![]() Is that true?ĭave Davies: (laughs) Well, I never saw him. Rock Cellar: Ray says Elvis was rumored to have come to band’s show at The Whisky in November ’69. The FM radio airplay of songs like “Victoria” helped us get another stab at America and reconnect with the audiences over there. So this was a chance for us to get back on our feet again in America, which took time but it brought us back in a big way in the States. We’d been banned during the Village Green period. We could go back to America and tour again, and that was a really big thing for us. I felt the Arthur album was the start of a new beginning for us with The Kinks. Has Arthur album been overlooked in your eyes?ĭave Davies: I think so, definitely. Rock Cellar: While the The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society album received its share of mighty critical kudos through the years, Arthur has not garnered that kind of retroactive acclaim. ![]() After the war, as kids we looked around and went, “Did we actually win anything?” We’re still fighting for injustices and social inequality and all kinds of things that are still going on today so did we really win at anything at all? The subtitle was a reflection of all of that. Can you address the meaning behind the subtitle?ĭave Davies: It’s really a notion that Ray picked up on. Rock Cellar: The title of the album is Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall Of the British Empire. One of my favorite lines in “Arthur” is (recites lyrics), “Arthur, could be you were right all along.” It was a song of sympathy for what he did and what he was trying to do with his life. If you listen to the track “Arthur” it’s full of understanding. I think Arthur was touched by it in the end. Arthur of course knew much of the album was about him and emigrating to Australia and at that time it was a big deal to emigrate, not like nowadays. It was one of those, “What are those brothers up to now?” kind of thing. Rock Cellar: What did your sister Rose think of the Arthur album, and what was her husband Arthur’s impressions?ĭave Davies: Well, I think she thought it was a bit amusing and tongue in cheek. We always imagined Terry would be a part of our team.ĭave Davies: Oh yeah, he’s a year older than me and a year younger than Ray. She and her husband Arthur and their son Terry moved to Australia right at the time The Kinks were starting to take off. She was at least ten years older than us. Rock Cellar: How much older was your sister Rose to you and Ray?ĭave Davies: Well, she was the oldest sister. ![]() So we heard a lot about the war when we were children. Of course, when we were small, small kids in a big family, we were told many war stories. My family knew many people who were very involved with the war, so the album has a lot of references to the war years. The inspiration for the idea came from our family but Ray obviously gave rise to other subject matter about Britain at that time through the war years. I was excited about the collection of songs, but because of the family connection it made it even more interesting. It really hit close to home as it’s primarily about our family, my sister Rose and her husband, Arthur, who emigrated to Australia. Rock Cellar: Following the relative commercial failure but creative success of your prior album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, what was the thinking going into the studio for the album Arthur?ĭave Davies: Working on the Arthur album was very enjoyable because the subject matter of the album was of great interest to me. Join us for a conversation with Kinks founding member, guitarist Dave Davies, for a look at “Arthur.” In addition to the above, the reissue features outtakes, alternate cuts, B-sides, BBC mixes, rehearsal tracks, the complete lost Dave Davies solo album along with a softback book and various Kinks ephemera.Ī concept album based on Ray and Dave’s sister Rose and husband Arthur Anning, who emigrated to Australia in the early ‘60s, the album, the band’s first with new bassist John Dalton, is a powerful and evocative snapshot of a bygone era framed by some of the group’s strongest work with songs like “Shangri-La,” “Victoria,” “Yes Sir, No Sire,” “Young and Innocent Days,” “Australia,” “Drivin’” and “Brainwashed.” ![]() Now that’s about to change, with a 50th anniversary 4-CD deluxe box culling 81 tracks, including a newly remastered version of the original album having been released in late October. Yet its worthy follow-up album, 1969’s Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall Of The British Empire) has wrongly failed to earn the same gushing accolades. More than a half a century since its original release, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society album is lauded as a landmark moment in rock and roll history and is lauded as one of the group’s signature classics. ![]()
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