Bbc Sessions 1964-1977

Bbc Sessions 1964-1977

The Kinks

Sanctuary, 2001

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/24/2005

Despite all of my efforts, I've never been able to reallydevelop a taste for Ray Davies and The Kinks. Oh, sure, I liketheir hits such as "You Really Got Me," "Tired Of Waiting For You"and "Come Dancing," but when it comes to getting into the meat ofalbums like Village Green Preservation Society, I find myself at aloss.

So it may seem on the surface that I'm not the best person toreview BBC Sessions 1964-1977, a collection of 35 tracks (33, ifyou don't count interviews) from brothers Ray and Dave Davies andcrew -- and I guess I'll concede that point. I'll also concede thatthis collection is for the die-hard fans of the band. But even tothe casual listener, there will be some level of interest that maymake you want to try and get your feet wet again concerning thisgroup.

What is most interesting to me, as an outsider in the world ofall things Kinks, is that this collection makes me more interestedin discovering their material from the '70s, not the '60s. Sure,it's always nice to hear "All Day And All Of The Night" and "YouReally Got Me," but the first disc tends to get bogged down attimes with tracks that aren't bad, but just don't have theemotional impetus that I'd be looking for. Songs like "Cadillac,""See My Friend," "Death Of A Clown" and "Harry Rag" sometimesborder from the obscure to the just plain weird, and fall somewhatflat. On the other hand, tracks like "Where Have All The Good TimesGone?" "Waterloo Sunset" and "The Village Green PreservationSociety" do pique my interest more.

That interest hits its high mark on disc two, with tracks like"Mindless Child Of Motherhood," "Victoria," "Celluloid Heroes" and"Money Talks". The tracks featuring the band performing live aresome of the best on the entire set, and show just how good andenergetic The Kinks could be in concert.