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Beast

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crawdaddy
Look who turned up at the Sunny Afternoon musical chatting to the guy who plays him.
First pic is original Kinks manager, Grenville Collins.

More pics on Kinks Facebook page.

Apparently about 30 of the Davies family are due to go one night for a family get together.

Hope Ray and Dave are there to chat over a few things.

Thanks - great to see these pics. Looking forward to catching this show next week.

RollingFreak - hope you have as good a night at Dave's show as we did in London. Looking forward to your report.

I saw Sunny Afternoon last Saturday Beast,and really enjoyed it.

I think I appreciated it more because I knew the story about the Davies family and Rasa back in the '60's, as it is quite well documented with the internet etc.

That side of the show may have been lost to some of the audience maybe.

Rasa and the Davies parents are in the show nearly as much as the band themselves.

It's not perfect by any means ,but great entertainment, and went away feeling I know a lot more about Ray,Dave,Pete and Mick than I did before.

Don't know if this link has been posted before.

Ray Davies

Just read the Telegraph story and it says it all ..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-30 19:04 by crawdaddy.

<<"Nowadays the Kinks wouldn’t even get on TV. I shouldn’t by any stretch of the imagination be the lead singer. I’ve seen myself on television and I’m not as pretty as I should be.">>

It's amusing, and perhaps very telling, that a man in his seventies feels just as insecure about his appearance as he did when he was barely out of adolescence.

He's also forgetting that the sixties were just as "image conscious" as ever. There seems to have been a certain manager of a certain band who told Ian Stewart that he had to be dropped because he didn't have the right look.

I always agreed with Ray though. Somehow he made it work, but he was always like, the oddest frontman ever. He always looked too proper, or he just seemed like a deranged lunatic. He never seemed relaxed, he always seemed to be trying to express something that no one else was really thinking. And the Davies brothers were also never very attractive people.

But like I said, they made it work. Thats why they're The Kinks.

Ray was at the official opening the other night.

I think all three surviving original Kinks have seen it.................... on separate nights.
















Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-01 14:02 by crawdaddy.

Ok Kinks fans, I am at home on a Friday night in Bangkok, a bit bored and looking at the music movies on Apple TV and I stumble across a film called Musswell Hillbillies! It is a great movie with live clips from BBC, Rainbow Theater and interviews. What a nugget!

I'm getting confused with The Kinks.

Last year I purchased a 2cd deluxe of Muswell Hillbillies, and now a new version is coming out via Sony Music. Didn't they pick up on the fact that the 2013 version was only recently reissued ?

I've also found Low Budget is deleted, yet I haven't got around to adding that to my collection.

12 days till Dave. I'm very excited. Cool that seeing him will mean I've seen both brothers, which I didn't actually think I'd ever do. The next step would be seeing them together!

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tomcasagranda
I'm getting confused with The Kinks.

Last year I purchased a 2cd deluxe of Muswell Hillbillies, and now a new version is coming out via Sony Music. Didn't they pick up on the fact that the 2013 version was only recently reissued ?

I've also found Low Budget is deleted, yet I haven't got around to adding that to my collection.

Deleted how?

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tomcasagranda
I'm getting confused with The Kinks.

Last year I purchased a 2cd deluxe of Muswell Hillbillies, and now a new version is coming out via Sony Music. Didn't they pick up on the fact that the 2013 version was only recently reissued ?

I've also found Low Budget is deleted, yet I haven't got around to adding that to my collection.

deleted how?

Not available on amazon.co.uk, apart from being 2nd hand.

Their catalogue has changed hands due to the Universal/EMI deal. It now is all in the hands of Sony/BMG.

Edit: ironically, except for the MCA records.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-15 00:14 by TeddyB1018.

Yeah I won't be needing yet another version of Muswell Hillbillies. One of my favorites, if not favorite of theirs. Seriously,to all you Kinks fans out there seek out that film Muswell Hillbillies (on Apple TV, iTunes). It is a must have! Some great stuff I hadn't seen before, and there really isn't a lot out there on DVD on the Kinks.

Not sure if its out of print in the usa

Catalogue changing hands suggests that they won't know what to do with it.

Ray Davies: 'If We Do a Kinks Show, We're the Kinks'
Singer on the Who ripping him off, Wes Anderson and whether he and his brother can agree to a Kinks tour
By Andy Greene | November 27, 2014

>KINKS

Kinks frontman Ray Davies wrote a staggering number of songs during the band's early years. For proof, look no further than The Anthology 1964-1971, a new 139-track collection that includes 25 unheard demos and outtakes. There's also talk of a Kinks tour, which would be their first since 1995 – but first Ray would have to come to terms with his brother (and Kinks guitarist) Dave. "He's a lovely bloke, my brother," says Ray. "But he's got his way of thinking about things."



In the Kinks' early years, you may have been the most prolific songwriter in rock.

The record company, and probably our manager too, thought we wouldn't last long, so they made us record more. Every time a record got into the Top 10, they said, "You've got to have another one." So it kind of was like an assembly line.

The Who's first few singles sort of ripped you guys off. Did that bother you?

