044: The Kinks - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969)
“I wanted to write about England, damn it. And so I stood my ground after Village Green failed commercially, if not artistically. I was quite stubborn and I’m still quite stubborn.”
—Ray Davies
In this episode, we dive into the Kinks' 1969 concept album Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, which has long been one of Ben's favorite albums. Arthur tells the fictional life story of Englishman Arthur Morgan, who was born during the glory years of the British Empire, and whose slide into mid-20th-century obsolescence mirrors that of his home country. Sound heavy? It's heavy. But it's also fascinating, and richly musical. Ben leads a discussion that touches on world wars, isolationism, the class system, parenthood - and, of course, some great rock and roll music. He's ably joined by Rich, John, and Mike, who have all waited years to express their opinions on those subjects. Especially British isolationism during the late 1930s. We could yammer on for hours about that.
Miscellany
The Kinks' U.S. tour ban was, in Ray's words, well-deserved: "The reason we got banned was a mixture of bad agency, bad management, bad luck, and bad behavior ... So we deserved everything we got." The final straw was when Ray got into a fight with a promoter after showing up late for an American Bandstand performance. You don't cross Dick Clark and get to stay in America.
Ben mentions that "Lola" was the last Kinks song to penetrate the general consciousness, which is vague enough to sort of be true. But they did have a top ten hit in 1983 with the masterful "Come Dancing.”
The bassist on this album was indeed John Dalton - as fuzzily guessed at during the episode by Ben. Dalton replaced Pete Quaife in 1969. He does a creditable job on an album not designed to spotlight the bass guitar.
The album's title is a parody of Edward Gibbon's 1776 concept album, er, historical opus The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The book was a staple of required reading lists in British schools for many years.
Blackadder Goes Forth actually shares some of Arthur’s grim themes, as it’s set in the trenches during World War I. The entire series is hilarious and worth watching repeatedly.
John made a brief reference to a “Potemkin village” in the “Shangri-La” discussion. You can google it for more details, but the short version is that a Potemkin village is a term used to describe an external facade that suggests things are going well when in reality things are going badly (based off an incident from 18th century Russian history that may or may not be historical).
Our goof on "Arthur's Theme" in the cold open is made lovingly. Ben is a big fan of the song, which was co-written by none other than Burt Bacharach. Additionally, Ben took Christopher Cross's advice, and he's been happily married since 2013.
Also, we recorded our cold open before the news came out that Christopher Cross has tested positive for COVID-19. We wish him a strong and full recovery.
Other links
The Davies brothers look back on Arthur at 50 (Jeff Slate, Ultimate Classic Rock)
Ray says Arthur resonates with Britain's current political moment (Vanessa Thorpe, The Guardian)
Robyn Hitchcock hates “Arthur’s Theme” (Marah Eakin, AV Club)
Monty Python’s “Lumberjack Song” (YouTube)
John McFerrin's reviews of The Kinks, including a review of Arthur
Discord & Rhyme’s Arthur playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Ben Marlin (host)
John McFerrin (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
Mike DeFabio
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) tracklist
Victoria
Yes Sir, No Sir
Some Mother's Son
Drivin'
Brainwashed
Australia
Shangri-La
Mr. Churchill Says
She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina
Young And Innocent Days
Nothing to Say
Arthur
Other clips used
The Kinks:
Village Green
Waterloo Sunset
You Really Got Me
All Day and All of the Night
Days
The Village Green Preservation Society
20th Century Man
This Time Tomorrow
Big Black Smoke
Others:
Hollywood Studio Orchestra - Arthur’s Theme
Electric Six - Getting into the Jam
The Jam - David Watts
The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy vs. the Red Baron
The Fall - Victoria
Tool - Forty Six & 2
The Clash - Clash City Rockers
Billy Joel - Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
The Dukes of Stratosphear - You’re a Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)
Christopher Cross - Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Band/album personnel
Mick Avory – drums, percussion
John Dalton – bass guitar, background vocals
Dave Davies – lead guitar, background vocals, co-lead vocal on "Australia" and "Arthur"
Ray Davies – lead and background vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards (harpsichord and piano), production
Lew Warburton – horn and string arrangements
Andrew Hendriksen – engineering
Brian Humphries – engineering on "Drivin'"
Bob Lawrie – album art
Austin Sneller – “album tester” (?!?)
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
The Kinks - Australia (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) and other albums by the Kinks at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon [affiliate link]. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.