Ray Davies of the Kinks (1 Viewer)

[pettifogger]

Ray Davies is coming to town T-W-Th this week to the SF Bay Area. He heads to LA and San Diego before going to Japan, then back home to Jolly Ole England for further touring.

I went through You tube and dug up the best videos I could find on Ray Davies and the boys. I’m going to see him tomorrow! Can’t wait.

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Till The End of the Day – 1966 on a German TV show; turtlenecks and mop top haircuts; probably my favorite video of theirs for all time. This was about the fourth in a series of hits. Dig the dancers when they see the camera is on, especially the black guy at 1:40.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utiosGC7RKc

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You Really Got Me – their breakthrough hit; Casey Kasem introduces the clip.

***

The guy has written so many amazing songs, this is just a sample, I tried to pick the best videos. I skipped over the mid 70s revival mostly even though at the time I wore out Misfits and Low Budget.

There’s a great bio of Davis available on Youtube under “Ray Davies Bio” parts 1-5, each about 10-14 minutes long. He walks around his old neighborhood, goes back to the old hall where the band played its first gig, talks about how he picked out the chords for You Really Got Me by accident when his hand slipped on the piano and sent the song to a lower register, how his brother Dave stuck a pencil in the speaker box to tear it and get the original fuzz sound, how he wrote songs about different places around his neighborhood, etc. Unfortunately some copyright lawyers forced them to delete the sound on the music samples in parts 3-5, but it’s still worth watching.

Anyone who's in the SF Bay Area or LA or San Diego should check out his shows.

 

[Don Quixote]

He's one of my favorites.

He's still turning out good stuff too. Enjoyed both Other People's Lives and Working Man's Cafe.

 

[bonesman]

Saw him not that long ago at The Grove in Anaheim.

He did that annoying thing where he expects the crowd to sing along and would even stop and urge them on if they weren't singing loud enough to his liking.

 

[Drifter]

My mom turned him down for a date in the early 60S in London.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Till The End of the Day 1966 on a German TV show; turtlenecks and mop top haircuts; probably my favorite video of theirs for all time. This was about the fourth in a series of hits. Dig the dancers when they see the camera is on, especially the black guy at 1:40.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utiosGC7RKc

***

I'm not the world's biggest Kinks fan - some of Davies' songs are just too twee and English for me, I guess. But "Till The End Of The Day" is a great song and kind of gets lost in the shuffle alongside some of their other hits from the same time.

 

[Godsbrother]

LOves the Kinks and Ray Davies. Wish he was coming here.

 

[David Yudkin]

Seen the Kinks and Ray solo a few times. Nothing could EVER beat the last time, which was in the 90s on his Storytellers tour.

I went with my very attractive 20 something year old wife at the time. We ended up going to the wrong venue by accident so by the time we got there, we were about an hour late. We had seats in the second row center stage, and at the time we got there Ray was discussing the origin of the song he was about to play. We tried to find our seats without being a distraction.

Execpt when we showed up, he stopped talking about the song and instead started talking directly to us. Where were we? Did we have trouble parking? How was the weather (it was raining earlier)? We missed a good show, etc. He got into an ongoing dialogue with my wife (again, very easy on the eyes at the time), and she asked what we missed. So he proceeded to play us a quick medley of most of the songs he already played. On top of that, he asked what song my wife really wanted to hear (which I can't even remember which song it was), and he said he already played it but then played it again just for her. She ended up going up on stage in front of everyone and getting a big hug and a kiss. He ended up telling her "don't ever change" and told me that I was a lucky, lucky man.

I have been to a ton of concerts, and that was the only time I somehow became a part of the show.

