Ray Davies CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions. In decreasing order of seniority, these are: (born Raymond Douglas Davies, 21 June 1944, Fortis Green, London) is an English rock Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz, and classical music musician, best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks The Kinks are an English rock group formed on March 17th 1963, and categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time - one of the most prolific and long-lived British Invasion The British Invasion is used to describe rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States from 1964 to 1966. The Second British Invasion refers to MTV acts of the 1980s. In the latter half of the 2000s the term would be used to describe the critical and popular success of mostly female acts at bands - which he led with his younger brother, Dave. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for theatre Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more persons, isolated in time and/or space, present themselves to another or others." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for storytelling. Since its inception, theatre has and television Commercially available since the late 1930s, the television set has become a common communications receiver in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used.

Since the demise of the Kinks in the mid-90s Ray Davies has embarked on a solo career as a singer-songwriter Singer–songwriter is a term that refers to musicians who write, compose and sing their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano. A number of other well-known musicians may write some of their own songs, but are usually referred to as.

Contents

Early life

Ray Davies (pronounced day-vis[1], like Davis) was born and raised in the North London area of Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated 6.2 miles north of Charing Cross. He is the seventh of eight children, including six older sisters and younger brother Dave Davies. He has been married three times, and has four daughters - Louisa, Victoria, Natalie and Eva.

Davies was an art student at Hornsey College of Art Hornsey College of Art is a former college centred in Crouch End, London, now part of Middlesex University in London London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been an influential city for two millennia and its history goes back to its founding by the Romans. The city's core, the ancient City of London, still retains its limited medieval boundaries. However, since at least the nineteenth century, the name "London" has also referred in 1962–1963, when the Kinks developed into a professional performing band. After the Kinks obtained a recording contract in early 1964, Davies emerged as the chief songwriter and de facto leader of the band, especially after the band's breakthrough success with his composition "You Really Got Me."

Career

Davies led the Kinks through a period of musical experimentation between 1966 and 1976, with notable artistic achievements and commercial success. Between 1977 and their breakup in 1996, Davies and the group reverted to their earlier mainstream rock format and enjoyed a second peak of success, with other hit songs, like, "Lola".

In 1990, Davies was inducted, with the Kinks, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music industry, particularly in the area of rock and and, in 2005, into the UK Music Hall of Fame The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each of the last five decades. In subsequent years, a. Davies has performed solo since the mid 1990s.

Davies has had a tempestuous relationship with younger brother Dave (the band's lead guitarist Lead guitar refers to the use of a guitar to perform melody lines, instrumental fill passages, and guitar solos within a song structure) that dominated the Kinks' career as a band.

On 4 January January 4 is the fourth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 361 days remaining until the end of the year 2004 2004 was a leap year that started on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, Davies was shot in the leg while chasing thieves, who had snatched the purse of his companion as they walked in the French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) as it was known then of New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (pronounced /njuː ˈɔrliənz/, /nuː ˈɔrlənz/, or /ˈnɔrlənz/ by locals, /ˌnuː ɔrˈliːnz/ by many non-locals, and in French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [lanuvɛlɔʀleɑ̃] ) is a major U.S. port and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state.[2] The shooting came less than a week after Davies was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions. In decreasing order of seniority, these are: by Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua.

Davies was also a judge for the 3rd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. [3]

Relationship with Chrissie Hynde

Davies' relationship with Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde came at the expense of his marriage to his second wife, Yvonne, who named Hynde as the other woman in the divorce papers (the topic of the Pretenders song "The Adultress"). Davies and Hynde were involved in a number of bust ups, the most infamous being when they were due to get married but the registrar refused to marry them. In January 1983, Hynde gave birth to Natalie Rae Hynde, her first child and Davies' third. Within a year, Chrissie had taken the baby with her on a world tour. The relationship ended in 1984.

Work

Main article: The Kinks The Kinks are an English rock group formed on March 17th 1963, and categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time Ray Davies, Toronto, 1977 Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin

Davies' compositions over his lengthy career have been an astonishing study in contrasts, from the influential protopunk Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of music artists who were important precursors of the punk rock movement of the mid-1970s and later, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential, powerchord rock and roll Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s after World War II, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scene. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in country records of the 1930s, and in blues of the early Kinks hits in 1964–1966 (most prominently "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night "All Day and All of the Night" is a song by the British band The Kinks from 1964. It reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #7 on the United States Charts. Like their previous hit "You Really Got Me", the song relies on a simple sliding power chord riff, although this song's riff is slightly more complicated, incorporating a B"); followed a few years later by more sensitive, introspective songs ("Too Much on My Mind", "Waterloo Sunset"); and still later by anthems The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song (or composition) of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem" championing individualistic lifestyles and personalities ("Lola", "Apeman", "Celluloid Heroes"); celebrations of traditional English culture Categories: British culture | England | Culture by nationality | European culture | English-language culture and living ("Autumn Almanac", "Victoria"); true Music Hall Music hall in London had its origins in entertainment provided in the new style saloon bars of public houses during the 1830s. These venues replaced earlier semi-rural amusements provided by traditional fairs and suburban pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall Gardens and the Cremorne Gardens. These latter became subject to urban development and became-style vaudeville Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Since the early 20th century, musical (songs like "Dandy", "End of the Season", "Little Miss Queen of Darkness", "All of My Friends Were There", and the Preservation albums); and commercial rock which combined elements of all of these ("Come Dancing Come Dancing was a BBC TV ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off from 1949 to 1998, becoming one of television's longest-running shows", "Do It Again").

