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30 Best live albums countdown: 28 – One for the road by The Kinks

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One for the road 1

A double album from a criminally underrated period in The Kinks’ carreer is number 28, One for the Road.

The Kinks‘ U.S. career never flourished like that of their British Invasion peers, but that’s another and very interesting story. The Kinks is the quintessentially British band – especially in the nostalgic bittersweet songs of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Ray Davies.

one for the road 4

The Kinks enjoyed arise in popularity in the U.S. in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The gold-selling 1980 double-live album One for the Road is a fascinating document of english gentlemen who paved the way for heavy metal and punk, but always made great pop songs.
This album is my choice for the 28 place on my countdown of the 30 best live albums.

It may be considered an odd choice. partly because many felt that Kinks was over the top at the time and also because they was seen as strangely unmodern, especially in Europe. But that dosn’t matter, I discovered Kinks at this time (two years later actually), we were fed great concerts from Germany’s Rockpalast TV-show and The Kinks was one of the bands that came through our TV sets. I was mainly into punk and new wave but two bands felt very right, even if they were very old (in our eyes at the time), namely The Who and The Kinks. They were just as New Wave as anything we heard at the time. My love for both those bands is an everlasting one, and I have dug into their past eagerly.

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One for the road also proves that Dave Davies is an extremely underrated lead guitarist. The guitar sound is very “punk like”. I belive Sex Pistols learnt a great deal from Kinks, both the guitar style (listen to Where have all the good times gone and Pressure) and the way Ray Davies delivered his lyrics. Brothers Dave Davis and Ray Davies, bass guitarist Jim Rodford, drummer Mick Avory, and guest keyboardists Ian Gibbons and Nick Newell recorded One for the Road at several concerts in 1979 and 1980.

One for the road 3 - lola (live)

Lola is the best-known track from this album, and this live performance was a minor hit single; Ray Davies’ teasing intro shows his playful side. Listen to the Spotify album at the bottom of the post and you will know what I’m talking about.

Lola:

The Hard Way, Low Budget, a raw, stripped-down Superman, Celluloid Heroes, and You Really Got Me are the other fantastic songs on this album. They may be faster or slower or very different, but they are just as good as their studio album counter parts. I also love the riff on Catch me now I’m Falling, where did they get that one? He, he.

Superman:

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Music Calendar, The Kinks

Today: Ray Davis is 68

From Wikipedia:

Raymond Douglas “Ray” Davies, CBE born 21 June 1944) is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for theatre and television.

Awards

  • On 17 March 2004, Davies received the CBE from Queen Elizabeth II for “Services to Music.”
  • On 22 June 2004, Davies won the Mojo Songwriter Award, which recognises “an artist whose career has been defined by his ability to pen classic material on a consistent basis.”
  • Davies was also a judge for the third annual Independent Music Awards. His contributions helped assist upcoming independent artists’ careers.
  • Davies and the Kinks were the third British band (along with The Who) to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, at which Davies was called “almost indisputably rock’s most literate, witty and insightful songwriter.” They were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
  • On 3 October 2006, Davies was awarded the BMI Icon Award for his “enduring influence on generations of music makers” at the 2006 annual BMI London Awards.
  • On 15 February 2009, The Mobius Best Off-West End Production in the UK for the musical Come Dancing.
  • On 7 September 2010, Davies was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards.
  • On 26 October 2010, Davies was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at his AVO Session concert in Basel; the concert was televised internationally.

My fav Kinks song – Waterloo Sunset (live):

and another great live version:

Album of the day:

Other June-21:

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