The Kinks “Village Green” LP is now rightly regarded as a great LP and one of the best records from the 1960s. However when first released in November 1968 it sold poorly, a situation exacerbated by Ray Davies refusing to let Pye Records release a single in the UK or the US. Virtually the only promotional activity undertaken by the band was an appearance on folk singer Julie Felix’s Saturday night BBC TV show. These are some of Pete Quaife’s last appearances with the Kinks – he would leave to form his own band Maple Oak in April 1969. “The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains” makes no secret of its debt to Smokestack Lightnin’. “Picture Book” was the B side to “Starstruck”, a European-only single released in January 1969. “Big Sky” is a memento of the US tours that the Kinks were able to undertake when a lengthy union ban finally ended, this version demonstrating that the band was capable of effectively re-creating the complex “Village Green” songs in a live setting.
From the same gig comes the rarely played “Autumn Almanac“, one of the 15 songs considered for inclusion on the “Village Green” LP. Ben Rosenblatt, a student in the audience, knew the song and offered to play the piano part. The Kinks were always keen on audience participation…
Side One recorded for BBC TV Once More With Felix on January 7th 1969 and broadcast on February 1st
Side Two recorded live at Colden Center Auditorium, Queens College, New York on March 27th 1971 and broadcast on WLIR-FM
The Fat Angel Sings 