Celebrating
its 60th anniversary today is the eponymous debut LP by The Kinks,
which was released on October 2nd, 1964. While not fully indicative of
the latent talents of the band, in particular the songwriting prowess of
leader, Ray Davies, it is at least the home of the band's first chart
topping single, You Really Got Me, a song that would become the
blueprint for garage rock, hard rock, heavy metal and punk rock in years
to come.
The band were founded
by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1963, coming together in London
around the same time as others of the looming "British Invasion",
rubbing shoulder to shoulder with bands like The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones and The Who. The group had signed to Pye Records, who were
initially frustrated by the band's failure to connect with its first
couple of singles. Both their cover of Little Richards' Long Tall Sally
and its follow-up, the Davies' original, You Still Want Me, were pretty
much ignored by DJs and record buyers, despite significant promotion.
After
those two strikes, the label gave them one more opportunity to hit a
home run, and they did so with You Really Got Me. Another Ray Davies
original, the hit version almost never materialized. After recording a
preliminary version, Ray Davies insisted on modifying the arrangement to
something slower and more raw. The label refused to stump up the cash
for the studio time, however, but Davies persisted until session
producer, Shel Talmy, broke the stalemate by underwriting the additional
session himself. The song was inspired by The Kingsmen's version of
Louie Louie, and was taken to another level by the innovative mutilation
of a guitar amp. Dave Davies took a pocket knife and put a slice into
the speaker cone of his amp, causing it to have a distinct buzzing
distortion. It was a sound that instantly gave the record an
idiosyncratic edge, sounding unlike any other guitarist out there. The
single, released in August of 1964, became a top ten hit in both the US
and UK. It's gone on to be widely considered the root for many of the
heavier branches of rock 'n' roll that grew from its inspiration. That
fuzzy distortion became intrinsic to the hard rock and metal sounds that
would proliferate in the following decades.
The
rest of the album, however, wasn't so blessed with as much distinction.
As was the standard of the time, being a new group meant that the
record company expected them to record mostly covers, rather than
original material. This is a situation all of the British Invasion
bands went through with their first recording efforts, which is why many
of those debut albums don't properly capture the true essence of a lot
of those bands, and this is certainly the case with The Kinks. Their
debut LP offers only a bare glimpse into the greatness that the band
would deliver once they were allowed to shine in their own light.
