If you read interviews with Pete Quaife (esp that 1998 one) he seems really down on how little creative input he was allowed in the group, and with very good reason it seems. While no one is gonna seriously argue that Ray shouldn't be the prime mover Kinks wise, I always thought it was a damn shame that Quaife wasn't allowed at least some kind of artistic cameo in their output, whether Charlie Watts/John Entwistle style in terms of doing illustrations for sleeve art, or songwriting/singing wise. (and it is known he had songs written for consideration as early as Kontroversy) It actually seems quite brutal how little leeway he was allowed, to the extent that it makes the treatment of Brian Jones and Bill Wyman's contributions in The Stones seem even handed by comparison. Just a sidebar here, but your mention of how Ray would soon by allowed to produce reminds me of how pointedly specific the credits are on Face To Face: Ray is credited for 'musical direction' and 'arrangements' whereas for Shel it just says 'Recorded By': he might as well be a piece of functional machinery for all the artistic input Ray was prepared to attribute to him by this point! A Pete Quaife cartoon from his book 'The Lighter Side of Dialysis' from years after he had left the group:
There are 4 or 5 songs off Face To Face that I'd known for some time. But only just listened to the album in its entirety for the first time in the past month. I came away thinking this is a very fine album. Well more than fine...somewhere between good and great. As others have suggested I think it's quite a big leap ahead from the previous album. It shows Ray settling into his voice comfortably and mostly staying away from the girl/boy love songs that he had been serving up. RE: the album cover, I had stumbled upon an interview recently with Ray saying something like "yeah, what was up with that album cover?" So not sure if Ray was heavily involved in the decision and after reflection didn't like it ultimately or if the record company made the decision. Ray sometimes molds the 'truth' in order to make for a more interesting story or simply to complain. He's renown for "porkies" (...speaking of Cockney slang. LOL). Anyway, looking forward to discussing this album. Oh what fun we shall have.
Unfortunately, for me, Face to Face wasn't available to purchase in the early 1970's. I first heard many of the tracks from the double Golden Hour compilation. I mention that because, although the songs are the same songs no matter where you hear them, it does rob you of sequencing and also listening to the album as it was presented to the world originally. When listening to an album you have heard many times before, you know what track is up next and the next one after that. But because I was familiar with the sequencing on GH it did take me quite a while to get familiar with Face to Face. Furthermore, when listening to Face to Face my mind would wander back to that GH record of yesteryear. So this stuff is important, well to me anyway. Was Face to Face a turning point in the career of The Kinks? Definitely. The songwriting, subject matter, music and production were a considerable upgrade on what went before. Instead of singing songs Davies was painting pictures. Do I like all the tracks on the album? No, I dont. Do I wish other songs from that era had been included? Yes, I do. Fortunately, nowadays this is less of a concern as I stream my music so can make my own tracklist to include/omit certain songs. Also, fully agree with AJ above regarding his comments about a concept album.
Shel was obviousy responsible for pressing the "RECORD" button on the tape! I don't think Ray was too liberal with giving people credit. His wife has said that the three last words on Sunny Afternoon ("In the summertime") was her suggestion when Ray demoed the song to her. She has complained she never got any credit for that. Mean with money. Mean with praise.
Quoting myself but I really didn't complete my post forgetting to get to the present....... In more recent years my strong opinion of Face To Face increased further as I paid it more attention and realised just how truly cohesive Ray conceived and he and the Kinks made it. My fault entirely but i would truly like to again thank @mark winstanley for taking on such a thread as i bade my time and looked forward to playing this LP again with fresh ears and brain receptors which I have done over the last few days. I have only 2 copies, the UK 1998 CD (with the bonus tracks) & an original US Mono LP on Reprise. Playing it 2 days ago with re-opened ears I found it (between songwriting, playing quality, melody, recording and production) a real consistent aural joy and an even better record than I had given credit for. So to Mark and all the other posters on this thread that have spoken excitedly of the upcoming Face To Face and thereby provided me with a beneficial new vantage point; "I did remember everything you said to me!"
