Face to Face (The Kinks album)

Face to Face is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released on 28 October 1966. The album marked a shift from the hard-driving style of beat music that had catapulted the group to international acclaim in 1964, instead drawing heavily from baroque pop and music hall. It is their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies compositions, and has also been regarded by critics as one of rock's first concept albums. Davies' blossoming songwriting style became increasingly observational and satirical, commenting on English culture, social class and the music industry.

Face to Face
Studio album by the Kinks
Released	28 October 1966
Recorded	October 1965 ("I'll Remember") Mid-April – 21 June 1966^[1]
Studio	Pye, London
Genre	Rock^[2] baroque pop^[3] garage pop^[4] art pop^[5]
Length	38:31
Label	Pye (UK) Reprise (US)
Producer	Shel Talmy
The Kinks chronology
Well Respected Kinks (1966) Face to Face (1966) Something Else by the Kinks (1967)
The Kinks US chronology
The Kinks Greatest Hits! (1966) Face to Face (1966) The Live Kinks (1967)
Singles from Face to Face
"Sunny Afternoon" Released: 3 June 1966 "Dandy" / "Party Line" Released: Late 1966 (EU)^[nb 1]

Despite containing the hit single, "Sunny Afternoon", the album's initial reception was lukewarm in both the UK and US compared to the Kinks' previous LPs, charting at No. 12 and No. 135, respectively. Face to Face eventually earned retrospective critical acclaim, recognized as a pivotal record of the psychedelic era and an important milestone in the Kinks' evolution. The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).^[9] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[10]

Background

Ray Davies suffered a nervous breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album.^[11] In contrast to the band's earlier "raunchy" sound, he had started to introduce a new, softer style of writing the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". In July 1966, the single "Sunny Afternoon", also written in that style, reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and the song's popularity proved to Davies and the Kinks' managers that the group could find success with this style of songwriting. The new album would follow this pattern, as would the group's recorded output for the next five years.^[12] The 1966–71 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Davies' and the Kinks' "golden age".^[13]

Rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first rock/pop concept albums, with the loose common theme of social observation.^[14][15] In the album's original conception Ray Davies attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but he was forced by Pye Records to revert to the more standard album format before the album's release. Some effects remain, such as in "Party Line", "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June" and in songs not included on the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke").^[16]

Recording and production

 

The Kinks performing in Oslo, Norway, on 16 June 1966. John Dalton, second from left, served as a temporary bassist after Pete Quaife was injured in a car crash on 3 June.^[17]

"I'll Remember" was the earliest track on the album, having been recorded in October 1965 during sessions for The Kink Kontroversy. Two other songs recorded during the Face to Face sessions – "This Is Where I Belong" and "She's Got Everything" – were eventually released as B-sides to singles released in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Both songs eventually appeared on the 1972 US compilation album The Kink Kronikles.^[18] Pete Quaife temporarily quit the band before the June–July 1966 recording sessions; his replacement John Dalton can only be confirmed as playing on the track "Little Miss Queen of Darkness".^[11] Contractual issues held up the release of the album for several months after recording was completed; Ray Davies was also in conflict with Pye over the final album cover art, whose psychedelic theme he later felt was inappropriate.^[19]

Two songs on Face to Face, although written by Ray Davies, were originally recorded and released by other British bands in the months prior to the release of this album. The Pretty Things had a minor UK hit in July 1966 with "A House in the Country", which peaked at No. 50; their final entry on the UK Singles Chart. Herman's Hermits, meanwhile, took their version of "Dandy" top ten in several countries (including No. 5 in the US and No. 1 in Canada), beginning in September 1966.^[20][21] The Rockin' Vickers also recorded a version of "Dandy" which they released as a single in December 1966 in both the UK and the US. Despite what the sleeve notes say on The Rockin' Vickers The Complete, the song "Little Rosy" was not written by Ray Davies (Music: Herbie Armstrong; Lyrics: Paul Murphy).^[22]

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[14]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[citation needed]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[23]
MusicHound	^[citation needed]

The album was released in a particularly tumultuous year for the band, with personnel problems (Pete Quaife was injured; he resigned and later rejoined the band), legal and contractual battles and an ongoing hectic touring schedule. The album was critically well received, but did not sell particularly well at the time of its release (especially in the United States), and was out of print for many years.^[24] Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") as well as two unreleased tracks.^[25]

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[26]

Unreleased songs

"Mr. Reporter" was recorded in 1969 for Dave Davies' aborted solo album, and was released as a bonus track on the 1998 Castle CD reissue of Face to Face. An earlier version featuring Ray Davies on lead vocals was recorded in February 1966 and was apparently intended for this album or an unissued EP. The scathing track satirizes the pop press, and was probably shelved to prevent offending music journalists who had been crucial to the Kinks' commercial success. ^{[citation needed]} This early version was finally officially released in 2014.

