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''Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; however, the television programme was cancelled and never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning. A mono version was released in the UK, but not in the US. It is now available on the 2011 deluxe-edition re-issue. ''Arthur'' was met with nearly unanimous acclaim upon release. It received generous coverage in the US rock press, with articles running in underground magazines such as ''Fusion'' and ''The Village Voice''. It garnered back-to-back reviews by Mike Daly and Greil Marcus in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's lead section; Daly rated it "the Kinks' finest hour", and Marcus ranked it "the best British album of 1969".〔 Reviews in the UK were also positive. Although ''Arthur'' received a mixed review in ''New Musical Express'', ''Disc & Music Echo'' praised the album's musical integrity, and ''Melody Maker'' called it "Ray Davies' finest hour ... beautifully British to the core".〔 The album, although not very successful commercially, was a return to the charts in the US for the band. Their previous effort, ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'', received acclaim from critics but failed to chart in any country upon its 1968 release, with total US sales estimated at under 25,000 copies. The Kinks returned to the ''Billboard'' charts in 1969 after a two-year absence, with the lead single from the record, "Victoria", peaking at number 62.〔 The album itself reached number 50 on the ''Record World'' charts, and number 105 on ''Billboard'', their highest position since 1965. It failed to chart in Britain. ''Arthur'' paved the way for the further success of their 1970 comeback album ''Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One'' and its accompanying US Top 10 and UK Top 5 hit "Lola". ==Background== British production company Granada TV approached Ray Davies in early January 1969, expressing interest in developing a movie or play for television. Davies was to collaborate with writer Julian Mitchell on the "experimental" programme, with a soundtrack by the Kinks to be released on an accompanying LP.〔 Agreements were finalised on 8 January, but the project was not revealed until a press release on 10 March. Separately, the Kinks began work on the programme's companion record, entitled ''Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)''. Development of ''Arthur'' occurred during a rough period for the band, due to the commercial failure of their previous album ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'' and the subsequent single, "Plastic Man", as well as the departure of founding member and bassist Pete Quaife. In early 1969, Quaife had told the band he was quitting, though the other members did not take the remark seriously. When an article in the ''New Musical Express'' mentioned Maple Oak, the band that he had formed without the rest of the Kinks' knowledge,〔 Davies unsuccessfully asked Quaife to return for the upcoming sessions of ''Arthur''. As a replacement, Davies called up bassist John Dalton, who had previously filled in for Quaife.〔 Davies travelled to United Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California on 11 April 1969, to produce American pop band The Turtles' LP ''Turtle Soup'' with engineer Chuck Britz. While in Los Angeles, Davies helped negotiate an end to the concert ban placed on the Kinks by the American Federation of Musicians in 1965.〔 Although neither the Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour.〔 After negotiations with Davies, the Federation relented, opening up an opportunity for the group to return to touring in America. Once the main sessions for the Turtles LP were completed, Davies returned to England. While Davies was abroad, the other members of the band had been rehearsing and practising for the upcoming album, as well as lead guitarist Dave Davies' solo album, nicknamed ''A Hole in the Sock of''.〔〔 When Ray returned, the Kinks regrouped at his house in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, to rehearse the upcoming album ''Arthur''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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