Ray davies book americana

The 15track collection of originals serves as a mastercrafted return for one of the greatest songwriters of the past 50 years, and follows davies 20 memoir of the same name, using the book as both source material and creative catalyst. Buy ray daviess album titled americana to enjoy in your home or car, or gift it to another. Ray davies new album, americana, is based on his 20 memoir of the same name. As a boy in postwar england, legendary kinks singersongwriter ray davies fell in love with america its movies and music, its culture of freedom all fed his imagination. Like davies 20 book of the same name, it explores his lifelong fascination with the music and culture of the united states, and his experiences of touring and living there. Ray davies new memoir americana focuses on his life and the kinks career in the united states. Ray davies memoir regarding his affair with america and its culture is great on so many levels. Read americana by ray davies for free with a 30 day free trial. Following the very sad death yesterday of longtime kinks musician ian gibbons, ray davies, dave davies and mick. As i got closer to the end of the book i found myself slowing down, because i did not want the book to end. Ray davies has announced his new album our country.

The kinks ray davies, 74, is a dedicated follower of fashion. The new book by one of rocks most complex, unpredictable yet totally gifted performers, is subtitled the kinks, the road and the perfect riff and documents ray daviess endless quest for solutions to the challenges that his personal and creative life pose for him. The new book by one of rocks most complex, unpredictable yet totally gifted performers, is subtitled the kinks, the road and the perfect riff and documents ray daviess endless quest for solutions to the. Americana is an album by english rock musician ray davies, released by legacy recordings in april 2017. Americana is alternately a sequel and parallel companion piece to xray, chronicling his later years and his lifelong relationship with the country and culture that inspired him. All of the songs have to do, more or less, with being a british musician living and working in america. Ray davies autobiography takes off from where his last one, xray, the unauthorized autobiography, left off. The 15track collection of originals announced today jan. In americana, davies tries to make sense of his long lovehate relationship with the country that both inspires and frustrates him, and where he nearly lost his life in a. Sir ray davies went on to have a solo career, most recently releasing an album called americana this past spring, based on his biography of the same name. Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, ipad, iphone and android.

Ray davies booking agent, manager, and publicist contact info. Ray davies releases 2nd song from americana album best. Americana is indispensable to any fan of ray davies and the kinks, and will make a surprisingly good read even to. The band was a major influence on nineties britpop bands like blur and oasis.

There are terrific tunes and remarkable moments throughout ray davies diversesounding americana. The major theme of this memoir is regarding his life or thoughts on america, which makes it sort of a perfect travel journal. Written in a dryly humorous, intensely emotional manner and peppered with lyrics both old, new, and unreleased, americana is a strange and unique take on a memoir in a way only ray davies could do. The kinks ray davies teams up with the jayhawks on. Principally played by ray davies and the jayhawks, the rowdiest chunks of americana echo the wild riffs that animated those fistpumping anthems. He writes the immovable you is always there, whether you like it or not. Born in muswell hill, london, england on june 21, 1944, ray davies is a rock musician who also happens to be the lead singer of. Since then, ray has released a compilation album of his solo material collected, 2009, a choral. Americana is a big story, and its not one with tidy resolutions or easy fixes.

Ray davies stopped by rough trade east for a conversation with bbc 6 musics matt everitt. Read americana online by ray davies books free 30day trial. Backing vocals on poetry and the great highway richard causon. When i hear the two words together ray and davies i think of england and noel coward. He is the seventh of eight children born to workingclass parents, including six older sisters and younger brother dave davies ray s father, frederick davies b. The americana genre, by definition, comprises an array of traditional but evolving american musical styles, generally in hybrid form, such as altcountry countryrock. On his first solo album in a decade, americana, ray davies explores his troubled relationship with the us next, hes writing a book about britain. The first solo studio album in nearly a decade from acclaimed singer songwriter, ray davies. The story and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Sony atv coproduced by guy massey and john jackson recorded and mixed by guy massey with john green at konk studios and fluff prerecording and programming by ray davies and john green at konk studios, the attic on the hill and mr. Check out a classic clip of the kinks doing you really got me live in 1965 below. I would recommend also rays xray and americana books which are probably as close to spilling the beans as ray will ever get. Ray davies explores americana in new book orange county.

