Kinks "Arthur"... why the praise?

In my opinion, this song refers to people of that time who blindly follows the established norms of society.

 

That's the only part of the album I'm not 100% crazy on. So much so that using the ending of Helter Skelter as inspiration, I added some fade outs and fade ins. It seems to work much better and not drag on for so long.

 

I love everything about Arthur except the maudlin "Some Mother's Son" and the unnecessary "Australia" jam.

Did the Arthur project get to the script-writing stage? If it did does this script still exist, and is it available to be read anywhere?

 

Victoria
Some Mother's Son (one of the great anti-war songs)
Drivin' (one of the great "road trip" songs)
Australia (really fun and varied)
Shangri-La


All of the above are Kinks Klassics as far as I'm concerned

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Someone could say the bulk of Tommy is a bunch of duds that only work because they're connected to the concept.

 

I never understood the praise for Arthur and Something Else is the masterpiece in the Kinks discography!

 

Hmmm....one of my favs......reception seems really mixed here...oh well...

 

The thing to remember too is The Kinks normally don't get the sort of praise bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Who get. The Kinks always seem to be the best of the underdogs. So I think those of us who really dig them, really feel the need to stick up for them and say nice things.

 

#3 might be my favorite description of the day. kudos, sir...

 

I was there years back and wanted to hop that train (reading too much Kerouac) but had no idea how to go about doing it so I just hitchhiked to Perth instead...

 

As an aside, I don't know how many of you remember the PBS series from 1971 "An American Family", but at one point it has Lance Loud and Kristian Hoffman doing "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina". Searched for the clip but it's not anywhere that I can see. Too bad, it's priceless.

 

The teleplay for Arthur was indeed written, in fact it was on the very precipice of being made. The wiki entry for the writer Julian Mitchell has the following quote from the man himself:

"Arthur had a most unhappy history. It was originally meant to be a ... sort of rock opera, and 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." Julian Mitchell - Wikipedia

In Ray's autobio he mentions that animated sequences had already been filmed!

And sadly, no the script isn't available anywhere nor does there ever seem to have been any attempt to get it published. You can bet that had it been a Beatles abandoned project, the script would have been brought out as a book long ago; but there are so many mysteries like this with The Kinks that no one seems to care that much about.

Tantalisingly, at the 2013 (or was it 2014?) Kinks fan club meet in London, Ray announced that he had reconnected with Mitchell and they were looking into doing something with the script again (!), but nothing has been heard about this idea since.

 

They also performed the Bonzo Dog Band's 'Tent' at one point.. good taste those lads.

 

I have just finished listening to Arthur again. Reconfirmed my opinion that it is the weakest of the Kinks Pye albums after the first two.

 

One of the reasons a groundbreaking program like that has never seen a DVD release is that there was so much music performed or played in it (Kinks, Stones, Bonzos, Velvet Underground, The Who) that getting clearance has been difficult. Damned shame, it's brilliant.

 

Prior to Arthur, I remember reading at the time that the combined sales total of Village Green & Something Else in America was less than 20,000 units.

 

Quite a diversity of opinion

Muswell Hillbillies was my favorite Kinks album for the longest time. And then one day, I was jamming to the second half of Australia and thought, "This is awesome!" Arthur has been No. 1 ever since.

 

A few folks seem to not appreciate that jam at the end of "Australia".
I love it!
The guitar, piano and horns, along with the vocal that slides along just underneath the surface create a nice groove that to these ears threatens to disintegrate at any moment. Sort of like the big dreams of a better future that the song articulates. Dreams can fall apart at any time.

 

I was always uninterested in Ray's excursions into WW1 Britain, tears for loss of Empire, class struggle, Kings and Queens, and imperial longing.

Until I lived in Australia, I had no idea of the deep connection between Oz and Britain.

Now that I know a little more about history, Australia, and England itself, I enjoy this a lot more.

And it has good guitar playing too.

 

The album is a stone cold classic

 

Victoria was a hit playing all over the radio. At least in the Bay Area.

And I as I wrote awhile back in one of the other Kinks threads, I remember being at a track meet when I was in high school. The opposing school's cheerleaders were rehearsing a bit to Victoria. Over and over again. Great single.

 

That would probably be accurate.

 

My favorite Kinks album is Arthur, so I guess it's like horses for courses.

 

I'm listening to Arthur in stereo pn LP right now ( not as good in mono) and it's still such a wonderful record. Definitely a fave.

One thing that hit me was the horns on Yes Sir No Sir. It reminded me of the horns on Atom Heart Mother which came out a year later. Obviously a different tempo and not as dramatic but they felt similar at times.

Genius writing by Ray.

 

I'd give all of those a solid A, as well as Kontoversy before it.