Ray Davies

Saturday, March 20, Ogden Theatre, 303-292-2083.

A A A Comments (1) By Tom Murphy Thursday, Mar 18 2010

Ozzy Osbourne has suggested that Ray Davies invented heavy metal with his signature guitar-riff opening on "You Really Got Me." While that may be true, Davies's career with and without the Kinks has shown mainly that the guy has a true knack for inventive pop songwriting and for writing incisive lyrics that expose not only the distasteful hypocrisies of society, but also a vulnerable side to the rock musician that many hide with absurd posturing and bombast. Despite his acerbic wit, there's a nostalgic streak evident in many of Davies's songs — but rather than romanticize the past, he seems to view those times and people as they really were, lovingly evoking their essence, warts and all. Both Davies and his music have aged well, and this show is sure to be unforgettable.

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Surfer Johnny 03/22/2010 6:54:00 AM

Are you kidding me? It was DAVE Davies who played lead guitar on "You Really Got Me," not Ray. Yeah, Ray wrote the tune. But the "heavy metal" sound was all Dave. Sheesh, this has only been chronicled a zillion times in the popular press over the years! Dave reportedly used a razor blade to slice the speaker cone of his amplifier to achieve the distortion effect on the recording. Another version of the story has him poking knitting needles into the amp to achieve the sound. As for the demented solo in the middle of the song: myth had it that Jimmy Page actually performed it. But Page himself has long denied it, and it's generally believed that 17-year-old Dave was playing the axe here too.