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Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

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Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) is a concept album by the English rock band The Kinks, released in late 1969. The album followed a rough period for the band, with the commercial failure of the critically acclaimed concept album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and its follow-up single, "Plastic Man", and the departure of founding member Pete Quaife. Songwriter Ray Davies constructed the album as the soundtrack to a planned television play which was never produced, but whose storyline had been developed in collaboration with Julian Mitchell. Mitchell recently recalled: "Arthur had a most unhappy history... we got as far as casting (excellent director and actors) and finding locations and were about to go when the producer went to a production meeting without a proper budget, tried to flannel his way through it, was immediately sussed and the production pulled. I have never been able to forgive the man."

The story is somewhat inspired by Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning's emigration from England to Australia with his wife Rose—Ray and Dave's older sister, and the subject of the song "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" from the album Face to Face—in the early 1960s. The lead character in the album, the fictional Arthur Morgan, is a carpet layer whose family's plight in the opportunity-poor setting of post-war England is depicted. The songs describe the England that Arthur once knew, the promise of life in Australia for one of his sons, the emptiness of his superficially comfortable life in his home, "Shangri-La", the resolve of the British people in World War II, and the death of his brother in World War I, among other things. Many of the songs (such as "Victoria" and "Brainwashed") represent a strong return to rock and roll, which The Kinks had largely forgone during the 1966–68 period.

The album was critically acclaimed at the time of release, especially in the U.S. rock press. It was very favourably compared to Tommy by The Who, the highly successful rock opera, and Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, released earlier in the year. Mike Daly in the Rolling Stone, for example, called it "an album that is a masterpiece on every level: Ray Davies' finest hour, the Kinks' supreme achievement".[1] Arthur was a moderate commercial success and was seen as something of a turnaround from The Kinks' commercial failures of 1968. It also set the stage for their return to touring the United States in late 1969 (after a five-year ban) and for even greater commercial success with the hit song "Lola" the following year.

Track listing

All songs written by Ray Davies, except as noted.

Side 1

  1. "Victoria" – 3:40
  2. "Yes Sir, No Sir" – 3:46
  3. "Some Mother's Son" – 3:25
  4. "Drivin'" – 3:21
  5. "Brainwashed" – 2:34
  6. "Australia" – 6:46

Side 2

  1. "Shangri-La" – 5:20
  2. "Mr. Churchill Says" – 4:42
  3. "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina" – 3:07
  4. "Young And Innocent Days" – 3:21
  5. "Nothing To Say" – 3:08
  6. "Arthur" – 5:27

Bonus tracks on CD reissues

  1. "Plastic Man (Mono version)" – 3:04
  2. "King Kong (Mono version)" – 3:23
  3. "Drivin' (Mono version)" – 3:12
  4. "Mindless Child Of Motherhood (Mono version)" (Dave Davies) – 3:16
  5. "This Man He Weeps Tonight (Mono Version)" (Dave Davies) – 2:42
  6. "Plastic Man (Stereo Version)" – 3:04
  7. "Mindless Child of Motherhood (Stereo version)" (Dave Davies) – 3:16
  8. "This Man He Weeps Tonight (Stereo version)" (Dave Davies) – 2:42 (Due to a publishing error, it is only one side of the stereo mix in both channels; the true stereo version can be found on The Great Lost Kinks Album, on a German compilation CD, and on the UK iTunes.)
  9. "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina (Mono version)" – 3:07
  10. "Mr. Shoemaker's Daughter" – 3:08

Song notes

  • Dave Davies has stated in interviews that he feels "Shangri-La" to be one of the best songs ever written by Ray Davies.
  • The song "Victoria" was covered by The Fall in 1988 and by One Man Army in 2002.
  • The single version of "Victoria" failed to crack the top 40 on the American Billboard Pop Singles chart, but was a top 40 hit in both the UK and Canada and charted in the top ten in Sweden.

Personnel

Production

  • Ray Davies - Producer
  • Lew Warburton - Conductor
  • Andrew Hendriksen - Engineer
  • Brian Humphries - Engineer on "Drivin'"
  • Bob Lawrie - Album art
  • Austin Sneller - Album "Tester"
  • Recorded at Pye Studios, London

References

  1. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thekinks/albums/album/116314/review/6213007/arthur_or_decline_and_fall_of_the_british_empire
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