Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else

Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else
by Thomas Kitts

Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else
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Book Summary Information

Author: Thomas Kitts
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-28
ISBN: 041597769X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Routledge
Product features:

Book Reviews of Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else

Book Review: The Best Book on Ray/The Kinks
Summary: 5 Stars

Someone complained that this book was a little too much like class. It says on the back that Kitts is an English professor, so I don't quite know what one should expect. Certainly not the E!-styled bios that abound in the music section of bookstores. Kitts analyzes Ray Davies' life and art the way countless other artists, playwrights, authors, and filmmakers have been scrutinized. There are fascinating biographical details throughout, but it's mainly a look at the man and his work.

That's every reason why I loved this book. The Kinks are a band to be analyzed and discussed at great lengths. Kitts does it perfectly here. No, not every song on every single album gets a moment in the spotlight, but that's okay. The analysis is terrific, relating the lyrics' inception to events in Ray's life that directly (or indirectly) inspired him to write.

It is the best book out there on The Kinks that succeeds where a lot of music writing fails, instead focusing on the art. My favorite fact from the book was learning how much Ray was influenced by the great filmmakers (Eisenstein, Kurosawa, etc.)

More books in the milieu of rock criticism should be more, yes, ACADEMIC like this one!

Summary of Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else

In Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else, Tom Kitts presents a critical biography of Davies, his music and his times. Based on interviews with his closest associates as well as thorough study of the recordings themselves, Kitts creates the most thorough picture of Davies' work to date. He places the work in the context of the British Invasion and growth of the rock in the '60s and'70s, affirming Davies' role as a key innovator whose groundbreaking techniques often predated more famous examples by years. Throughout, Kitts balances a fan's appreciation with a critical eye to place Davies and his work in proper perspective.

For fans of rock music and the music of the Kinks, Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else will be a must purchase. It will finally place this legendary innovator in the pantheon of the great rock artists of the past half-century.

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