Ray Davies Is One of Rock's Elder Statesmen. August 2014 Marks 50
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Ray Davies “see my friends” Introduction Ray Davies is one of rock’s elder statesmen. August 2014 marks 50 years since his band The Kinks had their first hit record. Still friends with people he went to school with, Ray Davies lives only a mile away from Muswell Hill where he grew up. He may occasionally be seen walking up the road, or in a café drinking a cup of tea. At once ordinary and extraordinary, Ray Davies is quite possibly Britain’s greatest songwriter. Fortis Green Raymond Douglas Davies grew up in Waters and John Lee Hooker. His a large family in Fortis Green during older sisters had boyfriends who the post-war period of the 1950s. brought their own records to the These were hard times and London house; romantic war-time songs, big- lacked some basic necessities but band music and a variety of other Ray remembers his childhood fondly sounds. It was a magical education as sunny and bright with plenty of for the young Ray Davies. space to play and enough to eat. With younger brother Dave he learned to play music, inspired and influenced by the black American blues of Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy From left to right: Dave, Sister Gwen, Ray (standing), niece Jackie. 6 Denmark Terrace - The Davies family home All images subject to copyright www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my Athenaeum ballroom, friends” Muswell Hill Encouragement and Initiation For his 13th birthday Ray was presented with a Spanish guitar by his sister Rene. He had been admiring it for a while difficult to think of a in the Les Aldrich Music shop on song with a more heart- Fortis Green Road. Rene loved rending backstory. It is an indication music and especially loved to dance. of just how deeply personal the songs Indian rhythm and blues band in Later that same day and against her of Ray Davies are. Soho. Dave Davies had already doctor’s advice she went out to the formed a band with their school Ray attended William friend and bass guitarist Peter Grimshaw School (now Quaife, when Ray returned home to Fortismere) in Muswell Hill, join them. and after school he practised his guitar, taking lessons In December 1960 the Davies from his brother-in-law. brothers played their first proper gig From 1962 -1963 Ray together at the Clissold Arms public completed a foundation year house, opposite where they lived in at Hornsey College of Art. Fortis Green. Although not yet He then enrolled on a called The Kinks, this was the theatre design course at inaugural public performance by the William Grimshaw School 1956 Croydon College of Art. core of the band. They played an Working Class culture was instrumental by Ray, which would Lyceum ballroom in the West End, becoming fashionable in the visual later form the basis of Tired of where she suddenly collapsed and art world, but Ray was more Waiting for You, one of their many died on the dance floor. Many years interested in music. He began hits. Various gigs followed including later Ray would write Come Dancing playing guitar and a residency at the Athenaeum in memory of his sister. It is harmonica in a West ballroom in Muswell Hill Broadway. All images subject to copyright www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my friends” Inspiration and Arrival Former ‘Teenage Rage’ singer Larry Page was engaged as the band’s manager. He had confidence in their energy The Kingsmen’s version of and recognised Ray’s song-writing Richard Berry’s Jamaican ability. They signed to the Pye ballad Louie Louie was an record label in 1964 as The Ravens unexpected hit in early but they were swiftly steered 1964. The relaxed vocal locally and used by Ray towards a ‘kinky’ appearance and style with a throbbing and Dave for practice, name change. Page thought calling guitar probably gave Ray featured significantly in the them ‘Kinks’ suggested sexual greater confidence about development of The Kinks’ sound. ambiguity and would gain them his own style of vocal melody, Well-schooled in jazz and blues, Ray attention and notoriety; something as Dave Davies recalls they played came up with the opening notes to he himself had been good at in the the record constantly for a time. An You Really Got Me on the piano, 1950s. So, The Kinks they became. Elpico ‘little green amp’ bought which Dave developed into an inspirational crude, metallic riff on his guitar. He then slashed the speaker cone and turned up the volume to deliver a rather dirty but curiously engaging sound. It was the invention of ‘heavy metal’ and it did not exist anywhere else in 1964. You Really Got Me was The Kinks’ third single and a last chance with Pye. Ray’s