Ray Davies
Americana
The Kinks, The Riff, The Road: The
Story
Ray Davies
has fashioned an autobiography that brings to light the vagaries of being a
successful musician. His status as a rock & roll hero is certainly secure
despite a catalog of music that had drifted toward the mundane in the later
part of the eighties and nineties. He was co-opting his own music and replaying
that famous riff from You Really Got Me and its follow up clone All Day &
All of the Night. Not to be undone by other scrappy British Invasion Bands, The
Kinks did a one-two knockout punch by delivering the same rock ballad twice
with Tired of Waiting and Set Me Free.
Davies spares no one in telling about the savage brutalities inflicted
on Mick Avory and Dave Davies despite their own their own vicious proclivities.
Avory even tried to behead Dave with part of his drum kit. Alas boys will be
boys. They went on to complete the 1965 tour despite all the chaos. At one
point security guards forced them off stage and their manager Larry Page had
disappeared, having left back to Great Britain. The Kinks soldiered on but
Davies was clearly upset as there were divergent cultural attitudes, lack of
business compatibility and total misunderstanding on all sides. The result was
an indefinite ban from working in the United States and the Kinks were left in
a musical wilderness. Drummer Mick Avory summed it up; it was a mixture of bad
management, bad luck, and bad behavior.
The Kinks
did return to America in 1969. They had new management with Grenville Collins
and Robert Wace and Mo Ostin (the head of Reprise) was determined to rebuild
the Kinks career with the incredible one-two punch of Arthur(Or the Decline and
Fall of the British Empire) and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation
Society. Instead of winning accolades for the two musical masterpieces, the
Kinks were welcomed by a well heeled indifference. The Kinks didn’t sound like
they did before. The music and the lyrics were quite British and the Americans
never knew what they were missing. Reprise even released a promotional LP
entitled Then, Now and In-Between as a single LP or a more elaborate box set.
So as not to push the new music too far, the Reprise folks also added a few of
the early rockin’ Kinks masterpieces so the might not forget.
In 1969, The
Kinks performed at the Fillmore East on their “Arthur” Tour. They played a few
songs from that album as well as their British Invasion Hits. The crowd was
ecstatic. Promoters were playing it safe with smaller venues or large
auditoriums. Davies knew he needed an audience as they toured incessantly, then
Lola came in 1970. It was an incredible achievement and it saved the Kinks
career. This writer attended two Kinks’ shows at the Eastown in Detroit in late
December and again in January. The band was sloppy, the singers sang off key
and the brothers were cursing each other onstage and though some songs did
well- Harry Rag, Big Sky, Last of the Steam Powered Trains, You Really Got Me,
Tired of Waiting, Top of the Pops, Strangers (Dave Davies) – Ray Davies British
humor and likeability saved the day.
Davies
writes well and has a wry cogent style that keeps the reader interested. He
drops a few names, mostly girlfriends though Alex Chilton’s presence is laced
throughout the narrative. Its obvious saw Chilton as a kindred spirit. They
both loved the vibe in New Orleans, the freedom of expression and from fandom.
They could sit-in, jam or just listen to the cool vibes. Davies and Chilton
became friends and remained close until Chilton’s death on March 17th,
2010.
Davies
continued his journey as a songwriter and musician. In 1971 he released Muswell
Hillbillies, inspired by London with a tip of the hat to the Beverly
Hillbillies television show. The album got good reviews especially after the
BBC developed a television show based on the album. It also prompted another
successful tour for the Kinks. The seventies was a fertile time for the Kinks; They
released Muswell Hillbillies, Everybody’s in Show Biz, Soap Opera, School Boys
in Disgrace, Preservation Act 1 and 2 and The Kinks Celluloid Heroes- The
Greatest Hits, Low Budget, and Sleepwalker.
There are
two Chapters in the book that revealed Davies mugging at the hands of a couple
of New Orleans thugs and just how desperate were his wounds. Davies suffered
serious, life threatening injuries. It left him incapacitated for several
months at various stages of recovery. Chapter 16 begins with the title, Charity
Hospital January 5th, 2004. It forever changed his life and, in
effect, made Davies stronger.
The book
ends on a positive note. Davies had recorded Sidewalk Café and his incredibly
successful Storyteller series. Davies’ English perspective is a sumptuous five
course meal that brings real life humor and drama to the banquet. Davies is a
natural and gifted writer and performer. This 300 page volume of remembrances
is worth every penny to a farthing. We
need him and we need the Kinks. Buy it Now. Barnes & Noble or Amazon may
have a copy or two left!
Peace
Bo
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