The Kinks - Kinks
Writer: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 02.10.1964
"We needed a gimmick, a little edge to attract the public's attention. So we chose "The Kinks", something innovative, playful, kinky, but still within the bounds of good taste."
"The Kinks" were formed by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, who grew up in London's Muswell Hill neighborhood and shared a love of rock and roll. In their early days, they mainly wrote catchy three-minute songs, much like "The Beatles". But where "The Beatles" had their harmonies, "The Kinks" had their rhythm section.
Ray Davies, who wrote most of the band's songs, also served as its lead singer. In early 1964, the band began working with producer Shel Talmy and manager Larry Page, and around the same time changed its name to "The Kinks". Drummer Mick Avory joined the Davies brothers and bassist Pete Quaife, completing the classic lineup.
In 1964, the band released its debut single, a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". It failed to make much of an impression on the charts, as did the follow-up, "You Still Want Me". Their record label, "Pye", was about to show them the door.
The turning point came with their third single, "You Really Got Me", which topped the British chart and later reached number seven in the United States. It was also the first single from their debut album, "Kinks", released on October 2, 1964, and celebrating its 62nd anniversary today.
"You Really Got Me" probably saved "The Kinks" from an early end to their career. Its rough, roaring guitars also made it one of the songs that laid the foundations of hard rock. According to Dave Davies, it all began with a broken heart. His girlfriend, Sue Sheehan, became pregnant, and their parents wanted to stop them from getting married. Rather than hurting himself, Davies took his anger out on his amplifier.
Davies achieved that dirty guitar sound by slashing his amplifier's speaker cone with a razor blade. The damaged speaker produced a harsh distortion resembling the "fuzz" effect, which became the song's defining sound.
Fuzz pedals already existed at the time, but they were not yet widely used. Davies took his own route to the sound he wanted, often kicking the amplifier as well. He recalled cutting the speaker in his bedroom in North London. The amp was an inexpensive "Elpico" model that had been giving him trouble for some time.
The wounded amplifier was connected to another amp, which Dave remembers as a "Vox AC30", while producer Shel Talmy remembers a "Vox AC10". The sound they achieved changed the course of rock history, making "You Really Got Me" one of the defining hits in the development of distorted guitar.
The debut album showed that "The Kinks" were still some way from becoming a fully developed, cohesive band. Ray Davies' songwriting had yet to mature, which left eight covers and arrangements among the album's fourteen tracks. Even so, you can hear the beginnings of what would make "The Kinks" one of Britain's most exciting bands in the years to come.
Apart from "You Really Got Me", the standout is "Stop Your Sobbing". According to one account, Ray wrote it about a former girlfriend who feared that fame would change him and burst into tears when she saw how popular he had become. Fifteen years later, the song found a new audience through the version released by Chrissie Hynde and "The Pretenders" in 1979.
Hynde had long been a fan of Ray Davies. The two met in 1980 and began a relationship, and their daughter was born in 1983.
The album also features Jon Lord playing organ on "Bald Headed Woman", four years before he would become a founding member of "Deep Purple", and Jimmy Page playing twelve-string acoustic guitar. Contrary to the persistent myth, the solo on "You Really Got Me" is Dave Davies' work.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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