I got on the plane, landed in France, did a press conference, and they asked me what I thought of his new album, Double Fantasy. “I became productive. Davies speaks in a foggy whisper, like an Ealing studios safe-cracker, his conversation, like his songwriting, full of subtle detours and tiny surprises. I’d have made heavy metal records.”, Had the band been able to tour the US, could they have competed with the Beatles? We went in to the back room of Max’s Kansas City in New York. When the Queen awarded Davies with a CBE in 2004, he recalls that the monarch murmured “… so many songs” as she secured his ribbon. Then there was quite a lot of metalwork.”, Davies, who was knighted in March by Prince Charles for services to the arts, laughs quietly at the idea that his leg might have been giving him gyp as he knelt. He was renting an apartment close to the Dakota building and had become accustomed to seeing John and Yoko in the neighbourhood. I’m just taking your word for it.”. “But life has always intervened.”. Ray always cut an effete figure beside his marauding sibling, the estimable Kinks guitarist, Dave Davies. Like an echo of the acid text of "Yes Sir, No sir" from 50 years ago. “Maybe that’s the way they want to sound, kind of blanded-out and corporate,” he says, shaking his head. But in the rich box "Arthur" published October 25 (4 CDs of 81 titles in total, including 5 unpublished and 28 unreleased versions, demos, etc. Not to mention Van Halen. He’s trying to run the country the best he knows how and he only knows one way to get what he wants: total power.”, Davies admits that the current US situation is “scary” but retains a fondness for the country, conceding that the Kinks’ ban, which he took “very personally”, may have been a blessing in disguise. But his work has made a profound mark and inspired respectful cover versions by David Bowie, the Jam, the Pretenders, Elvis Costello and the Fall. “That was the last time we were really innocent, when we played cowboys and indians on the bombsite near where we lived when we were kids. On his first solo album in a decade, Americana, Ray Davies explores his troubled relationship with the US – next, he’s writing a book about Britain, Last modified on Mon 3 Dec 2018 10.20 EST. Can the band re-form in concert as so many other bands from the 1960s and 70s did? A nice compliment from one of the best lyricists of the years 1960-70. You get all the rhetoric when they’re trying to get into power, but as soon as they get the key to the front door, the pressure is on. “The Beatles were even bigger than the royal family. “We couldn’t have been bigger than the Beatles,” Davies scoffs. Hopefully we don’t have a war or a huge crisis, but we’re going to go through an immense change. Nevertheless, he would be interested in collaborating with a contemporary artist and when talk turns to Ed Sheeran and his recent copyright lawsuit (“Did he settle?”), it reminds him of a similar to-do he had with the Doors in the 60s when they borrowed the opening riff for Hello, I Love You from the Kinks’ All Day and All of the Night, for which they had to pay Davies royalties. “I was at the Ivor Novello awards when Uptown Funk won – there were eight writers,” he marvels, of a song whose multiple credits included one of Styles’ Sign of the Times co-writers, Jeff Bhasker. “And I loved those American place names that Chuck Berry would reference. Can the band re-form in concert as so many other bands from the 1960s and 70s did? As a result, his characters were leaving for Australia, a country supposed to be "without distinction of class". I said: ‘In my humble opinion, it’s not his best work.’ Then they said: ‘Did you know John Lennon was shot this morning?’ I’d seen Yoko 24 hours before on the street without John. I was aware of what was going on and he wasn’t. This is not the first time that he suggests that new titles are being prepared and caution is needed. “But then I thought: ‘I’m from London, I should make it about Waterloo, because it had been significant in my life: I used to go down there to change trains to go to college in Croydon; when I was in hospital in St Thomas’s – I was quite seriously ill when I was 15 – they took me out on to the balcony after an operation to look at the Thames.” He breaks off to sing gently, “Dirty old river …”, Davies’ best songs have come from bittersweet personal experience: Dedicated Follower of Fashion, the deathless Days and, of course, Lola. A nice compliment from one of the best lyricists of the years 1960-70. Davies mutters modestly when it is suggested that he is the greatest songwriter London has produced. ), we find in particular the solo album of Dave, too long remained in the drawers. Recorded with veteran alt-country outfit the Jayhawks, the collection explores, in forensic detail, Davies’ relationship with the US: how he got banned from touring there with the Kinks in the mid-60s (“bad luck, bad management and bad behaviour”), how he slogged around their heavy rock stadiums in the early 80s, and how he famously got shot in the thigh during a New Orleans mugging in 2004. In full swing around the Brexit, the album of Kinks "Arthur, the Decline and Fall of the British Empire" is reissued, 50 years later, with a funny resonance. The image of Her Majesty mooching around the palace humming Autumn Almanac is an appealing one. In the title track "Arthur", he portrayed a young man "of the working class", with "so much ambition", but always "picked up speed by those who make the big decisions". ‘I still don’t think I’m the lead singer of the Kinks’ … the band waits to perform on a TV show, 1968. s a keen-eyed chronicler of British manners and mores. In the 68-page booklet that accompanies "Arthur," Ray praises this piece on Billy the Kid, which he would have "liked to write" the verses. I just egged him on – it’s not until you get into the daylight and you see the stubble that the realisation dawns.”