Well, they were influenced, to put it politely. When I heard "I Can't Explain," I thought, "Someone's cocked our rear!" Pete [Townshend] has said that it was an influence. But that wasn't as bad as when the Doors came out with "Hello, I Love You."

Which sounds just like "All Day and All of the Night."

My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details.

It's interesting to hear the early version of "Waterloo Sunset." Why do you think that song was huge everywhere but America?

It's a song with a subject matter that's very English. But it also came out during the period when we were banned from America.

That was when you were barred from touring by a powerful musicians' union.

It was a severe blow because America was the source of most of the inspiration I had as a kid. It was nirvana, the better place to go. We couldn't tour there, and so we disappeared from radio. The ban lasted for two and a half years, I think. When we finally were allowed to come back, we sounded like a different band. We changed our style quite a lot.

Wes Anderson has used some of your songs in his movies. Do you think he introduced your music to young fans?

I do. It has been really flattering, and what's great is he doesn't use the obvious hits. He picks lesser-known songs because they fit the story more.

It's amazing that "Lola" was such a big hit in 1970, considering the subject matter.

The subject matter was concealed – it's a crafty way of writing. I say, "She woke up next to me," and people think it's a woman. The story unfolds better than if the song were called "I Dated a Drag Queen."

You turned 70 this past summer. Do you feel any different?

I don't think about it much. I'm just trying to get my writing together. The Kinks have a bunch of tracks in some stage of completion. I'd like to get them finished.

Are you thinking of taking unfinished songs and going back into the studio to finish them?

I'd like to do that. We've got tracks back from Dave, Mick [Avory] and the original band members. We're talking about the Seventies and Eighties. There have got to be 20, at least. Then there are other finished songs I have in various forms of demo.

There have been lots of rumblings about a Kinks tour next year. Is that going to happen?

I can't think that far forward. Over the years, I've been doing a few new tracks with Mick, our original drummer. You know about the war between Dave and Mick.

Those guys have been at each other's throats for 50 years.

I don't work for the United Nations. I'm just a musician. I had a drink with Mick last week, and I asked, "What happened to you guys?" They shared a house in the 1960s. I think some things went on there that created a rivalry.

It's crazy that it's still going on.

It's like a bad Harold Pinter play.

Dave said he doesn't want a Kinks tour to be the Ray Davies show, with his kid brother in the corner.

I don't understand what that's about. If we do a Kinks show, we're the Kinks. Ray stands on the right of the stage and Dave stands on the left. Look, my brother is very intelligent. He's a good writer. We actually put down a few demos last Christmas. He came to see me, and he played me a couple of new songs.

So?.?.?.?there will be a tour next year?

I don't know about next year. I'm doing a studio album of my songs from my book Americana, and I'm going to do a small tour. As for the Kinks, I have to talk to Dave.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-28 07:43 by Hairball.

Nice recent interview.

Nothing new on the Kinks reunion, and more of what we know about Dave and Mick.

Just gotta hope for the best in 2015.

<<The Who's first few singles sort of ripped you guys off. Did that bother you?

Well, they were influenced, to put it politely. When I heard "I Can't Explain," I thought, "Someone's cocked our rear!" Pete [Townshend] has said that it was an influence. But that wasn't as bad as when the Doors came out with "Hello, I Love You."

Which sounds just like "All Day and All of the Night."

My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details.>>

Heh heh. Ray shouldn't be bothered by the Hello I Love You rip of All Day and All of the Night. Check out the rip Ray & Co. did of the Doors, with Kentucky Moon. You know, now that that's been released on the deluxe version of Muswell Hillbillies, I believe the Doors would have grounds to sue. That guitar riff, it sounds exactly like End of the Night, from the first Doors album.

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stonehearted
<<The Who's first few singles sort of ripped you guys off. Did that bother you?

Well, they were influenced, to put it politely. When I heard "I Can't Explain," I thought, "Someone's cocked our rear!" Pete [Townshend] has said that it was an influence. But that wasn't as bad as when the Doors came out with "Hello, I Love You."

Which sounds just like "All Day and All of the Night."

My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details.>>

Heh heh. Ray shouldn't be bothered by the Hello I Love You rip of All Day and All of the Night. Check out the rip Ray & Co. did of the Doors, with Kentucky Moon. You know, now that that's been released on the deluxe version of Muswell Hillbillies, I believe the Doors would have grounds to sue. That guitar riff, it sounds exactly like End of the Night, from the first Doors album.

They didn't release it before recently, did they?

The Kinks have lifted and stolen as much as any other band, though

I saw Dave play a few weeks ago at first City Winery gig. To be completely honest here I must say that Dave is struggling a bit, compared with previous years. Not only with remembering words to songs, but also with his guitar playing. I say this with great sadness because I am a huge fan of Dave's work for many decades. In my opinion he would have trouble filling the role he played within the Kinks on stage that we all remember. Sad to say, but the negative affects of the stroke have slowed him down.

That said Dave's set was very enjoyable. He was entertaining and funny in his unique way of looking at life. I took one of my daughters(a huge fan and she is 28) to the gig and we both got teary eyed at various moments of the gig. She had never seen Dave play live before. Dave even dedicated a song to 'my dear beloved brother Raymond" before he began singing "Young and Innocent Days". His voice was not sarcastic at all. I'm still glad I went to see Dave play.

