Vinyl Record

The Kinks - Percy

The Kinks - Percy on LP vinyl. A 2021 record available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel, Ireland.

LP · 2021

Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.

Buyer notes: 2021 LP, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection vinyl shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel or ship within Ireland for EUR 5.50.

Percy is one of the stranger side doors into The Kinks: a 1971 soundtrack tied to the British comedy film of the same name, revived here in a 2021 vinyl-era context. Coming just after Lola Versus Powerman, it does not behave like a major canonical statement, yet that is part of its charm. Ray Davies writes to a film brief and still finds room for devotional melancholy, social oddity and melodic grace. God's Children is the obvious anchor, a beautiful protest of bodily and spiritual dignity, while The Way Love Used To Be and Moments show how tender the band could be when the volume drops. Around those songs are blues sketches, country-ish turns, instrumentals and film cues shaped with Stanley Myers' orchestral involvement. Percy feels modest on first contact, but it rewards Kinks listeners who enjoy the band's byways as much as the monuments.

Percy matters because it preserves a transitional Kinks mood that does not appear quite the same way on the studio albums around it. It shows Ray Davies adapting his writing to cinema while still producing songs that later earned a life beyond the film.

A good collector piece for completists and deep Kinks listeners rather than a first purchase. Its value is in the texture of the catalogue: soundtrack fragments, lovely ballads, odd comic edges and a 1971 moment that sits just off the main road from Lola to Muswell Hillbillies.

Film-soundtrack Kinks with plaintive ballads, blues touches, country color, short instrumentals and orchestral shading around Ray Davies' melodic writing.

Recommended for: Kinks completists filling the early-70s soundtrack chapter; Listeners drawn to God's Children and the band's gentler ballads; Collectors who enjoy soundtrack albums with cult-band context.

Is Percy a regular Kinks studio album? It is usually counted in the album run, but it was made as a soundtrack for the 1971 British film Percy. What is the best-known song from Percy? God's Children is the central song and the most common gateway into the album's emotional tone. Should new Kinks listeners start with Percy? No. It is more rewarding after the major records, especially once the early-70s Kinks sound is already familiar.