Ray Davies / The 88, Friday, March 5, 8 p.m., Weinberg Theatre, Scranton Cultural Center (420 N. Washington Ave., Scranton). Tickets: $42.50, $37.50 at box office (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., 1.800.745.3000 and Ticketmaster outlets). Info: www.raydavies.info, www.scrantonculturalcenter.org, 570.346.7369
by Michael LelloWeekender Editor
The songs Ray Davies wrote for The Kinks changed the course of music history. Experts cite “You Really Got Me,” for example, with its violent power chords, as the first true hard-rock tune and the blueprint for the punk and heavy metal genres.
But the composer wasn’t thinking about changing the world when he wrote such songs. Davies had much simpler aspirations.
“Basically, I wrote songs that my dad could sing in the pub,” Davies says with a laugh, taking a break from a tour rehearsal in his native England for a phone interview. “When you think of things like ‘Sunny Afternoon’ and ‘Dead End Street’ … I come from a large family, and we had a piano, and everybody did what they call a turn. I guess it’s like folk music, it’s hands-on in that respect.”
Local fans will get an opportunity to hear Davies’ style of singing and songwriting Friday, March 5, at the Scranton Cultural Center’s Weinberg Theatre. He’ll perform a set of acoustic tunes with guitarist Bill Shanley, then an electric full-band set of Kinks music with his backing band, The 88. The 88 will also serve as the opening act.
Davies and his brother Dave Davies formed The Kinks in 1964, and their third single, “You Really Got Me,” made them international stars. Later that year, they followed with another smash, “All Day and All of the Night.” The Kinks’ albums — many of them conceptual pieces, such as “The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society,” “Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)” and “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One” — are classics, often painting wistful portraits of British domestic life.
After falling out of favor commercially, The Kinks earned a spike in popularity when New Wave bands like The Jam, The Pretenders and The Knack covered their songs. Older Kinks records began to sell more copies, and so did new ones like 1983’s “State of Confusion,” which featured “Come Dancing,” the band’s highest charting single ever in the U.S.
The Kinks, which had a history of tension among its members — particularly between the Davies brothers — broke up in 1996.
Amid rumors of a Kinks reunion — more on that later — Davies has remained prolific. In 1998, he released “The Storyteller” and in 1996 performed on the debut episode of “VH1 Storytellers,” which took its name from his album. He’s also written several stage musicals, including “Come Dancing,” which premiered in 2008. Last year, he teamed with the Crouch End Festival Chorus for “The Kinks Choral Collection,” an album of tunes rearranged and performed with a choir.
PRESERVATION ACT
Many of Davies’ songs serve as social commentaries on British life and show business, but others, like “Waterloo Sunset,” were sketches of places and people in his life — especially his large family. Davies’ six older sisters not only turned up in songs like “Come Dancing” but also inadvertently opened his ears to different styles of music.
“Most of them are a generation older than I am, so as a child I watched the boyfriends come and go,” says Davies, 65, “and I heard music, that if it wasn’t such a diverse family, I wouldn’t have heard normally. I heard bebop, jazz and a lot of music that people of my generation would not normally have access to.”
Davies’ tales of dance halls, vicars and stately homes are quintessentially British, moreso than other British Invasion groups like The Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Who. Part of the reason for that, Davies says, is that he sings with the same accent he speaks with.
“I was just privileged to meet Bruce Springsteen; Bruce and I were just singing a few songs, and how different the accents are!” Davies says. “And I never really thought about it before. But ‘You Really Got Me,’ I wanted it to sound like an English thing. And what do I do? The first thing I sing is ‘Girl,’ and I sing it with an American accent. But if you listen to most of my records, I sing the way I speak. And certainly that’ll come across in these two-man acoustic shows with Bill. Me in conversation with the audience, that’s what my voice is like when I sing.”
Davies singing with Springsteen wasn’t just for kicks; it’ll be part of a new album.
“I’m working with varied artists,” says Davies, who also recently released the single “Postcard from London,” a duet with ex-wife and Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde. “I just did a track with (Jon) Bon Jovi, and it was great, and Bruce, and it was great. So that’s the next recorded project that I’ll be doing.”
Davies also joined forces with Metallica, a band that cites The Kinks as an influence, last October at the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden. Davies — whose Kinks were inducted into the Hall in 1990 — sang “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night” with the heavy metal band.
“It was like performing with The Kinks, in many respects, when The Kinks where in their ’80s stadium sort of thing,” Davies remembers. “The energy was outstanding. I really got to like the guys. We only knew each other for like 24 hours. We had one run-through, and immediately we connected. I love the energy of the band, and there’s a lot of soul in the band. I’ve become quite a fan in my own way.”
As for The Kinks, the often-discussed potential reunion seems to be more of a possibility now than at any time in the recent past. Davies has already recorded several tracks with Kinks drummer Mick Avory. All he’s waiting for is his brother and Kinks lead guitarist Dave to add his contributions. However, considering the rocky past the siblings share — as well as Dave’s stroke in 2004, which kept him away from touring until this year — fans shouldn’t consider it a done deal just yet.
“I’m waiting for my brother Dave to come in and see if he wants to put some guitars on,” says the elder Davies. “You know, the call went out, and I could get the call back at any moment, so I’m at the ready.”
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