewer concluded that though the Kinks were no longer widely popular, ''Village Green'' indicated that Ray would likely continue to be one of Britain's best composers.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(d)|1968|p=2}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}.</ref> The reviewer for ''[[Top Pops (newspaper)|Top Pops]]'' commented that the album's themes and styles varied greatly with considerable thought put into its lyrics and production. He concluded that the LP provided good value-for-money and expected he would listen to it consistently.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} In Simons's ''Daily Express'' review, she characterised the album as Ray's "song picture" representing "the gentler aspects of British life". She further suggested that its material could work well as a stage musical.<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=363}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}.</ref>
In his September{{nbsp}}1968 preview of the twelve-track edition for ''NME'', Altham reviewed the album favourably. He was especially fond of the title track, which he thought could have made it to {{Numero|1}} in the UK had it been issued as a single.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Altham|1968|p=10}}.</ref> Having already published Altham's review of the original album, ''NME'' did not publish a review of the expanded edition in November.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=121}} Altham reflected decades later that while he liked the album on first listening and thought it was musically and aesthetically interesting, he worried at the time that it was a risky release for the Kinks since it was "a bit too twee".{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=39–40}} He elaborated that compared to the band's earlier work, it was "missing [something] in terms of dynamics{{nbsp}}... it didn't seem to have that anger, the kind of attack that Dave used to bring".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=39}}
=== United States ===
''Village Green'' was especially well received by US critics.<ref name="AllMusic bio" /> The album was not covered in major US trade magazines like ''Billboard'' or ''Cash Box'' but received extensive coverage from non-mainstream sources.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=24}}.</ref> America's new [[Underground press#North America|underground rock press]] began embracing the Kinks after the January{{nbsp}}1968 release of ''Something Else'', a trend which continued following the release of ''Village Green''.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=110, 125}}
Reviews of ''Village Green'' were slow to appear after its February{{nbsp}}1969 release; the only immediate response was a short piece in the 27 February issue of New York City's ''[[Village Voice]]'', in which Johanna Schier provided a mixed assessment.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Schier|1969|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Christgau|1969|p=36}}: "...{{nbsp}}Johanna Schier's damn-with-faint-praise review in the February 27 ''Voice''."</ref> Schier described it as "a good album, not a great one", hampered by its attempts to extend in too many directions. She concluded that the album's best moments were when it approached the "[m]usical violence" which characterised the Kinks' earliest singles, though she still found the new music too subdued by comparison.{{sfn|Schier|1969|p=34}} In the 10 April issue of the ''Voice'', Robert Christgau countered Schier's review in his regular ''Rock&Roll&'' column. He instead concluded that the album was the best of the year so far.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Christgau|1969|pp=36–37}}.</ref> While Schier suggested that the band should have continued recording tracks with the raunch of "You Really Got Me", Christgau countered that the band necessarily progressed beyond their original sound, just as the Beatles never returned to recording songs like their earliest singles.{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=36}} He declared "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" the album's most memorable song, placing it in the context of the rock and roll revival, and expected it would have been the lead single had there been enough demand.{{sfn|Christgau|1969|p=37}}
{{quote box|quote= I think the Kinks should go to America – there's been a good reaction to our latest album [''Village Green''] and singles over there.{{nbsp}}... In many ways the Americans seem more sympathetic – especially on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]]. The people there seem more interested in things like the Village Green Preservation Society and Tudor houses and cricket – more so, even, than in [England]. They're not as bogged down and restricted as English people.{{sfn|Boltwood|1969|p=5}} |source=– Ray Davies, May{{nbsp}}1969 |width=25%|align=left|salign=right|style=padding:8px;}}
A review of the album by [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)|Paul Williams]], the former editor of ''[[Crawdaddy (magazine)|Crawdaddy!]]'' magazine, served as the lead review in the 14&nbsp;June 1969 issue of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine.<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1969}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}.</ref> In addition to praising the album,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=125}} Williams described Ray as a genius who "makes statements" and "says the sort of stuff that makes you delighted just to know that someone would say stuff like that".<ref name="Williams 1969">{{harvnb|Williams|1969}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Kitts|2008|p=115}}.</ref> Comparing the Kinks to French composer [[Erik Satie]],<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|1969}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=102}}.</ref> Williams concluded that "only genius could hit me so directly, destroy me and rebuild so completely".<ref name="Williams 1969"/> Williams's review subsequently became the most influential piece ever written about the Kinks, helping establish a [[cult following]] for the band.<ref>{{harvnb|Kitts|2008|p=115}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}; {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=153}}.</ref>
A review in ''[[Circus (magazine)|Circus]]'', formerly the teen magazine ''Hullaballoo'', stated that though the Kinks were "backdated" and "cut off from the mainstream of pop progression", ''Village Green'' indicated their continued originality. A reviewer in Boston's new underground paper ''[[Fusion (music magazine)|Fusion]]'' similarly wrote that despite the increasingly bad press the band were facing, ''Village Green'' showed their persistence. The album was also reviewed in university newspapers.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=125}} Musician [[John Mendelsohn (musician)|John Mendelsohn]] reviewed it for [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]'s paper the ''[[Daily Bruin]]'', counting it as his favourite LP since [[the Who]]'s 1967 album ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'' and predicted that it would be one of the best in 1969.<ref>{{harvnb|Mendelsohn|1969}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=125}}.</ref> The reviewer in [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]]'s paper instead disparaged the album as "schmaltz rock", being "without imagination, poorly arranged, and a bad copy of the Beatles".{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=125}}
{{clear}}
== Retrospective assessment ==
{{Music ratings
|title = Retrospective professional ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name=AllMusic />
| rev2 = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Powers">{{cite web |last1=Powers |first1=Ann |title=The Kinks – ''Village Green Preservation Society'' |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3831 |website=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184740/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3831 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Larkin|2011|loc=chap. "Kinks"}}
| rev4 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev4Score = 4.5/5{{sfn|Catlin|1996|p=391}}
| rev5 = ''[[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Sheffield|2004|p=458}}
| rev6 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev6score = 9.5/10<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web |last1=Tompkins |first1=J. H. |title=The Kinks: The Village Green Preservation Society |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4457-the-village-green-preservation-society/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111175949/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4457-the-village-green-preservation-society/ |archive-date=11 January 2012 |date=26 July 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev7 = Sputnikmusic
| rev7Score = 4/5<ref name="Sputnik">{{cite web |author=Iai |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/32957/The-Kinks-The-Village-Green-Preservation-Society/ |title=The Kinks – The Village Green Preservation Society (staff review) |publisher=Sputnikmusic |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=16 July 2022}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[The Times]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chick |first=Stevie |date=26 June 2004 |title=CD Reviews: Phoenix's rising rock, Razorlight let rip, and the Kinks' nostalgic vision |page=257 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
