The Influence of Family and Childhood Experience on the Works of Ray and Dave Davies

Abstract

This essay studies the effects of family and childhood memories on the lyrics and performances of Ray and Dave Davies. After a brief discussion of the brothers’ early years in a working-class family in postwar England, I consider the influence of their mother and elder sisters on the homey nature embodied in many of their songs over more than forty years. As a result of these familial influences, both brothers frequently include their audience in their “extended family,” either by prompting similar memories in the listeners or by inviting the audience to join their in-concert sing-alongs. Thus, this essay focuses on an intimate nostalgia which extends to include listeners on their own personal terms. The evaluation of the effects of this nostalgia culminates in a case study of Dave Davies's song “Fortis Green” (1999), a cheerful collage of childhood experiences.

Acknowledgements

This article began life as a paper entitled “The Influence of Family and Childhood on the Works of the Kinks” given for the North American British Music Studies Association Biennial Meeting in Toronto, Canada, on 1 August 2008. Many thanks to those at the session for their questions and feedback. I would also like to thank Dr. Thomas Kitts of St. John's University, NY, for his support and suggestions, as well as the anonymous referees for their suggestions for improving the text of this article; Mr Urs Steiger of Winterthur, Switzerland, for information about Come Dancing and recent live performances of “20th Century Man”; and Mr Darren Holdstock of Fareham, Hants, for his expertise on regionalism in British bands and pirate radio in the UK, and his bittersweet memories of long holiday drives with the family before the adoption of the national 70 mph speed limit.

Notes

 [1] For a general description of the development of Ray as a storyteller, especially with regard to childhood influences on his songs and lyrics, see Marotta (68–77).

 [2] For a over a decade both brothers have been tormenting press and fans about a possible Kinks reunion—in September 2008, for instance, Ray in interviews promoting Come Dancing and Dave in rebuttals on his website message board (“Ray Davies Keen”; Cashmere; Michaels; Singh; Youngs).

 [3] For a critical assessment of what information the Davies brothers disseminate and how the words of the Davies themselves are part of their image, see Kraus (“Revelations” 257–66); on the unreliability of Kinks interviews as sources, see Weinstein (169–70). Ray especially is notorious for responding with whimsy to interviewers’ questions, and Dave has confessed in later years that all too frequently he simply cannot remember what happened in the 1960s. As a consequence, a number of “facts” about the Kinks provided by the group members themselves can be contradictory and part of the lore and legend rather than fact.

 [4] Nearly all academic literature on Ray and Dave Davies points the reader to Briggs, the essential work on the creation of the working class in the 19th century. While a vast literature exists on the development of the working class and working-class identity, Briggs is a good general place to start; other works I consulted for background for this paper included Abrams, Gerard and Timms and Obelkevich and Catterall. A number of recent studies have been published on the social history of the postwar era; a good starting place is Sandbrook. Two other good examinations of the impact of popular music and culture on British youth (both as creators and consumers) are by Levy and by Frame. To focus specifically on working-class culture and its influence on Ray Davies, see Baxter-Moore (145–65), Kitts, Marotta (68–77), Martens (38–43), and Ray's own introduction to the second edition of X-Ray (vii–x).

 [5] On various entertainments, see McKibbin (332–85 for sport, 386–418 for popular music and the palais, 419–56 for cinema, 457–76 for radio listening and the influence of the BBC).

 [6] Dave fondly remembers his mother making pies from the eels caught on fishing trips with his dad (119); Fielding makes reference to borrowing his grandfather's mannerisms on the DVD commentary on the Boosh episode. During the writing of this paper, the BBC transmitted “Children in Need,” a special edition of the quiz show QI; very middle-class comedian David Mitchell was moved to comment how excited the audience got suddenly to hear a snippet of “My Old Man's a Dustman.” He joked that the greater British public had no interest in an intellectual quiz show, and what they really wanted was a good knees-up (“Family”). The show in general derives much of its comedy from the interaction between genteel, middle-class, Cambridge-educated host Stephen Fry and boisterous, Arsenal-addicted, working-class, permanent guest Alan Davies (no relation).

 [7] On the importance of popular music and the palais in Britain in the first half of the 20th century, see McKibbin (386–418). Come Dancing (on the BBC from 1949 to 1998) was more or less revived from 2004 as Strictly Come Dancing, noted by the BBC as the most watched television show ever (as of autumn 2008) with licensed variations in forty-five countries (“‘Strictly’”). The popularity of the show on Saturday nights is evidenced in both audience figures and the fierce competition for tickets to tapings. The current host is venerable British institution the seemingly immortal Bruce Forsyth, who began his career in the post-war era, thus himself a tangible bridge between reality and nostalgia—he and other long-lived presenters and crooners were parodied in the Rex the Runt episode “Johnny Saveloy's Undoing.”

 [8] Other “working-class nostalgia/identity” videos released in the early 1980s in Great Britain included the Kinks' Don't Forget to Dance, Dexy's Midnight Runner's Come on Eileen, Madness’ House of Fun, Tracey Ullman's They Don't Know (in which Paul McCartney appears as the character's fantasy man). Each of the videos mentioned (save McCartney's Ballroom Dancing) was directed by Temple or Robinson, both known for making “little movies” set in working-class areas—the ballroom, a crowded mews, and on shopping streets with the little ’uns in tow after the glamour of the romance has worn off. For a brief overview, see Grost.

