X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Ray Davies
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Book Reviews of X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography
Book Review: A must-read for Kinks and Davies fans, and an excellent autobiography
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a book that turned out to be every bit as good as I hoped it would be. This is the story of one fascinating and complex man, Raymond Douglas Davies: rebel, oddball, head case, and perhaps a pop music genius as well. He begins by introducing a technique that is simultaneously distancing and revealing - the story is not being told by Davies, but by a young writer hired by "The Corporation" to do a biography of him. Davies gets to play with the idea of himself viewing himself, of Ray Davies the pop star, who is, in fact, a memory, a creation. He then tells his story thru a series of mock interviews, in which he by turns intimidates, toys with, and bares his heart to the imaginary biographer.
The focus here is on the 1960s and The Kinks's rise to stardom. The story flows pretty much chronologically. Davies grew up in a large, working class family in Muswell Hill, North London. One of the many interesting ironies about R.D. is the fact that he, one of the more cosmopolitan and cynical songwriters of his time, was very closely tied to his old neighborhood and his clan for much of his life. As a kid, he was both a competitive athlete and a creative type. At first The Kinks were mostly unknown, but things began to change for them when Davies began to discover his songwriting talent.
The book is full of marvelous anecdotes of life on the road and encounters with other pop musicians, but it did take a toll on the author. He frankly describes having some sort of depressive breakdown in the middle of their most popular and musically successful period. R.D. is a remarkably complex guy. He married young and fathered a child, but the marriage did not last. He probably was/is bisexual, yet he dances around the issue. He seems to view himself as a morose, solitary artistic type. Surprisingly, he says very little about his playing and singing and writing. Whatever you can say about him, I think he was, and still is, a wonderful writer of songs, and now, of autobiographical prose. He succeeds in portraying himself sincerely as a dramatic character, primarily the star of some cynical comedy, but with touches of tragedy and insight into the human condition. Bravo!
Book Review: X-Ray is more than OK
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are a Kinks fan, as I am, then you should read this book. It chronicles the early years of the Kinks in some detail, and addresses in much less detail some later years. Ray Davies' biographical writing is much like his song writing, which will please those who like his songs. I gave it a 4 star rating rather than higher because there are places where the book seems to be too detailed, and other places where it seems to wander. X-Ray: The Unauthorized AutobiographyBook Review: For Kinks Fanatics Only
Summary: 3 Stars
First of all, let me state that I am a Kinks fanatic and am equally fond of Ray Davies' solo work. No one needs to convince me of the man's musical genius. Having said that, I must admit I was a little disappointed with this hybrid of sci-fi and "rock and roll memoir." As others have noted, the premise involves a young journalist hired by "The Corporation" to interview an aged and slightly imbalanced Ray Davies about his life and times. One problem is that the (semi) fictional R.D. often comes across as crass, crude, and arrogant. When the book delves into recollections of the early Kinks, how some of the songs came to be written and recorded, is when it is at its most readable and enjoyable. Unfortunately, there's a lot of needless "narrative" with the counter-story to wade through.
I think what Ray was going for here, at least in part, was a study on the nature of reality, identity, and truth itself. There are numerous points in the book where both the inverviewer and interviewee question what is being said and remembered. Which leaves the reader wondering the same. Certainly it is an ambitious project (perhaps too much so), and not your typical tell-all rock star hack job. Ultimately, none of the questions regarding identity, truth, and memory are answered, though I suppose that is part of the point here. Everything is fluid and open to interpretation.
Another quibble is that the book only documents the early part of The Kinks' lengthy career. They were, after all, a working band through the mid-1990s. This book makes it seem as though they are simply a relic of '60s pop culture, never to be heard from again. I would recommend this if you are a true Kinks / Ray Davies fan, but much more enjoyable, in-depth, and career-spanning is the Thomas M. Kitts book Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else.
Book Review: Interesting story, poorly told
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been a fan of the Kinks and Ray Davies for a long time. So, I was very interested in the story, and I think he had plenty to say. That got the first 3 stars, but I can't give this book any more because of the strange ways Ray went about it.
The book was narrated by a fictional biographer working for the "Corporation". Clearly Ray feels that big business held him back and prevented him from getting his fair share. In the story, the evil Corporation sent a clerk to interview him as a means to control Ray and "take away his dreams".
On the one hand, Ray cliams that everything bad in his life was a result of the Corporation's will. On the other hand, they still wanted to ruin his life, because they never managed to control him.
I suppose that we can't be too surprised that a rock star is self pitying and self centered. I somewhat expected that. My problem with the book is more with how the story was told. Using the fictional narrator was pointless, uninteresting, and pretty juvenile. It didn't help the story. It only distracted from it. Ray took the distractions even further by mixing in dream sequences that were lame attempts to express some emotion that he apparently couldn't get across otherwise.
Througout the book, Ray also points out that what he is saying may not be true. You can never know how truthful an autobiographer may be, so I guess it is honesty to say that he may not be honest.
Book Review: You Really Didn't Get Me
Summary: 1 Stars
It probably seems redundant to call a rock-star memoir self-absorbed. To recount one's own infamous, sordid journey surely requires a muscular psyche. Five decades of composing highly intelligent, biting, sardonic songs, strumming distorted electric guitars, and wailing passionately in an undisciplined, nasal voice might have been the first clues that Ray Davies has a story to tell--and the ego to give it a go.
However, I would have thought that the man who wrote and sang of characters lazing on sunny afternoons, obsessing with lust, class, and fashion, falling unashamedly for transsexuals, and confessing a simian nature would have provided his readers a glimpse of that same wry, quirky, satirist. It takes 30 pages for the narrative to begin; and then, it speaks through a dark, humorless victim, using a very awkward and self-conscious device (a completely uninteresting, virtual biographer, caught in some futuristic Sartre nightmare). Laugh #1 arrived on page 151, the second chuckle a hundred pages later. Need I say more?
While I am sincerely fascinated by the details, a list of facts is really all the author provides from behind the guise of his ultra-paranoid, sociopathic, fatally ill persona. The reader is left to imagine the colors, the atmosphere, and the emotions of the ride. But, one couldn't expect an ordinary tell-all from such an original as Davies. Disappointed? Very much so. Worth reading? If you're a fan of '60s pop rock, yes; although, I found the pages getting heavier as the book wore on. But, don't expect to get close to the author. He reveals not a whit of himself, unless we are to assume that he is really a bitter, pretentious recluse with no sense of humor.
Rand Bishop, author of Makin' Stuff Up, The Absolute Essentials of Songwriting Success, and the novel/mock-memoir Grand Pop.