I was diehard Beatles fan in 1966 I was 17 at the time my dad got transfered to Ethiopia and as teen I loathe being there - my grandmother sends me some albums as I was crying to her we dont get the latest records, it takes 4 months - she sends me THE KINKS KONTROVERSY and one song on there hits home for me and I become a dedicated kinks fan to this day at age 71....the song is GOT TO GET THE FIRST PLANE HOME........keep going AROUND THE DIAL.
Hi Greg - a small point of contention, if you don't mind.
I tend to thing that the guitar that Irene, Ray and Dave's sister, gave Ray for his 13th birthday in 1957 was an acoustic. The Daily Mail reported it as having been electric, but that's the first I've ever read of it, and I don't know the correct answer.
All other accounts have only mentioned "guitar", generically.
I remembered you visiting me when I lived up near Woodstock. I don't recall you telling me about this. It was around 1972, I imagine. I also totally forgot you were at West 106 St. I had been at West 103 on and off before I got married. Thanks for the memories and for a really wonderful piece on Ray Davies.
I remember that show at Lincoln Center. I was there with my brother and we knew that the Kinks opening song would probably be Till the End of the Day. So when Dave Davies played those 3 opening power chords, we yelled " How do you feel?" And Ray paused and opened his arms wide as if to embrace us. Great memory!
I was considering your quoting Ray Davies about John Lennon when it suddenly occurred to me that he'd written something about him as a big influence when he was a teenager. It was on the op-ed page of The Times in 1987. Very gracious of Ray, especially in the context of your piece. Here's the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/opinion/08davies.html?searchResultPosition=2
I was diehard Beatles fan in 1966 I was 17 at the time my dad got transfered to Ethiopia and as teen I loathe being there - my grandmother sends me some albums as I was crying to her we dont get the latest records, it takes 4 months - she sends me THE KINKS KONTROVERSY and one song on there hits home for me and I become a dedicated kinks fan to this day at age 71....the song is GOT TO GET THE FIRST PLANE HOME........keep going AROUND THE DIAL.
Greg What a wonderful piece on the great Ray. Another manic depressive rock star who survived and has been so creative and personal for so long.
Hi Greg - a small point of contention, if you don't mind.
I tend to thing that the guitar that Irene, Ray and Dave's sister, gave Ray for his 13th birthday in 1957 was an acoustic. The Daily Mail reported it as having been electric, but that's the first I've ever read of it, and I don't know the correct answer.
All other accounts have only mentioned "guitar", generically.
Here's the Daily Mail from July 2014 :
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2692442/Agony-Kinks-star-Ray-Davies-two-sisters-die-three-weeks-other.html
I remembered you visiting me when I lived up near Woodstock. I don't recall you telling me about this. It was around 1972, I imagine. I also totally forgot you were at West 106 St. I had been at West 103 on and off before I got married. Thanks for the memories and for a really wonderful piece on Ray Davies.
I remember that show at Lincoln Center. I was there with my brother and we knew that the Kinks opening song would probably be Till the End of the Day. So when Dave Davies played those 3 opening power chords, we yelled " How do you feel?" And Ray paused and opened his arms wide as if to embrace us. Great memory!
Great stuff, thanks! I've been a Kinks kultist for 50 years now. Caught Ray's solo show in 2010 and he was charming.
I was considering your quoting Ray Davies about John Lennon when it suddenly occurred to me that he'd written something about him as a big influence when he was a teenager. It was on the op-ed page of The Times in 1987. Very gracious of Ray, especially in the context of your piece. Here's the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/opinion/08davies.html?searchResultPosition=2