Concept Kings
The concept album. Few terms in rock and roll cause more divergence of opinion than this one. Depending on your view, the concept album can be the peak of creative expression within the album format or the height of bloated self-indulgence that is far removed from the “three chords and the truth in a garage” aesthetic that means real rock and roll to so many fans. The definition of “concept album” is not even agreed upon. Generally speaking, a concept album is an album whose songs or music is unified in some way. They are not merely a collection of tunes thrown together for 40 to 80 minutes, but the tunes are related. They can be loosely related thematically, or they can actually attempt to tell a coherent story, like a musical or opera, just in the rock music setting.
If you accept the loose definition, you can trace the roots of the concept album back to the 1950’s in jazz (Duke Ellington and Masterpieces by Ellington, for instance) or pop music (Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours is often considered a loose concept album). The first rock concept records? I think you can go back to 1966, where Frank Zappa’s Freak Out! and Face to Face by the Kinks may vie for that title.
Face To Face is one of those mostly forgotten records (except by music critics) from the 1960’s that is an absolute gem. But that’s the story of the Kinks in general, isn’t it? Often overlooked, but a gem of a band. There are several reasons that they did not translate as well as their fellow British Invasion bands in the U.S. They had a prolonged battle with the musician’s union that prevented them from touring in the States throughout the late 1960’s. That was part of it. But also, Ray Davies is the most British of the British Invasion songwriters. Most American listeners might be a bit confused by (or indifferent towards) a concept album about day to day British middle class life, or one about the charms of life around the village green, or one attempting to chronicle the cultural impact of the decline of the British Empire (all were the subjects of three classic Kinks 60’s records).
Back to Face To Face. A collection of 14 pop gems that serve as snapshots of British middle class life, Face To Face is simply brilliant and a joy to listen to. I put it up against almost anything else as the great pop record of the 60’s. Ray Davies’s celebrated wit and observations have never been sharper or more concise, from the humorous portrait of a pasty Brit on vacation in “Holiday in Waikiki” to living beyond your means in “Most Exclusive Residence For Sale” to the youth desperately trying to impress in “Dandy,” it is all there. And Davies’s unusual (and conservative) point of view is also dramatically on display in “Rosie Won’t You Please Come Home.” Rock and roll is brimming with tunes of teenage rebellion and breaking free from the constraints of overbearing parents and society, but how many songs take the heartbreaking point of view of the parents left behind when their wild child has disappeared? Lesser known Kinks gems are all over this record, including the gorgeous and weary “Too Much On My Mind,” which may be Davies’s prettiest song. And it is capped off with the very funny tax fugitive/upper class malaise tale “Sunny Afternoon”:
“The tax man's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
And I can't sail my yacht
He's taken everything I've got
All I've got's this sunny afternoon
Save me, save me
Save me from this squeeze
I've got a big fat momma tryin' to break me
And I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime, in the summertime
In the summertime
My girlfriend's gone off with my car
And gone back to her ma and pa
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty
Now I'm sitting here
Sipping at my ice cold beer
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
Help me, help me, help me sail away
Well, give me two good reasons
Why I ought to stay
'Cause I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
In Summertime, in summertime
In summertime”
Ray never bested Face To Face (in my view), but he did get more ambitious with subsequent concept albums. The beloved The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is an ode to a simpler British life that probably never really existed. Arthur, Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire is an excellent look at the British middle class as the British Empire is in its twilight, and much more coherent than what many consider to be the ultimate concept record released in the same year, The Who’s Tommy. Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 is one of the better broadsides at the music industry and the travails of fame. Muswell Hillbillies is another nostalgia session, while Everybody’s in Showbiz details the banality of life on the road. Davies did start to overreach in the mid-70’s with his “rock opera” phase (Preservation Pt. 1, Preservation Pt. 2, The Kinks Present A Soap Opera, Schoolboys in Disgrace), but nobody could accuse him of lacking in ambition.
The Kinks are so important for several reasons. I chose to look at their concept album legacy, but I could have written about how Ray and brother Dave Davies practically invented garage rock with their early singles. Or how they pulled off an unlikely comeback in the late 70’s and early 80’s by reinventing themselves convincingly as a muscular arena rock band (which is where I initially got on board). Or about how Ray Davies would be in the conversation as rock’s greatest songwriter (“rock and roll’s poet laureate,” in the words of Pete Townshend). Or how Ray’s great talent should not overshadow Dave Davies’s talents as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Yet, at least in the United States, they may be the biggest cult band in history. God Save The Kinks.
What To Listen To:
The Kinks released a series of groundbreaking singles in their early days, even as on their initial records they were still finding their way. The now hard to find Greatest Hits expertly collects those singles and b-sides. You know I like to discuss great streaks, and The Kinks had one from about 1966 through the early 70’s. I discuss them above, but Face To Face, Something Else By The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire and Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround Pt. 1 are all essential Kinks. After that, the records are more spotty with brilliant individual songs. Kink Kronikles is a quirky compilation that is much beloved that covers this period, but it is not a straight hits collection, more an alternative history that is full of b-sides and hard to find gems. I am a huge fan of the Arista Records years (1977-84), which was their most successful period in the U.S., but those records are all mixed bags of great rock songs and filler. Here is something you can do, string together the following compilations: Greatest Hits (if you can find it) covers the early essential singles, then Kink Kronikles takes you through the late 60’s, Celluloid Heroes starts in the early 70’s and goes to 1976, then Come Dancing With The Kinks covers ’77-’84, and Lost and Found will finish up the 80’s for you. All are worthwhile, well, except for that last one. On a more serious note, the two disc Ultimate Collection is a decent (but far from perfect) overview covering all eras, while the six disc box set Picture Book is exhaustive but quite good.
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