Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), often referred to simply as Arthur, is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released on 10 October 1969. It was the first Kinks album to feature bassist John Dalton, who replaced Pete Quaife after the latter's departure. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; the television programme was never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray and guitarist Dave Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning. A stereo version was released internationally with a mono version being released in the UK, but not in the US.

The album was met with poor sales but nearly unanimous acclaim, especially among the American music press. Although Arthur and its first two singles, "Drivin and "Shangri-La", failed to chart in the UK, the Kinks returned to the Billboard charts after a two-year absence with "Victoria", the lead single in the US, peaking at number 62. The album itself reached number 105 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, their highest position for three years. Arthur paved the way for the further success of the Kinks' 1970 comeback album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One.

Background

British production company Granada TV approached Ray Davies in early January 1969, expressing interest in developing a film or play for television. Davies was to collaborate with writer Julian Mitchell on the "experimental" programme, with a soundtrack by the Kinks to be released on an accompanying LP.

Ray Davies travelled to United Recording Studios in Los Angeles on 11 April 1969, to produce American band the Turtles' LP Turtle Soup with engineer Chuck Britz. While in Los Angeles, Davies helped negotiate an end to the concert ban placed on the Kinks by the American Federation of Musicians in 1965. sessions for Arthur resumed the day after their return, and most of the recording for the album was finished by the end of the month. The Kinks played a few small gigs in England throughout the remainder of the month, but devoted most of their time to finishing Dave Davies' solo album. As problems with the TV play got progressively worse—and, consequently, distracted the Kinks from completing the post-production of the album—the release dates for both projects were pushed further and further back. The album's release date was set for 10 October, Davies and Mitchell were frustrated at an entire year's work wasted: Doug Hinman said Davies witnessed "his grand artistic visions once again dashed by bureaucracy and internal politics".

Story and theme

The story is partially inspired by the Davies brothers' older sister Rose, who emigrated to Australia in 1964 with her husband Arthur Anning. Her departure devastated Ray Davies, and it inspired him to write the song "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home", included on the 1966 album Face to Face. With an underlying theme of nostalgia, the songs describe the England Arthur once knew It was the last Kinks album to be released in mono, and the mono edition was not released in the US. The album set the stage for the Kinks' return to touring the United States in late 1969, and paved the way for even greater commercial success with the hit song "Lola" in 1970. The group followed with another single in September, "Shangri-La", which again failed to chart in the UK. As with Village Green, the album itself failed to chart when released in October.

In the US, "Victoria" was the lead single, backed with the album track "Brainwashed", and was released the same week as the LP. The single reached number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100—their highest position since their Top 20 hit "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. The success of the single led to its release in the UK; backed with "Mr. Churchill Says", it reached a peak of number 30. Arthur itself was a moderate commercial success in the US, where it peaked at number 105, and remained on the charts for 20 weeks.

Promotion

Reprise Records, the Kinks' US label, devised an elaborate, multi-levelled promotional campaign for Arthur in early 1969. The most famous branch of the programme involved a promo package entitled God Save the Kinks. The set featured various items, including a consumer's guide to the band's albums, a bag of "grass" from the "Daviesland village green", and an LP entitled Then, Now and Inbetween. The set was accompanied by a positive letter from Hal Halverstadt of creative services at Warner/Reprise, part of which read, "...[We are led] to believe that the Kinks may not have had it at all... The Kinks are to be supported, encouraged, cheered. And saved." Reprise considered seeding false stories in the press to create an "outlaw" image for the group as part of the campaign, including pieces about marijuana possession and income tax evasion.

thumb|right|alt=A drawing of a richly dressed queen, wearing a black dress, crown, and white headdress, lies vertically along a black background. She holds in her hands a tiny house, with a small man looking out of the window.|Insert from Arthurs LP release, showing [[Queen Victoria holding a house containing Arthur Morgan. The insert, along with the rest of the album's artwork, was created by Bob Lawrie.]]

Packaging and liner notes

Artwork for Arthur was created by Bob Lawrie.

Critical reception

The album was critically acclaimed at the time of release, especially in the US rock press. It was favourably compared to Tommy by the Who, released earlier in the year. Marcus also praised the album, calling it "Less ambitious than Tommy, and far more musical... Arthur is by all odds the best British album of 1969. It shows that Pete Townshend still has worlds to conquer and that the Beatles have a lot of catching up to do." A review by Sal Imam ran in Boston's Fusion magazine read that "If Tommy was the greatest rock opera, then Arthur most surely is the greatest rock musical."

Reception in the UK was not as warm, although reviews were still generally positive.

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Today the album receives generally positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said Arthur was "one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era", Switch magazine included Arthur on their "100 Best Albums of the 20th Century" in 1999, and in 2003 Mojo featured the album on their list of the "Top 50 Most Eccentric Albums".

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Arthur. || style="text-align:center;"| 50

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan=2| Year

! rowspan=2| Title

! colspan=3| Peak chart positions

! UK

! US

! NL

|rowspan=4| 1969

| "Drivin

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| "Shangri-La"

| style="text-align:center;"| —

| style="text-align:center;"| 24

| "Victoria"

| style="text-align:center;"| 30