The Kinks
The Kinks | |
|---|---|
| File:Kinks 84.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1963–1996 |
| Members | Ray Davies Dave Davies Jim Rodford Bob Henrit Ian Gibbons |
The Kinks were a British rock group. They first gained prominence in the mid-1960s on the heels of the well-recieved and highly influential single "You Really Got Me". Originally consisting of lead singer/guitarist Ray Davies, his brother lead guitarist Dave Davies, drummer Mick Avory, and bassist Peter Quaife, the core of the group over the years has remained the Davies brothers. With Ray's splendid songwriting skills and 'mockney' vocals, Dave's impressive guitar work and Avory's tight and steady drumming, the band became one of the most influential groups of British rock and the "British Invasion" of America.
For a brief period in the mid-'60s, the band rivalled The Rolling Stones as the second most popular British group behind only The Beatles. Just as the group were starting their artistic best, internal squabbles, conflicts with the music industry, and an untimely ban from touring the United States eroded their popularity on both sides of the Atlantic. However, they experienced popular fan revivals in the late-70s and early-80s and today they are credited as founding fathers of genres as diverse as Britpop, punk rock and heavy metal.
History
Formation and first years (1963-1965)
The musically inclined Davies brothers were born in Muswell Hill, London into a large family. Ray Davies (b. Raymond Douglas Davies, 21 June 1944; vocals/guitar/piano) studied at Hornsey College of Art and gained an experience in music as a guitarist with the Soho-based Dave Hunt Band in 1963. Meanwhile Ray's brother Dave (b. 3 February 1947; guitar/vocals) and his schoolmate Pete Quaife (b. 31 December 1943, Tavistock, Devon, England; bass) formed a band. Soon after that, they invited Ray to participate and Ray immediately accepted. Like the Davies brothers Quaife played guitar, but switched to bass.
By the summer of 1963, the band had decided to call themselves The Ravens and had recruited a drummer Mickey Willet. Eventually a demo tape landed in the hands of Shel Talmy - notorious American record producer, who helped them land a contract with Pye Records in 1964. Before signing to the label, drummer Willet left the band. The band saw an advertisement in the magazine Melody Maker of drummer Mick Avory (b. Michael Charles Avory, February 15, 1944; drums), who had a short tenure as a performer with then-fledging peers Rolling Stones. They searched him out and he became the group's drummer. In the first couple of months however Talmy hired more experienced drummers like Bobby Graham and Clem Cattini to handle studio work, while Mick was on additional percussion and fleshing his skills. After their first couple of albums, Avory played on most of the Kinks material of the next 20 years.
The first single. "Long Tall Sally," was a cover of Little Richard. As The Beatles also covered it with enormous success, the Kinks' version was overlooked and failed to chart. Nevertheless, the band received a lot of publicity through the efforts of their managers Robert Wace, Grenville Collins, and ex-50s showbiz star Larry Page. Their second single "You Still Want Me" also failed. Pye warned the band that future mistakes would result in their being dropped from the label.
The third single "You Really Got Me" cracked the charts at No.1 in the UK and in to the top 10 in the US, boosted by an excellent performance on the UK television show Ready, Steady, Go!. With a loud, distorted guitar riff (achieved by Dave Davies slitting the speaker cones of his "elpico little green" amplifier with razor blades), "You Really Got Me" helped launch hard rock. "All Day and All of the Night," the group's fourth single, was released late in 1964 and it rose all the way to No. 2; in America it hit No. 7.
The group continued to record, with three albums and several EPs in the next 2 years. They also performed and toured relentlessly, which caused much tension within the band. At the conclusion of their summer 1965 American tour, the Kinks were banned from re-entering the United States by the American Federation of Musicians Union, after ugly conflicts with the American tour promoters over money and performance venues. For four years, the Kinks were prohibited from returning to the U.S., which meant not only that the group was deprived of the world's largest music market, but also that they were effectively cut off from the musical and social upheavals of the late 60s. Consequently Davies's songwritingand the other band's input grew more introspective, relying more on English influences such as music hall and English folk than did most of his British contemporaries.