| rev9Score = {{rating|5|5|full=TMT full.svg|half=TMT half.svg|empty=TMT empty.svg|rating=mark}}<ref name=TMT>{{cite web |last1=Ubaghs |first1=Charles |title=The Kinks – The ''Village Green Preservation Society'' |url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/kinks-village-green-preservation-society |website=[[Tiny Mix Tapes]] |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329075841/https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/kinks-village-green-preservation-society |archive-date=29 March 2019 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev10Score = 9/10{{sfn|McKay|2018|p=43}}
}}
Retrospective commentators often regard ''Village Green'' as the Kinks' best work.<ref name="Pitchfork" /><ref name=TMT /> Critic [[Rob Sheffield]] writes the album is likely the band's strongest album on a song-by-song basis,{{sfn|Sheffield|2004|p=459}} while Rogan writes it is "[t]he crowning achievement of the Kinks' career and their best album by some distance".{{sfn|Rogan|1998|p=61}} [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] writes that the album's subdued performances emphasise the songwriting to make it feel more like Ray's solo project than a Kinks album. He suggests that, despite the album's calm sensibility, it includes "endless layers of musical and lyrical innovation".<ref name=AllMusic />
''Village Green'' has often be reassessed by commentators as Ray's creative peak.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Webb |first1=Rob |title=Home Clips The Kinks ...Are The Village Green Preservation Society Review |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/jfmq/ |website=[[BBC]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619200413/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/jfmq/ |archive-date=19 June 2022 |date=2004 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dylan Montanari of the website ''Spectrum Culture'' writes that the album places Ray's songwriting ability among the best of 1960s, such as the Beatles, [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Joni Mitchell]]. He contends that Ray's unique skill is in understanding the nostalgia one will later feel about the present moment and a recognition that individuals often craft themselves on how they want to look to their future selves.<ref>{{cite web |last=Montanari|first=Dylan|title=The Kinks – ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''|website=Spectrum Culture|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2018/11/05/the-kinks-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-review/|date=5 November 2018|archive-date=6 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506153041/https://spectrumculture.com/2018/11/05/the-kinks-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> Charles Ubaghs of [[webzine]] ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]'' writes the album is "[a] piece of near perfect pop perfection repeatedly imitated and arguably never bettered". He argues that its lyrical content is furthered by the arrangements which mix [[Folk music|folk]] with music hall, elevating it from "odd ball piece of rose tinted British nostalgia, to a rightfully regarded piece of song writing brilliance".<ref name=TMT />
Listeners in the 21st century often interpret ''Village Green'' as applying to modern issues. Relevant themes include disparaging the increasing modernisation of cities and destruction of "little shops",<ref>{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=149}}; {{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=26}}.</ref> satirising those who photograph mundane moments, exploring the emptiness of [[celebrity culture]] and being suggestive of [[environmentalism]].{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=26}} Jeff Slate of ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine writes that while some late 1960s records have come to sound dated, ''Village Green'' has remained modern sounding and accessible decades after its release, something he attributes to its simple and straightforward arrangements. Adding to its success, he writes, was the band's collaborative nature during its recording and their retention of some of their original [[garage rock]] sound.<ref name=Esquire /> Michael Gallucci of the website ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' similarly writes that ''Village Green'' has maintained relevance decades after its release by sounding "both timeless and of its time", its pastoral sounds partly originating from the [[Summer of Love]] while its exploration of music hall and [[Victorian morality|Victorian mores]] being part of a broader yearning for the English tradition.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gallucci |first=Michael |title=The Kinks, 'Village Green: 50th Anniversary': Album Review |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kinks-village-green-50th-album-review/ |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116022429/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kinks-village-green-50th-album-review/ |archive-date=16 January 2022 |language=en |date=23 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Morgan Enos of ''Billboard'' writes that rather than being bitter or anachronistic, the album's tracks "burst with unique, giddy joy", only becoming more relevant in the "more crowded, convoluted and bleak" 21st century.<ref name=Enos>{{cite magazine |last1=Enos |first1=Morgan |title='The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society' at 50: Every Song From Worst to Best |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-8485865/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403000850/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-8485865/ |archive-date=3 April 2022 |date=22 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Though the term did not exist at the time of ''Village Green''{{'s}} release,<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=96}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=61}}.</ref> retrospective commentators identify the album as a candidate for the first [[concept album]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schaffner|1982|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1998|p=61}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=128}}.</ref> The 2001 edition of ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' calls it "one of the few aesthetically successful concept albums",<ref>{{harvnb|Sadie|2001|p=613}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Prichard|2007|p=271}}.</ref> and Ann Powers of ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'' magazine suggests the album achieves the difficult task of being "a subtle concept album", its focus being everyday [[British people|Britons]].<ref name=Powers /> Author Nick Hasted compares the album's cohesiveness to the consistent melancholy which runs through Sinatra's 1958 album ''[[Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely]]'',{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=128}} while John Mendelsohn writes it is more unified by the sound of its music than in its lyrical themes.{{sfn|Mendelsohn|1985|p=97}} Ray later suggested the album "[is] not a storyline, it's an emotional thread",{{sfn|Hasted|2011|p=128}} a sentiment echoed by several commentators.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|p=101}}; {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=146}}.</ref> Erlewine writes that while ''Something Else'' first displayed Ray's penchant for nostalgia, ''Village Green'' instead served as his "manifesto" on the disappearance of old English traditions, both real and imagined.<ref name=AllMusic /> Author [[Clinton Heylin]] writes the twelve-track edition of the album displayed more unity, while the songs added in October{{nbsp}}1968 – in particular, "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", "Big Sky" and "All of My Friends Were There" – helped to "kill the album conceptually".{{sfn|Heylin|2012|p=29}} Enos, by contrast, writes the album's format of separate vignettes allows for each to be enjoyed either separately or together.<ref name=Enos />
== Influence and legacy ==
{{Music ratings
| subtitle = 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe
| rev1 = ''[[American Songwriter]]''
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="American Songwriter">{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/2018/10/kinks-kinks-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-edition/|title=The Kinks – ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''|last=Horowitz|first=Hal|website=[[American Songwriter]]|date=25 October 2018|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329075610/https://americansongwriter.com/2018/10/kinks-kinks-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-edition/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="RS Grow">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-super-deluxe-edition-747983/|title=The Kinks – ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''|last=Grow|first=Kory|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=29 March 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329074957/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-super-deluxe-edition-747983/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev3Score = 8/10{{sfn|McKay|2018|p=43}}
