Legacy Recordings Licenses North American Rights To The Kinks Catalog Of Recordings Made For RCA And Arista (1971-1985)

16 Classic Kinks Album Titles Newly Remastered for Digital Release Available Now

50th Anniversary of Archetypal First Singles Celebrated with The Essential Kinks, The First Comprehensive Compilation Ever to Span the Iconic British Rock Band's History in Recordings, Coming Tuesday, October 14

Expanded Legacy Edition (CD/DVD) of Muswell Hillbillies, 1971's Masterpiece of Musical Social Commentary, Arrives Monday, November 10

09/10/2014

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has exclusively licensed the North American catalog rights to recordings made by The Kinks for RCA Records and Arista in the years from 1971 to 1985.

One of the great and abiding bands to emerge during the first wave of the British Pop Invasion of 1964, The Kinks released an album, an EP and four singles that year--"Long Tall Sally," "You Still Want Me," "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night"--arguably inventing hard rock with the opening riff of "You Really Got Me" while introducing American R&B to British music hall vaudeville.  The genius of The Kinks became more apparent with each subsequent release and, throughout the 1970s and 80s, the group recorded a series of unprecedented album masterworks, showcasing the keen observational songwriting of Ray Davies and the band's unforgettable chords and melodies.

On September 9, 16 classic Kinks album titles (listed below) were remastered and made available as hi-resolution digital downloads.

Ray Davies, recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12, said, "It is terrific to be reunited with the company that inspired and was involved with one of the finest Kinks albums, Phobia."

On October 14, Legacy Recordings will celebrate 50 years of Kinkdom with the historic release of The Essential Kinks, the first-ever career-spanning retrospective anthology comprised of key recordings made for the Pye/Reprise, RCA, Arista and Columbia labels (track list below), and fully endorsed by the band.  "I've never heard a Kinks song that I didn't like," writes David Bowie in his newly-penned, revelatory liner notes for The Essential Kinks. "Of course, from their noisy and brash beginnings, the Kinks have come to stand for some of the most enduring and heart-clutching pop of all time. They are in the gut of every British song-writer who followed them and are indisputably a cornerstone of everything pop and rock. I love 'em. The world loves 'em." The Essential Kinks may be pre-ordered at Amazon.

On November 10, Legacy will release an expanded CD/DVD deluxe edition of Muswell Hillbillies, The Kinks' 1971 masterpiece of working class social observation, a musical statement remarkably relevant in today's world. Newly remastered from the original analog tapes, Muswell Hillbillies includes the original album in its entirety as well as nine bonus tracks (seven of them previously unavailable in North America), and a DVD of rare 1972 television appearances (never released in North America). The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies, Legacy Edition, may be pre-ordered at Amazon.

A 2LP 12" vinyl edition of Muswell Hillbillies, including the original album and a selection of bonus material from the expanded Legacy Edition, will be available later this year.

The Essential Kinks Release Date: October 14, 2014

Disc One:
1. You Really Got Me
2. Stop Your Sobbing
3. All Day and All of the Night
4. Tired of Waiting For You
5. Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl
6. Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy
7. A Well Respected Man
8. Dedicated Follower of Fashion
9. Who'll Be The Next In Line
10. Set Me Free
11. See My Friends
12. Sunny Afternoon
13. Dead End Street
14. Death of a Clown
15. Autumn Almanac
16. David Watts
17. Waterloo Sunset
18. Days
19. The Village Green Preservation Society
20. Do You Remember Walter?
21. Picture Book
22. Victoria
23. Apeman
24. Strangers
25. 20th Century Man
26. Supersonic Rocket Ship
27. Celluloid Heroes

Disc Two:
1. Here Comes Yet Another Day
2. You Don't Know My Name
3. Till the End of the Day (Live)
4. One of the Survivors
5. Sweet Lady Genevieve
6. Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)
7. Life on the Road
8. Sleepwalker
9. Life Goes On
10. A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
11. Father Christmas
12. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
13. Lola (Live)
14. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (Live)
15. Better Things
16. Destroyer
17. Come Dancing
18. Don't Forget to Dance
19. Do It Again
20. Living On A Thin Line
21. Scattered

THE KINKS, MUSWELL HILLBILLIES, LEGACY EDITION (CD/DVD)
Release Date: November 10, 2014
DISC ONE (CD):       
Original Album
1. 20th Century Man
2. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues
3. Holiday
4. Skin And Bone
5. Alcohol
6. Complicated Life
7. Here Come The People In Grey
8. Have A Cuppa Tea
9. Holloway Jail
10. Oklahoma U.S.A.
11. Uncle Son
12. Muswell Hillbilly

Bonus Tracks:
13. Lavender Lane (previously unreleased in North America)
14. Mountain Woman
15. Have A Cuppa Tea (alternate version) (previously unreleased in North America)
16. Uncle Son (alternate version) (previously unreleased in North America)
17. Kentucky Moon
18. Nobody's Fool (demo) (previously unreleased in North America)
19. 20th Century Man (alternate instrumental take) (previously unreleased in North America)
20. Queenie (backing track) (previously unreleased in North America)
21. Muswell Hillbillies US radio spots (previously unissued) (previously unreleased in North America)

DISC TWO (DVD):
The Old Grey Whistle Test - BBC TV 4 January 1972
1. Have A Cuppa Tea
2. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues  

Live At The Rainbow - BBC TV 21 July 1972
3. Till The End Of The Day
4. Waterloo Sunset
5. The Money-Go-Round
6. Sunny Afternoon
7. The Virgin Soldier March  
8. She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
9. Alcohol
10. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues    
11. You Really Got Me        

Included in the Legacy Recordings catalog agreement are these albums:

THE KINKS/RCA Records
Muswell Hillbillies (RCA, Originally released November 24, 1971)
Everybody's In Show-Biz (RCA, double album, Originally released September 1, 1972)
Preservation: Act 1 (RCA, Originally released November 16, 1973)
Preservation: Act 2 (RCA, Originally released July 26, 1974)
Soap Opera (RCA, Originally released April 25, 1975)
Schoolboys In Disgrace (RCA, Originally released November 17, 1975)
The Kinks Greatest: Celluloid Heroes (RCA, compilation, Originally released June 25, 1976)

THE KINKS/Arista
Sleepwalker (Arista, Originally released February 12, 1977)
Misfits (Arista, Originally released May 17, 1978)
Low Budget (Arista, Originally released July 10, 1979)
One For The Road (Live) (Arista, live album, Originally released June 4, 1980)
Give The People What They Want (Arista, Originally released August 15, 1981)
State Of Confusion (Arista, Originally released June 10, 1983)
Word Of Mouth (Arista, Originally released November 19, 1984)
Return To Waterloo (Arista, Ray Davies solo album, Originally released July 1, 1985)
Come Dancing With The Kinks/The Best Of The Kinks 1977-1986 (Arista, compilation, double album, Originally released June 2, 1986)

 

An expanded CD/DVD deluxe edition of The Kinks

 

Legacy Recordings logo. Division of SONY Music Entertainment.

 

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SOURCE Legacy Recordings

For further information: Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448, Tom.Cording@sonymusic.com; Maria C. Malta at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.6511, Maria.Malta@sonymusic.com