I don't know how many people loved The Kinks but I sure do, I loved their music in the 60's, not so much later on, I had The Kinks Kontroversy & Greatest Hits albums, plus a great complication that was later known as the Black album, (it was a 2 record set with just The Kinks on it, a black album cover)  I had a mono version) lyrics like A Well Respected Man talked about hypocrites of society, & Mick even said that only he & Ray Davies were some of the ones in rock, writing songs like this about society, like "Mothers Little Helper" social problems.
A lot of the Kinks (Dead End Street/Autumn Almanac/Waterloo Sunset/Sunny Afternoon/Death Of A Clown/Big Black Smoke/Two Sisters/Dedicated Follower Of Fashion/Do You Remember Walter) reminds me of the Sgt. Pepper period, in that he (Davies) wrote about the English way of life, & used classical strings, etc & this was at the same time if not earlier then Sgt. Pepper.
Pete Townshend has praised Ray Davies songwriting too.
All Day & All Of The Night has got to be the raunchiest first rock & Roll song I ever heard, I mean that just totally explodes, maybe not so much now, but in '64, it was really different.

Huge fan.

I listen to Village Green a lot. Also Muswell Hillbillies and Powerman.


Saw Ray on his 2006 solo tour. Didn't know any of his new material then, but enjoyed the stories he told and had a great time.

Quote:


I agree with you platter celuloid heroes is just an awesome song . The live version on "ONE FOR THE ROAD" gives me chills when i hear it................

I saw the Kinks at Massey hall (Toronto) in the early 70's, they were really good, Ray Davies was drunk, he was a real showman in those days, he was singing the Bone song (your ankle bone is connected to your leg bone,etc) & got everybody to sing You Are my Sunshine, he reminded me of a old English vaudeville performer, he didn't play guitar, just lead singer, the drummer, Mick Avery, was so drunk, that one of the guys lifted his head up by his hair when he was keeled over on the drums, I think that this was just play acting, if he was that drunk, I don't think he'd be able to play like he did, but it was a good show, I think they were touring for the Lola album, that just came out.

I own most of the Kinks Pye albums, but must confess - Come Dancing aside - to not knowing any of their post-Lola output.

They lost their way a little hits-wise towards the end of the 60's and when reading on the group, journalists and writers - in the UK, anyway - only seem concerned with their so-called 'classic' period.

Everyone knows You Really Got Me, Sunny Afternoon and Waterloo Sunset and these songs seem to be enough for many listeners.

the earlier the better ... "dirty old river ... must you keep rolling ... flowing into the night ... people so busy ... make me feel dizzy" ...  :smile :funny

I love The Kinks.  One For TheRoad is an excellent live album. Of course the early Kinks is classic stuff. But I like some of the 80's stuff. Espicially the Sleepwalker and Misfits albums.

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Jun 21^st, 2009 at 11:05am:


Hate to be a pedantic putz, but Sleepwalker and Misfits were from the late 70s.  Low Budget from 79 was the first one to break big in the US.

One For the Road was big in my life largely because of my age at the time.  It was great for such a criminally overlooked band to finally have some success in the States after 15 years.  The album allowed them to reclaim some of their old songs from the likes of Van Halen and the Jam, introduce some obscure gems (Prince of the Punks, Pressure) few had heard. 

Strangely, the bass drum is huge on the album, intrusively so if you ask me.  Dave Davies is also given free rein to run amok all over the album, though you could say his solo at the start of Celluloid Heroes is one of its high points.  And so no one could forget who was responsible for the proceedings, the name Raymond Douglas Davies appeared 22 times on the back cover of my old cassette.

Zack wrote on Jun 21^st, 2009 at 12:36pm:


Hate to be a pedantic putz, but Sleepwalker and Misfits were from the late 70s.  Low Budget from 79 was the first one to break big in the US.

quote]

I'm going to change my name to I Stand Corrected. I got my facts learned real good....Not. Duly noted Zack.

Obviously, I am a great Kinks fan.  Uncleson being one of my favorite songs off of the Muswell Hill album.

They have made great music throughout their career. Give a listen to Sleepwalker, Misfits, and Low Budget.  I think you'll enjoy those albums.

In addition to being a big Kinks fan, Im a big Stones fan.

Dont care much for The Beatles, except John and George.

By the way, today is Ray Davies sixty-fifth birthday.

uncleson wrote on Jun 21^st, 2009 at 4:54pm:


uncleson!

so good to see you sitting on this side of the fence!

seems we do a kinks thread around here every month or so. if things slow down on dead end street, you are welcome to stop by for a can of PBR anytime. send my love to holly.

part one of the kinks on "biography"....good stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FhaF0I3gv0

is there another band that attained the level of success that the kinks did that had such personality conflicts?

Are they done?

Ray Davies Says Kinks Film In the Works, Reunion Unlikely

6/24/09, 9:38 am EST



The Kinks will be the subject of an upcoming feature-length film directed by music video vet Julien Temple, who also helmed the 2007 doc Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, frontman Ray Davies told The Independent (via Spinner.) While Davies didn’t say whether the film will be a documentary or a biopic, Temple did tell the Generalist in 2007 that his next project would be a doc on the “You Really Got Me” band called Kinkdom Come. Temple previously directed music videos for the Kinks’ “Come Dancing” and “Don’t Forget To Dance.”

In November 2008, after a series of rumors about the Kinks finally reuniting, Rock Daily reported that the band — Davies, his brother Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory — had gotten back together to perform music. While that’s still the case, Ray Davies said it’s unlikely the band will officially reunite. “I will continue to play with ex-band members like Mick Avory from time to time. With Dave, a lot of it is psychological. I’ll guide him in, and coerce and nurture him, and when the time is right I suppose I’ll even shout at him again,” Ray Davies said.

Dave Davies, who famously fought with his brother during the band’s run, suffered a stroke in 2004. Ray Davies told the Independent his brother is improving enough that he’s able to drive an automobile again. “I’ll work with Dave, and whatever he can play we’ll create something around it together. We’ll function just fine like that,” Ray said, adding that “I gotta tell you — I miss the Kinks.”