}}
In the decades after its release, ''Village Green'' developed a cult following.{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=24}}<ref name="RS Sheffield">{{cite magazine |last1=Sheffield |first1=Rob |author1-link=Rob Sheffield |title=The Kinks Album Guide |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/kinks-album-guide-songs-841095 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129101600/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/kinks-album-guide-songs-841095/ |archive-date=29 November 2021 |date=20 June 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The album's themes appealed to English songwriters,{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=24}} and Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes its "defiantly British sensibilities became the foundation of generations of British guitar pop".<ref name=AllMusic /> Among the album's earliest English supporters was [[Pete Townshend]] of the Who,{{sfn|Segretto|2014|loc=chap. 15}} who later described it as Ray's "masterwork" and "his ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|Sgt. Pepper]]''".{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=151}}{{refn|group=nb|Dave later said that Townshend tried to acquire the album's original master tapes,{{sfn|Segretto|2014|loc=chap. 15}} and he also suggested that Townsend incorporated the opening riff of "Johnny Thunder" into his own compositions. Miller writes the riff can possibly be heard in the Who's songs "[[Overture (The Who song)|Overture]]" and "[[Go to the Mirror!]]" from their May{{nbsp}}1969 album, ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]''.{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=61–62}}}} The album's themes resonated with British bands in the mid-1970s who rose to prominence during the [[New wave music|new wave]] movement, like [[the Jam]], [[XTC]], [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] and [[Madness (band)|Madness]].{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=24}} In the 1990s, as [[Britpop]] groups sought to emphasise their Englishness through their music,{{sfn|Fleiner|2017a|p=119}} ''Village Green'' inspired bands like [[Blur (band)|Blur]], [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] and [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]].<ref name=Quietus>{{cite web |last1=Doran |first1=John |title=Noel Gallagher Selects His Thirteen Favourite Albums |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/07183-noel-gallagher-favourite-albums?page=8 |website=[[The Quietus]] |language=en-us |date=17 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Saunders|2010|p=203}}; {{harvnb|Marr|2009|loc=chap. 3}}; {{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=24}}; {{harvnb|Cavanagh|2022}}.</ref> [[Noel Gallagher]] of Oasis and Blur's guitarist [[Graham Coxon]] each named the album as one of their favourites.<ref name="Noel Gallagher">{{cite web |author=Nova News Team |title=Noel Gallagher Names His Favourite Albums Of All Time |url=https://www.nova.ie/noel-gallagher-names-favourite-albums-time-41811/ |publisher=[[Radio Nova 100FM (Ireland)|Nova]] |date=9 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=''Far Out Magazine'' Staff |title=The members of Blur list their favourite albums of all time |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/blur-band-favourite-albums-of-all-time-list/ |website=[[Far Out Magazine]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114083816/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/blur-band-favourite-albums-of-all-time-list/ |archive-date=14 January 2022 |date=18 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> It has been a major influence on Blur's principal songwriter [[Damon Albarn]],<ref name=Quietus /><ref name=Harris>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=John |author1-link=John Harris (critic) |title=The sound of the suburbs and literary tradition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/apr/03/suburbia-pop-betjeman-john-harris |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418091711/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/apr/03/suburbia-pop-betjeman-john-harris |archive-date=18 April 2022 |language=en |date=2 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> who expressed similar sentiments of nostalgia for a past England on Blur's albums ''[[Modern Life is Rubbish]]'' (1993) and ''[[Parklife]]'' (1994).<ref name=Esquire />{{sfn|Saunders|2010|p=203}}{{refn|group=nb|During Blur's 1992 American tour, Albarn spent time listening to the Kinks and found that he "started to miss really simple things [about England]".<ref>{{harvnb|Rogan|2015|p=571}}: (listened to Kinks); {{harvnb|Harris|2003|p=72}}: "...{{nbsp}}started to miss{{nbsp}}..."</ref> [[John Harris (critic)|John Harris]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' suggests that the Kinks' influence is apparent on several of Albarn's compositions, such as "Tracy Jacks" from ''Parklife'', which features a George Bowlingesque character.<ref name=Harris /> Gallagher compares "Big Sky" to Blur's 1994 single "[[Parklife (song)|Parklife]]".<ref name=Quietus />}}
Along with the rest of the Kinks' catalogue, the album was first [[remaster]]ed on [[Compact disc|CD]] in 1998.{{sfn|Rogan|1998|pp=180, 185}} In contrast to the band's other 1998 reissues, ''Village Green'' included no bonus material but instead consisted of the mono version of the fifteen-track edition, the twelve-track edition in stereo and the mono single version of "Days".{{sfn|Rogan|1998|pp=180, 185}} [[Sanctuary Records]] reissued the album in 2004 as an expanded 3-CD box set, joining stereo and mono versions of the album and compiling many of the sessions' songs as bonus tracks.<ref name="Pitchfork" /> To coincide with the album's 50th anniversary, [[Sony BMG]] and [[Legacy Recordings|Legacy]] issued a "Super Deluxe" edition on 26 October 2018.<ref name="American Songwriter" /><ref name=Hasted>{{cite web |last1=Hasted |first1=Nick |title=The Kinks |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/kinks |website=[[Record Collector]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914133639/https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/kinks |archive-date=14 September 2022 |language=en |date=1 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="audiophile2">{{cite web |last1=Smotroff |first1=Mark |title=The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Outtakes / Alternates On CD, Tidal |url=https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-music/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-deluxe-box-set-outtakes-altern.html |website=Audiophile Review |date=3 December 2018 |access-date=18 February 2020 |archive-date=18 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218085308/https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-music/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-deluxe-box-set-outtakes-altern.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The reissue received critical acclaim, though several reviewers remarked that most of interesting bonus material had already been included on previous reissues.{{refn|group=nb|Attributed to multiple references:{{sfn|McKay|2018|p=43}}<ref name="American Songwriter" /><ref name="RS Grow" /><ref name="audiophile2" /><ref name="audiophile1">{{cite web |last1=Smotroff |first1=Mark |title=The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Remasters on Mono & Stereo Vinyl, Tidal |url=https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-music/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-deluxe-remasters-on-mono-stere/ |website=Audiophile Music |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623002800/https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-music/the-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-society-50th-anniversary-deluxe-remasters-on-mono-stere/ |archive-date=23 June 2021 |date=28 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AllMusic Super Deluxe" />}} The 2018 release resulted in the album's first appearance on the [[UK Albums Chart]], where it charted for one week at {{Numero|47}}.<ref name="UK Chart" /> It also charted in Belgium, Spain and Germany.{{refn|group=nb|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name=Flanders /><ref name=Wallonia /><ref name=Germany4 /><ref name=Spain /><ref name=Flanders2 />}} The album has since become the Kinks' best-selling studio album in the UK.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=138}} The [[British Phonographic Industry]] certified the album silver in 2008 followed by gold in 2018 (indicating 60,000 and 100,000 sales, respectively).<ref name=BPIcert />
Ian MacDonald writes that in contrast to the "Englishness" of the Kinks' late 1960s work, the band's sound after their US performance ban was lifted shifted almost immediately back to being influenced by American acts, something he thinks was apparent on their next album, ''[[Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)]]''.{{sfn|MacDonald|2007|p=189n3}}
=== Rankings ===
