The last album by the original quartet - Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, Mick Avory - 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society' (1968) was a collection of vignettes of English life.
Ray Davies' sentimental, nostalgic streak emerged on Something Else, but it developed into a manifesto on The Village Green Preservation Society, a concept album lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions.
As the opening title song said, the Kinks -- meaning Ray himself, in this case -- were for preserving "draught beer and virginity," and throughout the rest of the album, he created a series of stories, sketches, and characters about a picturesque England that never really was.
It's a lovely, gentle album, evoking a small British country town, and drawing the listener into its lazy rhythms and sensibilities.
Although there is an undercurrent of regret running throughout the album, Davies' fondness for the past is warm, making the album feel like a sweet, hazy dream.
And considering the subdued performances and the detailed instrumentations, it's not surprising that the record feels more like a Ray Davies solo project than a Kinks album.
The bluesy shuffle of "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" is the closest the album comes to rock & roll, and Dave Davies' cameo on the menacing "Wicked Annabella" comes as surprise, since the album is so calm.
But calm doesn't mean tame or bland -- there are endless layers of musical and lyrical innovation on The Village Green Preservation Society, and its defiantly British sensibilities became the foundation of generations of British guitar pop.
From the album, THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY
A very reflective and nostalgic song written by lead singer Ray Davies, this is about the innocent times in small English towns, where the village green was the community center. The entire album was based on this theme.
Some critics thought the album's snapshots of village life were part inspired by performances by the Kinks in rustic Devon. However Davies explained to The Independent June 19, 2009 this was not the case. Instead they were based on memories of his growing up in London.
He explained: "You have to remember that North London was my village green, my version of the countryside. The street [and district] I grew up in was called Fortis Green, and then there was Waterlow Park and the little lake. I sang in the choir at St James's Primary School until I was about 10, then I trained myself to sing out of tune so I could hang around with a gang called the Crooners instead. Our Scottish singing teacher Mrs Lewis said, 'Never mind, Davies - I hear crooners are making a lot of money these days.'"
Ray Davies namechecks various fictional characters that bring back childhood memories, such as music hall act Old Mother Riley and Mrs. Mopp, who was a character from the wartime radio comedy, ITMA.
"We are the Draught Beer Preservation Society.
God save Mrs. Mopp and good old Mother Riley."
Davies explained to Q magazine: "The people in it are all characters I liked as a kid or people my family could relate to, like Old Mother Riley and Mrs Mopp. Because I used to love listening to the BBC Light Programme on Sundays, like Round The Horne with Kenneth Williams. A time when the population was allowed to be trivial."
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