Games - The Kinks

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The Kinks were a British rock group. They first gained prominence in the mid-1960s with their hit single "You Really Got Me". The group's original lineup consisted of lead singer/guitarist Ray Davies, his brother lead guitarist Dave Davies, drummer Mick Avory and bassist Peter Quaife. The band became one of the most influential groups of the "British Invasion".

Internal squabbles, conflicts with the music industry, and an untimely ban from touring the United States in the 1960s eroded the popularity of The Kinks 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 Davies brothers were born in Muswell Hill, London. 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 schoolmate Pete Quaife (b. 31 December 1943, Tavistock, Devon, England; bass) formed a band. They soon invited Ray to join, and he accepted.

By the summer of 1963, the band had decided to call themselves The Ravens and had recruited drummer Mickey Willet. Eventually a demo tape landed in the hands of notorious American record producer Shel Talmy, who helped them land a contract with Pye Records in 1964. Before signing to the label, drummer Willet left the band. The Kinks invited drummer Mick Avory (b. Michael Charles Avory, February 15, 1944; drums) to join the band after seeing his advertisement in the magazine Melody Maker. Avory's previous experience included one gig with the Rolling Stones, but his background was in jazz drumming. Talmy hired more rock oriented drummers like Bobby Graham and Clem Cattini to do session work for the band as Avory adapted to the rock style. (Avory did provide additional percussion on some tracks from these sessions.) After their first album, the band decided to officially make Avory their sole drummer.

The first single from The Kinks, "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-1950s showbiz star Larry Page. Their second single "You Still Want Me" also failed. Pye warned the band that they had only one more chance. Another unsuccessful single 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 made the top 10 in the US, boosted by a 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 "little green" amplifier with razor blades), "You Really Got Me" helped launch hard rock. The group's fourth single, "All Day and All of the Night" - another hard rock tune, was released late in 1964. It rose all the way to No. 2 in the UK, and hit No. 7 in the US.

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. The Kinks were prohibited from returning to the US for four years.

Ray 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 and assaulted him on stage. He then went 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 third 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 UK, topping the charts.

Prior to its release, Ray Davies suffered a nervous and physical breakdown from the pressures of touring, writing, and ongoing legal squabbles. He spent several months recuperating, which gave him enough time to write new songs and ponder about the band's direction.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Kinks ]

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Games - The Kinks

History

Formation and first years (1963-1965)

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