by Robert Wilkinson
In another clear example that the music didn't die in February 1959, today we send a gigantic happy and merry to a legend of rock music, Dave Davies of the Kinks! Come dancin’....
The Kinks were part of the original "British Invasion" of 1964, and are generally considered the godfathers of punk, grunge, thrash rock, and served as inspirations for countless bands, including the Who, Pretenders, Van Halen, the Stranglers, and many more.
Dave Davies (3 February 1947) is acclaimed as one of the top 90 guitar players of all time. From Wikipedia:
Davies was responsible for the signature distorted power chord riff on The Kinks' first hit, “You Really Got Me.” He achieved the sound by slitting the speaker cone on his Elpico amplifier, which he then ran through a larger Vox as a "pre-amp". This sound was one of the first mainstream appearances of guitar distortion, which was to have a major influence on many later musicians, especially in heavy metal and punk rock.
He and his brother Ray Davies formed the Kinks in 1963, and were one of the most explosive of all the original “British Invasion” bands! They rocketed into the charts in 1964 with “You Really Got Me,” and never looked back. Ray, one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, composed countless hits, including "You Really Got Me," "All the Day and All the Night," "Tired of Waiting," “Stop Your Sobbin’,” "See My Friends" (said to be the first raga based song in pop music), "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," "Sunny Afternoon," "Waterloo Sunset," "Victoria," "Days," "Apeman," "Lola," "Celluloid Heroes," "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman," "A Rock and Roll Fantasy," "Come Dancing," and so many more I've lost count over the years. Still, I've been a BIG fan since the very beginning, and so figured you should know about this singularly amazing band.
Over the years Dave composed more than a few good ones, though they are not as well-known as the tunes crafted by brother Ray. So today I’ll give you all I can find, and unless I specifically note that the tune is written by Dave, just assume it was written by Ray.
We'll begin with the song that blew us all away! From 1965, a live performance on Shindig! of the song that kicked the doors wide open when it hit the charts in 1964! "You Really Got Me." And here’s a great live performance from 1973 on the Beat Club of the Kinks doing “You Really Got Me”
Their second major hit from 1964, "All The Day and All the Night"
Here’s their 1965 live performance as the runner up new band at the NME Poll awards, complete with a messed up sound system! "You Really Got Me” and "Tired of Waiting" (The winners of the 1965 NME award? The Beatles, of course!)
A live lip-synched performance of "Tired of Waiting"
Here’s a very early Ray Davies composition, “Stop Your Sobbin’” And here Ray’s old girlfriend Chrissie Hynde cranks it out as a hit for the Pretenders! Yes, it’s lip-synched, but whatever, since it’s still great footage from 1979. “Stop Your Sobbin’”
From 1965, the Kinks doing “Set Me Free”
The original recording of the B-side of "Set Me Free," the rocker "I Need You"
Last year I had a great 16 minute 1966 video when they were at their live best on the Beat Beat Beat television show, but it’s disappeared. We still have only one from that performance, “Milk Cow Blues.” (Set List: “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” “Milk Cow Blues,” [weird organ interlude], “Till the End of the Day,” “I’m A Lover Not A Fighter,” and “You Really Got Me”)
From what looks to be the same era on Beat Club, "Well Respected Man"
Because I can't find any live video performances of this song from that period, for your listening pleasure I found the Rockpalast performance from 1982 of "Till the End of the Day." (The entire concert is toward the end of the tribute.)