 [9] For a discussion of Ray's scathing satire of middle-class Britain in “A Well Respected Man,” see Baxter-Moore (156–57).

[10] Leroy notes that the Kinks were largely underrated in the 1960s because they were too “quaint” and “too nostalgic” to appeal to the Woodstock generation who equated nostalgia with their parents (177). Interestingly, the Kinks’ image of nostalgia became fashionable later, first with their re-introduction to American audiences in 1970 when their American ban was lifted, and then later when Ray's 1996 Storyteller tour was copied by numerous artists—“with less interesting tales to tell, and less interesting songs to deliver them” (Leroy 194).

[11] While it seems to be an unwritten rule that any source on the Kinks must include a discussion of the rivalry and quirky relationship between the two Davies brothers, one will not be included here. The reader can start with Weinstein; all the major Kinks’ biographies discuss the relationship and its impact on the group at length; the two autobiographies may be read together as somewhat biased primary sources; it is even difficult to find a review or recent interview where the writer, no matter what the focus of the piece, does not ask some questions related to the love-hate relationship between the pair (followed since 1996 with, “Are the Kinks ever going to get back together?”).

[12] For a succinct comparison of the personalities of the two brothers from childhood, see Weinstein (173–76).

[13] While the sons have generally fond memories of Fred Davies, Kitts notes that outsiders were not always so generous in their description of him (3).

[14] Up until new ownership a few years ago, the pub was decorated with Kinks’ memorabilia; much of this has allegedly gone missing during the pub's refurbishment. For the Clissold as it was, see Matt Davies (no relation), “Clissold,” and for a comprehensive discussion of the significance of pub rock's history, see Newman. On the pub's reopening with a mention of replacement Kinks items, see “Muswell Hill pub.” That the pub was sold to new owners who planned completely to refurbish it into a gastro pub was met with no little furor from Kinks’ fans, especially as rumors circulated that the new owners would sell the memorabilia online. Online petitions circulated and Matt Davies, a local counselor for Haringey (the constituency for the area), posted a protest on his online blog (“Clissold”). The refutation of this rumor by new owner Caroline Jones was quoted by Dave Emlen on his Unofficial Kinks’ Website. A number of musicians, including Ray and Dave, also protested the new owners’ initial plans to renovate and remove all trace of the pub's association with the Kinks, mostly in the Muswell Hill Journal (stories not archived online), but the saga was also reported in The Independent, NME, and Rolling Stone. (All websites in this note accessed 28 June 2008.) As of February 2011, the Clissold Arms has reopened, complete with a “Kinks Room” displaying a number of pieces of Kinks' memorabilia.

[15] Sullivan's article includes boxed comparisons of the character of traditional English music hall and the character of Kinks’ songs and stage performances. She also includes a select chronological list of Kinks’ songs in the music-hall tradition through 2000 (98–99).

[16] Dave also went to live with his sister Dolly so he could flourish in quieter circles. Dolly fussed over him and made him feel very much the “big brother” to his nephew Michael, to whom he grew very close (D. Davies 7).

[17] Dave is convinced that Terry's adult health problems resulted from the move and his being dragged away from friends, family, and home (99).

[18] There is some argument that the “Terry” in “Waterloo Sunset” is Terence Stamp, who, with Julie Christie, was very popular at the British box office in 1967, or that the Terry is Ray's cousin. Ray contradicts himself in his identification of the reference (see Rogan 18).

[19] As the only black child on their north London street in the 1950s, Jackie had to cope with jibes from neighbors as well as her own cousins. Ray, who was very close to his niece, notes that one of the first songs he wrote was for her, when she was feeling sad (67). As a teenager, she went on with her friends to create the first Kinks’ fan club (see R. Davies 105).

[20] On Dave's development as a songwriter, see Kraus (“Unfinished Business” 123–25).

[21] Max Miller (1894–1963), “The Cheeky Chappie,” was a charismatic British music-hall comedian from the 1930s until the 1950s; see Hudd's works on music hall. Miller is still referenced in British popular culture; a 2006 Doctor Who audio play, Pier Pressure, featured Hudd himself playing the role of Miller, and the Max Miller Appreciation Society is still active on the web. Hancock's Half-Hour was a BBC radio show (1954–59) which was a departure from the usual music-hall fare, and is considered one of the first situation comedies in Great Britain. It featured Tony Hancock, Sid James, and Kenneth Williams; from 1956 there was a television adaptation. Finally, until the off-shore pirate radio stations in the 1960s, and then the creation of BBC Radio 1 in 1967, listeners in Great Britain got their pop music fix from commercial stations based on the Continent. Radio Luxemburg, also considered a pirate station, began broadcasting in English in 1933. If Dave and family were tuning in on Sunday evenings during the 1950s, they would have heard a popular children's show, The Ovaltineys; for a very detailed site on the show and its programming, see The Sterling Times : The Ovaltineys. Radio Luxemburg went off the air in 1992, but a new version of the station now transmits classic rock.

[22] See Walker and Marmion, for example.