''Village Green'' appears on professional rankings of the best albums. The album was voted {{Numero|221}} in the first edition of English writer [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'' (1994).{{sfn|Larkin|1994|p=81}} It placed {{Numero|171}} and {{Numero|141}} in Larkin's updated second and third editions, published in 1998 and 2000, respectively.<ref>{{harvnb|Larkin|1998|p=73}}; {{harvnb|Larkin|2000|p=86}}.</ref> In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' placed it at {{Numero|255}} in the magazine's list of the "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]".{{sfn|The Editors of ''Rolling Stone''|2003}} When the list was updated in 2012 and 2020, it was placed at {{Numero|258}} and {{Numero|384}}, respectively.<ref>{{cite magazine |author1=((The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'')) |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602112354/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/ |archive-date=2 June 2022 |date=31 May 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |author1=((The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'')) |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time  |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604012150/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |archive-date=4 June 2022 |date=22 September 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' also ranked it {{Numero|28}} on its "50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time" list in 2022.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-concept-albums-1234604040/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012130804/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-concept-albums-1234604040/ |archive-date=12 October 2022 |date=12 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' and ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]''{{'s}} lists of the best albums of the 1960s, they placed ''Village Green'' at {{Numero|27}} and {{Numero|18}}, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|last=Berman|first=Judy|title=The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s: '27. The Kinks The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)'|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/?page=9|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=22 August 2017|access-date=13 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225231319/https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/?page=9|archive-date=25 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=''Paste'' Music Staff |title=The 60 Best Albums of the 1960s |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/1960s/best-albums-of-the-1960s/ |website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924195931/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/1960s/best-albums-of-the-1960s/ |archive-date=24 September 2022 |language=en |date=2 January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}
== Track listing ==
{{col begin}}
{{col-2}}
=== UK and US edition ===
All tracks are written by [[Ray Davies]].
'''Side one'''
#"[[The Village Green Preservation Society]]"{{snd}} 2:49
#"[[Do You Remember Walter?|Do You Remember Walter]]"{{snd}} 2:28
#"[[Picture Book (song)|Picture Book]]"{{snd}} 2:38
#"[[Johnny Thunder (song)|Johnny Thunder]]"{{snd}} 2:33
#"[[Last of the Steam-Powered Trains]]"{{snd}} 4:03
#"[[Big Sky (song)|Big Sky]]"{{snd}} 2:49
#"[[Sitting by the Riverside]]"{{snd}} 2:21
'''Side two'''
#"[[Animal Farm (song)|Animal Farm]]"{{snd}} 2:57
#"[[Village Green (song)|Village Green]]"{{snd}} 2:08
#"[[Starstruck (The Kinks song)|Starstruck]]"{{snd}} 2:22
#"[[Phenomenal Cat]]"{{snd}} 2:37
#"[[All of My Friends Were There]]"{{snd}} 2:23
#"[[Wicked Annabella]]"{{snd}} 2:40
#"[[Monica (song)|Monica]]"{{snd}} 2:13
#"[[People Take Pictures of Each Other]]"{{snd}} 2:10
'''Notes'''
*The original release included four discrepancies between the titles listed on the [[Record sleeve|album sleeve]] and those on the LP's label.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=42}} Other than "Phenomenal Cat", the titles are listed above as they were on the original sleeve.{{refn|group=nb|On the label, "The Village Green Preservation Society" is without the ''The'', "Do You Remember Walter" includes a question mark and "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" has a ''The'' in front.{{sfn|Anon.(a)|1968}} "Phenomenal Cat" was misspelled on the sleeve as "Phenominal Cat".{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=42}}}}
*Track lengths according to AllMusic.<ref name=AllMusic>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author1-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=The Kinks – ''The Village Green Preservation Society'' |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-village-green-preservation-society-mw0000068713 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221012554/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-village-green-preservation-society-mw0000068713 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{col-2}}
=== European edition ===
All tracks are written by Ray Davies.
'''Side one'''
#"The Village Green Preservation Society"{{snd}} 2:49
#"Do You Remember Walter"{{snd}} 2:25
#"Picture Book"{{snd}} 2:36
#"Johnny Thunder"{{snd}} 2:30
#"Monica"{{snd}} 2:15
#"[[Days (The Kinks song)|Days]]"{{snd}} 2:52
'''Side two'''
#"Village Green"{{snd}} 2:08
#"[[Mr. Songbird]]"{{snd}} 2:25
#"Wicked Annabella"{{snd}} 2:41
#"Starstruck"{{snd}} 2:20
#"Phenomenal Cat"{{snd}} 2:36
#"People Take Pictures of Each Other"{{snd}} 2:23
'''Notes'''
*The track listing above was originally intended for UK release but was instead issued in Sweden, Norway, France, Italy and New Zealand.<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|pp=119–120}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=39–40, 39n5, 40n6}}.</ref> The 50th anniversary deluxe box set included a replica of the Swedish LP.<ref name="audiophile2" /><ref name="AllMusic Super Deluxe">{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |title=''The Village Green Preservation Society [Super Deluxe Edition]'' – The Kinks |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/the-village-green-preservation-society-super-deluxe-edition--mr0004939730 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619201209/https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/the-village-green-preservation-society-super-deluxe-edition--mr0004939730 |archive-date=19 June 2022 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
*Track lengths according to AllMusic.<ref name=AllMusic2>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |title=The Kinks – '' The Village Green Preservation Society [Bonus Tracks]'' |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/the-village-green-preservation-society-bonus-tracks--mr0001406954 |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704153024/https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/the-village-green-preservation-society-bonus-tracks--mr0001406954 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{col end}}
== Personnel ==
According to band researcher Doug Hinman,{{sfn|Hinman|2004|pp=118, 121}} except where noted:
'''The Kinks'''
*[[Ray Davies]]{{snd}} lead vocals, guitars, [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]], [[harmonica]] {{small|("Last of the Steam-Powered Trains")}}; producer, [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixer]]
*[[Dave Davies]]{{snd}} backing vocals, guitars; lead vocals {{small|("Wicked Annabella")}}
*[[Pete Quaife]]{{snd}} backing vocals, bass guitar
*[[Mick Avory]]{{snd}} drums
*Unidentified (played by the Kinks){{snd}} [[handclaps]],{{sfn|Miller|2003|pp=66, 84–85}} [[tambourine]]<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=54n10, 87}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Rogan|1984|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Rayes|2002|p=156}}.</ref>
'''Additional musicians'''
*[[Rasa Davies]]{{snd}} backing vocals<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=23, 72}}; {{harvnb|Doggett|1998}}.</ref>
*[[Nicky Hopkins]]{{snd}} keyboards
*[[David Whitaker (composer)|David Whitaker]]{{snd}} [[Arrangement|orchestral arrangement]] {{small|("Animal Farm" and "Village Green")}}{{refn|group=nb|name=AnimalFarm|Miller and Hinman write that Whitaker only arranged "Village Green",<ref>{{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=76–79}}.</ref> Miller further specifying that the [[string section|string]] sounds on "Animal Farm" were made with a Mellotron.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=77}} In his liner notes to the album's 50th anniversary release, Andy Neill writes that Whitaker arranged real strings for both "Village Green" and "Animal Farm".{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=20}}}}
*Unidentified{{snd}} [[conga]]s {{small|("Monica")}}{{refn|group=nb|Miller writes "Monica" includes congas, but he does not specify who played them.{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=94}} The Kinks' road manager Ken Jones played congas on "Wonderboy", which was recorded in March{{nbsp}}1968 during the ''Village Green'' sessions.{{sfn|Hinman|2004|p=112}}}}
*Unidentified [[session musicians]]{{snd}} [[oboe]], [[cello]], [[viola]] and [[piccolo]] {{small|("Village Green")}},{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=79}} [[string section]] {{small|("Animal Farm")}}{{sfn|Neill|2018|p=20}}
