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Given the well-known fact that all rock ‘n’ roll roads lead to the blues and R&B, it’s not surprising that The Kinks built their sound around similar influences.
In the 1960s, Ray Davies blended the crucial foundations of American rock ‘n’ roll with his views on British culture, taking “the culture of cowboys, Indians, good guys, bad guys” and using those storytelling tropes and aesthetics to spotlight his own opinions on Britishness.
Songs like ‘Waterloo Sunset’, therefore, are entirely timeless because they paint a quaint, romantic picture of the well-known London destination, channelling an ethereal feeling towards a place that wasn’t ever really just about London to begin with. In a way, then, it’s more than just an ode to everything that England lost, recounting Davies’ memories watching the sunset, and the nostalgia of yearning for how he once felt.
Although sonically simple, the song also anchors what Davies did best, layering the complexities of his own struggles and longing in ways that’ll always feel fresh, no matter when you listen. And this is something he learned from many heroes of traditional rock, like Chuck Berry, whose songs often carry the same appeal: straightforward on the surface, but a goldmine of different themes and elements once decoded.
As he once said of Berry’s ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, the “different rhythms” seem strange on their own or separately, but “roll along beautifully” once lumped together. These roads also led him to discovering other, more experimental or less conventional types of rock, like Blondie, and all those who revolutionised the new wave scene, which Davies once called “energising and interesting” to experience.
But mainly, anything that seems honest and raw, where the instruments and arrangements feel intentional and create something reflective in a different way, was what ultimately inspired Davies. After all, The Kinks’ quintessential distorted sound eventually paved the way for later pioneers in rock and punk to thrive, a distinctive element established mainly by Dave Davies, giving them a grittiness that worked well with their exploration of the loss of traditional British culture.
As such, there’s also a reason why people consider ‘You Really Got Me’ to be an example of pro-punk genius, and it’s because Davies sliced the speaker cone of his amp with a razor blade to make the riff sound more raw and distorted, a bold move that unknowingly set others off on a path that was just as honest and reflective of the world around them.
This innovative streak is also what often draws people to Davies’ influences. To become a guitar-playing virtuoso like him, you have to know where to start, and Davies, like his brother, started with rock ‘n’ roll. Namely, he was drawn to the guitar-playing prowess of legends like Eddie Cochran. “It was Eddie that brought to life the guitar hero thing in me,” Davies admitted during Amoeba Music’s What’s In My Bag?
He continued, praising the high technicality of his playing, and said that he liked the “swagger” he carried in his voice, which came across differently to other similar musicians, like Roy Orbison. You can detect a lot of that in Davies’ playing, too, particularly in the ways he adopted Cochran’s rawness and groovy rhythms, reinterpreting his distinctive approach for a brand new era and beyond.
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