Thanks. I read through many of these reviews last night. The Dave Kink reviews are funny. Popular opinion is he is a bit wacky! That sounds like a good read to me! I trust the opinions of this group over any goodreads review, which is why I thought to ask. I have read a few. I will probably just pick up the Ray book after I read Kink.
I don’t read Goodreads reviews as so many people think a review and a book report are the same thing. I suppose on a biography it’s okay but on fiction…no, I don’t want to stumble upon the ending.
I'm sure Complicated Life is well researched, but you don't come away feeling too great about Ray as a person. I'm not a Pollyanna (pretty pretty polly), but maybe Rogan's book was just a bit too harsh. Or maybe i don't need to know the worst of the worst. You Really Got Me (Nick Hasted) and God Save the Kinks (Jovanovic) are good basic books. And you GOTTA read Dave's autobiography. Yes, it can get a bit wacky, but I feel like Dave is honest and straight forward, compared to XRay that finds Ray trying to be clever and maybe not altogether honest. Or if there is honesty it's mixed up in the unusual way he approaches the book. Still required reading but you're left scratching your head. I have recently ordered two more Kinks books - The Kinks by Jeff Hudson and Kinks: Fifty Years on the Road. Hope they're good. Anyone read either one?
I'm listening to Storytellers right now. My copy was autographed by Ray back in 1998 after that gig that began at Borders Books that ended up at the Old South Church that I've talked about already. As for Kinks books to read, don't start w/John Mendolshon's Kink Kronikles, which reads like a lover scorned especially post 1970. I liked both X Ray & Kink, although I prefer the former because it's so bonkers that it's not one of those "as told to" celebrity bios. All Day and All of the Night by Doug Hinman is a good day by day roundup of the Kinks' activities. Jon Savage's official Kinks bio is OK & pretty basic. The books that Avid Wondergirl mentioned are also good. I also recommend a book called The Kinks Songs of the Semi Detached by Mark Doyle, which discusses the changes in English society & London & how they were expressed in Ray's songs.
I have this book, but probably have not read it in at least 20 years. I may read it again. I remember liking it and his creative approach to a biography. The most recent book I read and have on my shelf is You Really Got Me- The Story of The Kinks- Nick Hasted. I don’t remember much about it. I would remember if it was great so it was probably mediocre.
Looking at that Goodreads list, there's several other Kinks books that I've read. There's Americana, Ray's sequel to X Ray, which is less bonkers. There's also Ray Davies Not Like Everyone Else, by Thomas Kitts, which was OK that I remember & Johnny Rogan's earlier Kinks bio from 1984, which I did like. There also a book called The Kinks A Throughly English Phenomenon by Carey Fliner which was a bit scholarly & had several typos that drove me nuts.
Just so you know, Ray Davies: A Complicated Life is essentially a vastly, vastly expanded edition of The Kinks: A Mental Institution. If you liked the earlier book, I expect you'd find much to enjoy about the later one.
I'd have to know what an "RSD" is to tell you anything. It's not from the '60s, though; it's copyrighted 1967 and 2016 on the reverse.
I don't know anything about him or his book. Was it mentioned upthread somewhere? I must have missed it.
I didn’t care for the Rogan book(A Complicated Life), I was looking for more detail on how the music was made, not to hear the backup singer’s complaints about having to fly coach. If you like Ray’s solo albums, his book Americana gives additional background to many of the songs on those albums and to what inspired their creation - it deepened my appreciation for his work in this era, which in my opinion is as worthy of attention as his output with The Kinks.
Do you mean John Mendelsohn? He was a rock critic who wrote for Rolling Stone and Creem in the 1970s & 1980s. He also worked briefly as one of Stan Corwyn's merry men at WB/Reprise who was star struck when Ray & the Kinks came to the States in 1969, being a big Kinks fan. In 1984 he wrote a book about the Kinks which was really about his fandom & how he lost it. Basically, everything from 1964 to 1970 was brilliant, everything after was crap. I have mentioned him & his book several times. It was probably the first book I saw that was solely about the Kinks, followed later by Johnny Rogan's first book & Jon Savage's, both of which were better. I also have to give a shout out to Nicholas Scaffler's The British Invasion from 1983, which had a great chapter on the Kinks.
I'll say this about the Savage book. It's where I first found out about all the give-away tunes, which are listed in the back. Unfortunately, it also accidentally includes this one, which was not written by Ray Davies, but group member Allan Davies. The moment I heard it, I thought it was suspect. It doesn't even remotely resemble a Ray composition:
The only Kinks book I have is the Authorised Biography by Jon Savage, which has served me pretty well. Of course that book is now almost as twice as old as the earliest Kinks records were when it first came out.
My copy is pirated, apparently. A "fake" stereo as opposed to a "fake stereo." With a fake cut-out hole. See the Face to Face discussion.
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 1965 Never Say Yes Nov 1970 Lola Vs Powerman And The Moneygoround The Contenders Strangers - live 1970 - Dave live Denmark Street Get Back In Line Lola - TOTP - video - alt version Top Of The Pops - video Moneygoround - mono This Time Tomorrow - 2020 mix A Long Way From Home - live 70's - Ray live Rats Apeman - video - alt stereo - alt mono - ToTP - Calypso - live 94 Powerman - mono - 2020 mix - live 70's Got To Be Free Anytime The Good Life 1971 Golden Hour Of The Kinks Feb 1971 Percy (movie) - trailer Mar 1971 Percy (soundtrack) The Follower Ray On Wonderworld Preservation Live Starmaker Tv Play Oct 2018 Dave Davies - Decade If You Are Leaving (71)
I have had that Village Green Preservation Society box set in my Amazon cart for months and I check the price all over the internet every week. It was $156 for the longest time and would occasionally drop to $124 and then back up again. This went on forever. I checked tonight and it was $116. They really got me! I couldn't resist it any longer and purchased it. I would have been really disappointed if I passed on it and it sold out. How many more times will a set like this be released of one of my favorite albums? I would say probably never! How much longer will there be a demand for these type of anniversary sets? Now I want the recent Let It Be box which I also didn't think I needed, but here I am shopping for it!
