Percy (soundtrack album)

Percy is a 1971 film soundtrack for the British comedy film Percy performed by the English rock group the Kinks with additional orchestral arrangements conducted by Stanley Myers. It was released as the band’s ninth official studio album. The songs were written by Ray Davies and include both standard rock/pop songs and instrumental numbers.

Background
Percy was the first album the Kinks worked on following the success of "Lola". The idea of creating a soundtrack for the Percy movie was suggested by the band's management. Ray Davies reflected in 2014, "Again, it was a masterpiece of mismanagement! 'Lola' had been a worldwide hit, and America was crying out for us to go back there, but our managers decided it would be nice if we did the soundtrack to a film!" On how the band was selected to record the soundtrack, Davies joked, "Somebody came up to us and asked us to do a film. I'm sure that they looked down the charts and thought, 'Well, who's in the charts this week?"

Aside from Ray Davies, most of the rest of the band were uninterested in the project and sought to rush its completion. Though John Dalton cited the album as one of the band's worst, John Gosling has since referred to it as his favorite Kinks album that he was present on, besides Muswell Hillbillies.

Although some songs, like "The Way Love Used to Be", were written before the band began working on a soundtrack, many of the tracks on the album were based on the themes in the movie. This included the lead single "God's Children", a protest song against interfering with the human condition using science.

Singles and compilations
"God's Children" was issued as a single (b/w either "Moments" or "The Way Love Used to Be", depending on the country) in April 1971. In the UK a 4-track EP was also released featuring "God's Children", "The Way Love Used To Be", "Moments" and "Dreams". This was the Kinks' last release with Pye while they were still under contract. Unlike the album, the single was released in the US (in July) but failed to chart there or in the UK. It was a minor hit in Australia (reaching #53) and New Zealand (#21). In the US the tracks "God's Children" and "Willesden Green" were included on The Kink Kronikles compilation in 1972. "The Way Love Used to Be" was included on 1973's The Great Lost Kinks Album.

"Willesden Green" is the only song released by the Kinks to feature lead vocals by a band member other than a Davies brother. Bassist John Dalton sings lead vocals on the track, doing an impression of Elvis Presley.

Never released in the US, this album was by far the most commonly imported to the US of all of the Kinks' Pye albums. Both Jem and Imports Unlimited kept this album on their import lists throughout the 1970s.

Track listing

 * The 2014 deluxe edition of Percy is the second disc of the Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One deluxe edition. The 2-disc set is titled Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround & Percy.

Personnel
According to band researcher Doug Hinman:

The Kinks
 * Ray Davies – lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars; harmonica ("Completely", "Running Round Town")
 * Dave Davies – backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
 * John Dalton – bass guitar; lead vocals ("Willesden Green")
 * Mick Avory – drums
 * John Gosling – baby grand piano, Hammond organ, electric piano

Additional musicians
 * Stanley Myers – string arrangements
 * The Mike Cotton Sound – horns ("Lola")