I hesitated to read Kink, Dave Davies' autobiography and de facto biography of the Kinks, because the blurbs I read on the back describe it as a "lurid" tell-all. On the one hand, I wanted a factual, sequential, straight biography of his life with the Kinks, which I thought would serve my desires better than brother Ray Davies' arty memoir, which apparently features literary devices such as a section where the older Ray has a dialogue with the younger Ray, that sort of thing. But the last thing I wanted to read was one retelling after another of rock star excess and debauchery. Kink does include some stories of encounters with women (and men!) and the kind of drug excess that seriously affects Dave's mental health by the early seventies, but not as much as the blurbs on the back of the book would suggest. The book also features wonderful passages of Dave's contributions to the band as a songwriter that include such great songs such as "Party Line," "You're Looking Fine," and "Death of a Clown." He explains the inspiration behind these songs and others such as "Susannah's Still Alive."
A big inspiration for a lot of Dave's '60's songs centers around his painful forced separation with his teenage girlfriend after he impregnates her at the age of fifteen. Both sets of parents conspire to separate them after Dave announced his intention to marry Sue. The parents tell each of them that the other no longer wants to see them anymore, and they successfully keep this ruse going for a number of years. So much so that Dave doesn't develop a meaningful relationship with his daughter until she reaches her mid-20's. This backstory informs the rock-and-roll tales of debauched excess that follows the genuine pain Dave feels as a result of his and Sue's separation.
The Kinks had a long career, with many ups and downs, before Ray and Dave emerged as revered elder statesman in the 1990's. Two whole generations of American fans felt as if each one of them personally discovered the Kinks impressive late-'60's output that included classic albums Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, and the early-'70's great, Muswell Hillbillies. See, by 1967, the musician's union banned the Kinks from touring the United States due to a dispute. That meant these great albums went largely ignored, because the Kinks couldn't tour the States to promote them, thus no radio airplay, thus no sales, and by extension, no inclusion in "Classic Rock" radio formats of the 1980's and '90's. One typically heard early hits, "You Really Got Me," and "All Day And All of the Night," maybe "Well Respected Man," and when they could tour the states again, this development allowed for an airing of songs such as "Lola," "Sleepwalker," and "Celluloid Heroes," from the '70's albums on FM radio of the day.
Dave chronicles this pretty well in Kink, with plenty of ink reserved for the tales of squabbling and personality clashes and outright feuding between him and Ray. By the time Dave relates a VERY subjective telling of what sounds like a drug flashback that went for days in the '80's that details the existence of benevolent aliens that secretly and continually orbit the Earth looking over the stumbling, bumbling human race, well, I slogged through that part, because it's Dave Davies, and he's related plenty of stuff that one can pretty well rely on as an accurate telling of his and the band's history. I think the Austin Public Library still has a copy of Kink, and one can probably find a used copy online of this out of print book.
A big inspiration for a lot of Dave's '60's songs centers around his painful forced separation with his teenage girlfriend after he impregnates her at the age of fifteen. Both sets of parents conspire to separate them after Dave announced his intention to marry Sue. The parents tell each of them that the other no longer wants to see them anymore, and they successfully keep this ruse going for a number of years. So much so that Dave doesn't develop a meaningful relationship with his daughter until she reaches her mid-20's. This backstory informs the rock-and-roll tales of debauched excess that follows the genuine pain Dave feels as a result of his and Sue's separation.
The Kinks had a long career, with many ups and downs, before Ray and Dave emerged as revered elder statesman in the 1990's. Two whole generations of American fans felt as if each one of them personally discovered the Kinks impressive late-'60's output that included classic albums Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, and the early-'70's great, Muswell Hillbillies. See, by 1967, the musician's union banned the Kinks from touring the United States due to a dispute. That meant these great albums went largely ignored, because the Kinks couldn't tour the States to promote them, thus no radio airplay, thus no sales, and by extension, no inclusion in "Classic Rock" radio formats of the 1980's and '90's. One typically heard early hits, "You Really Got Me," and "All Day And All of the Night," maybe "Well Respected Man," and when they could tour the states again, this development allowed for an airing of songs such as "Lola," "Sleepwalker," and "Celluloid Heroes," from the '70's albums on FM radio of the day.
Dave chronicles this pretty well in Kink, with plenty of ink reserved for the tales of squabbling and personality clashes and outright feuding between him and Ray. By the time Dave relates a VERY subjective telling of what sounds like a drug flashback that went for days in the '80's that details the existence of benevolent aliens that secretly and continually orbit the Earth looking over the stumbling, bumbling human race, well, I slogged through that part, because it's Dave Davies, and he's related plenty of stuff that one can pretty well rely on as an accurate telling of his and the band's history. I think the Austin Public Library still has a copy of Kink, and one can probably find a used copy online of this out of print book.
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