At this time, Davies also became embroiled in bitter legal disputes with the band's management and music publishing company that would drag on through the rest of the decade. Some legendary onstage fights erupted during this time as well. In the most notorious incident, at The Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Wales in 1965, the normally placid drummer Avory hit Davies with his drum pedal. This fight was a reprisal for Davies kicking over his bass drum as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in Taunton, apparently won by Mick. He then fled into hiding for days to avoid arrest for grievous bodily harm.
The band's stylistic changes were first evident in late 1965, with the appearance of "A Well Respected Man," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," and the album The Kinks Kontroversy. These demonstrated the progression in Davies's songwriting from hard driving rock numbers towards social commentary, observation, and idiosyncratic character study, all with an increasingly English flavour. The satiric single "Sunny Afternoon" was the biggest hit of the summer of 1966 in the U.K., topping the charts.
Prior to its release, Davies suffered a nervous and physical breakdown from the pressures of touring, writing, and ongoing legal squabbles. Consequently, he spent several months recuperating and writing new songs. Quaife was also forced to leave the band for much of 1966 after an automobile accident. He was briefly replaced by the future full-time bass player John Dalton. Quaife returned at the end of end of the year, fully recovered.
"Golden Age" (1966-1972)
"Sunny Afternoon" was a dry run for the band's great Face to Face. One of the earliest concept albums, Face to Face displayed Davies' growing skill at crafting gentle yet cutting narrative songs about everyday life and people. The great social comment single "Dead End Street" was released at the time of Face to Face, and became another big U.K. hit.
In May 1967, they returned with one of the greatest Davies' songs - "Waterloo Sunset" - a simple but emotional tour de force with the melancholic singer observing two lovers (many have suggested actor Terence Stamp and actress Julie Christie, but Davies denies this) meeting and crossing over Hungerford Bridge in London.Released in the autumn of 1967, the excellent songs on the album Something Else By The Kinks continued the musical progressions of Face to Face, but without the stronger thematic consistency of that album. Dave Davies also scored major chart success with "Death of a Clown," cowritten with Ray and recorded by the Kinks, but released as a Davies solo single. Later, even Rolling Stones would remark that these two albums were very influential to their own albums of the late 60s.
Although the band grew tremendously in a mere couple of years, their coping in the charts was lackluster, as the tastes of the pop world began to change. After the weak reception of Something Else, the Kinks rushed out a new single, "Autumn Almanac," which became a big U.K. hit. But "Wonderboy", an ill-considered single released in the spring of 1968, was the band's first not to "make it" to the Top Ten, stalling at No. 36.
Throughout 1968, Davies doggedly continued to pursue his deeply personal songwriting style, at the same time rebelling against the heavy demands placed on him to keep producing commercial hit singles. Thereafter, The Kinks released the classic "Days", which recaptured a bit of the audience and made No. 12 in the summer of 1968, but the band's lack of success was clear by the failure of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, released in the autumn of 1968. A brilliant collection of thematically-related vignettes assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years, the album lacked a commercial single and was sorely out of touch with the social and psychedelic music popular at the time. While commercially unsuccessful, it was well-received by the new underground rock press, particularly in the U.S., where the Kinks' status as a cult band began to grow. Village Green is now considered as one of the best records of that time.
Original bassist Peter Quaife grew tired of Ray Davies's dominant role and lack of commercial success, and resigned in March 1969. He was swiftly replaced by John Dalton. Dalton had temporarily replaced Quaife due to his injury in 1966, but was now a permanent part of the band.
The American ban upon the band was finally removed and the band was free to tour the U.S. after four years absence. The early U.S. shows were held in small venues (such as the Fillmore East), and reportedly were rather disorganized and chaotic, as the band had to adapt to a concert scene that had changed radically in their absence. It took several years of extensive touring in the U.S. between 1969 and 1972 before the band developed a disciplined stage act that would generate positive reviews and draw crowds to medium and large size concert venues.
