Muswell Hillbillies

Muswell Hillbillies
Studio album by
the Kinks
Released24 November 1971 (1971-11-24)
RecordedAugust–October 1971
StudioMorgan, London
Genre
Length44:38
LabelRCA
ProducerRay Davies
The Kinks UK chronology
Percy
(1971) 		Muswell Hillbillies
(1971) 		Everybody's in Show-Biz
(1972)
The Kinks US chronology
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
(1970) 		Muswell Hillbillies
(1971) 		The Kink Kronikles
(1972)
Singles from Muswell Hillbillies
  1. "20th Century Man"
    Released: December 1971

Muswell Hillbillies is the tenth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks. Released on 24 November 1971, it was the band's first album released through RCA Records. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, where band leader Ray Davies and guitarist Dave Davies grew up and the band formed in the early 1960s.[3]

The album introduces a number of working class figures and the stresses with which they must contend. It did not sell well but received critical acclaim and lasting fan appreciation.

Recording

Muswell Hillbillies was the band's first album for RCA Records,[2] their prior recordings having been released on Pye Records (Reprise Records in the United States). Their contract with Pye/Reprise expired the same year. The album was recorded between August and October 1971 at Morgan Studios, London, using a new brass section, the Mike Cotton Sound, which included Mike Cotton on trumpet, John Beecham on trombone and tuba, and Alan Holmes on clarinet.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[5]
Drowned in Sound10/10[6]
Pitchfork8.9/10[7]
Rolling Stone(favourable)[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
Uncut[10]

The album was not a commercial success (it failed to chart in the United Kingdom and peaked at #100 in the U.S.[11]), and its sales were a disappointment following the success of Lola the previous year. Stereo Review magazine called the poor-selling record "album of the year" in 1972 (even though it was released on 24 November 1971). In the 1984 Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rolling Stone editors gave the album five stars out of five and called it Davies' "signature statement" as a songwriter. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a wide-ranging collection of Ray Davies compositions which focus on the tensions and frustrations of modern life.[2]

Re-releases

The album was reissued on CD in 1998 with two previouslн unreleased bonus tracks: "Mountain Woman" and "Kentucky Moon".[12]

A remastered deluxe edition of Muswell Hillbillies was released in the UK on 7 October 2013, with a bonus CD of alternate takes, and BBC recordings all remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Dan Hersch.[13]

On 10 November 2014, the album was reissued in the United States as CD/DVD Legacy Edition. The CD featured 9 bonus tracks, most of which were taken from the 2013 deluxe edition, while the DVD featured promotional TV performances from the era (previously released in the UK on The Kinks at the BBC box set).

In 2022 Muswell Hillbillies was remastered and reissued with 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks.[14][15]

Artwork

The front cover picture was taken by Rod Shone in the Archway Tavern, a pub in Archway (more than two miles away from Muswell Hill). The back inset picture, showing the band below a signpost giving directions to Muswell Hill, was taken on the small traffic island at the intersection of Castle Yard and Southwood Lane in Highgate.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ray Davies.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."20th Century Man"5:57
2."Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues"3:32
3."Holiday"2:40
4."Skin and Bone"3:39
5."Alcohol"3:35
6."Complicated Life"4:02
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Here Come the People in Grey"3:46
2."Have a Cuppa Tea"3:45
3."Holloway Jail"3:29
4."Oklahoma U.S.A."2:38
5."Uncle Son"2:33
6."Muswell Hillbilly"4:58
1998 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Mountain Woman"3:08
14."Kentucky Moon"3:57
2013 deluxe edition bonus CD
No.TitleLength
1."Lavender Lane"3:48
2."Mountain Woman"3:09
3."Have a Cuppa Tea" (Alternate Version)3:33
4."Muswell Hillbilly" (1976 Remix)3:48
5."Uncle Son" (Alternate Version)2:44
6."Kentucky Moon"3:56
7."Nobody's Fool" (Demo Version)2:28
8."20th Century Man" (Alternate Instrumental Take)3:02
9."20th Century Man" (1976 Remix)5:02
10."Queenie"3:43
11."Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues" (Live At Kensington House – 1972)3:48
12."Holiday" (Live At Kensington House – 1972)3:08
13."Skin and Bone" (Live At Kensington House – 1972)2:34
  • Tracks 1, 3, 5 recorded on 20 Sep 1971
  • Tracks 2, 6 recorded on 16 Oct 1971
  • Tracks 4, 9 recorded Aug–Sep 1971
  • Tracks 7, 8 recorded on 6 Oct 1971
  • Track 10 recorded Sep 1971
  • Tracks 11-13 recorded at BBC John Peel Sessions, 16 May 1972
  • All tracks are in stereo except 7, 11-13 in Mono; Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 are previously unreleased[16]
2014 US Legacy Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Lavender Lane"3:49
14."Mountain Woman"3:08
15."Have a Cuppa Tea" (alternate version)3:34
16."Uncle Son" (alternate version)2:45
17."Kentucky Moon"3:56
18."Nobody's Fool" (demo)2:28
19."20th Century Man" (alternate instrumental take)3:06
20."Queenie" (backing track)3:46
21."Muswell Hillbillies Radio Spot"0:51
2022 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."20th Century Man" (2022 Mix)6:10
14."Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues" (2022 Mix)3:31
15."Travelling With My Band" (2022 Mix)3:13

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

The Kinks

Additional personnel

  • Mike Cotton – trumpet
  • John Beecham – trombone, tuba
  • Alan Holmes – saxophone, clarinet
  • Vicki Brown – backing vocals on tracks 4 and 9
  • Ken Jones – harmonica on track 7
  • Mike Bobak – engineer[17]
  • Richard Edwards – engineer

References

  1. ^ Donald Brown. Bob Dylan: American Troubadour. p. 121.
  2. ^ a b c d e Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  3. ^ Stolder, Steven. "Muswell Hillbillies". MusicVIP.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  4. ^ Blender reviewArchived 4 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: K". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  6. ^ Slaughter, Matthew (4 October 2013). "Muswell Hillbillies (reissue)". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  7. ^ Josephes, Jason (24 August 2004). "The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  8. ^ Saunders, Mike (3 February 1972). "The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies". Rolling Stone. No. RS 101. Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 24 January 2008.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  10. ^ "Kinks Klassics". Uncut. No. 88. September 2004. p. 62.
  11. ^ "The Kinks' Chart Positions". kindakinks.net. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  12. ^ Muswell Hillbillies 1998 CD liner notes
  13. ^ Paul Sinclair (3 July 2013). "The Kinks / Muswell Hillbillies 2CD deluxe edition reissue". superdeluxeedition.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Muswell Hillbillies (Deluxe) [2022 Remaster] - The Kinks". music.apple.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  15. ^ Muswell Hillbillies 2022 CD liner notes
  16. ^ Muswell Hillbillies 2013 CD liner notes
  17. ^ "Muswell Hillbillies > Credits". JR.com. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.