Face to Face (The Kinks album)

Face to Face is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1966. The album had marked the band's shift from the hard-driving style of beat music, catapulting them to international acclaim. Being their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies' compositions; it has also been regarded by critics as rock's first concept album.

Background

Ray Davies suffered a nervous breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album.^[2] The new style of writing began gradually the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" and in May 1966 with the hit single "Sunny Afternoon", which reached #1 in the UK. This song's great popularity proved to Ray 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.^[3] The 1966–71 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Ray's and the Kinks' "golden age".^[4]

Rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first rock/pop concept albums, with the loose common theme of social observation.^[1]^[5] In the album's original inception, Ray attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but was forced to revert to the more standard album format by Pye Records before the album's release. Some effects remain such as in "Party Line", "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June" and on songs not included in the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke").^[6]

Recording and production

"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.^[7] Pete Quaife had temporarily quit the band before the June–July 1966 recording sessions, and his replacement John Dalton can be confirmed playing only on the track "Little Miss Queen of Darkness".^[2] Contractual issues held up the release of the album for several months after final recording, and Ray was also in conflict with Pye over the final album cover art, whose psychedelic theme he later felt was inappropriate.^[8]

Two songs on Face to Face, although written by Ray, 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 #50; their final entry on the singles charts. Herman's Hermits, meanwhile, took their version of "Dandy" top ten in several countries (including #5 in the US and #1 in Canada), beginning in September 1966.^[9]^[10] 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)^[11]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[12]

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.^[13] Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") as well as two unreleased tracks.^[14]

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 satires the pop press, and was probably shelved to prevent offending music journalists who had been crucial to the Kinks' commercial success. 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" (AKA "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 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".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ray Davies (Dave Davies claims to have written "Party Line" in his autobiography Kink). On one of the earliest covers of the album (CVPV 76032.30), the song is credited R.Davies - D.Davies.^[1]

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Party Line"	2:35
2.	"Rosie 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
No.	Title	Length
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 Lookin' Fine"	2:46
6.	"Sunny Afternoon"	3:36
7.	"I'll Remember"	2:27

Note: The original UK CD release of the album reversed the two sides.

1998 and 2004 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
15.	"I'm Not Like Everybody Else"	3:29
16.	"Dead End Street"	3:23
17.	"Big Black Smoke"	2:36
18.	"Mister Pleasant"	3:01
19.	"This Is Where I Belong"	2:26
20.	"Mr. Reporter" (previously unreleased)	3:58
21.	"Little Women" (previously unreleased)	2:11

2011 Sanctuary Records deluxe edition Disc 1 bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
15.	"Dead End Street"	3:24
16.	"Big Black Smoke"	2:35
17.	"This Is Where I Belong"	2:27
18.	"She's Got Everything"	3:11
19.	"Little Miss Queen of Darkness" (alternative take)	3:22
20.	"Dead End Street" (early acetate version)	2:56

2011 Sanctuary Records deluxe edition Disc 2 bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
15.	"This Is Where I Belong"	2:46
16.	"Big Black Smoke"	2:51
17.	"She's Got Everything"	3:10
18.	"You're Looking Fine" (alternative stereo mix)	2:53
19.	"Sunny Afternoon" (alternative stereo mix, no fade-out)	3:49
20.	"Fancy" (alternative stereo mix, fade-out extended)	2:57
21.	"Little Miss Queen of Darkness" (alternative stereo mix)	3:22
22.	"Dandy" (alternative stereo mix)	2:15

Personnel

Ray Davies – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, mellotron
Dave Davies – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Party Line", "You're Lookin' Fine"
Pete Quaife – bass guitar, backing vocals (except where noted)
John Dalton – bass guitar on "Little Miss Queen of Darkness"
Mick Avory – drums, percussion
Nicky Hopkins – keyboards, piano, harmonium on "Sunny Afternoon"
Rasa Davies – backing vocals on "Sunny Afternoon", "Session Man" and "Rainy Day in June"^[1]

Chart performance

Year	Billboard	Cash Box	Record World
1966	135^[15]	57^[15]	47^[15]

Footnotes

1 2 3 4 5 Stephen Thomas Erlewine (1966-10-28). "Face to Face - The Kinks | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
1 2 Schaffner 1982, p. 100.
↑ Miller 2003, p. 4.
↑ Heller, Jason (February 14, 2008). "Primer: The Kinks". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
↑ 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.
↑ Miller 2003, p. 9.
↑ Miller 2003, p. 104.
↑ 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.
↑ Schaffner 1982, p. 288.
↑ Stan Hawkins (2009). The British Pop Dandy: Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7546-5858-0.
↑ Tim Neely (28 June 2007). Goldmine Price Guide to 45 RPM Records. Krause Publications. p. 582. ISBN 0-89689-461-4.
↑ "The Kinks: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
↑ 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.
↑ Nathan Brackett; Christian David Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 459. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
1 2 3 Emlen, Dave. "International Chart Positions". Kindakinks.net. Retrieved 1 December 2009.

References

Nicholas Schaffner (1 January 1982). The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-055089-6.
Andy Miller (1 September 2003). The Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-1498-4.

External links

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

The Kinks

Ray Davies Dave Davies Mick Avory Pete Quaife John Dalton Gordon Edwards Ian Gibbons John Gosling Mark Haley Bob Henrit Andy Pyle Jim Rodford Nicky Hopkins Shel Talmy

Studio albums	Kinks Kinda Kinks The Kink Kontroversy Face to Face Something Else by The Kinks The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One Muswell Hillbillies Everybody's in Show-Biz Preservation Act 1 Preservation Act 2 Soap Opera Schoolboys in Disgrace Sleepwalker Misfits Low Budget Give the People What They Want State of Confusion Word of Mouth Think Visual UK Jive Phobia

Live albums	Live at Kelvin Hall One for the Road Live: The Road To the Bone

EPs	Kinksize Session Kwyet Kinks

Compilations	Kinks-Size Kinkdom Greatest Hits! Well Respected Kinks Sunny Afternoon The Kink Kronikles The Great Lost Kinks Album The Kinks Are Well Respected Men Lost & Found (1986–1989) The Ultimate Collection Picture Book

Unreleased projects	Four More Respected Gentlemen A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)

Stage	Sunny Afternoon (musical)

Related articles	Discography Band members Konk The Kast Off Kinks Argent X-Ray Percy Do It Again Give the People What We Want: Songs of The Kinks

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