 

[Sweet Love]

Davies was an amazing songwriter and though I am not a musician, I believe it is known that the band as a whole though, was not particularly good. I am not sure whether he could play a lot of instruments himself, but if he could, he should have pulled a Billy Corgan and taken over during recordings. The imperfections are one of the things that I like about the band, but I am guessing that their lack of musical ability held them back in the British Invasion.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Seen the Kinks and Ray solo a few times. Nothing could EVER beat the last time, which was in the 90s on his Storytellers tour.I went with my very attractive 20 something year old wife at the time. We ended up going to the wrong venue by accident so by the time we got there, we were about an hour late. We had seats in the second row center stage, and at the time we got there Ray was discussing the origin of the song he was about to play. We tried to find our seats without being a distraction.Execpt when we showed up, he stopped talking about the song and instead started talking directly to us. Where were we? Did we have trouble parking? How was the weather (it was raining earlier)? We missed a good show, etc. He got into an ongoing dialogue with my wife (again, very easy on the eyes at the time), and she asked what we missed. So he proceeded to play us a quick medley of most of the songs he already played. On top of that, he asked what song my wife really wanted to hear (which I can't even remember which song it was), and he said he already played it but then played it again just for her. She ended up going up on stage in front of everyone and getting a big hug and a kiss. He ended up telling her "don't ever change" and told me that I was a lucky, lucky man.I have been to a ton of concerts, and that was the only time I somehow became a part of the show.

For some reason this reminds me of "Vegas Vacation".

 

[Godsbrother]

Seen the Kinks and Ray solo a few times. Nothing could EVER beat the last time, which was in the 90s on his Storytellers tour.I went with my very attractive 20 something year old wife at the time. We ended up going to the wrong venue by accident so by the time we got there, we were about an hour late. We had seats in the second row center stage, and at the time we got there Ray was discussing the origin of the song he was about to play. We tried to find our seats without being a distraction.Execpt when we showed up, he stopped talking about the song and instead started talking directly to us. Where were we? Did we have trouble parking? How was the weather (it was raining earlier)? We missed a good show, etc. He got into an ongoing dialogue with my wife (again, very easy on the eyes at the time), and she asked what we missed. So he proceeded to play us a quick medley of most of the songs he already played. On top of that, he asked what song my wife really wanted to hear (which I can't even remember which song it was), and he said he already played it but then played it again just for her. She ended up going up on stage in front of everyone and getting a big hug and a kiss. He ended up telling her "don't ever change" and told me that I was a lucky, lucky man.I have been to a ton of concerts, and that was the only time I somehow became a part of the show.

This is an awesome story!

 

[zamboni]

I am guessing that their lack of musical ability held them back in the British Invasion.

They were hardly held back IMO - they had a slew of hits in the UK and US, and at least two of their albums (The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One) are regarded as among the better LPs of the era. As far as musical acumen, Dave Davies is well-regarded as a very good guitarist (ranked 88th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time). Maybe not on par with Hendrix/Clapton/Page/Beck, but quite competent. The rest of the band is also at least competent, even if not among the top of their peer group.

If anything "held them back", it was they were up against some pretty tough competition in The Beatles, Stones, Who and even short-lived bands like Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five, and the like. Maybe they were also bit too "out there" in their biting sarcasm and cerebral wit - perhaps too avant garde at the time for much of the buying public.

 

[Godsbrother]

I am guessing that their lack of musical ability held them back in the British Invasion.

They were hardly held back IMO - they had a slew of hits in the UK and US, and at least two of their albums (The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One) are regarded as among the better LPs of the era. As far as musical acumen, Dave Davies is well-regarded as a very good guitarist (ranked 88th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time). Maybe not on par with Hendrix/Clapton/Page/Beck, but quite competent. The rest of the band is also at least competent, even if not among the top of their peer group.

If anything "held them back", it was they were up against some pretty tough competition in The Beatles, Stones, Who and even short-lived bands like Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five, and the like. Maybe they were also bit too "out there" in their biting sarcasm and cerebral wit - perhaps too avant garde at the time for much of the buying public.

Competition was intense. There were just so many great British bands at the time but I would rank the Kinks fourth behind the Beatles, Stones, and the Who in terms of most important and best British Invasion bands of the 60s.

While they were commercially successful too much of their material went over the heads of most of the record-buyers of the day, at least in the States. Definitely a band ahead of their time.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I am guessing that their lack of musical ability held them back in the British Invasion.

