Ray Davies is without doubt one of the UK’s very best rock & rollers – a saint amongst songwriters. The Kinks were to north London, what The Beatles were to Liverpool and their output was equally varied – from the distorted rock & roll of “You Really Got Me” to the gorgeous mellowness of “Waterloo Sunset”.
Kinky Ray has obviously made a lot of friends along the way, and won over many admirers amongst his rock & roll peers. So perhaps we’re due an album such as See My Friends, in which Davies re-visits the biggest Kinks hits with some of his musical mates. It’s a neat conceit and quite a roll-call: Bruce Springsteen’s gravel drive voice on ‘Better Things’, Jon Bon Jovi on ‘Celluloid Heroes’, Mumford & Sons’ take on ‘Days’, and Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins joining in a raucous, neighbour-annoying version of ‘All Day and All Of The Night’. And the list goes on…
It’s also a very varied bunch of cohorts, from Amy Macdonald through to Black Francis. And you couldn’t get more varied than Jackson Browne, not so much singing, as swooning through ‘Waterloo Sunset’, and none other than Metallica, power-chording their way through ‘You Really Got Me’. There’s no arguing with the variety on offer, and as Davies travelled from Denmark to Germany, from New York to New Jersey to record the tracks, you would expect the album to sound somewhat bitty, even though Davies tries to keep it uniform and balanced.
In the end that’s not the issue, almost the reverse. In a way, because it is on quite a level, it feels almost karaoke-y, in the sense that the tracks are formed of these very varied artists re- -working classics from the rock & roll canon – fabulous karaoke, of course, but still an album of covers of well-known songs. So, a fabulous concept, some interesting interpretations and great talent on show. On balance, however, I would always prefer to listen to the originals.
Release Date 08/11/2010 (UMTV)
Simon is a writer, broadcaster and countercultural investigator. Over the last 15 years he has written for everyone from The Guardian to Loaded magazine, presented television for Rapture TV and hosted radio programs for the likes of Galaxy. He has also found time to earn a Masters Degree in Novel Writing and write three books (a collection of journalism, a guidebook to Ibiza and one on financial planning for young people – the most varied publishing career it’s possible to have) and establish and run a PR company, Pad Communications, looking after a range of leisure and lifestyle clients.He currently splits his time between researching his PhD at Leeds University, looking into various countercultural movements; consulting freelance for PR clients; writing for the likes of Marie Claire in Australia, The Big Issue and the Manchester Evening News, where he reviews concerts, theatre and is their Pub & Bar Editor. He is also broadcaster, appearing regularly on Tony Livesey’s late night 5Live show for the BBC, and also for BBC Radio Manchester Gourmet Night food and drink show.Simon’s main focus has been music and travel. His career has included editing Ministry of Sound’s magazine in Ibiza for two summers and also writing two long-running columns for DJmagazine – ”Around The World in 80 Clubs” (which took him everywhere from Beijing to Brazil, Moscow to Marrakech) and “Dispatches From The Wrong Side”. A collection of the latter was published in the UK and US as the book Discombobulated, including tales as varied as gatecrashing Kylie Minogue’s birthday party, getting deported from Russia, having a gun held to his head by celebrity gangster Dave Courtney and going raving in Ibiza with Judith Chalmers. He has recently written for the likes of Red magazine, Hotline, Clash, Tilllate, Shortlist and the Manchester Evening News. Pad Communications has recently consulted for clients as varied as Manchester nightclubs and New Zealand toy companies.On a personal note, Simon is a Londoner who left the capital at the age of 18 and never looked back. He sees himself as a citizen of the global dancefloor having lived in Sydney, Los Angeles, Ibiza and Amsterdam. However his life is now rather more sedentary. After all his adventures he bumped into and subsequently married his highschool sweetheart from their North London Grammar. They now live in Stockport with their four children and four chickens, trying to live the good life. Simon recently turned 40 and is steadfastly refusing to have a midlife crisis – as in, growing a ponytail and buying a shiny red sports car.OK, maybe he’ll buy the sports car…
