Pause and Play just listed a new Ray Davies CD. 11 songs. Seems pretty quick since the last one Other Peoples Lives.

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Stephen's original post above refers to the UK import release of this album, but now it's going to be released here in the USA in two expanded editions. ~ Linda



[bigred]Standard Edition (CD Only)[/bigred]

Review
It isn't quite the old Ray Davies that turns up on what is technically his second solo album following the first by only a year, but it's a more familiar one. Where Other People's Lives was polished and cautious, Working Man's Café is sharper and more direct, reaching back to Davies' most biting social commentary and the pointed wit of prime Kinks days. --Harp Magazine

Product Description
Working Man's Café, a new studio album by legendary musician and Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame member Ray Davies (founder, singer, songwriter of The Kinks), features 12 new songs written by Davies, and co-produced with Grammy® Award winning producer/engineer Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle). Recorded in Nashville, Working Man's Café is Davies' second solo album, following his solo debut Other People's Lives, released in 2006.

Working Man's Café focuses on the plight of the worker, the everyday man around the world. It is Davies' "American record" (many of the songs were written and all produced in the US), describing the changes he's seen in this country since he first started visiting in the '60s. In a recent four-star Mojo Magazine review Davies is described as having a tourist's blend of enchantment and bafflement when writing about the United States.

1. Vietnam Cowboys (4:12)
2. You're Asking Me (3:22)
3. Working Man's Café (3:41)
4. Morphine Song (4:18)
5. In A Moment (4:29)
6. Peace In Our Time (4:39)
7. No One Listen (3:13)
8. Imaginary Man (4:09)
9. One More Time (4:28)
10. The Voodoo Walk (4:24)
11. Hymn For A New Age (3:42)
12. The Real World (5:06)

USA Bonus Tracks:
13. Angola (Wrong Side Of The Law) (4:29)
14. Vietnam Cowboys (demo) (2:52)
15. The Voodoo Walk (demo) (4:25)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010ZOCIU/?tag=imwan-20

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[bigred]Limited Deluxe Edition (CD+DVD)[/bigred]

The deluxe CD/DVD contains a limited edition DVD entitled Ray Davies: Americana - A Work In Progress. Filmed and directed by Ray himself, it features footage from the fall 2001 Storyteller Tour. Ray narrates over the post-9/11 landscape of airports, freeways, hotels, soundchecks and performances, with songs from Working Man's Café as the soundtrack. It all culminates in New Orleans, the city that inspired many of the songs on the new album. The film is a fascinating glimpse into life on the road with one of rock 'n' roll's most legendary artists. It is filmed and directed by Ray Davies.

Disc: 1
1. Vietnam Cowboys (4:12)
2. You're Asking Me (3:22)
3. Working Man's Café (3:41)
4. Morphine Song (4:18)
5. In A Moment (4:29)
6. Peace In Our Time (4:39)
7. No One Listen (3:13)
8. Imaginary Man (4:09)
9. One More Time (4:28)
10. The Voodoo Walk (4:24)
11. Hymn For A New Age (3:42)
12. The Real World (5:06)

USA Bonus Tracks:
13. Angola (Wrong Side Of The Law) (4:29)
14. I, The Victim (4:33) (rough mix from the upcoming project called Ripper) *EXTRA bonus track for Deluxe Edition only!
15. Vietnam Cowboys (demo) (2:52)
16. The Voodoo Walk (demo) (4:25)

Disc: 2
1. Americana A Work In Progress DVD. Filmed and directed by Ray Davies.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012IWK0W/?tag=imwan-20

The last one came out about a year and a half ago, and the word is that he's been playing some of these new songs in concert for a while now.

I really enjoyed "Other People's Lives"! One of my favorites of 2006. And I can't wait for this one!

I have to wholeheartedly agree with Ken, can't wait for this. Great news!

"Other People's Lives" was excellent, so many years later and Ray is still putting the competition to shame. What an amazing talent.

I totally agree with the previous posters...
Other People's Lives was excellent and... the best CD released that year. I still play it often and can't wait for any new release from Ray!
If anyone here still does not have this CD, get it - you won't regret it.

Steve

Here's the press release for Ray's new album:

Ray Davies Returns With New Solo LP!

Eighteen months after releasing his first ever solo album, Ray Davies is back with what promises to be one of the best albums of his incredible career. While last year’s Other People’s Lives was a lifetime in the making, this new album happened relatively quickly.

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and mixed in North London at Konk earlier this year, ‘Working Man's Café’ features 12 stellar songs written by Ray Davies and co-produced with Ray Kennedy. They assembled a crackerjack band of top musicians who breathe life into a wonderful collection of songs.

The 12 new songs are vintage Ray Davies and bears all the hallmark classic musical and lyrical insights we have come to expect from him. The album is infused with a transatlantic sound befitting Ray’s close ties to the American south coupled with his well respected Englishness. From the first upbeat notes of the lead track ‘Vietnam Cowboys’, it is clear Ray has never sung better.