Before their return to the US, the Kinks released another superb album, called Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). As previous two albums, Arthur was soaked with British lyrical and musical hooks, having been conceived as the score for a proposed television drama. It was a modest commercial success, and was particularly well received by music critics in America, where it was very favourably compared to the contemporary album Tommy by the Who, even lauded as superior in some prominent articles.
While the band were recording the follow-up to Arthur, they added a keyboardist to their line-up as Ray, who handled the keyboard duties so far, felt that he wasn't good enough and that the band needed professional keyboardist. They included John Gosling, whose debut with the band was on "Lola" - a satiric account of a confused meeting with a possible transvestite, that cracked the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S. The album Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was their most successful since the mid-'60s in both sides of the Atlantic, helping them to become a highly regarded stage act, and spawned the group's final UK Top 10 hit "Apeman".
In 1971 the band released Percy, a soundtrack album to a film of the same name. It is generally regarded as a lesser Kinks effort, and the band's US label Reprise declined to release it in America, precipitating a major dispute that contributed to the band's departure from that label.
In 1971, the band's contracts expired with Pye and Reprise. Before the end of the year, the Kinks signed a five-album deal with RCA Records, receiving a million dollar advance. This helped them construct their own recording studio "Konk" and have bigger control over the output. Their debut album for RCA, Muswell Hillbillies - a brilliant piece of work, that recalled of the band's late-'60s albums, though with more country and music hall influence. Although it was one of their finest albums, it failed to be a commercial success. A few months after the release of Muswell Hillbillies, Reprise released a double-album compilation called The Kink Kronikles, which outsold their RCA debut.
After that the band released Everybody's in Showbiz (1972) - an excellent double set consisting half of studio tracks (most prominently the splendid ballad "Celluloid Heroes" - arguably the best ballad of Davies - and the catchy "Supersonic Rocket Ship", their last UK Top 20 hit for over a decade) and another of live recordings. The album was a commercial failure in the U.K., but more successful in the U.S.
Failure of rock operas (1973-1976)
In 1973, Ray Davies dove headlong into the theatrical style, with a rock opera called Preservation, a more ambitious outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society. In conjunction with this project, Davies expanded the Kinks' lineup to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reforming the group as a theatrical troupe.
Davies also suffered serious drug and marital problems during this period which adversely affected the band. Coupled with the alcohol abuse of Avory and Dave, and the latter's lack of enthusiasm for the theatrical style, the band's output remained uneven, and their popularity eroded.
When the first part — closer in spirit to vaudeville than to opera — was released in late 1973, it received generally poor reviews, though its live performances fared better with the critics. Act 2 appeared in the summer of 1974, facing similar reception. Davies began another musical, Starmaker, for the BBC; the project eventually metamorphosed into Soap Opera, which was released in the spring of 1975.
In 1976, the Kinks recorded the final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace. Compared with the previous three albums, the songs on Schoolboys were more independent from the album's concept, and they were harder than any of the RCA albums. From critical point of view, the theatrical concept albums now are viewed as rather self-idulgent, over-ambitious records, an essential bridge between the incarnations of the band.
Much of the improvement on Schoolboys was due to the bands' considerable growth as musicians. Dave Davies showed a dramatic emergence as an excellent, modern rock guitarist. Mick Avory fleshed out his skills and become a powerful first-class drummer. Ray also improved, completely kicking his drug and alcohol addictions, and started writing excellent mainstream rock songs with renewed energy.
In 1976, the Kinks signed with Arista Records. With the encouragement of Arista's management, they recast themselves into a commercial rock group again, stripping down to the five-person core group and jettisoning the extras from the theatrical phase. Essentially, they abandoned the experimentation of the previous decade and resumed the style they had in late 1965.
