The Kinks couldn't do no wrong from
1963 till the early 1970's. By all means and reason they were my
favorite band. With Ray Davies, one had a writer that was up there
with Cole Porter and (more likely) Noel Coward. In the early 70's I
went to see the band whenever they came to Los Angeles - and the
shows were more music hall than rock n' roll. Davies always came off
to me as slightly like Laurence Olivier in the Entertainer. When
you go into a Kinks album, it is very much of a world that doesn't
exist anymore. Post-War England as re-imagined by The Kinks.
This is a very good biography by Nick
Hasted on Ray, Dave Davies (the brother), Pete Quaife, and Mick
Avory. Although in the big picture extremely successful, but in the
miniature details a life full of doubt and pain. For whatever
reasons the brothers can barely stand each other - and the other two
musicians in the band had often suffered under their tortured
relationship. Ray and Dave, raised in a house full of sisters, are
very eccentric in their ways. Yet totally opposite in character.
Dave dived into the world of London 60's and Ray stood by the side
and caught it all on paper and music. If one was to get a book on
the Kinks - this one is it.
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