Ray davies contact info booking agent, manager, publicist. Buy the paperback book americana by ray davies at indigo. The last time ray davies sat down to write a memoir, he invented a fictitious narrator, had the poor kid chase down a cranky exrocker and wrapped up the narrative around 1973. Lead vocals, guitars, piano, backing vocals, percussion, spoken word, dropped beer glasses and broken tea cups. Singersongwriter ray davies of kinks fame has a new memoir, americana, out this fall. He liked to hang out in pubs and was considered a ladies man. Americana was written, conceived, and arranged, by davies, and coproduced with guy massey and john jackson. Davies is candid and honest about his personal and creative struggles. This means no scenes of his childhood, swinging london or the british invasion. The americana genre, by definition, comprises an array of traditional but evolving american musical styles, generally in hybrid form, such as altcountry countryrock, folkrock, countryfolk and southern countrysoul. Unlike the clever gimmicks employed in rays excellent first autobiographical book, xray, americana gives us a pure first person account, in amazingly comprehensive and honest detail, of davies experiences in america. Ray davies published a memoir chronicling his lifelong affair with america in 20. Courtesy of the artist the newest album by ray davies finds him in a reflective mood.

Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Im so busy, in the middle of rehearsing and recording. The starting point for this book is the kinks return to america after being banned for 4 years for stillnotproperlyexplained reasons. The kinks, the road and the perfect riff ray davies on amazon. Ray davies contact information name, email address, phone number. Americana act ii, the followup to the kinks frontmans 2017 lp americana. The kinks ray davies, 74, looks every inch the dedicated follower of fashion in checked shirt and hairraising do. Ray davies first new album in over nine years americana will be released on april 21 via legacy recordings.

Its a thrill to have new songs from ray davies, who for the past five decades has been one of rocks great song painters, making music with heart and poetry. To ray davies, america is still a land of opportunity npr. Ray davies americana sony music for kinks fans, 2017 is shaping up to being a pretty good year. Join napster and access fulllength songs on your phone, computer or home audio device. Not only essential reading for any kinks fan, this book would be. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. The album is an autobiographical work, chronicling the inextricable role america has. The album features contributions from members of american country rock band the jayhawks. Foldout poster of ray davies on one side and lyrics and credits on the other. Ray davies has fashioned an autobiography that brings to light the vagaries of being a successful musician.

In americana, legendary songwriter and kinks cofounder ray davies tells the tale of how american culture, music and lifestyle, or americana, has captured his imagination since his childhood. We deserve so much more from ray davies than americana. In a way, singersongwriter ray davies has been searching for his place in america all his life. The kinks frontman published xray, his unauthorized autobiography, in 1994, long before his peers started telling their own tales of decadence and recovery.

First dave davies and russ davies his son released the great album, open road on march 31, 2017 and ray davies has now released his first album of new material since 2007s working mans cafe. As a boy in postwar england, legendary kinks singersongwriter ray davies fell in love with america its movies and music, its culture of freedom fed his imagination. Ray davies was instore and inconversation with bbc 6 musics matt everitt at rough trade east, in celebration of rays new album our country. Davies plays a little fast and loose with his facts, which is perhaps a detriment in an autobiography but suits the condensed nature of songwriting. Naturally, it was called americana, and thats also the title of this 2017 musical adaptation of the book. As a boy in postwar england, legendary kinks singersongwriter ray davies. The album is an autobiographical work, chronicling the inextricable role america has played in davies life. As a boy in postwar england, legendary kinks singersongwriter ray davi. I had this dream america was always a very special place heroes of the great wild west wild bill hickok and the rest the romantic on a reckless chase til. Back in the 1970s, when he was in the thick of his theatrical aspirations, he expanded upon the village green preservation society with the muddled rock opera preservation, whose downfall was a labored second act. Davies was born at 6 denmark terrace, fortis green, north london, england. Pedal steel on americana andrea grant and lorraine cato.

Rays writing here is characteristically sharp, incisive, and beautiful. But davies is far less preoccupied with trying to tie up the loose ends than he is pointing out americas dual. Americana, the song cycle adaptation of davies memoir of the same name, suffers the same pitfalls as its preservation predecessor, with the singer. This was the shyster heart of a heartless con mans brazen scheme in 1920s chicago to bilk unsuspecting investors, including his.