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

Background

British production company Granada TV approached Ray Davies in early January 1969, expressing interest in developing a movie or play for television. Davies was to collaborate with writer Julian Mitchell on the "experimental" programme, with a soundtrack by the Kinks to be released on an accompanying LP. Agreements were finalised on 8 January, but the project was not revealed until a press release on 10 March. Separately, the Kinks began work on the programme's companion record, entitled Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). Development of Arthur occurred during a rough period for the band, due to the commercial failure of their previous album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and the subsequent single, "Plastic Man", as well as the departure of founding member and bassist Pete Quaife. In early 1969, Quaife had told the band he was quitting, though the other members did not take the remark seriously. When an article in the New Musical Express mentioned Maple Oak, the band that he had formed without the rest of the Kinks' knowledge, Davies unsuccessfully asked Quaife to return for the upcoming sessions of Arthur. As a replacement, Davies called up bassist John Dalton, who had previously filled in for Quaife.

Davies travelled to United Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California on 11 April 1969, to produce American pop band The Turtles' LP Turtle Soup with engineer Chuck Britz. While in Los Angeles, Davies helped negotiate an end to the concert ban placed on the Kinks by the American Federation of Musicians in 1965. Although neither the Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour. After negotiations with Davies, the Federation relented, opening up an opportunity for the group to return to touring in America. Once the main sessions for the Turtles LP were completed, Davies returned to England. While Davies was abroad, the other members of the band had been rehearsing and practising for the upcoming album, as well as lead guitarist Dave Davies' solo album, nicknamed A Hole in the Sock of. When Ray returned, the Kinks regrouped at his house in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, to rehearse the upcoming album Arthur.

Recording

The group turned to the recording proper on 1 May 1969. The first tracks worked on were "Drivin'", intended as their next single release, and "Mindless Child Of Motherhood", written by Dave Davies (the latter would eventually be used as the B-side to "Drivin'", and was not included on the LP). The Kinks began a two-week series of focused sessions on 5 May, laying down an early version of the entire Arthur album. Recording was interrupted when the Kinks travelled to Beirut, Lebanon on 17 May to play three dates at the Melkart Hotel; sessions for Arthur resumed the day after their return, and most of the recording for the album was finished by the end of the month. Mixing and dubbing began in early June, with arranger Lew Warburton handling string overdubs. The Kinks played a few small gigs in England throughout the remainder of the month, but devoted most of their time to finishing Dave Davies' solo album.

Writing for the TV play progressed through May and June, and on 15 June mixing for Dave Davies' solo LP was completed (tapes for this record were eventually delivered to Pye and Reprise Records, although it never saw official release). A press release announced that the Arthur LP was scheduled for a late July release. As Davies and Mitchell completed their script, the Arthur TV play began to crystallise, and British filmmaker Leslie Woodhead was assigned the role of director. By early September production was scheduled to begin, with a planned broadcast of late September, but these plans were continually delayed. As problems with the TV play got progressively worse—and, consequently, distracted the Kinks from completing the post-production of the album—the release dates for both projects were pushed further and further back. In early October Ray Davies moved from Borehamwood back to his old family home on Fortis Green, in Muswell Hill, and travelled to Los Angeles, where he delivered the tapes to Reprise for Arthur's American release. The album's release date was finally set for 10 October, and the Kinks began gearing up for an upcoming US tour to support the album, for which they would depart on 17 October. Shooting for the TV play was eventually set for 1 December. Roy Stonehouse was hired as a designer, and the casting was completed; however, the show was cancelled at the last minute when the producer was unable to secure financial backing. Davies and Mitchell were frustrated at an entire year's work wasted—Doug Hinman stated that Davies witnessed "his grand artistic visions once again dashed by bureaucracy and internal politics".

Release

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) was released in the US and UK on 10 October 1969. This was the last Kinks album to be released in both stereo and mono. The mono edition was not released in the US. The album set the stage for the Kinks' return to touring the United States in late 1969, and paved the way for even greater commercial success with the hit song "Lola" in 1970.

Singles and chart performance

While the sessions for Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) were nearing completion in June 1969, the track "Drivin'" was released as a single in the UK, backed with "Mindless Child of Motherhood". For the first time since their breakthrough in 1964, a Kinks single failed to make an impression on the UK charts—Johnny Rogan notes that "This was the first of two pilot singles for ... Arthur and its failure did not augur well." The group followed with another single in September, "Shangri-La", which again failed to chart in the UK. As with Village Green, the album itself failed to chart when released in October.

In the US, "Victoria" was chosen as the lead single, backed with the album track "Brainwashed", and was released the same week as the LP. The single proved to be relatively successful, and reached number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100—their highest position since their Top 20 hit "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. The success of the single led to its release in the UK; backed with "Mr. Churchill Says", it reached a peak of number 30. Arthur itself was a moderate commercial success in the US, where it peaked at number 105 (the highest for a Kinks album since 1965) and remained on the charts for 20 weeks.

