Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Ray Davies versus the autobiography, part 2

Leave it to Ray Davies to take on an autobiography as a creative challenge.  Twice.

Rather than give his fans a chronological account of facts and anecdotes about his life, the former singer and songwriter of the Kinks has twice chosen a different approach.  Almost 20 years ago, he authored X-Ray, which can be described as a semi-fictional autobiography.  Late last year, he released Americana, which presents the British star's experience in the United States.  Of course, they are both great reads.

In Americana, Davies explains the influence US music and films had on his artistic development as a child in suburban London.  He goes on to describe the Kinks first US tour in 1965, on the heels of the British Invasion, and their comeback tour in the fall of 1969.  Comeback from what, you might ask, since the Kinks continued recording and releasing good music in the intervening years?

Davies' mind, now almost 70 years old, isn't quite so sharp on this point.  At various points in Americana, he writes he doesn't know why the Kinks were banned from performing in the US for four years in the late 1960s.  Near the end of the book, however, he indicates it was probably because of an issue with a concert promoter.

Davies goes on to describe how important the US music market was for the Kinks as the band continued evolving during the 1970s, switching labels and management and, by the 1980s, playing venues as large as Madison Square Garden.  He recalls forcing Bill Graham to keep his word when the Kinks took the stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people at the US Festival in San Bernardino in 1982.

Davies also writes with pride about being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and playing at its inaugural concert at Cleveland Stadium in 1995 -- which turned out to be the final Kinks concert in the US.  Davies did return as a solo performer 10 years later, reading excerpts from his X-Ray autobiography and playing stripped-down versions of Kinks songs.  I was fortunate to catch him at the McCarter Theater in Princeton in 1997.

A significant part of Americana, however, centers around New Orleans.  Specifically, Davies writes much about his experiences in this unique US city, including the shooting which almost ended his life in January of 2004.  It's these passages about New Orleans, which break up the chronological order in which he presents his American experience, which are the most telling.  They're a ray of light into his mind and soul, with a poignancy about his life, the muse he followed, the ambitions he harbored, the relationships he valued, not stated elsewhere in his writings, but understood and appreciated by Davies' fans.  He also provides new insights into the unique lure of New Orleans.

Reading Americana had me thinking about the times I saw the Kinks in concert.  In late July of 1979, they played a great show at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, a venue for a 1977 performance Davies describes "like playing Southend-on-Sea at an English seaside resort.  Great audience; say no more.”

In July of 1987, the Kinks played one of the last concerts at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, located in a part of town in which one or two old movie theaters screened pornography, which was also accessible from surrounding shops.  Davies introduced a new Kinks song, "Welcome to Sleazy Town," by alluding to these facts.

Having played at the Capitol Theatre at least five other times since 1972, I'm sure Davies was familiar with Passaic, where I also saw Elvis Costello, the Ramones, Patti Smith Group, the Who, Joe Jackson, the Clash, Pretenders, Adam and the Ants, Missing Persons, the Thompson Twins, REM and others.  British or American, it's questionable if anyone from these acts can write about their experiences on these shores like Ray Davies -- who has inspired many of them in the nearly 50 years since the Kinks first landed at Kennedy Airport.

Will Davies ever pen a conventional autobiography?  If so, would it be as interesting as X-Ray or Americana?  A definite maybe...you really got me...he's one to give the people what they want...not just a face in the crowd...but already a well respected man...one of the survivors...a 20th century man...killing time...hoping for better things...as his life goes on.

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