KINKS CHORAL COLLECTION

Today sees the release of a new album by Ray Davies| on the Decca imprint, The Kinks Choral Collection. For the album, Ray has taken a selection of his works and arranged them for his band and a choir that, like Ray, has its roots in North London, the Crouch End Festival Chorus.

Davies worked closely with the Chorus’ choirmaster David Temple in fashioning the album.

"My first brief to David and (arranger) Steve Markwick, regarding the arranging, was ‘I don't want this to be (a) a karaoke record or (b) a singalong with backing vocals'. I wanted the arrangements to be ambitious and for the pieces to be interesting to sing, but I didn't want it to sound like Messiaen or something like that, which wouldn't lend itself to my style of music. Something David taught me very early on was that a choir sounds great when it's a choir, and there's a certain kind of ambience you have to retain. Otherwise it'll just sound like a doowop group."

The finished tracks are a refreshingly different interpretation of some of Ray’s most well known works as well as some of his more recent solo efforts. Included in the album are new renditions of the Kassner-published You Really Got Me YOU REALLY GOT ME by RAYMOND DAVIES|, All Day and All of the Night ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT by RAYMOND DAVIES| and See My Friends SEE MY FRIENDS by RAYMOND DAVIES|. The version of See My Friends SEE MY FRIENDS by RAYMOND DAVIES| which appears on The Kinks Choral Collection has left Davies particularly enthused:

"I started See My Friends with a band, but I rearranged it after we'd finished recording it. In other words, I cut it up in the studio after it was recorded. It sounds brilliant! I'm really pleased with it, because it's an acapella version."

The Kinks Choral Collection is available today on Decca Records.