Rock was in a back-to-basics trend at this time, spearheaded by the Punk movement and the emergence of late 1970s "supergroups"; ironically, one the biggest of these, Van Halen, achieved their breakthrough with a powerful remake of "You Really Got Me", which in turn greatly boosted The Kinks' resurgence. With Davies's renewed creativity, the band bounced back on the record charts.
Rising to popularity and commercial success (1977-1984)
John Dalton left the band, before finishing one track on their debut Arista album. Andy Pyle was brought to finish this track and the following tour. Sleepwalker cracked the charts in U.S. Pyle and keyboardist John Gosling left the group to work together on a different project, before the Kinks could release the follow-up to Sleepwalker. Dalton returned to the fold and ex-The Pretty Things keyboardist Gordon Edwards joined the band in order to complete the tour. Their second Arista album Misfits, was also successful in U.S., although there were further line-up changes.
After the band ended a British tour, Dalton left the band this time finally, along with touring Edwards soon to follow. Ex-Argent bassist Jim Rodford and keyboardist Ian Gibbons completed the line-up. Despite the personnel changes, the group's recording and concert success continued to grow. With their well-honed stage craft and great repertoire, they were again beginning to play large sell-out concerts again in the United States.
During this time, punk bands like the Jam ("David Watts") and the Pretenders ("Stop Your Sobbing") and heavy metal acts like Van Halen ("You Really Got Me") made successful covers of Kinks songs in the late 1970s, boosting their fame. At the same time, these covers helped the band's commercial success with each release, reaching peak in the hard and punk rock sounds of Low Budget (1979) - the group's biggest American success, cracking at number 11. Davies' wry songwiting skills hit their second commercial peak, as he crafted intelligent, polished, and commercially appealing songs like "Pressure", "A Little Bit of Abuse", "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", and the minor hit "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman".
A live album (their third) and video, "One for the Road", followed in 1980, and its success pushed their concert drawing power to a peak between 1980 and 1983. Dave Davies also took advantage of the group's improved commercial standing to fulfill his decade-long solo ambition, releasing a series of well-received albums on his own.
Their next album, Give the People What They Want, was released in late 1981 and reached number 15 in U.S.; the record attained gold status. They spent the better part of 1982 in touring. In spring 1983, the swing-flavoured "Come Dancing" became their biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You", owing to the video's continuing telecast on MTV; it reached number 6 and number 12 in U.S. and UK, respectively. The anthemic album State of Confusion followed and it was another commercial success and number 12 in the U.S. At this time, Ray Davies also became romantically involved with Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, herself a longtime Kinks fan, resulting in the birth of a daughter.
The Kinks' second wave of popularity effectively peaked with State of Confusion in 1983, but both internal and external factors would soon begin to undermine them. An influx of new, fresh talent, and styles into popular music at this time effectively muted the early 80s resurgence of many of the classic acts (including fellow UK acts such as David Bowie, the Who, and even the Rolling Stones). Bands more or less influenced by the Kinks like U2, the Smiths, The Jam and Duran Duran were topping charts and raised to stardom. Also, the concert market for Kinks shows in the US had largely been played out by a decade of almost non-stop touring. But the internal strife in the group reached a critical point now, too.
The second half of 1983, Ray Davies started working on a ambitious solo film project, Return to Waterloo, which strained much the relationship with his brother. Another problem was the stormy end of the relationship between Davies and Chrissie Hynde. Then the old feud, between Dave and the quiet drummer Mick restarted, leading to terrible fights. Dave Davies wanted Mick replaced by the former drummer from Argent - Robert "Bob" Henrit, who also drummed on his solo albums. Also, Jim Rodford was bass player in Argent, so it can be assumed that he recommended him to Dave and the band.
