FACE TO FACE

The Kinks: Dave Davies (vocals, guitar); Ray Davies (vocals); Peter Quaife (bass); Mick Avory (drums). Recorded between 1965 and 1967. Includes original liner notes by Frank Smyth and Peter Doggett. The album that ushered in a new era of Ray Davies' songwriting, 1966's FACE TO FACE finds Davies penning, for the first time, a series of vignettes in the style that would become a staple for the rest of his career. Songs such as "Dandy" (a hit for Herman's Hermits), with its concise portrait of a '60s swinger, are a world away from the raucous rock of early hits like "You Really Got Me." The folky, Indian-influenced "Fancy," which may or may not be a self-portrait, and "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" (actually written about the Davies brothers' sister) are timeless, precisely crafted sketches, beyond musical fad or fashion, that still resound today. Musically, some serious thought is apparent in the arrangements of songs such as "Too Much on My Mind," and much of the album is conclusive evidence that the rest of the Kinks, in particular guitarist Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory, were the perfect foil for Davies' songwriting skills. Though the only bona-fide Kinks hit here is the breezy, sardonic "Sunny Afternoon," FACE TO FACE is a seminal Kinks album for its overarching vision and for displaying the first serious manifestations of Ray Davies' burgeoning songwriting talent.