'''Additional personnel'''
*Brian Humphries{{snd}} [[Audio engineer|engineering]]
*Alan MacKenzie{{refn|group=nb|name=Mac|Sources vary in their spelling of his last name. Most, including Ray in his autobiography, spell it ''MacKenzie'',<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|1995|pp=339, 357}}; {{harvnb|Hinman|2004|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=105}}; {{harvnb|Kitts|2008|p=87}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|2011|pp=92, 93}}; {{harvnb|Thompson|2008|p=296}}.</ref> while others use ''Mackenzie''{{sfn|Miller|2003|p=21}} or ''McKenzie''.<ref>{{harvnb|Doggett|1998}}; {{harvnb|Irvin|McLear|2003|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Massey|2015}}.</ref> The original liner notes typeset it as ''MACKENZIE''.{{sfn|Anon.(a)|1968}}}} {{snd}} engineering
*John Prosser{{snd}} photography {{small|(front cover and gatefold)}}<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.(a)|1968}}; {{harvnb|Miller|2003|pp=37–38}}; {{harvnb|Neill|2018|p=14}}.</ref>
*[[Shel Talmy]]{{snd}} producer {{small|("Village Green")}}{{refn|group=nb|name=Talmy}}
*Barrie Wentzell{{snd}} photography {{small|(rear image)}}{{sfn|Jovanovic|2013|p=147}}
== Charts and certifications ==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Charts===
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
|+Reissue weekly chart performance
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Chart
! scope="col" | Peak<br />position
|-
| rowspan="6"|2018
|-
{{album chart|Flanders|131|artist=The Kinks|album=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society|rowheader=true|access-date=30 March 2022|refname=Flanders}}
|-
{{album chart|Wallonia|124|artist=The Kinks|album=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society|rowheader=true|access-date=10 November 2018|refname=Wallonia}}
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|84|artist=The Kinks|album=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society|id=49014|rowheader=true|access-date=30 March 2022|refname=Germany4}}
|-
{{album chart|Spain|50|artist=The Kinks|album=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |rowheader=true|access-date=30 March 2022|refname=Spain}}
|-
! scope="row" |[[UK Albums Chart|UK Albums]] ([[Official Charts Company|OCC]])<ref name="UK Chart">{{cite web |title=Official Album Charts Top 100 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20181102/7502/ |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |access-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517235742/https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20181102/7502/ |archive-date=17 May 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|align="center"|47
|-
|2019
{{album chart|Flanders|86|artist=The Kinks|album=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society|rowheader=true|access-date=30 March 2022|refname=Flanders2}}
|}
{{col-2}}
===Certifications===
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Sales certifications for ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Kinks|title=Are the Village Green Preservation Society|award=Gold|type=album|refname=BPIcert|access-date=30 March 2022|certyear=2018|id=15216-1446-2}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
{{col-end}}
== See also ==
{{Portal|1960s|Rock music}}
*''[[Preservation Act 1]]'', 1973 concept album by the Kinks
*''[[Preservation Act 2]]'', 1974 concept album by the Kinks
*[[British invasion]]
*[[British rock]]
*[[Deep England]]
*[[Middle England]]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb|30em}}
== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}
== Bibliography ==
=== Books ===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Crick |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard Crick |title=George Orwell: A Life |date=1980 |publisher=[[Secker & Warburg]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-316-16112-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/georgeorwelllife0000unse/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Davies |title=Kink: An Autobiography |date=1996 |publisher=[[Hachette Books|Hyperion]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-7868-6149-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/kinkautobiograph00davi/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Ray |author1-link=Ray Davies |title=X-Ray: The Unauthorised Autobiography |date=1995 |publisher=Overlook Press |location=Woodstock, New York |isbn=978-0-87951-611-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/xrayunauthorized00davi/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=Julian |title=And on Piano{{nbsp}}... Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man |date=2011 |publisher=Backstage Press |location=San Francisco, California |isbn=978-0-9844362-2-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=DeRogatis |first1=Jim |author1-link=Jim DeRogatis |title=Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock |date=2003 |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-634-05548-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7cQmRsLgN8C |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Mark |title=The Kinks: Songs of the Semi-Detached |date=2020 |publisher=[[Reaktion Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-78914-254-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1jZDwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |author1=((The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'')) |title=The Rolling Stone Record Review |date=1971 |publisher=[[Pocket Books]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-671-78531-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTQ5AQAAIAAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Elnaggar |editor1-first=Jennette |editor2-last=Wilcox |editor2-first=Heather |title=Music: The Definitive Visual History |date=2022 |publisher=[[DK (publisher)|Dorling Kindersley Limited]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-7440-7385-0 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G3xmEAAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Faulk |first1=Barry J. |title=British Rock Modernism, 1967–1977: The Story of Music Hall in Rock |date=2010 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]] |location=Farnham |isbn=978-1-4094-1190-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishrockmoder0000faul/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fleiner |first1=Carey |title=The Kinks: A Thoroughly English Phenomenon |date=2017a |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4422-3542-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIKHDQAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gildart |first1=Keith |title=Images of England Through Popular Music: Class, Youth and Rock 'n' Roll, 1955–1976 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-1-349-28582-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fDRAQAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=John |author1-link=John Harris (critic) |title=The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock |date=2003 |publisher=[[HarperCollins|Fourth Estate]] |location=London |isbn=0-00-713472-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mI0wAQAAIAAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hasted |first1=Nick |title=The Story of the Kinks: You Really Got Me |date=2011 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84938-660-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/storyofkinksyour0000hast |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hawkins |first1=Stan |title=The British Pop Dandy: Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture |date=2017 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-7546-5858-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=py4rDwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Heylin |first1=Clinton |author1-link=Clinton Heylin |title=All the Madmen: Barrett, Bowie, Drake, Pink Floyd, the Kinks, the Who & a Journey to the Dark Side of English Rock |date=2012 |publisher=[[Constable & Robinson|Constable]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84901-880-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/allmadmenbarrett0000heyl |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hinman |first1=Doug |last2=Brabazon |first2=Jason |title=You Really Got Me: An Illustrated World Discography of the Kinks, 1964–1993 |date=1994 |publisher=Doug Hinman |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=978-0-9641005-1-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hinman |first1=Doug |title=The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996 |date=2004 |publisher=[[UBM Technology Group|Backbeat Books]] |location=San Francisco, California |isbn=978-0-87930-765-3}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Irvin |editor1-first=Jim |editor2-last=McLear |editor2-first=Colin |editor1-link=Jim Irvin |title=The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion |date=2003 |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1-84195-438-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/mojocollectiongr00jimi/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jovanovic |first1=Rob |author1-link=Rob Jovanovic |title=God Save the