Other unreleased songs from the Face to Face sessions reportedly include "Fallen Idol", about the rise and fall of a pop star, "Everybody Wants to Be a Personality", about celebrities, "Lilacs and Daffodils" (also known as "Sir Jasper"), which is reportedly about a schoolteacher (and is the only Kinks track with vocals by Mick Avory) and "A Girl Who Goes to Discotheques". It is unclear whether any of the unreleased tracks will ever be released officially. Dave Davies indicated they were never satisfactorily completed for release, and some were later reworked into different songs such as "Yes Man", another song from these sessions, which was an early version of "Plastic Man".^{[citation needed]} In a 2012 interview, Ray Davies stated that "Lilacs and Daffodils" was "awful."^[27]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ray Davies, except "Party Line" by Ray and Dave Davies. Track lengths per AllMusic.^[14]

Side one

1. "Party Line" – 2:35
2. "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home" – 2:34
3. "Dandy" – 2:12
4. "Too Much on My Mind" – 2:28
5. "Session Man" – 2:14
6. "Rainy Day in June" – 3:10
7. "A House in the Country" – 3:03

Side two

1. "Holiday in Waikiki" – 2:52
2. "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale" – 2:48
3. "Fancy" – 2:30
4. "Little Miss Queen of Darkness" – 3:16
5. "You're Looking Fine" – 2:46
6. "Sunny Afternoon" – 3:36
7. "I'll Remember" – 2:27

Personnel

According to band researcher Doug Hinman,^[28] except where noted:

The Kinks

• Ray Davies – lead and backing vocals, guitars; musical director, arrangements,^{[nb 2]} illustration^[11]
• Dave Davies – backing vocals, guitars; lead vocal ("Party Line" and "You're Looking Fine");^[29] arrangements^{[nb 2]}
• Pete Quaife – bass guitar
• Mick Avory – drums

Additional musicians

• John Dalton – bass guitar ("Little Miss Queen of Darkness")
• Rasa Davies – backing vocal ("Sunny Afternoon")
• Nicky Hopkins – piano, harpsichord; melodica ("Sunny Afternoon")

Additional production

• Shel Talmy – recorder^{[nb 2]}
• Alan MacKenzie^{[nb 3]} – engineer
• Alan O'Duffy (credited as "Irish") – assistant engineer

Note

• On 3 June 1966, Quaife was seriously injured in a car crash.^[35] In Ray's 1994 autobiography, he wrote that while Quaife recuperated from his injuries, the band hired an unidentified session bassist for a marathon session on 6 June 1966. Ray identified six songs recorded during the session: "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home", "Too Much On My Mind", "Session Man", "Rainy Day In June", "You're Looking Fine" and the unreleased "Fallen Idol".^[35][36] Quaife later disputed Ray's account, contending that the six songs were recorded before his crash and that the bass guitar heard closely resembles his playing style.^[37] Talmy later said he did not recall hiring a session bassist for a marathon session, adding that the playing style does not resemble that of Herbie Flowers, whom Talmy typically called for session work.^[35] Hinman concludes: "No definitive resolution to the confusion is available."^[37] According to Hinman, bassist John Dalton's only confirmed contribution to the album is on "Little Miss Queen of Darkness", recorded 21 June 1966.^[37]

Charts

Weekly chart performance for Face to Face

Chart (1966–67)	Peak position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[38]	9
Finland Suomen virallinen lista LPs Chart^[39]	2
UK Melody Maker Top Ten LPs^[40]	8
UK Record Retailer LPs Chart^[41]	12
US Billboard Top LPs^[42]	135
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums^[43]	57
US Record World 100 Top LPs^[44]	47
West German Musikmarkt LP Hit Parade^[45]	12

See also

• British invasion
• British rock
• Music Hall
• Satire
• Swinging London

Notes

1. Release of "Dandy" as a single in the UK and US was cancelled after Herman's Hermits recorded their version,^[6] but its release went ahead in continental Europe.^[7] The single's first European chart debut was on the Dutch Veronica Top 40 chart for the week ending 8 October 1966.^[8]
2. The original LP labels credit Talmy as producer. The sleeve notes instead credit him as "Recorder", Ray Davies as "Musical Director" and both Ray and Dave Davies with "arrangements".^[30]
3. Sources vary in their spelling of his last name. Most, including Ray in his autobiography, spell it MacKenzie,^[31] while others use Mackenzie^[32] or McKenzie.^[33] The original liner notes typeset it as McKENZIE.^[34]