Finally, these conflicts took a heavy toll when Ray Davies's best friend in the band left. It is hard to belittle Mick's tight and steady drumming and immerse contribution to the band, who never ceased to support the band for two decades. His relationship with Dave had reached a breaking point. Reportedly, the latter didn't want to work with Mick and unwillingly Ray had to chose sides. As Ray said in a 1989 interview, "The saddest day for me was when Mick left.....Mick had an important sound. Mick wasn't a great drummer, but he was a jazz drummer - same school, same era as Charlie Watts." So with an agreement with Ray, the group's longest serving member and drummer assumed a management position at Konk Studios. Bob Henrit was drafted in and since he also had played with Jim Rodford in Argent and on a couple of Dave Davies' solo records among others, he was the obvious choice.
By the time Ray finished production work on Return to Waterloo and Avory's departure, who still provided drums on three tracks, the band recorded and released the album Word of Mouth in late 1984. It was similar to the last few Kinks records, but the songs lacked the heart, cleverness, and quality of the previous albums, making it a commercial failure. It was also partially due to the rhythm section of the album, whereas backed up by the talented and skilled Avory, in Word of Mouth was quite messy as ¹/³rd of the tracks were done with Mick, another with Henrit and another by drum machine. Intense squabbles over track selections for the album further strained the Davies brothers' working relationship. Following this album, the Kinks seemed to lose a creative edge that they never fully recovered, and they never again made it to the Top 40.
Fall in popularity (1985-1996)
Word of Mouth was their last album for Arista Records. In early 1986, the group signed with MCA Records in the United States, London in the UK. Their first album for the new label, Think Visual, (1986) was a moderate success, but with no hit singles. The band followed this in 1987, with another live album, titled The Road, which was also mediocre commercial and critical success. In 1989, the Kinks released UK Jive - a commercial and critical failure. Because of this their label dropped them out and the same year, longtime keyboardist Ian Gibbons left the group, disappointed with the lack of success.
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, the Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Avory and Quaife were present as well. The induction however did not bring back their stagnated career. In 1991, a compilation of the best of their material from the MCA records period, Lost & Found (1986-1989), arrived and their contract ended. Thereafter the band signed with Columbia Records and released an EP called Did Ya, which didn't chart at all.
Gibbons rejoined in 1993 and The Kinks' first album for Columbia, Phobia was released in 1993 and was well critically accepted, but yet again a commercial failure. The album suffered from lack of promotion (the public still perceiving the Kinks as a 60s act). A prime example was "Scattered', as good a song as Davies has ever written, which when released was totally ignored apart from a few pro-Kinks radio broadcasters.
Following this failure, the group was dropped by Columbia in 1994, leaving the band to release the double live set To the Bone, which consisted of effective new treatments of many of their old hits, on independent labels in the UK and the US. (The US version of the album was substantially longer than the original British edition.)
After the Hall of Fame induction, the Kinks decided to make some moves in the "unplugged" direction and softened their live performances, giving sensitive treatment to little-played songs from their early career (such as "Days").
The band's name and profile considerably rose in the mid 1990s, mainly due to the rock-boom Britpop at this time. Several of the most prominent bands of the decade, including Blur, Pulp, Suede and Oasis, acknowledged the Kinks as a major influence on their careers. Particularly Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Oasis' chief songwriter Noel Gallagher both have stressed that the Kinks are one of the bands that made biggest impact on their songwriting as well as their developing as artists and musicians and respective bands' careers.
Ray Davies also took his role and acted as the bands' "godfather", while promoting his autobiography, "X-Ray", published in early 1995, while the hysteria was at the peak in the UK. Dave Davies responded with his "Kink", published in the spring of 1996.
Desintegration and solo work (1997-present)
The Kinks performed together for the last time in late 1996. The working relationship between the Davies brothers seemed to have broken down completely in early 1997. Talk of a Kinks reunion has circulated (including an aborted reunion of the original band members in 1999), but both Ray and Dave Davies have shown tepid interest in playing together again. One of Ray's projects has included a symphony commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and regular touring with his own backup band. Dave also toured and released solo work since the Kinks' demise.