Davies' songwriting has often been called more mature, sophisticated, and subtle than that of many of his peers among American The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the and British rock Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz, and classical music musicians Composer · Songwriter · Arranger · Orchestrator. His lyrics Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. The lyricist of traditional musical forms often contained elements of satire Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about and social commentary Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means. This is most often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice about the aspirations and frustrations of British middle-class life — examples including songs like "A Well Respected Man" and "Shangri-La", which observed the class-bred insecurity and desperation underlying the materialistic values and conservative protocols of middle-class respectability; "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", which mocked the superficiality and self-indulgence of the mod Significant elements of the mod subculture include: fashion ; pop music, including African American soul, Jamaican ska, and British beat music and R&B; and Italian motor scooters. The original mod scene was also associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night dancing at clubs. From the mid to late 1960s onwards, the mass media often used the subculture In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. If a particular subculture is characterized by a systematic opposition to the dominant culture, it may be described as a counterculture; and "David Watts", which humorously expressed the wounded feelings of a plain schoolboy who envies the grace and social privileges enjoyed by a charismatic upperclass student.

His songs also showed signs of social conscience — examples being "God's Children" and songs on the albums, The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth album by the English rock band The Kinks released on 22 November 1968 and Muswell Hillbillies, which denounced industrialization Industrialization is the process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a pre-industrial society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernization process, where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation, particularly with the development of large-scale and commercialism Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit. There is also a tendency for intangible things such as happiness, beauty, in favour of simple pastoral living. Mid-period songs like "Dead End Street" and "Big Black Smoke" offered grim, neo-Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens, FRSA , pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most memorable characters. His novels and short stories have never gone out of print portraits of the desperate poverty that existed amidst the thriving metropolitan British economy of the 1960s.

In particular, Davies' songs on the 1968 Kinks album The Village Green Preservation Society embraced "Merry England" nostalgia and preservation as themes long before they became fashionable in pop music. Many of his best songs focus on the small-scale, poignant dramas of everyday people (e.g., "Waterloo Sunset", "Two Sisters", "Did You See His Name?"), commonly told as wistful mini-stories.

Aside from the lengthy Kinks discography, Davies has released four solo albums, the 1985 release Return to Waterloo (which accompanied a television Commercially available since the late 1930s, the television set has become a common communications receiver in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used film Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects he wrote and directed), the 1998 release The Storyteller, Other People's Lives in early 2006, and Working Man's Café in October 2007. Other People's Lives was his first top 40 hit in UK since the 1960s, when he worked with the Kinks.

The release of Working Man's Café was followed on 28 October 2007 with a performance at the BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation "the BBC", is the world's largest broadcaster. In common with the public broadcasting organisations of many other European countries, it is funded yearly by a television licence fee. This is charged to all UK households owning a television capable of receiving's Electric Proms series, at The Roundhouse, Camden Camden Town is the name of an area within the London Borough of Camden, situated in London, England. It is occasionally shortened to Camden, accompanied by the Crouch End Festival Chorus. The concert was broadcast the same evening on BBC Two BBC Two is the second major terrestrial television channel of the BBC, aimed at a wide range of subject matter and interests, and specialising in intelligent yet popular programme genres. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio networks, it is commercial-free and yet remains a comparatively well funded public service network, regularly. An edited version of Working Man's Café, excluding two bonus tracks and liner notes Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes. They are descended from the notes of text that were printed on the rear side of the cardboard record jacket used to protect a traditional 12-inch vinyl record, i.e., long playing or, was given away with 1.5 million copies of the Sunday Times The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom. There is also an Irish edition; contrary to a popular misconception, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times is not linked to The Irish Times newspaper, which is published Monday to Saturday in Dublin. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a on 21 October.

Since the Kinks ceased performing in 1996, Davies has toured independently (such as the mainly acoustic Storyteller tours with guitarist Pete Mathison), and more recently with a live band consisting of Toby Baron - drums, Dick Nolan - bass, Gunnar Frick - keyboards, Ian Gibbons - keyboards, Michael "Milton" McDonald - guitar (who replaced Mark Johns in 2007) and Bill Shanley - guitar. In 2005, Davies released a four-song EP in the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with called The Tourist, and a five-song EP in the U.S. The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the entitled Thanksgiving Day.

