He’s playing live in December, and he’s today’s Featured Artist
Dave Davies is the pioneering rock guitarist who singlehandedly changed rock-n-roll when he sliced his little green Elpico amp speaker with a razor blade, creating the first heavy metal guitar tone and riff. The revolutionary guitar sound propelled the Kinks into stardom with the global smash hits You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night, followed by numerous other classics over the next decades.
“You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night were predecessors of the whole three-chord guitar genre,” says musicologist Joe Harrington. “The Kinks were one of the bands responsible for turning rock ‘n’ roll into rock.”
“As lead guitarist and co-founder of the Kinks, Dave Davies is one of the most unpredictable and original forces in rock,” says writer Bill Crowley.
“His distinctive guitar style went on to have major impact on several key guitar-rock styles, including heavy metal and punk. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Dave’s massive guitar sounds have inspired bands from Van Halen to Green Day.”
Since the early 1960s, Dave has worked on a great number of critically acclaimed albums, ranging from solo hit song Death of a Clown, to experimental Kinks records like Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur and the classic song Lola in 1970. Dave further helped shape the sound of the Kinks with his singing and lead guitar on songs such as Come On Now and the anthemic I’m Not Like Everybody Else.
Dave’s solo output continued from the 60s to the 70s and 80s with the hits Susannah’s Still Alive and tracks on Kinks records like You Don’t Know My Name, Strangers and “Trust Your Heart. The 80s saw the release of spiritually minded AFL-13606, which featured the wonderful Imagination’s Real. Other albums to follow were Glamour andChosen People.
Mainstream success continued with the hit Kinks albums Low Budget and State of Confusion, as they re-attained the commercial success they previously had in America in the mid-60s, before they were unfairly banned for 4 years.
In the 1990s Dave released the solo album, Bug and the compilation Unfinished Business. His songs have been featured in films by John Carpenter and Wes Anderson, who featured Strangers in Darjeeling Limited (the song has been covered by many artists including Norah Jones). One of Dave`s most popular Kinks songs Living on a Thin Line was used in the HBO show “The Sopranos”.
In the late 90s, his autobiography Kink was well received. In 2010 he collaborated with son Russell Davies to create the hauntingly beautiful rock electronica album, The Aschere Project. Dave’s currently working with another of his sons, Martin, on a new documentary film Strangers, the follow-up to Mystical Journey.
In 2011, the BBC aired a documentary about Dave entitled Kinkdom Kome. Dave’s 2013 album I Will Be Me, released by Cleopatra Records, showed a return to his ground-breaking guitar sound and songwriting.
In 2013 Dave returned to touring after a long hiatus. He had spent the past decade recuperating from a life threatening stroke. In 2014, Dave released the poignant meditation book, Heal, about his recovery in which he had to learn to walk, talk and play guitar again. His amazing return to playing live and touring in the U.S. was a triumph both creatively and spiritually as he found new inspiration for his album Rippin’ Up Time. Released to great critical acclaim in 2014, Dave embarked on yet another U.S. tour to support the album.
Dave recorded two turbo charged nights of performances at the City Winery NYC on November 24 and 25, 2014. Old friends, fans and fellow music industry folks were in the audience to celebrate Dave’s return. The crowd went wild over Dave’s unique vocals, smoking solos and exciting creativity. Late August 2015 is the release date of this live album Rippin’ Up New York City – released by Sony’s Red River Entertainment label.
A long-time inductee of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Dave Davies expresses the power, sensitivity, magnetism and creative expression of a seasoned yet spontaneous rock ‘n roll visionary.
Writer Greg Antoniono best sums up Dave Davies’ massive contribution to rock ’n’ roll –
“The reason Dave’s my favourite guitarist (not to mention singer and songwriter) is that he is the best at three difficult and different things. The first is guitar solos. He does something even harder than being flashy just for the sake of being flashy, he crafts solos that are melodic, powerful (when they need to be) and memorable that fit the song like they were written into it. Second, Dave plays riffs and chords behind the vocal (like No More Looking Back) that enhance the song; an amazingly hard feat to do. Third, his intro riffs and licks set up the song so you want to hear the rest of the song. I’ve been playing for 41 years and I still am in awe of his creativity.”