Kinks: A Biography |date=2013 |publisher=[[Aurum Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84513-671-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/godsavekinksbiog0000jova |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kitts |first1=Thomas M. |title=Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-415-97768-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/raydaviesnotlike0000kitt/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |year=1994 |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |edition=1st |publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]] |location=London |isbn=0-85112-786-X |url=https://archive.org/details/alltimetop1000al0000lark_e9k1 |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |year=1998 |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-7535-0258-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/alltimetop1000al0000lark |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |date=2000 |edition=3rd |isbn=0-7535-0493-6}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Larkin |editor-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2011 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8 |edition=Fifth concise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Ian |author1-link=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |date=2007 |publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]] |isbn=978-1-55652-733-3 |edition=Third |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutioninhead0003macd |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Marr |first1=Andrew |title=A History of Modern Britain |date=2009 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-4299-3101-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pglTBVjuligC |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Marten |first1=Neville |last2=Hudson |first2=Jeff |title=The Kinks: A Very English Band |date=2007 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press|Bobcat Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-8256-7351-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/kinksveryenglish0000mart/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Massey |first1=Howard |title=The Great British Recording Studios |date=2015 |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |isbn=978-1-4950-3533-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERqbCwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Matijas-Mecca |first1=Christian |title=Listen to Psychedelic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre |date=2020 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-1-4408-6198-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knTtDwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mendelsohn |first1=John |author1-link=John Mendelsohn (musician) |title=The Kinks Kronikles |date=1985 |publisher=Quill |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-688-02983-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/kinkskronikles00mend/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |author1-link=Barry Miles |title=The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Discography |date=1980 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-86001-762-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstonesill0000mile/ |language=en |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |title=The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years |date=2001 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7119-8308-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trRB-lo4qR8C |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Andy |author1-link=Andy Miller (writer) |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |date=2003 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |series=[[33⅓]] series |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-8264-1498-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yfUAwAAQBAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Allan F. |title=Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock |date=2001 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |location=Aldershot |isbn=978-0-7546-0298-9 |edition=Second |url=https://archive.org/details/rockprimarytextd0000moor/ |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Morra |first1=Irene |title=Britishness, Popular Music, and National Identity: The Making of Modern Britain |date=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-135-04895-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUzhAQAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael James |title=Tell Tchaikovsky the News: Rock 'n' Roll, the Labor Question, and the Musicians' Union, 1942-1968 |date=2014 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |location=Durham, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8223-7883-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIBXAwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Robert |title=Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll |date=2012 |publisher=[[Hal Leonard LLC|Backbeat Books]] |location=Montclair |isbn=978-1-61713-009-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/revolverhowbeatl0000rodr |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rogan |first1=Johnny |author1-link=Johnny Rogan |title=The Kinks: The Sound and the Fury |date=1984 |publisher=Elm Tree Books |location=London |isbn=0-241-11308-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rogan |first1=Johnny |title=The Complete Guide to the Music of the Kinks |date=1998 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7119-6314-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rogan |first1=Johnny |title=Ray Davies: A Complicated Life |date=2015 |publisher=[[The Bodley Head]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84792-317-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/raydaviescomplic0000roga |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Sadie |editor1-first=Stanley |editor1-link=Stanley Sadie |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |date=2001 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan Publishers Ltd.]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-56159-239-5 |edition=Second |url=https://archive.org/details/newgrovedictiona0013unse_k8u6/ |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last1=Savage |first1=Jon |author1-link=Jon Savage |title=The Kinks: The Official Biography |date=1984 |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-13407-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/kinksofficialbio00sava |url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schaffner |first1=Nicholas |author1-link=Nicholas Schaffner |title=The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave |date=1982 |publisher=[[McGraw Hill]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-07-055089-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEEUAQAAIAAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Segretto |first1=Mike |title=The Who FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Fifty Years of Maximum R&B |date=2014 |publisher=Backbeat Books |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |isbn=978-1-4803-9253-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtCGDwAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Segretto |first1=Mike |title=33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute: A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999 |date=2022 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4930-6460-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtNtEAAAQBAJ |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Gordon |title=Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out |date=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-971555-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IcFBLtl7sq8C |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}
{{Refend}}
=== Book chapters ===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite book |last=Alleman |first=Steve |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=44–51 |chapter='The Hard Way' or 'Something Better Beginning' – An Alternate View of The Kinks' Artistic Development}}
* {{cite book |last1=Barry |first1=Eric |editor1-last=Théberge |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Devine |editor2-first=Kyle |editor3-last=Everett |editor3-first=Tom |title=Living Stereo: Histories and Cultures of Multichannel Sound |date=2015 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-62356-665-4 |pages=125–146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LursBQAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Mono in the Stereo Age |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Barbara |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=165–170 |chapter=Two Views of Paradise: The Inner Geography of Ray Davies and Brian Wilson}}
