It is my firm opinion that both Ray Davies and Paul McCartney, in their heart of hearts, wanted to be songsmiths for Tin Pan Alley or late night cabaret acts. Instead, they got sidetracked with stardom and rock and roll. McCartney and The Beatles hit it REAL big, while Davies and The Kinks always had intermittent flashes of fame, but always ended up retreating from it for personal or artistic reasons.
This two cd Legacy Edition reissue of The Kinks’ 1972 “double album” is a perfect case in point. They original album had a “studio side” of new material and a “live” side from concerts from New York and London. The extra disc adds 17 more concert recordings and some studio outtakes.
Coming fresh from success with highly artistic and semi-commercially successful albums like Lola vs Powerman and Muswell Hillbillies, Davies went back into the studio and came out with music that is a mix between late night cabaret and vaudeville. The topics are mostly about the dreary life on the road, with pieces like “Sitting In My Hotel” and “Hot Potatoes” not exactly glamorizing the rock star life. Still, Davies could always put in some clever perspective and humor, and “Here Comes Another Day “ is a beaut, while “Celluloid Heroes” is an absolute classic of a composition.
The concert material has a healthy dose of material from their latest albums (No “20th Century Man”?!? ) and it’s a hoot to hear concert takes of “Alcohol” and “Holiday” while Davies hams it up with “Banana Boat Song.” Obscurities like “Get Back In Line” sit right with “Sunny Afternoon” and the Zappa-esque “Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues.” The core team of Ray and Dave Davies, Mick Avory/dr, John Dalton/b and John Gosling/key is given an extra show biz feel with a hip horn section, making you feel that Davies didn’t really want to be known as a “rocker,” but more as a 60s version of Johnny Burke, Irving Berlin or Jerome Kern.