References

1. Hinman 2004, pp. 68, 92.
2. Kitts 2002, p. 12: "Face to Face, arguably The Kinks' first and one of rock's first thematically linked albums ..."
3. "Ray Davies – Album By Album". Uncut. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
4. "Face To Face (1966)". StereoGum. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
5. Howard 2004, pp. 109–110.
6. Davies 1995, pp. 335–336.
7. "The Kinks – Dandy" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
8. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Week 41 (8 oktober 1966)" (in Dutch). Veronica Top 40. from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
9. Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved 16 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
10. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
11. Schaffner 1982, p. 100.
12. Miller 2003, p. 4.
13. Heller, Jason (14 February 2008). "Primer: The Kinks". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
14. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Kinks – Face to Face". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
15. Scott Schinder; Andy Schwartz (1 October 2007). Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever. ABC-CLIO. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-313-33845-8.
16. Miller 2003, p. 9.
17. Hinman 2004, pp. 84–85.
18. Miller 2003, p. 104.
19. Tony Dunsbee (1 March 2015). Gathered from Coincidence: A Singular History of Sixties' Pop. M-Y Books Ltd. p. 452. ISBN 978-1-909908-33-8.
20. Schaffner 1982, p. 288.
21. Stan Hawkins (2009). The British Pop Dandy: Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7546-5858-0.
22. Tim Neely (28 June 2007). Goldmine Price Guide to 45 RPM Records. Krause Publications. p. 582. ISBN 978-0-89689-461-7.
23. "The Kinks: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
24. Brock Helander (1982). The Rock Who's Who: A Biographical Dictionary and Critical Discography Including Rhythm-And-Blues, Soul, Rockabilly, Folk, Country, Easy Listening, Punk, and New Wave. Schirmer/Mosel Verlag GmbH. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-02-871250-5.
25. Nathan Brackett; Christian David Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 459. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
26. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
27. . Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
28. Hinman 2004, pp. 83–84, 92.
29. Rogan 1998, pp. 47, 50.
30. Anon. 1966; Hinman 2004, p. 92.
31. Davies 1995, pp. 339, 357; Hinman 2004, p. 121; Jovanovic 2013, p. 105; Kitts 2008, p. 87; Hasted 2011, pp. 92, 93; Thompson 2008, p. 296.
32. Miller 2003, p. 21.
33. Doggett 1998; Irvin & McLear 2003, p. 147; Massey 2015.
34. Anon. 1966.
35. Hinman 2004, p. 84.
36. Davies 1995, pp. 288–289.
37. Hinman 2004, p. 92.
38. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Kinks – Face to Face". Hung Medien.
39. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 207. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
40. "Top Ten LPs" (PDF). Melody Maker. 10 December 1966. p. 2.
41. "The Kinks". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
42. "Billboard Top LP's" (PDF). Billboard. 25 February 1967. p. 44.
43. "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. 21 January 1967. p. 63.
44. "100 Top LP's" (PDF). Record World. 4 February 1967. p. 16.
45. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Kinks – Face to Face" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

Sources

• Anon. (1966). Face to Face (Liner notes). The Kinks. Pye Records. NPL 18149.
• Davies, Ray (1995). X-Ray: The Unauthorised Autobiography. Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press. ISBN 978-0-87951-611-6.
• Doggett, Peter (1998). The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (Liner notes). The Kinks. Essential. ESM CD 481.
• Hasted, Nick (2011). The Story of the Kinks: You Really Got Me. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-660-9 – via the Internet Archive.
• Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.
• Howard, David N. (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-0-634-05560-7.
• Irvin, Jim; McLear, Colin, eds. (2003). The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. ISBN 978-1-84195-438-7 – via the Internet Archive.
• Jovanovic, Rob (2013). God Save the Kinks: A Biography. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-84513-671-0 – via the Internet Archive.
• Kitts, Thomas M., ed. (2002). "Chronology". Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks. Rumford, Rhode Island: Desolation Angel Books. pp. 9–24. ISBN 0-9641005-4-1.
• Kitts, Thomas M. (2008). Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else. New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97768-5 – via the Internet Archive.
• Massey, Howard (2015). The Great British Recording Studios. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4950-3533-3 – via Google Books.
• Miller, Andy (2003). The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. 33⅓ series. New York City: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-8264-1498-4.
• Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Complete Guide to the Music of the Kinks. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-6314-6.
• Schaffner, Nicholas (1982). The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave. New York City: McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-055089-6.
• Thompson, Gordon (2008). Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out. New York City: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-971555-8 – via Google Books.

External links

• Face to Face (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• Face to Face at Discogs (list of releases)