* {{cite book |last1=Catlin |first1=Roger |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |editor1-link=Gary Graff |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |location=Detroit, Michigan |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1 |pages=390–391 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse/page/390/ |chapter=The Kinks |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Costambeys-Kempczynski |first1=Raphael |editor1-last=Harris |editor1-first=Trevor |editor2-last=O’Brien Castro |editor2-first=Monia |title=Preserving the Sixties: Britain and the 'Decade of Protest' |date=2014 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=Houndmills |isbn=978-1-137-37410-3 |pages=173–191 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EcCuAwAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Preservation Society |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Field |first=Elizabeth |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=61–67 |chapter=Skin and Bone, Tea and Scones: Food and Drink Imagery in The Kinks' Music, 1964–1997}}
* {{cite book |last1=Finler |first1=Joel W. |editor1-last=Karney |editor1-first=Robyn |editor1-link=Robyn Karney |title=Cinema: Year by Year, 1894–2001 |date=2001 |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7513-3428-9 |pages=488–691 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cinema00shar/page/488/ |chapter=Color and Widescreen |chapter-url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Jon |editor1-last=Inglis |editor1-first=Ian |title=The Beatles, Popular Music and Society: A Thousand Voices |date=2000 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-312-22235-2 |pages=53–85 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/beatlespopularmu0000unse/page/53/ |chapter=Lennon–McCartney and the Early British Invasion, 1964–6 |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fleiner |first1=Carey |editor1-last=Brooks |editor1-first=Lee |editor2-last=Donnelly |editor2-first=Mark |editor3-last=Mills |editor3-first=Richard |title=Mad Dogs and Englishness: Popular Music and English Identities |date=2017b |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-5013-1127-7 |pages=19–35 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8zDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT21 |language=en |chapter='Rosy, Won't You Please Come Home': Family, home and cultural identity in the music of Ray Davies and the Kinks |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002a |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=9–24 |chapter=Chronology}}
* {{cite book |last=Kitts |first=Thomas M. |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002b |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=131–142 |chapter='...{{nbsp}}in the grand [and not so grand] tradition': Film, Theatre, and the Triumph of 20th Century Man}}
* {{cite book |last=Marotta|first=Joseph G. |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=68–77 |chapter=The Loss of Identity and the Myth of Edenic Return in Ray Davies}}
* {{cite book |last1=Polito |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Polito |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |title=This is Pop: In Search of the Elusive at Experience Music Project |date=2004 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-01321-6 |pages=119–144 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/thisispopinsearc00weis/page/119 |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter=Bits of Me Scattered Everywhere: Ray Davies and the Kinks |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Prichard |first1=Matthew |editor1-last=Crone |editor1-first=Rosalind |editor2-last=Gange |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Jones |editor3-first=Katy |title=New Perspectives in British Cultural History |date=2007 |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |isbn=978-1-5275-6697-2 |pages=266–274 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKghEAAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=The Kinks, or a Redefinition of English National Identity |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-7432-0169-8 |chapter=The Kinks |pages=458–460 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/458/ |chapter-url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Patricia Gordon |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=80–99 |chapter='Let's Have a Go at It': The British Musical Hall and The Kinks}}
* {{cite book |last=Rayes |first=Ken |editor1-last=Kitts |editor1-first=Thomas M. |title=Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks |date=2002 |publisher=Desolation Angel Books |location=Rumford, Rhode Island |isbn=0-9641005-4-1 |pages=153–164 |chapter=The ''Village Green'' and ''The Great Gatsby'' – Two Views of Preservation}}
* {{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=Graham |editor1-last=Hadley |editor1-first=Louisa |editor2-last=Ho |editor2-first=Elizabeth |title=Thatcher and After: Margaret Thatcher and Her Afterlife in Contemporary Culture |date=2010 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-230-28316-9 |pages=199–220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m-ADAAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Sarah Kane: Cool Britannia's Reluctant Feminist |via=[[Google Books]]}}
{{Refend}}
=== Liner notes ===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |author=Anon.[a] |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |others=[[The Kinks]] |date=1968 |type=Liner notes|publisher=[[Pye Records]] |id=NPL 18233|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(a)|1968}}}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |last=Davies |first=Ray |title=This Is Where I Belong: The Songs Of Ray Davies & The Kinks |others=Various artists |date=2002 |type=Liner notes|publisher=Praxis Records |id=RCD 10621}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |last=Doggett |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Doggett |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |others=[[The Kinks]] |date=1998 |type=Liner notes |publisher=[[Essential Records (Castle)|Essential]] |id=ESM CD 481}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |last1=Miller |first1=Andrew |last2=Sandoval |first2=Andrew |author2-link=Andrew Sandoval |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |others=The Kinks |date=2004 |type=Liner notes |publisher=[[Sanctuary Records]] |id=SMETD 102}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |last=Neill |first=Andy |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (50th Anniversary) |chapter=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society |others=[[The Kinks]] |year=2018 |type=Liner notes |publisher=[[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]], [[ABKCO]] |id=BMGAA09USBOX |pages=5–26}}
* {{Cite AV media notes |last=Sandoval |first=Andrew |title=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (50th Anniversary) |others=[[The Kinks]] |year=2018 |type=Liner notes |publisher=[[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]], [[ABKCO]] |id=BMGAA09USBOX}}
{{Refend}}
=== Magazine, newspaper and journal articles ===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|35em}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Alterman |first=Loraine |title=Who Let the Kinks In? |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=18 December 1969 |issue=48}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Altham |first=Keith |title=Kinks Reminiscing on the Village Green |date=21 September 1968 |magazine=[[New Musical Express]] |page=10 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1968/NME-1968-09-21i.pdf |via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine|author=Anon.[b]|title=Pye Host 19 Countries At 9th Int'l Meet|magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|date=21 September 1968|pages=67, 73–74|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-09-28.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(b)|1968}}}}
* {{cite magazine|author=Anon.[c]|title=Pye Records Presents an Autumn Collection|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|date=28 September 1968|page=23|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/68/Melody-Maker-1968-0928.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(c)|1968}}}}
* {{cite magazine|author=Anon.[d]|title=Album Reviews|magazine=[[Disc (magazine)|Disc and Music Echo]]|date=23 November 1968|page=2|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(d)|1968}}}}