I had to assume it was a typo or regional dialect... but I didn't know what yo do with it. Perhaps some of our better versed English folk can narrow it down for us
I totally relate to this... not so much for the Kinks, because I never had any compiles... but frequently I listen to something, and the next track starts in my head before the song starts... it can be jarring when it is a different sequence
Something else about that album cover (whoever drew it)…. doesn’t the way the chap looks seem slightly ahead of the times for Autumn 66? I always thought that kind of Afro hair didn’t really for become de rigueur among white folks in the London hip set until 1967, when you started getting the likes of Noel Reading and Eric Clapton sporting such dos.
The cover is quite interesting... I hadn't thought about the curly hair/afro, but that's interesting too. When I look at the cover, I see this professor kind of fellow.... the top of his head is missing.... he has flipped his lid ... There is an explosion of colourful butterflies coming from his head (mind?) For me I kind of see Ray as the musical professor, who has just recently flipped his lid, and the result was these great songs exploding like the colourful butterflies on the cover.... Anyway, that's my two cents on the cover. I like it.
I never knew Pete had aspirations to write for the Kinks. Thanks for the info. It certainly would be interesting to hear what he wanted to offer. Certainly, once Ray had seized the reigns of control, the Kinks were never the egalitarian operation the Beatles or Who were. Although Face to Face may have been the last chance for that; Mick was reportedly considered for lead vocal on a proposed track but it apparently didn't work out so well.
Oddly enough from my perspective, Ray is obviously the huge strength of the band, and yet his need to be in control of everything is a weakness... but we'll come to that more later on.
I always thought it was kind of an Einstein thing going on. I know Einstein is known for his white hair, but he did have dark hair at one time. Anyway, I love the colors of the album.
I currently have 2 copies of Face to Face. One is the 2CD version and the other being the vinyl from the mono box set. I spun it last night in preparation for this. I was struck by how much stronger Side 1 is. Definitely a front-loaded album, in my opinion. There are several songs on Side 2 that could have fit on any previous Kinks album such as "You're Lookin' Fine" and "I'll Remember." I enjoy it all, there's just a dip in quality as we go on ("Sunny Afternoon" notwithstanding). Like Kink Kontroversy started with a rocker and then moved to "Ring the Bells" second, this album also starts with a rocker and continues onto the slower "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home," which was one of my absolute favs when first hearing the album about 20 years ago. Ray is definitely entering new lyrical territory. There is a very early CD version of this album with the sides switched: CD Album: The Kinks - Face To Face (1986) We have an alternate cover here:
My first copy of Face To Face was that same Reprise issue. I found a copy in the 70s in a a large record store's Kinks section, brand new and sealed. I knew it had been deleted so I was pretty chuffed at finding it. When I came home with it late that summer night, a friend, who was another burgeoning Kinks fan, had cycled over to my house to see if I was home. When I saw him, I exclaimed, "I just bought Face To Face" and he replied, "Let's listen to it". Now the rest of the family wasn't home so we could crank it. It was cool to hear but like @Vagabone I didn't think it was that great. I liked "Party Line" and "Sunny Afternoon" but the rest I didn't think were up to the standards of Kink Kronikles which was the last Kinks record I had bought. Now it was the stereo mix (which is my least-favourite stereo mix ever) so maybe that's part of the reason. Anyway I listened to it a lot anyway. I remember a fledging radio station at the time (CFNY which later adopted the moniker "The Spirit of Radio" which inspired the Rush song of the same name), probably because they didn't have a lot of DJs at the time or whatever would just play whole albums without much talking and I remember hearing side 2 of Face To Face on it. Anyway later I found a Canadian copy on Pye in mono which I liked better. Some Kinks albums have taken a lot of time to grow on me and Face To Face is one of them.
I don’t think Face to Face was so easy to come by in the mid to late 70s. I remember a good friend of mine buying a used copy for what then seemed to me to be the outrageous price of $40. That turned out to be great news for me, when I got to make a cassette copy. Unfortunately neither one of can remember exactly what year that was.
Face To Face - The band's first minor (but only in consideration of what comes next) masterpiece. I remember getting this in early 2018 and it was love at first listen. From the telephone ringing opening Party Line all the way to the Kontroversy-esque "I'll Remember" I loved every note, every lyric. I like some subsequent albums a little better but this album holds a special place in my Kinks-size heart. A Triumph and IMO their first fully formed album from start to finish. In case I haven't made it clear, I adore this album.