Because this song is so awesome, here it is again! From 1966, a live 1965 BBC performance of the awesome "Till the End of the Day" which we’ll follow with the studio version of "Till the End of the Day"
Moving into their "middle period" later hits, and some extraordinary social commentary, we bring you:
From a 2007 live show, here’s Ray doing his hit "Dedicated Follower of Fashion"
From a live 1973 show, a very short version of “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”
A Dutch TV video from 1966 of "Sunny Afternoon," while this is an obviously lip synched from TOTP from the same year of "Sunny Afternoon,"
From the album Something Else, the first big Dave Davies hit with the Kinks! Live on Beat Club, a live 1967 performance of his haunting “Death of A Clown”
Here’s the original studio version of the slightly sloshy “Death of A Clown”
On the Beat Club in 1967, here’s a live performance of the very cheeky and somewhat sarcastic commentary on “ Mister Pleasant”
Here’s a 1968 Beat Club “performance video” of Dave’s follow-up hit to “Death of A Clown,” the rocking “Susannah’s Still Alive”
From the Face to Face album, here’s the original studio audio-only version of another tune written by Dave, “Party Line”
From 1967 at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, an audio-only 34 minutes of frenetic Kinks in Koncert! The Kinks Live at Kelvin Hall – 1967 (Set list "Till the End of the Day," "A Well Respected Man," "You're Lookin' Fine," "Sunny Afternoon," "Dandy," "I'm On An Island," "Come On Now," "You Really Got Me," “Medley –"Milk Cow Blues," "Batman Theme," and "Tired of Waiting for You")
From 1968 on Top Of The Pops, a great performance of “Wonderboy”
From 1969, the Kinks live on TV doing “Last of the Steam Powered Trains” and “Picture Book”
An incredibly beautiful love song! For your enjoyment on Pop Goes the Sixties from 1969, the poignant "Days"
From November 1969 at the Fillmore West, the Kinks cranking out a great audio-only 53 minute set! The Kinks Live At the Fillmore West – 1970
Here are two great tunes written by Dave on the Lola album! First, the grinding rocker “Rats” which we’ll follow with the truly great “Strangers”
2 years ago I had several links to a 1972 tv program At the Rainbow, a mix of great performances and interviews, but they’re still nowhere to be found.
From BBC television, here’s 30 minutes of the Kinks! The Kinks Live in Concert – 1973
From that live show in London, we have four classics! We begin with Ray doing his N’awlins best grooving to the great tongue in cheeky "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues," which we follow with the lazy daisy "Holiday." We turn the corner with the title track of their album “Village Green Preservation Society” and close with the beautiful "Waterloo Sunset."
At the Beacon Theater in 1975, we have another performance of “Alcohol” and a great live performance of "Sunny Afternoon."
Here’s a great find! From Christmas 1977 at the Rainbow, here are the Kinks live performing a great Christmas show!
The Kinks Christmas Concert, part 1
The Kinks Christmas Concert, part 2
The Kinks Christmas Concert part 3 (includes Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset, All Day and All of the Night.)
The Kinks Christmas Concert part 4
The Kinks Christmas Concert part 5 (Celluloid Heroes)
(Part 6 is nowhere to be found)
The Kinks Christmas Concert part 7 (Lola, Alcohol)
The Kinks Christmas Concert part 8 (Skin and Bones and of course, Father Christmas for the encore!)
This year the audio clip of the complete 57 minute 1977 Christmas eve show is gone.
Some of these feature Ray without Dave on guitar, but since they are Kinks klassics, I figured I'd include them anyway.
We close the middle era with a live performance from 2007 of a song never done live before then, Ray's haunting comment on a not-so-comfortable middle class life, "Shangri-La"
From the sublime to the absurd! Ray's wry take on the human condition! "Apeman"
From 1977 on The Old Grey Whistle Test, Ray and Dave in a live acoustic duet in a short version of “Muswell Hillbillies”
Here’s another 43 minutes of that show, with some of the best! The Kinks Live on the Old Grey Whistle Test (“Sleepwalker,” “Life goes on,” “Stormy sky,” “Celluloid Heroes,” “Muswell Hillbillies,” “Full Moon,” “Life on the Road,” “Juke Box Music,” You Really Got Me/All the Day and All of the Night”)
This year their performance of “Well Respected Man” and “Death of a Clown” from that 1977 OGWT are gone.
Live on The Mike Douglas Show in 1977, the Kinks perform "Sleepwalker" and "Celluloid Heroes"
From the video One for the Road, a song from Arthur Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. For your enjoyment, an incredible rocking version of “Victoria.” From that gig, 2 live very electric performances! “Celluloid Heroes,” which we follow with the grinding "Superman," and close full throttle with "Attitude" and “Pressure”
From 2007, never done live before then, Ray's haunting comment on a not-so-comfortable middle class life, "Shangri-La"
From the 1967 album Something Else, a great live 1968 BBC audio of the beautiful "Waterloo Sunset"
Live at the Beat Club in 1969, another rousing live performance of another of Ray’s scathing looks at society with "Plastic Man."
The Kinks live in 1970 on TOTP performing their gender-bending mega-hit, "Lola."
