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I still listen to the Beatles sometimes... But
now they often seem superficial and incomplete to me. The Kinks,
thanks largely the near-genius songwriting abilities of Ray Davies,
encompass everything that the Beatles did, and a whole world more!
Nowhere have I ever found, in any art form, not just rock music,
such wit and sincerity, such humanity and energy, such a willingness
to change and grow, such a humanness, as I have found in The
Kinks.
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In the sixties |
In the seventies |
Discussions of the Kinks have invariably centered
around Ray Davies - not surprisingly, since he sings lead.
writes most of the group's material, and lately produces them.
But in the beginning it was The Kinks as a BAND that knocked
people out. And, strangely enough, they made their initial reputation
as avant-gardists.
But there really is no rock avant-garde anymore and the style
of amphetamine raving pioneered on the early singles is by now
totally absorbed into the mainstream. But avant-gardist they were,
a totally heavy electric rock n' roll band that produced a cataclysmic
wall of sound unlike anything that had ever been heard in rock
before.
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In the
seventies |
Mick
Avory |
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The drummer, Mick Avory, played with the
ferocity of a demolition derby-driver; Pete Quaife was
among the first to use the electric bass a a truly metallic voice
and Dave Davies - well, no one except Pete Townshend has
ever chorded quite so majestically, and certainly not at the age
of 17, when Dave was producing some of the most exciting solos
ever recorded! The Kinks were a heavy and tough R&B band,
listen to Too Much Monkey Business on their 1st album,
a much covered Chuck Berry song. The Kinks version wins, cutting
even Chuck's rendition, and that's no mean feat.
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Click here to go to
the Kinks Story part II |
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