. When told that Dave's "Creeping Jean" riff is effective, Ray retorts, "I prefer Lincoln County.". It is 50 years to the week that he recorded Waterloo Sunset, the best pop song ever written. “My manager was dancing with a drag queen. Fifty years ago, he sang in "Brainwashed": "You look like a real human being / But you have no thought for yourself". So we ask Ray Davies the perennial questions: is a new record possible? “I woke up thinking it could be Liverpool Sunset, about the demise of Merseybeat,” he says of his landmark single. Could it be that’s she’s a fan? And yet he still has romantic memories of the place. I wasn’t the big brother who was there for him. “It’s going to be a shift of gigantic proportions,” he warns. “The entry wound is quite small, the exit wound is quite big. As a result, his characters were leaving for Australia, a country supposed to be "without distinction of class". To hear it today, not much has changed. Outstanding storyteller, the leader of the English quartet Ray Davies, 75 years old today, is inspired by the true story of his sister Rosie and her husband Arthur, who emigrate to Australia. While discussing Americana, he mentions that he has met Donald Trump. A handsome lift cut the long pipe, Ex-wife used NHL-star WhatsApp messages to secret lovers and splashed wild amounts of money: “I just knew my husband deserved a lot”, Trump urges Ethiopia to abide by the agreement and warns: The Egyptians may blow up the Renaissance Dam, South Korea's death toll rises to 48 after flu vaccine, Meri-Tuulia, 27, still burned a box in the spring in the spring - that's how he got rid of it, and tobacco doesn't even haunt his mind anymore, Trump votes pre-voting in Florida "Trump was filmed in-house", China's Xinjiang Kashgar shuts down due to COVID-19 outbreak, Faced with Islamism, "it is time for everyone to stop making small compromises", claims Schiappa, Russian media: Vyborg 'ruler' shot dead - ex-formula driver Vitaly Petrov's father reportedly dead. “I’ve bumped into him a few times and it was all right,” he shrugs from inside a sturdy black jacket. It’s a unique thing we have, the honours system, we should hang on to it. The two brothers in the group, Ray and Dave, were scrambled. "I like this record," he says, speaking affectionately about this little brother - 72 years old today - that he encouraged "to do more". As a keen-eyed chronicler of British manners and mores, Ray Davies is thinking about Brexit a lot. It’s not the same when you’re singing ‘from Walsall to Shepperton to Milton Keynes’.”. “He said: ‘You really got me.’”. Ray Davies continues to denounce "the manipulation of information" by the powers in place. “The word ‘love’ is a strange phenomenon,” Davies replies. As with every event around the Kinks, the rumor machine is racing around this legendary band, which has not released a studio album since 1993 and has not performed on stage since 1996. What does his brother Ray think? Outstanding storyteller, the leader of the English quartet Ray Davies, 75 years old today, is inspired by the true story of his sister Rosie and her husband Arthur, who emigrate to Australia. I was always the good guy.”, He was also playing the good guy when he chased down a mugger in New Orleans in 2004, receiving a gunshot-wound for his troubles that left very real scars. And Ray Davies looks further than his island and worries about the weight of "Marine Le Pen in France", advocating: "It takes alternatives". Published in 1969 with its 12 original titles, "Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire" concept album, will only be critically successful, and only the song "Victoria" will have the honor of climbing a few steps in the charts. “The incident with Lola happened in the Castel Club in Paris,” he recollects. “Yeah, probably,” he chuckles. It is presented as "the great Dave Davies lost album". There are signs that fans will not fail to interpret. “Like bumping into a bloke in a bar. "I like this record," he says, speaking affectionately about this little brother - 72 years old today - that he encouraged "to do more". "Let's work on new songs first, then we'll see", is content to answer the author of the fulgurance rock "You really got me". “The whole process was quite painless and rather moving. In the 68-page booklet that accompanies "Arthur," Ray praises this piece on Billy the Kid, which he would have "liked to write" the verses. Fifty years ago, he sang in "Brainwashed": "You look like a real human being / But you have no thought for yourself". We only had coffee,” he adds chastely. If I’d have been going to America, I would never have written that album. In full tumult around the Brexit, Ray Davies is moved by the "rise of the nationalisms". “I still don’t think I’m the lead singer of the Kinks – Dave’s the lead singer.” His arms drop to his sides. This is not the first time that he suggests that new titles are being prepared and caution is needed. 49 years since Jim Morrison's death - The Doors bowler formed a fan cult that annoys other members of the band, The Isle of Wight Festival, 50 years later: Donovan, the "flower power" musician par excellence, VIDEO. ‘I wish I could live in my own world like some existentialist artist’ … Davies. There are signs that fans will not fail to interpret. Their five-decade feud has been well documented, but prompts a simple question: does he love his brother? "Victims of human traffickers", laments to AFP Ray Davies. So we ask Ray Davies the perennial questions: is a new record possible? I waved at her and said: ‘How’re you doing, how’s John?’, “I was flying to Europe that night. “Bigger than the Berlin Wall, like regrowth and replacement after a war. We opened for them in the beginning, they were the big stars, we were the support act, and John said: ‘If you run out of songs to play, we’ll lend you some of ours.’ Typical John.”, Davies was in New York the day before Lennon was murdered. “Kentucky, Montana, Sierra Nevada, just the words are so evocative,” he says. I lived with my sister and I always feel he felt shut out of my life. But didn’t he enjoy a similar encounter himself?

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