Here’s another live performance in 1973 of “Lola”
Last year I had Ray’s lament of a unique torch/drinking song, complete with N’awlins’ style horns, done at the Beat Club in 1972 but that iconic performance of “Alcohol” is gone this year, as is the entire set. In case I find it again, the set list is “Lola,” “Holiday,” “Alcohol,” “Skin and bones,” “Muswell hillbillies,” “You really got me,” and “All day and all of the night”
This is a great hour and 7 audio of their November 1972 show in Charlottesville, VA! The Kinks Live at the University of Virginia - 1972
Ray at his theatrical best! "Alcohol"
Ray's wry take on the human condition! "Apeman"
From 1973, the great tongue in cheeky "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues"
A few from the late 70s and into the 80s!
From 1977 at the Christmas concert on The Old Grey Whistle Test at the Rainbow Theater, Ray’s tribute to the universal solvent "Alcohol"
Here’s another version from 1979 that’s a bit more electric! From the live album One for the Road, “Celluloid Heroes”
We have two great video performances of this tune from Arthur Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. For your enjoyment, here’s the first performance from 1972 of the very rocking “Victoria,” and from “One for the Road,” Ray and Dave at their best! “Victoria”
This year I found the whole Providence show, and it rocks! The Kinks Live in Providence 1979 (Set list: “You really got me/All day and all of the night,” “Low budget,” “Superman,” “Attitude,” “Celluloid heroes,” “The hard way,” “Where have all the good times gone,” “Pressure,” “Catch me now I´m falling,” and “Victoria.”)
From the One for the Road tour in 1980, a rocking video of the Kinks doing "Superman." From that same tour, the grinding "Attitude" and the rocking “Low Budget”
From 1981, Ray ripping himself off and reworking the same 3 chords that made him famous way back when! "Destroyer"
The original video of "Come Dancin'"
From 1982 in Australia, the Kinks cranking up “You Really Got Me” and “Destroyer”
Here’s a full 1 hour 50 minute video concert from Rockpalast in Germany! The Kinks Live at Rockpalast 1982
From 1987, the official music video of the Kinks cranking out the Dave Davies composition “Rock and Roll Cities”
This is a great performance of this rocker! From 1993, on Jools Holland, the Kinks cranking out “Till the End of the Day”
Here are Ray and Dave live and cranking it up at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction! Enjoy "All The Day and All the Night" and "Lola"
Dave had a stroke in 2004, so what you're about to see is a great recovery!
For a newer show, here's Dave in May 2013 live in NYC, cranking out "I'm Not Like Anybody Else" and "I Need You." From the same gig, complete with electronic repairs, "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" and "All the Day and All the Night"
Here's Dave Davies at Musikfest Cafe in PA in June 2013! Not great, his voice is shot, but it's definitely the man who was the prototypical thrash/grunge rocker!
Dave Davies Live at Musikfest pt 1 ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else," "Tired Of Waiting For You," "Death Of A Clown," "This Man Weeps Tonight," "Young & Innocent Days" - 17 min)
Dave Davies Live at Musikfest pt 2 ("Young & Innocent," "Strangers," "Flowers In The Rain," "Living on a Think Line," "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" - 16+ min)
Dave Davies Live at Musikfest pt 3 ("Where Have All The Good Times Gone, "All the Day and All the Night," "I Will Be Me," "You Really Got Me" - 8+ min)
From November 2013, Dave offering up one of the original trance tunes written by the Kinks back in the mid-60s in a particularly grunge arrangement, "See My Friends"
From Boston in 2015, , "Dead End Street,” "See My Friends,” and “Strangers.”
Also from October 2015 “Livin’ On A Thin Line.”
We’ll close today’s birthday celebration with the rocking Dave Davies tune, “Perfect Strangers”
Last year, one of the encores was 21 minutes of the Kinks at the early peak in Paris in 1965 but it’s gone.
For the encore, Dave Davies live in Frankfurt in 1984 performing his “Living On A Thin Line” For a newer performance of this great tune, here’s Dave Davies live at the Lorsch in 2001 performing “Living On A Thin Line”
For the second encore, Dave live and rocking HARD in 1997 giving up the early Kinks punk rocker, “I Need You”
As a bonus, I found this hour and 14 documentary on Dave's life by Julien Temple made in 2011 titled Kinkdom Come - Dave Davies.
Thanks for all the great performances across the years! Though we may be perfect strangers sharing a party line while witnessing the death of a clown, we’re also all living on a thin line cruising through rock and roll cities. May you rock on until you sail off into Waterloo Sunset and we all Come Dancing!
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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