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The Kinks' classic The Village Green Preservation Society - an incredible forty years old this week! We give the bonus-packed re-released three-disc version of this classic album another spin.

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, by The Kinks (3-CD Deluxe Edition Album)

1960s Kings Road troubadours The Kinks are the latest act to issue a bonus-packed version of a classic album with the releases of their legendary ‘Village Green Preservation Society as a ‘Deluxe Edition’.

Sanctuary Records have released what is widely regarded as one of the milestone concept albums of the 1960s. Ray Davies’ 1968 opus The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society is widely regarded as one of the most classic British albums of all-time. It now - arguably - ranks alongside Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles), Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (The Small Faces) and The Who Sell Out (The Who – who else?) as a masterpiece of late '60s invention.

For the extras-demanding 21st century audience the original LP has been digitally re-mastered and is released for the first time as a deluxe edition 3-CD digipak.

'The Great Lost Kinks Album'

In addition to the original 15-track stereo release, the reproduced album includes previously unreleased unique extras, B-sides, both mono and stereo mixes of the original tracks, rarely heard BBC sessions and tracks from the abandoned first 12-track edition of the album – as well as material which has only ever appeared before on the rare, highly collectable US-only LP The Great Lost Kinks Album. In addition, new sleeve-notes by Andy Miller - author of a book on the making of the original album - boasts fresh quotes from both auteur frontman of the band, Ray and his bandmate brother, Dave Davies.

Disc 1 features the original stereo version of the album via the 15 track stereo masters, plus four bonus tracks including the original stereo mixes of the 12 track edition recordings of Mr Songbird, Days, Do You Remember Walter and People Take Pictures Of Each Other.

Disc 2 boasts the mono mixes of the original 15 songs on the album, and also includes the bonus tracks of mono single mixes of Days, Mr Songbird, Polly, Wonderboy, Berkeley Mews, as well as the mono no-strings version of lead track Village Green.

Disc 3 features all the rarities across 22 songs. Highlights include the previously unissued orchestra overdub of Village Green, the previously unissued BBC session remixes of Do You Remember Walter, Animal Farm, and Days. Also on offer are stereo versions of songs that were never issued outside of America, including Berkeley Mews and Polly, plus a mono version of Where Did My Spring Go that was previously unissued on CD or outside of America.

Originally issued on November 22, 1968, The Village Green Preservation Society was created when Ray Davies was only 24 years old; a concept album, steeped in British nostalgia that declared its – perhaps somewhat ambitious - intentions as: to save Tudor houses, china cups, custard pies, Sherlock Holmes, and virginity from obsolescence within the space of the eponymous title track on the album.

Dickensian Characters

Despite its relatively modest sales at the time, Ray Davies penned what some critics hail as his finest collection of songs that saw him reflecting back on a romanticised, storybook setting of yesteryear England, populated with quirky, Dickensian characters and self-consciously cutting anecdotes.

By 24, Ray Davies had experienced stardom's usual highs and lows, and his disillusionment is evident in songs like Starstruck. He sings: "Watch out or else you'll be ruined/'Cause once you're addicted to wine and champagne, it's gonna drive you insane" and All Of My Friends Were There - ostensibly a fantasy about finally being able to bow out of the spotlight for good, in which he declares with relief, "Thank God I can go back to normal again"), which struck a chord with the legions of Kinks enthusiasts.

As with all of Davies' sentimental observations on life, over time 'Village Green has proven to play an important part in rock'n'roll's rich tapestry. Davies conjures up visions of loss and salvation when reminiscing on the title track; "I miss the Village Green, and all the simple people...the church, the clock, the steeple/I miss the morning dew, fresh air, and Sunday school."

The Rolling Stones

The Kinks faced an injunction preventing them from touring America between 1965 and 1969, which prevented them from reaching the same level of success as their peers The Rolling Stones, The Who and the Beatles. It's no surprise that Davies romanticised about looking back on his past to find inspiration for 'Village Green - in "those days when you were happy, a long time ago" (Picture Book) and penning such wistful lyrics as "Isn't it a shame the way our little world has changed?" (Do You Remember Walter?) and "Oh, how I love things as they used to be" (in the track People Take Pictures Of Each Other).

The U.S. touring ban had also isolated the Kinks from the rock music world's largest market - a country that exercised a larger influence on international pop culture than almost any other country. It was inevitable that he became more introspective, more wistful, and definitely more English. And of all the 1960s' original British Invasion bands, the Kinks were certainly the most British-sounding.

Together with the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and the Stones' masterpiece Exile On Main Street, ’Village Green wasn't a huge commercial success when it was originally released. But like the two aforementioned albums, it received universal, critical praise and is now considered by many to be the definitive milestone Kinks album.

British Invasion

Although it's never been hip to reminisce about the simpler times of Old England, ‘Village Green shouldn't be perceived as another conventional and clichéd concept album like Pink Floyd's bombastic The Wall or the Who's acid-like Tommy. If anything ‘Village Green is a study of true love and tragic loss. In the tradition of Ray Davies' impeccable insights as England's finest singer/songwriter, ‘Village Green is more like a rock'n'roll version of a Charles Dickens novel, an antique family photo album, a vaudeville musical, or haunting memoirs.

Davies meticulously recreates the long-lost England he remembers with sentiments that are authentic and real, all of which make the listeners feel as if had actually written the postcards from ‘Village Green itself.