While a Kinks reunion tour sounds good, I don't think it will happen. Too many things have to come together. If the guys want to get it on though, I would be overjoyed to see them back on stage as The Kinks!

Oh thank god it wasn't just me! Our reviews are pretty similar.

I saw Dave the second night at the City Winery. I have to say, his guitar playing has decreased so much. I knew the stroke had affected him, but I had kinda gotten my hopes up when people were saying he was sounding good. To me, his guitar playing was pretty nonexistent. He was absolutely plugged in, and you knew when he was playing and when he wasn't, but he basically did all chords. He couldn't seem to really hack solos. Granted, his volume was also low, either due to my seat or the venue, and that didn't help either. But I have that live album from 1996 and his guitar playing is off the charts. In 2014, it almost seemed unnecessary for him to have a guitar cause that playing was nowhere to be found. Even the iconic solos for You Really Got Me just sounded like noise.

Just like you though, his set was enjoyable. He gets by on charm alone. When it started and I saw how bad the guitar playing was, I got nervous. I was like "oh no, this is gonna be sad." But then I really got into it about song 8 or so and in the end I don't regret the concert. It was basically all Kinks songs, which was more than I thought, and it was a great show. He's great to hear speak and what I love is the unpredictability of his show. He really interacts and that elevates the show leaps and bounds from it just being a night of seeing him struggle onstage.

What confused me was people were giving him standing ovations constantly, and that just goes back to me thinking he didn't sound that great. I love Dave, but I wasn't just going to give him a standing ovation cause he played Kinks songs. The crowd seemed really over enthused, and didn't seem to care whether he sounded good or not. But I guess I'd take an over enthused crowd to a dead one. But yes, a good night that I don't regret at all. It just showed where Dave is at. IMO, after the show I said "this is why the Kinks don't tour." I truly don't think Dave could hack it at this point, and he does so well on his own. He doesn't have the banner of the Kinks to live up to and he does better when he can interact his own way and do what he wants to do. A Kinks reunion might be too embarrassing because his guitar skills would be more on display and he would clearly be the lesser brother on stage.

I don't know, maybe its just me. Anyone else have thoughts? Again, it was a great show, but I wasn't blind to the fact that he has major problems. Like, people were yelling out that his newest album was one of the best ever. WTF? Its one of the worst albums I've ever heard. Thankfully it sounded better live.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-29 03:09 by RollingFreak.

A recent Dave clip:

Thanks for your review RollingFreak. Nice to know that it wasn't just me being overly critical.It greatly pained me to see Dave diminished considering what a force he used to be. I give Dave huge credit though for taking it out on the road. I wish they had booked him at SPACE in Evanston or Fitzgeralds. I am of the opinion that City Winery Chicago is just too formal a place to play, even though sight lines to stage, and staff there are great. It's just not a rock and roll room. I think Dave would feed off of a raucous atmosphere in a better room.

Hopefully, the Chicago gigs were just a low moment on the tour. I wish nothing but the best for Dave as well as Ray and Mick too.

Interestingly, I was vinyl shopping in Bangkok over the weekend and got a new unopened vinyl copy of Musswell Hillbillies that says Limited Edition 180 Gram vinyl. For 20 dollars.

Anyone in Central London tomorrow can catch Ray Davies. Theatre is easy walking distance from Piccadily and Leicester Square.



''Ray Davies will be signing CDs of the Sunny Afternoon cast album, Lola vs the Powerman deluxe edition and the 5 cd box set "Anthology 1964-71" tomorrow December 18th from 4:00-5:15pm at the Harold Pinter Theatre in central London. You don't need a ticket for the musical to get into the signing, everybody is welcome. CDs will be for sale at the theatre. Ray will only be signing the above cds.''

Just a question:The 5 cd's Box set songs (Bonus tracks, outtakes and alternate versions) are the same of Edel/Konk remastered cd's of the end of '90?!Thanks!

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DandelionPowderman

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stonehearted
<<The Who's first few singles sort of ripped you guys off. Did that bother you?

Well, they were influenced, to put it politely. When I heard "I Can't Explain," I thought, "Someone's cocked our rear!" Pete [Townshend] has said that it was an influence. But that wasn't as bad as when the Doors came out with "Hello, I Love You."

Which sounds just like "All Day and All of the Night."

My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details.>>

Heh heh. Ray shouldn't be bothered by the Hello I Love You rip of All Day and All of the Night. Check out the rip Ray & Co. did of the Doors, with Kentucky Moon. You know, now that that's been released on the deluxe version of Muswell Hillbillies, I believe the Doors would have grounds to sue. That guitar riff, it sounds exactly like End of the Night, from the first Doors album.

They didn't release it before recently, did they?

The Kinks have lifted and stolen as much as any other band, though

exactly...which is the one that has the JJF riff? Is it "Catch Me Now I'm Falling"?

Yep

JJF Number 2!!

The 1964-1971 box set looks fairly tasty.

However, will there be a 1971-1983, or thereabouts, box set as a follow-up ?