* {{cite magazine|author=Anon.[a]|title=Cash Box ''Record Reviews''|date=25 January 1969|magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|page=22|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1969/CB-1969-01-25.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(a)|1969}}}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Anon.[b]|title=Spotlight Singles|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=1 February 1969|page=79|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1969/Billboard-1969-02-01.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(b)|1969}}}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Anon.[c]|title=Basic Album Inventory|magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|date=28 June 1969|page=54|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1969/CB-1969-06-28.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com|ref={{SfnRef|Anon.(c)|1969}}}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Bailey|first=Andrew|title=Can Anybody Depend on the Kinks? Yeah.|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|issue=163|date=20 June 1974|page=12}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Baxter-Moore |first1=Nick |title='This Is Where I Belong'—Identity, Social Class, and the Nostalgic Englishness of Ray Davies and the Kinks |journal=Popular Music and Society |date=May 2006 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=145–165 |doi=10.1080/03007760600559989 |s2cid=191625359 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03007760600559989 |url-access=subscription |ref={{SfnRef|Baxter-Moore|2006}}}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Boltwood |first=Derek |title=Kinks' 'Bum' & the BBC! |date=10 May 1969 |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |page=5 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/69/Record-Mirror-1969-05-10.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Breyer|first1=Mark|last2=Vittenson|first2=Rik|title=Kinks Konfessions: Ray Davies Revealed|magazine=[[Crawdaddy (magazine)|Crawdaddy]]|date=March 1976|page=8}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Cavanagh |first=David |title=A Far Away Place |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |series=Mojo: The Collectors' Series: Mod Icons – Part Two: The Kinks |date=5 May 2022 |via=[[Apple News+]]}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=Rock&Roll&: Kinks Kountry |magazine=[[The Village Voice]] |date=10 April 1969 |pages=31, 36–37 |volume=XIV |number=26 |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/kinks-69.php |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216105123/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/kinks-69.php |url-status=live |via=robertchristgau.com}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Cott |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-afternoon-tea-with-ray-davies-161322/ |title= Q&A: Afternoon Tea With Ray Davies |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=26 November 1970 |issue=71 |pages=30–31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208115605/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-afternoon-tea-with-ray-davies-161322/ |archive-date=8 February 2022 |via=RollingStone.com}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Dawbarn|first=Bob|title=Ray – The Patriot Kink|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|date=16 April 1966|page=3|url=https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfRock1966/page/n25/ |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Dawbarn |first=Bob |title=Looking back with the Kinks: Ray Davies explains ''The Village Green Preservation Society'' |date=30 November 1968 |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |page=8 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/68/Melody-Maker-1968-1130.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine|author1=((The Editors of ''Rolling Stone''))|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=11 December 2003|number=937|pages=83–178|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Farmer|first=Bob|title=Kink Goes Solo!|magazine=[[Disc (magazine)|Disc and Music Echo]]|date=8 July 1967|page=16|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1967/DISC-&-Music-Echo-1967-07-08.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gelbart |first1=Matthew |title=Persona and Voice in the Kinks' Songs of the Late 1960s |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Musical Association]] |date=2003 |volume=128 |issue=2 |pages=200–241 |doi=10.1093/jrma/128.2.200 |jstor=3557496 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557496 |url-access=subscription |issn=0269-0403}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Henshaw|first=Laurie|title=Enter Ray Davies, the record producer|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|date=24 August 1968|page=7|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/68/Melody-Maker-1968-0824.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite news |last1=Hyland |first1=Mark |title=In the groove |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmZGAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA32 |work=[[The Daily Gazette|Schenectady Gazette]] |date=25 October 1969 |page=10 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Peter|title=Kinks hailed at last in America|magazine=[[Beat Instrumental]]|date=November 1968|page=38|volume=3|number=67|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Beat-Instrumental/6811-Beat-Instrumental-1968-11-OCR.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Jopling |first=Norman |title=Ray Davies on Holly, & the rocking Kinks |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |date=4 February 1967 |page=3 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/67/Record-Mirror-1967-02-04.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |author1-link=Greg Kot |title=Chicago's best new recorded music |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110508849/chicagos-best-new-recorded-music/ |access-date=1 October 2022 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=1 September 2000 |at=sec. 7, pp. 19, 37 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lupro |first1=Michael Mooradian |title=Preserving the Old Ways, Protecting the New: Post-War British Urban Planning in ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'' |journal=Popular Music and Society |date=May 2006 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=189–200 |doi=10.1080/03007760600560094 |s2cid=144597530 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007760600560094 |language=en |url-access=subscription |issn=0300-7766}}
{{Cite magazine |last=McKay |first=Alastair |date=December 2018 |title=The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society |url=https://archive.org/details/UncutMagazineUKDec2018/page/n41 |magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |page=43 |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite news |last=Mendelsohn |first=John |author-link=John Mendelsohn (musician) |title=The Kinks: ''The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society'' (Reprise); Cream: ''Goodbye Cream'' (Atco) |newspaper=[[Daily Bruin]] |date=9 April 1969 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-kinks-ithe-kinks-are-the-village-green-preservation-societyi-reprise-cream-igoodbye-creami-atco |url-access=subscription |via=[[Rock's Backpages]]}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Morisset |first=Jean-Pierre |title=Pete Quaife, interviewed by Jean-Pierre Morisset |magazine={{ill|Jukebox magazine|fr}} |date=May 2006 |issue=230}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Neill |first=Andy |title=The Great Lost Kinks Album |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |date=February 2000 |number=246 |pages=46–49 |url=https://archive.org/details/RecordCollectorMagazineNo246-February2000/page/46/ |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
{{cite magazine|last=Nolan|first=Hugh|title=Suddenly the Kinks are Feeling Old|date=3 August 1968|magazine=[[Disc (magazine)|Disc and Music Echo]]|page=9|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1968/Disc-&-Music-Echo-1968-08-03.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Roberts |first1=Randall |title=Life's Rich Pageant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |website=[[CMJ New Music Monthly]] |page=12 |date=February 1999 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Schier |first=Johanna |title=Riffs |magazine=The Village Voice |date=27 February 1969 |pages=33–34 |volume=XIV |number=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8cpAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA51 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012133851/https://books.google.com/books?id=x8cpAAAAIBAJ |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Walsh |first1=Alan |title='I'm Not Good Enough to Go Solo!': Dave Davies tells Alan Walsh |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |date=12 August 1967 |page=9 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/67/Melody-Maker-1967-0812.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Williams |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator) |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thekinks/albums/album/90937/review/6067569/village_green_preservation_society |title=The Kinks: ''The Village Green Preservation Society''  |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=14 June 1969 |number=35 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403101859/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thekinks/albums/album/90937/review/6067569/village_green_preservation_society |archive-date=3 April 2007 |via=RollingStone.com}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Wilson|first=Tony|title=The loneliness of the far-sighted songwriter|date=3 August 1968|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|page=9|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Melody-Maker/60s/68/Melody-Maker-1968-0803.pdf|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}
{{Refend}}
== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|101391|name=The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society}}
{{The Kinks}}
{{The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society|state=expanded}}
{{Under Milk Wood}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, The}}
[[Category:1968 albums]]
[[Category:1960s concept albums]]
[[Category:The Kinks albums]]
[[Category:Pye Records albums]]
[[Category:Reprise Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Ray Davies]]
[[Category:Baroque pop albums]]