Thirty-six years on from its original release, Village Green Preservation Society is destined to have the same critical impact for the Kinks that the Smile album had for Brian Wilson. Ray Davies' trademark talent as England's premiere singer/songwriter gets better with age, and for the first time, anyone who originally bought the album all those years ago, will marvel at this immaculate 3-CD deluxe album set from Sanctuary Records.

The full track listing for this new, bolstered edition of The Village Green Preservation Society looks like this:

Disc One - Stereo

1. Village Green Preservation Society (2.52) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
2. Do You Remember Walter? (2.29) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
3. Picture Book (2.39) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
4. Johnny Thunder (2.33) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
5. Last of the Steam-Powered Trains (4.31) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
6. Big Sky (2.35) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
7. Sitting by the Riverside (2.22) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
8. Animal Farm (3.01) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
9. Village Green (2.13) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
10. Starstruck (2.24) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
11. Phenomenal Cat (2.41) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
12. All of My Friends Were There (2.28) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
13. Wicked Annabella (2.45) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
14. Monica (2.19) Original 15 Track Stereo Master
15. People Take Pictures of Each Other (2.14) Original 15 Track Stereo Master

Bonus Tracks:

1. Mr Songbird (2.24) 12 Track Edition
2. Days (2.52) 12 Track Edition (Single)
3. Do You Remember Walter (2.24) Orig. Stereo Mix from 12 Track Edition
4. People Take Pictures Of Each Other (2.24) Orig. Stereo Mix from 12 Track Edition

Disc Two - Mono

1. Village Green Preservation Society (2.51) 15 Track Mono Mix
2. Do You Remember Walter? (2.25) 15 Track Mono Mix
3. Picture Book (2.35) 15 Track Mono Mix
4. Johnny Thunder (2.36) 15 Track Mono Mix
5. Last of the Steam-Powered Trains (4.09) 15 Track Mono Mix
6. Big Sky (2.50) 15 Track Mono Mix
7. Sitting by the Riverside (2.22) 15 Track Mono Mix
8. Animal Farm (2.59) 15 Track Mono Mix
9. Village Green (2.10) 15 Track Mono Mix
10. Starstruck (2.25) 15 Track Mono Mix
11. Phenomenal Cat (2.37) 15 Track Mono Mix
12. All of My Friends Were There (2.24) 15 Track Mono Mix
13. Wicked Annabella (2.42) 15 Track Mono Mix
14. Monica (2.18) 15 Track Mono Mix
15. People Take Pictures of Each Other 2.(13 15) Track Mono Mix

Bonus Tracks:

1. Days (2.54) Mono Single Mix
2. Mr. Songbird (2.24) Mono Single Mix
3. Polly (2.49) Mono Single Mix
4. Days (2.54) Mono Single Mix
5. Wonderboy (2.49) Mono Single Mix
6. Berkeley Mews (2.36) Mono Single Mix
7. Village Green (2.10) Mono No Strings Version

Disc Three - Rarities

1. Village Green (2.21) Orchestra Overdub (Previously unissued)
2. Misty Water (3.05) Stereo (Previously unissued on CD)
3. Berkeley Mews (2.37) Stereo (Unissued outside the US)
4. Easy Come There You Went (2.23) Stereo (Previously unissued)
5. Polly (2.49) Stereo (Unissued outside the US)
6. Animal Farm (3.00) Alternate Stereo Mix (Previously unissued)
7. Phenomenal Cat (2.49) Instrumental, Mono (Previously unissued)
8. Johnny Thunder (2.34) Stereo Remix (Previously unissued)
9. Did You See His Name (1.57) Mono (Previously unissued)
10. Mick Avory's Underpants (2.17) Mono (Previously unissued)
11. Lavender Hill (2.56) Mono (Unissued outside the US)
12. Rosemary Rose (1.44) Mono (Unissued outside the US)
13. Wonderboy (2.42) Stereo (Previously unissued on CD)
14. Spotty Grotty Anna (2.04) Stereo (Previously unissued on CD)
15. Where Did My Spring Go (2.09) Mono (Previously unissued on CD or outside the US)
16. Groovy Movies (2.33) Mono (previously unreleased On CD)
17. Creeping Jean (3.09) Long Stereo Mix (previously unreleased)
18. King Kong (3.24) Originally the B-side of Plastic Man
19. Misty Water (3.09) Mono (Previously Unissued)
20. Do You Remember Walter? (2.16) BBC Session Remix (Previously unissued)
21. Animal Farm (3.00) BBC Session Remix (Previously unissued)
22. Days (3.01) BBC Session Remix (Previously unissued)

Featured in a mid-table position in the recent ‘100 Greatest British Albums’ listings produced by The Observer newspaper, the album is also available as a 28 track single disc version, featuring the original recording re-mastered, as part of a wider re-mastering of the Kinks’ back-catalogue.

See also on Lifestyle: Waterloo To Everywhere - The Kinks go digital 40 years on from Waterloo Sunset.

For more information on The Kinks, visit the website of the official Kinks fanclub: www.officialkinksfanclub.co.uk

See also the official website for Dave Davies: www.davedavies.com

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, by The Kinks (3-CD Deluxe Edition Album) is in the shops now, on Sanctuary Records.

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