Maximum Consumption: Legacy Expands The Kinks’ “Everybody’s In Showbiz”
The Kinks’ tenth studio album, 1972’s double LP Everybody’s in Showbiz, is about to get the Legacy Edition treatment from Sony’s Legacy Recordings. On June 3, the classic studio/live hybrid album will be reissued along with a full disc’s worth of previously unissued studio outtakes (recorded at London’s Morgan Studios) and concert material (recorded March 2-3, 1972 during The Kinks’ Carnegie Hall concert stand).
Often seen as a transitional album pointing the way towards producer-songwriter-frontman Ray Davies’ more theatrical style, Everybody’s in Showbiz took its inspiration from Davies’ life on the road. The album’s songs were originally intended as the soundtrack to The Colossal Shirt, an unrealized film about The Kinks’ touring life. The LP showcases the band lineup of Ray Davies, guitarist Dave Davies, bassist John Dalton, keyboardist John Gosling and drummer Mick Avory, joined by brass and woodwind players Mike Cotton, John Beecham and Alan Holmes (all of whom played on Muswell Hillbillies, recently reissued by Legacy.)
The Carnegie Hall tracks on the original LP include Kinks originals such as “Lola” and “Brainwashed” as well as an eclectic variety of cover versions including “Mr. Wonderful” (from the 1956 Sammy Davis Jr.-starring Broadway musical of the same name), the 1926 chart-topper “Baby Face” and “The Banana Boat Song” (best known in its rendition by Harry Belafonte).
The 17-track bonus disc of the new Legacy Edition premieres never-before-heard live versions of “Sunny Afternoon,” “Get Back in Line,” “Muswell Hillbilly,” “Complicated Life” and the rarely-played “Long Tall Shorty” as well as the outtake “History,” alternate mixes of “Supersonic Rocket Ship” and “Unreal Reality” and “Sophisticated Lady,” an embryonic rehearsal version of “Money Talks.”
The remastered Legacy Edition includes new liner notes by journalist David Fricke. It’s due in stores on CD and vinyl from Legacy Recordings on June 3; the vinyl 3-LP edition contains the original album and a selection of nine bonus tracks (noted below). Both versions can be pre-ordered at the links below!
The Kinks, Everybody’s in Showbiz: Legacy Edition (RCA VPS-6065, 1972 – reissued Legacy Recordings, 2016)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada TBD
CD 1: The Original Album
- Here Comes Yet Another Day
- Maximum Consumption
- Unreal Reality
- Hot Potatoes
- Sitting In My Hotel
- Motorway
- You Don’t Know My Name
- Supersonic Rocket Ship
- Look A Little On The Sunny Side
- Celluloid Heroes
- Top Of The Pops (Live)
- Brainwashed (Live)
- Wonderful (Live)
- Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues (Live)
- Holiday (Live)
- Muswell Hillbilly (Live)
- Alcohol (Live)
- Banana Boat Song (Live)
- Skin And Bone (Live)
- Baby Face (Live)
- Lola (Live)
Tracks 1-10 Recorded March-October 1972 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London
Tracks 11-21 Recorded March 3, 1972 at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York
CD 2: Bonus Tracks
- ‘Til The End Of The Day (Live) (previously issued) (*)
- You’re Looking Fine (Live) (previously unreleased commercially) (*)
- Get Back In Line (Live) (*)
- Have A Cuppa Tea (Live) (*)
- Sunny Afternoon (Live) (*)
- Muswell Hillbilly (Live)
- Brainwashed (Live)
- Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues (Live)
- Holiday (Live)
- Alcohol (Live)
- Complicated Life (Live) (*)
- She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina (Live) (previously issued)
- Long Tall Shorty (Live) (*)
- History (studio outtake) (*)
- Supersonic Rocket Ship (alternate mix) (*)
- Unreal Reality (alternate mix)
- Sophisticated Lady (early rehearsal version of “Money Talks”)
All tracks previously unreleased except where noted
(*) denotes bonus track included on vinyl edition
Tracks 1-13 Recorded March 2-3, 1972 at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York
Tracks 14-17 Recorded at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London
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8 thoughts on “Maximum Consumption: Legacy Expands The Kinks’ “Everybody’s In Showbiz””
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Nice! Keep Kinks Legacy Editions coming!
I’ve have seen the kinks 27 times, I missed this show, but I saw them in Central park that August, they were fantastic that magic night, my friends & I were tripping, & we couldn’t find ourselves a way to get out of the park.
Trying to get this straight: The 2-CD version contains all 17 additional tracks, but the 3-LP version contains only those with an asterisk?
Correct, the vinyl edition has nine bonus tracks vs. the CD’s seventeen.
Love this album – instant purchase! I have the MFSL SACD… alternate ‘Supersonic’? New studio outtakes? Hot potato!
They knocked it out of the park with “Muswell” and “Lola vs. Powerman” (the double disc) with the awesome “Anytime” (how was that not released at the time?? Well, their contract was done I presume.. “Lola” remains one of the best contractual obligation albums ever).
Fantastic news! “Look a Little On the Sunny Side” is one of my favorite Kinks tracks that no one ever really talks about..
And now about that reunion… 🙂
Maybe a little uneven compared to Muswell but it still have many gems. “Sitting in my hotel” delivers the goose bumps every time for sure. A nice warm-up to the most longed next solo album from Ray Davies, his first with new material in nine years based on his second autobiography “Americana”. But I agree Jeff, a reunion could awake Ray’s productivety as a songwriter again as from The Kinks’ years 64 to 94 (when he was king).
This is very confusing especially disc 2 is it at least remixed… It’s mostly what’s on disc 1… Kind of pointless.
Actually 9 live tracks ok… that’s pretty cool… I wonder if this is the whole show…