Ray was awarded a CBE (the rank below Knighthood) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, for "services to music.". A number of the Kinks' former supporting players, such as John Dalton, John Gosling and Mick Avory, also perform in Europe and the UK as the "Kast-Off Kinks". Ray also has been working a new album for years. Called Other People's Lives, it is scheduled for early 2006 release. He embarked on another tour in October 2005.
Both Davies brothers suffered injuries in 2004. On January 4, Ray was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who had snatched the purse of his companion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Dave suffered the more serious one in June 30 when he had a stroke in an elevator at the London offices of the BBC, where he had been promoting his latest solo album, Bug. He was hospitalized and released on August 27.
Ironically, Dave's stroke has caused a reconcilliation, with Dave reportedly working closely with his older brother to regain his guitar skills. It seems that the two brothers are back to having a good relationship - something considered abnormal for two decades. "I'm spending lots of time with Dave," said Ray. "I'm coaching him along as best I can to re-learn the guitar. Actually, we're getting along better than ever. As soon as he can play guitar again, then it's back to the old hatred," he added, laughing, "It's the only thing that lasts." On this Dave responded jokingly on his web-site that it sounds like him "giving songwriting lessons to Ray".
Apparently, when Dave's stroke occurred, the two brothers were seriously considering a reunion to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their first number one hit "You Really Got Me". It remains to be seen if this reunion will come to fruition, due to Ray's tight touring schedule behind his new album and the on-going recovery of his brother.
Influence
The Kinks were never as commercially successful as their peers, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, or Led Zeppelin, mostly because of the internal squabbles and Ray Davies' fierce creative disdain of commercial musical trends that were imposed by record labels. Nevertheless, they are cited as one of the greatest, most influential acts and the quality of their finest material remains unquestionable. Their early hard-driving singles set a standard in the mid-1960's for rock and roll that reverberated for decades. Their best albums, such as Face to Face, Something Else, Arthur, Village Green, Lola and Muswell Hillbillies are unique, literate pop works that stand alongside any albums of that influencial era. The band also experienced acclaimed revivals in the late-70s-early-80s with some highlight albums back then.
The number of acts the band has influenced vary from hard rock and heavy metal to the alternative rock Britpop movement, with many of the acts owing much to the Kinks and Ray Davies' superb songwriting skills. As self-professed Kinks fan Pete Townshend said for "The History of Rock 'n' Roll": "The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for Pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning."
Whether or not Ray Davies can keep the band going, he has put his mark on rock music as one the best, most prolific and perceptive songwriters of our time. His catalogue of songs, soaked with English musical and lyrical influence, is one of the finest available, and he remains one of the most acute observers of the quirks and eccentricities of ordinary English life.
Line-ups
The band went through many line-ups over the years, with the Davies brothers and Avory remaining for most of the band's history. Ray says that he'd "never fired anyone before. When someone in the nucleus of the band goes, I get upset... but now I'm used to people leaving me, I expect it every day."
1964-1984
- Vocals, songwriting, rhythm guitar, keyboards (1964-1970): Ray Davies
- Lead guitar, backing vocals, occasional songwriting & lead vocals: Dave Davies
- Drums: Mick Avory
Bass guitar (1964-1984):
- Pete Quaife (1964-1966;1967-1969)
- John Dalton (1966-1967;1969-1976;1978)
- Andy Pyle (1976-1978)
- Jim Rodford (1979-1984-)
Keyboards (1970-1984):
- John Gosling (1970-1978)
- Gordon Edwards (1978-1979)
- Mark Haley (1989-1993)
- Ian Gibbons (1979-1984-)
1984-1997
- Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards, Songwriting: Ray Davies
- Lead guitar, Harmony and back vocals: Dave Davies
- Bass guitar: Jim Rodford
- Drums: Bob Henrit
- Keyboards: Ian Gibbons (/1989-1993/)
- Production and Management: Mick Avory
Discography
- For a detailed discography, see The Kinks discography.