confident vocals and Dave’s bold, jagged guitar sound fired the public’s imagination. It reached the top of the charts in the UK and later the top ten in the USA. The Kinks simply took off and proceeded to deliver a string of hit singles. All images subject to copyright www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my friends” Determining Direction The lyrics seem to allude to the from performing in the USA for death of a loved one and it was over four years during the 1960s. It the first western popular song to was the time of the ‘British Invasion’ incorporate an Indian Raga. and they were effectively cut off Others were listening carefully from the main rock music market. to Ray’s original ideas and a Ray recounts drummer Mick Avory couple of months later The summing up the reason for the ban Beatles brought out Norwegian as ‘a mixture of bad management, Wood featuring a sitar. bad luck and bad behaviour’. Like many bands, The Kinks Ray proceeded to concentrate on were driven by a sibling dynamic writing sensitive songs that were that increasingly turned to largely populated by the characters hostility. Being really only he had observed in his suburban interested in receiving validation neighbourhood. From studying the as a songwriter, Ray tended to guitar fingerwork of Chet Atkins to withdraw from public attention. taking inspiration from the songs of Dave by contrast embraced fame another country music legend, Hank with outrageous gusto. They fought Williams, he pushed himself to From left to right: Ray Davies, constantly, often on stage, making continually expand his craft. Ray Dave Davies, Peter Quaife and Mick Avory life miserable for other band Davies was gaining a reputation for a members. As a consequence The particular type of songwriting Kinks found themselves banned sophistication. All images subject to copyright www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my friends” The Golden Age: 1966 to 1972 Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola Versus Powerman and The Money-Go-Round, Part One and Muswell Hillbillies, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period. He ran the song by his father who generally more introspective. From Kinks biographer Nick Hasted asserts liked it, not least because he could the mid-1960s to the early 1970s the that the 1967 single Waterloo Sunset imagine himself singing it in the singles and LPs were critically very is a song that ‘still casts a spell’. pub. It proved to be the biggest hit successful but often failed Certainly it has remained an anthem of 1966 and was sung by the England commercially. for London, with the closing crowd at Wembley Stadium during ceremony of the 2012 Olympic the world cup final. The band gained a reputation for Games seeing Ray Davies step out of songs and concept albums reflecting a London taxi and sing the song to The Kinks music, having veered English culture and lifestyle, driven the world in celebration of our between being raucous and by Ray’s observational writing. capital city. somewhat otherworldly, became Albums such as Face to Face, All images subject to copyright www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my friends” KONK The Kinks began recording full-time commerce prevented it from being a left in London with a at Konk in 1973 for their project major player but it carried a number portfolio of major clients Preservation: Acts 1 & 2. Konk of singles and LPs for a few short including Thin Lizzy, The Bee thereafter remained their main years in the 1970s. The Konk label Gees, Depeche Mode, The studio. The exterior of Konk features still survives today in association Stone Roses and The Arctic on the cover sleeve of albums Give with re-releases. Monkeys. The People What They Want (1981) and State Of Confusion (1983). The Konk studio came to public In recent months Konk has attention again in 2008 when hosted a series of well-attended The Kinks launched their own English indie rock group The Kooks art exhibitions and is quietly record label which they also called recorded a No.1 album there, which establishing itself by providing Konk. Alas, the complexities of they called Konk. Konk is regarded North London with an unusual as one of the few truly great studios gallery space. The Kinks outside All images subject to copyright Konk in 1981 www.haringey.gov.uk Ray Davies “see my friends” Live and Kicking They packed venues across America First Person Singular and in 1981 sold out the prestigious Madison Square Garden. Return to Waterloo was, technically speaking, Ray Davies’ first solo Popular albums Misfits, Low Budget, album, released in 1985. The Give the People What They Want and majority of his solo recordings have State of Confusion followed after.