The Kinks "The Village Green Preservation Society" Pye NSPL 18233 A3/B4 g/f 1968

	£		259
	$		343

The Kinks "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society" Pye Records NSPL.18233
Stereo Vinyl, LP, housed in a gate-fold sleeve and released in 1968. This is a UK 1st pressing.
The vinyl appears to have been lightly played and is in great shape. It played through beautifully on my elderly stereo - no hop, stick or jump. It is housed in it's original gate-fold sleeve, which, apart from a previous owner writing their name for posterity, is in great condition, with minimal signs of wear and no tear. The spine is intact and legible. Matrix / Runout  Side 1 : NSPL 18233A-3 ✳T STEREO  KT Matrix / Runout  Side 2 : NSPL 18233B-4 ✳T STEREO  KT
"The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" is the Kinks' sixth studio album, released in November 1968. It was the last album by the original quartet (Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, Mick Avory), as bassist Quaife left the group in early 1969. A collection of vignettes of English life, "Village Green" was assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years.
The album failed to chart upon its initial release, and Ray Davies has called it "the most successful ever flop." In 2020, the album was ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and it was described by Uncut in 2014 as a "brilliantly observed concept album". In 2018, the album earned a gold disc for reaching sales of 100,000 copies. It was voted number 141 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).
Released the same day as the Beatles' "White" Album, "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" was greeted with almost unanimously positive reviews from rock critics but failed to sell strongly, an estimated 100,000 copies worldwide. Despite this slow start, the album has since become the Kinks' best-selling original record. The album did not have a popular single ("Starstruck" was released in North America and continental Europe, but failed to chart anywhere but the Netherlands). Although it was commercially unsuccessful upon its US release in January 1969, "Village Green" was embraced by the new underground rock press, particularly in the United States where the Kinks' status as a cult band began to grow. The album did not reach gold in sales in the UK until 2018.
Nevertheless, it was critically well regarded at the time of its release, at least in America. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau called it "the best album of the year so far", and Circus magazine ran an article under the heading "Kinks – Unhip But Original", which stated: "The Kinks are backdated, cut off from the mainstream of pop progression. Just the same they're originals and now have a fine new album out."
However, the LP went virtually unnoticed in their home country, receiving only a single review in Disc. The nameless reviewer commented that "[Davies has managed to bypass] everything psychedelic and electronic ... The Kinks may not be on the crest of the pop wave at these days, but Ray Davies will remain one of our finest composers for many years."
The record soon developed a cult following, and remains popular today. Kinks fan and British musician Pete Townshend of the Who later said that "For me, "Village Green Preservation Society" was Ray's masterwork. It's his Sgt. Pepper, it's what makes him the definitive pop poet laureate." Davies' timing with the album's nostalgic concept proved to be just out of step in the cultural turmoil of 1968, but it soon gained a much greater mainstream appeal. In 2003, the album was ranked number 255 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 258 in a 2012 revised list, and 384 in the 2020 list.
According to Acclaimed Music it is the 185th most celebrated album in popular music history.