‘Working Man's Café’ is a wistful, humorous and poignant look at today, just what we have come to expect from one of Britain’s greatest songwriters. Highlights are many and include the Preservation Jazz Hall sway of ‘Morphine Song’, the painful longing of ‘Imaginary Man’ and the haunting emotion of ‘One More Time’.

‘You’re Asking Me’ and ‘In A Moment’ offer incredibly affecting pop while ‘Working Man’s Café’ revisits familiar Davies territory – that yearning for an era gone by. Brimming with variety, ‘Voodoo Walk’ is a steamy stroll on the rock side.

‘Where is the real world?’ he asks on the album’s final track after giving ample evidence throughout this impressive 12-song cycle that it lives within these grooves.

I received a bulletin about this via MySpace and figured that the Kinks / Ray Davies fans at IMWAN would appreciate knowing about it!

Kinks star gives away free album
Saturday, October 13 2007, 08:52 BST
By Nick Levine, Entertainment Reporter

Former Kinks star Ray Davies is to give away his new album for free.

A complimentary copy of Working Man's Café, the aging rocker's fourth solo LP, will be distributed with every edition of The Sunday Times on October 21.

Davies said: "Personally, it's about reaching as many people as possible. I'm incredibly proud of this LP and am truly excited that 1.5 million copies will be distributed to people who'll hear it organically - the way it was intended. It’s an exciting opportunity I couldn't resist."

In July Prince sparked controversy within the music industry by giving away his Planet Earth album with copies of the Mail on Sunday. Paul Quirk, the chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said at the time: "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores.

"And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."

Why don't they do this in the US?

I think no-one can promote a new album like the big four. But I don't always agree with what they do.

How many of these 1.5 million copies wind up in a landfill somewhere, with the unsold newspapers?

Too bad we don't have a UK IMWAN member who could collect them and distribute them to all of us...

I agree. There's been some really cook UK newspaper releases Best one I know of was the CSN live cd discussed in another thread a couple months back.

I think some Barnes and Nobles stores carry foreign newspapers, don't they?

I'll post a message upstairs to see if any of our friends from the UK could hook us up with copies of the disc. I wonder if it's cost effective to have copies shipped to the US from the UK....

I think that most of these are in thin cardboard sleeves which at least keeps the weight down.

Sunday Times is a Rupert Murdoch paper, I am sure as he asserts his hold over the newly purchased Wall St. Journal we may see some tie-ins.

Wegman's carries The Times generally 1-2 weeks delayed so check there.

I may end up being corrected on this, but my MEMORY is that in the past these giveaways were only in copies sold in the UK, NOT in export copies.

I still have a couple ea on UK Oasis & Elvis Presley cd giveaways from a few years back; please pm me if anybody wants either, they'd be cheap!!

This was available briefly last week on Itunes, but it has since disappeared. I downloaded it, and it is great. A worthy follow-up to Other People's Lives. I highly recommend.

Seconded ~ excellent album. Ray's still got it.

A trading friend from the UK mailed me the cd, just arrived yesterday. It's a solid effort, great stuff. Highly recommended. "You're Asking Me" is my favorite so far; melodically would fit nicely on "Something Else" or "Village Green".

By the way, I'm not sure this has been pointed out, but The Working Man's Café CD distributed with the Sunday Times has only 10 tracks, while the commercial release has 12 tracks (the missing songs from the Times CD are "Hymn For A New Age" and "Real World").

Outisde of anyone with friends in the UK, has anyone had any luck getting this? Amazon canceled my order!

Just saw this on Billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/art ... 1003677552):



New West/Ammal Snags Ray Davies Album
Ray Davies

November 26, 2007, 1:25 PM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
New West/Ammal has secured Ray Davies' second solo album, "Working Man's Cafe," for U.S. release, Billboard has learned. The album, which has been out since last month internationally, will arrive Stateside on Feb. 19.

Davies recorded the project in Nashville with co-producer Ray Kennedy. The material was inspired by the changes the Kinks frontman has seen in the U.S. since first visiting the country in the 1960s, including one song, "Morphine Song," about his near-fatal mugging in New Orleans in 2004.

"Working Man's Cafe" was given away as a covermount with the U.K.'s Sunday Times newspaper on Oct. 21, a day before it was released in stores by V2. It's the follow-up to last year's "Other People's Lives," Davies' first solo release.

For the New West/Ammal release, the new album will be available in standard form as well as a deluxe CD/DVD with live performances and a video interview. A vinyl edition is also in the works.

Look for Davies to tour North America in the spring.


Here is the track list for "Working Man's Cafe":

"Vietnam Cowboys"
"You're Asking Me"
"Working Man's Cafe"
"Morphine Song"
"In a Moment"
"Peace in Our Time"
"No One Listen"
"Imaginary Man"
"One More Time"
"The Voodoo Walk"
"Hymn for a New Age"
"The Real World"

Cheers!

great, for some reason i didn't feel like springing for an import copy of this, but Feb is a slow month and a deluxe edition will be quite welcomed by me