Muswell Hillbillies is the tenth studio album by the Englishrock 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]
The album was not a commercial success (it failed to chart in the United Kingdom and peaked at No. 100 in the US),[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 previously 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 nine 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 three 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 insert 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.
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