They were hardly held back IMO - they had a slew of hits in the UK and US, and at least two of their albums (The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One) are regarded as among the better LPs of the era. As far as musical acumen, Dave Davies is well-regarded as a very good guitarist (ranked 88th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time). Maybe not on par with Hendrix/Clapton/Page/Beck, but quite competent. The rest of the band is also at least competent, even if not among the top of their peer group.

If anything "held them back", it was they were up against some pretty tough competition in The Beatles, Stones, Who and even short-lived bands like Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five, and the like. Maybe they were also bit too "out there" in their biting sarcasm and cerebral wit - perhaps too avant garde at the time for much of the buying public.

Competition was intense. There were just so many great British bands at the time but I would rank the Kinks fourth behind the Beatles, Stones, and the Who in terms of most important and best British Invasion bands of the 60s.

While they were commercially successful too much of their material went over the heads of most of the record-buyers of the day, at least in the States. Definitely a band ahead of their time.

They also had a long visa problem for USA touring and back then something like that could really hold you back.

 

[pettifogger]

There was a backlash against all the Brits dominating the music charts so the Feds began denying visas, kept the Kinks out of the country for three crucial years. The same thing happened to the Zombies.

 

[ericttspikes]

Ray is great. I was lucky enough to see The Kinks as a kid. Past their prime, but still awesome. Saw a few shows from the Word of Mouth tour and then some smaller club shows for Think Visual. Some of my favorite concerts ever. Seen Ray solo a bunch of times too since the Kinks hung it up. He's great, but it's different. He does a great job showcasing his song writing, but the Kinks, and Dave in particular, added so much to the music that it's hard to replace. Still, anytime Ray comes to town is well worth checking out. I'd put him up there in McCartney, Dylan territory. A musical treasure that often times get's overlooked.

Probably my favorite Ray tune, and one of the prettiest songs ever written. He usually busts this out solo.

Waterloo Sunset

Have fun! Wish he was coming to the Midwest on this tour.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Seen the Kinks and Ray solo a few times. Nothing could EVER beat the last time, which was in the 90s on his Storytellers tour.I went with my very attractive 20 something year old wife at the time. We ended up going to the wrong venue by accident so by the time we got there, we were about an hour late. We had seats in the second row center stage, and at the time we got there Ray was discussing the origin of the song he was about to play. We tried to find our seats without being a distraction.Execpt when we showed up, he stopped talking about the song and instead started talking directly to us. Where were we? Did we have trouble parking? How was the weather (it was raining earlier)? We missed a good show, etc. He got into an ongoing dialogue with my wife (again, very easy on the eyes at the time), and she asked what we missed. So he proceeded to play us a quick medley of most of the songs he already played. On top of that, he asked what song my wife really wanted to hear (which I can't even remember which song it was), and he said he already played it but then played it again just for her. She ended up going up on stage in front of everyone and getting a big hug and a kiss. He ended up telling her "don't ever change" and told me that I was a lucky, lucky man.I have been to a ton of concerts, and that was the only time I somehow became a part of the show.

This is an awesome story!

 

[Rushmore]

Huge Kinks fan here Although the original post focused more on the earlier stuff, I consider Muswell Hillbillies my favorite Kinks album of all time, and perhaps one of the greatest albums period. I do LOVE the early Kinks material too. If you haven't checked it out (Muswell Hillbilies), do yourself a favor and do so. It is one that can be played from the beginning to end without the need to skip over anything.

 

[Ilov80s]

Till The End of the Day – 1966 on a German TV show; turtlenecks and mop top haircuts; probably my favorite video of theirs for all time. This was about the fourth in a series of hits. Dig the dancers when they see the camera is on, especially the black guy at 1:40.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utiosGC7RKc

***

I'm not the world's biggest Kinks fan - some of Davies' songs are just too twee and English for me, I guess. But "Till The End Of The Day" is a great song and kind of gets lost in the shuffle alongside some of their other hits from the same time.

There is an amazing amount of Kinks songs that have been "forgotten".

State of Confusion

Where Have All the Good Times Gone?

Picture Book

Waterloo Sunset

Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Thinkin bout this Girl

Living on a Thin Line

A Rock n Roll Fantasy