Ray Davies at Bluesfest 2008 in Ottawa Ray Davies with the Crouch End Festival Chorus at Kenwood House Kenwood House is a former stately home, in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. It is managed by English Heritage, London, in June 2009

Davies published his "unauthorized autobiography", X-Ray, in 1994. In 1997, he published a book of short stories entitled Waterloo Sunset, described as 'a concept album set on paper'. He has made two films, Return to Waterloo in 1985 and Weird Nightmare in 1991, a documentary about Charles Mingus.

A choral album, The Kinks Choral Collection, on which Ray Davies has been collaborating with the Crouch End Festival Chorus since 2007, was released in the UK in June 2009. A tour in support of the disc is planned and there has been extensive TV, radio and press promotion for the project.

Musicals

In 1981 Davies collaborated with Barrie Keefe to write his first stage musical, Chorus Girls, which opened at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London [4] starring Marc Sinden and also had a supporting cast of Michael Elphick, Anita Dobson, Kate Williams and Charlotte Cornwell. Directed by Adrian Shergold, the choreography was by Charles Augins and Jim Rodford played bass with the theatres 'house band'. Sinden only accepted the role on the condition that he did not have to sing a solo, however Davies wrote the reggae-style song "Everybody's Slagging Off England" specifically for him and gave it to him with two days to go before the First Night. Sinden did sing it and later recorded it with Davies. [5]

Davies wrote songs for a musical version of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days; the show, 80 Days, had a book by playwright Snoo Wilson. It was directed by Des McAnuff and ran at the Mandell Weiss Theatre in San Diego from August 23 to October 9, 1988. The musical received mixed responses from the critics. Davies's multi-faceted music, McAnuff's directing, and the acting, however, were well received, with the show winning the "Best Musical" award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.[6]

Davies' latest musical Come Dancing, based partly on his 1983 hit single with twenty new songs, opened at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London in September - November 2008. The play was awarded The MOBIUS Best Off-West End Production in February 2009. The musical will be staged at The Churchill, Bromley in January 2010 as part of a UK tour.

Awards

Davies in the Netherlands, 2006

Solo discography

For Kinks discography see The Kinks discography
  1. Return to Waterloo (1985)
  2. The Storyteller (1998)
  3. Other People's Lives (2006) (UK#36)
  4. Working Man's Café (2007)
  5. The Kinks Choral Collection (2009) (UK#28)

Chart singles written by Davies

The following is a list of Ray Davies compositions that were chart hits for artists other than The Kinks. (See The Kinks discography for hits by The Kinks.)

Year Title Artist Chart Positions
UK Singles Chart[8] Canada U.S. Hot 100
1965 "This Strange Effect" Dave Berry #37
"Something Better Beginning" The Honeycombs #39
1966 "A House in the Country" The Pretty Things #50
"Dandy" Herman's Hermits #1 #5
1978 "You Really Got Me" Van Halen #49 #36
"David Watts" The Jam #25
1979 "Stop Your Sobbing" The Pretenders #34 #65
1981 "I Go To Sleep" The Pretenders #7
1988 "All Day and All of the Night" The Stranglers #7
"Victoria" The Fall #35
1989 "Days" Kirsty MacColl #12
1997 "Waterloo Sunset" Cathy Dennis #11

See also

Songs written by Ray Davies

Notes

  1. ^ "". All Things Considered, 3 April 2006. . Retrieved on 2007-05-24.
  2. ^ "Kinks star shot in New Orleans". CNN.com, January 5, 2004. http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/05/davies.shot/. Retrieved on 2007-05-24.
  3. ^ Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
  4. ^ www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/21291/kinks-frontman-davies-makes-musical-debut
  5. ^ Daily Mail 17.3.82
  6. ^ http://www.kinks.de/40jahre/teil6_e.html
  7. ^ Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. Various. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

References

External links

The Kinks
Ray Davies • Dave Davies • Mick Avory John Dalton • Gordon John Edwards • Ian Gibbons • John Gosling • Bob Henrit • Andy Pyle • Pete Quaife • Jim Rodford
Studio albums Kinks • Kinda Kinks • The Kink Kontroversy • Face to Face • Something Else by The Kinks • The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society • Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) • Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One • Muswell Hillbillies • Everybody's in Show-Biz • Preservation: Act 1 • Preservation: Act 2 • Soap Opera • Schoolboys in Disgrace • Sleepwalker • Misfits • Low Budget • Give the People What They Want • State of Confusion • Word of Mouth • Think Visual • UK Jive • Phobia
Live albums Live at Kelvin Hall • One for the Road • Live: The Road • To the Bone
EPs Kinksize Session • Kinksize Hits • Kwyet Kinks • Dedicated Kinks • The Kinks
Compilations Greatest Hits! • Well Respected Kinks • Sunny Afternoon • The Kink Kronikles • Come Dancing with The Kinks • The Ultimate Collection
Related articles Discography • Four More Respected Gentlemen • The Kast Off Kinks • Argent

Categories: The Kinks members | English male singers | English songwriters | English rock guitarists | Ivor Novello Award winners | E1 Music artists | People from London | Music from London | Commanders of the Order of the British Empire | 1944 births | Living people | People from Fortis Green | Rhythm guitarists | Alumni of Thames Valley University

 

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