Muswell Hillbillies

The first album in the Kinks' RCA phase, this 1971 aggregation stands as one of the pivotal titles in the group's extensive oeuvre. Check out the cover for a sense where this collection is rooted: the five longhaired lads mill about at a sunlit working-class pub where the regulars go about their libationary affairs. The album's keynote tracks--"20th Century Man," "Holiday," "Here Come the People in Grey"--focus on proletariat proceedings that were familiar to frontman Ray Davies and his guitar-slinging sibling, Dave. Indeed, the title track's name is concocted from of the name of the north London community where the Davies brothers grew up and the then-popular Beverly Hillbillies TV show. Musically, Muswell Hillbillies draws on country and pub-jazz elements; check out the trad-band brass that adorns the intoxicating "Alcohol." Ray Davies called this album his "existentialist-type record," noting that he resisted the temptation to design a radio-friendly single to succeed "Lola" in favor of devising a conceptual collection of tunes. For better or worse, it would be some time before he'd abandon his predilection for plots. --Steven Stolder