Promotion

Reprise Records, the Kinks' US label, devised an elaborate, multi-levelled promotional campaign for Arthur in early 1969. The most famous branch of the programme involved a promo package entitled God Save The Kinks. The set featured various items, including a consumer's guide to the band's albums, a bag of "grass" from the "Daviesland village green", and an LP entitled Then, Now and Inbetween. The set was accompanied by a positive letter from Hal Halverstadt of creative services at Warner/Reprise, part of which read, "... [We are led] to believe that The Kinks may not have had it at all.... The Kinks are to be supported, encouraged, cheered. And saved." The campaign was officially launched on 3 July, at a meeting between Ray Davies and Reprise executives in Burbank, California. Reprise considered seeding false stories in the press to create an "outlaw" image for the group as part of the campaign, including pieces about marijuana possession and income tax evasion. Ray called the idea "mad", and the programme was dropped. Several pieces, however, were used in the press kit for Arthur's release, with titles including "English Pop Group Arrested on Rape Rap".

Packaging and liner notes

Artwork for Arthur was created by Bob Lawrie. The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve, and included a shaped insert depicting Queen Victoria (holding a house containing Arthur Morgan), with lyrics on the reverse. Liner notes in the UK were written by Geoffrey Cannon and Julian Mitchell; in the US, notes by rock critic John Mendelsohn replaced Cannon's.

Critical response

The album was critically acclaimed at the time of release, especially in the US rock press. It was favourably compared to contemporary works, namely Tommy by The Who, released earlier in the year. In Rolling Stone magazine, Arthur was spotlighted in its lead section, with back-to-back reviews by Mike Daly and Greil Marcus. Daly called it "an album that is a masterpiece on every level: Ray Davies' finest hour, the Kinks' supreme achievement". Rolling Stone reviewer J.R. Young also praised the record, and said: "Less ambitious than Tommy, and far more musical ... Arthur is by all odds the best British album of 1969. It shows that Pete Townshend still has worlds to conquer and that The Beatles have a lot of catching up to do." A review by Sal Imam ran in Boston's Fusion magazine read that "If Tommy was the greatest rock opera, then Arthur most surely is the greatest rock musical." Writing in his Consumer Guide column of The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the record a positive review, saying, although Ray Davies' lyrics could get "preachy at times", that the album featured "excellent music and production".

Reception in the UK was not as warm, although reviews were still generally positive. Disc & Music Echo commented that "Arthur works as a complete score because it is basic and simple and pleasing to the ear, and powerfully conjures up pictures in the eye." Melody Maker seconded Mike Daly's comments in Rolling Stone, again calling it "Ray Davies' finest hour", and adding that it was "beautifully British to the core". Doug Hinman would later comment on the album's reception in Britain: "In the British music press there [was] less celebration, and coverage [was] relatively routine, though everyone saw the rock opera angle."

Recent reception

Today the album receives generally positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated that Arthur was "one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era", and in 2003 Matt Golden of Stylus called it "the best rock opera ever". Switch magazine included Arthur on their "100 Best Albums of the 20th Century" in 1999, and in 2003 Mojo featured the album on their list of the "Top 50 Most Eccentric Albums". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Story and theme

The story is partially inspired by the Davies brothers' older sister Rose, who emigrated to Australia in 1964 with her husband Arthur Anning. Her departure devastated Ray Davies, and it inspired him to write the song "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home", included on the 1966 album Face to Face. The lead character in the album, the fictional Arthur Morgan—modeled after Arthur Anning—is a carpet layer whose family's plight in the opportunity-poor setting of post-war England is depicted. Writer Julian Mitchell detailed the story line and characters in depth, explaining in the liner notes for the album's LP release:

Arthur Morgan ... lives in a London suburb in a house called Shangri-La, with a garden and a car and a wife called Rose and a son called Derek who's married to Liz, and they have these two very nice kids, Terry and Marilyn. Derek and Liz and Terry and Marilyn are emigrating to Australia. Arthur did have another son, called Eddie. He was named for Arthur's brother, who was killed in the battle of the Somme. Arthur's Eddie was killed, too—in Korea.

Davies would later comment in his autobiography, X-Ray, that Arthur Anning later "told me that he ... knew it [Arthur] had been partly inspired by him ... [it] reminded him of home ... I told Arthur that I felt guilty for using him as a subject for a song, but he shrugged off my apology, saying that he was flattered." With an underlying theme of nostalgia, the songs describe the England that Arthur once knew ("Victoria", "Young and Innocent Days"), the promise of life in Australia for one of his sons ("Australia"), the emptiness of his superficially comfortable life in his home ("Shangri-La"), the resolve of the British people during the Second World War ("Mr. Churchill Says"), the privations that marked the austerity period after the war ("She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina"), and the death of his brother in World War I ("Yes Sir, No Sir", "Some Mother's Son").

Track listing

All songs written by Ray Davies, except when noted.

Personnel