http://thehoundblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/short-pete-quaife-story.html
A Short Pete Quaife Story...
The Kinks's Pete Quaife, RIP.
Friday, July 2, 2010
TheHoundBlog: A Short Pete Quaife Story...
Pete Quaife, the Kinks' original bass player died last week and it reminded me of the one time I met him.
Many years ago an acquaintance was dating Ray Davies and somehow me and a friend got dragged out to Long Island to see one of Ray's solo shows. It turned out that brother Dave Davies had played in the area (at a different venue) the night before. Of course the two brothers did not try to contact each other, but who shows up at Ray's gig but Pete Quaife. Pete was anxious to say hello to Ray but Ray kept putting him off, going out of his way to avoid him. It turns out that Ray found out that the previous evening Quaife had gotten onstage with Dave and jammed on a tune or two. Ray not only refused to meet with Quaife, but during the long monologue sections of the show he made sure to pointedly insult him several times. Ray Davies might've made some great records, written some great songs (although it's been a long time since he's come up with a decent one), but he's really an asshole of a human being. I usually don't like to meet my heroes, especially when they're rock stars (something about rock stardom really brings out the asshole in people), but meeting and socializing with Ray Davies really ruined my enjoyment of the old Kinks records, which I truly loved and had been buying since I was six years old. That's the whole story (well, not really, it gets worse with Ray but I'll keep the woman beating story to myself for now). Goodbye Pete Quaife, you were a great bass player.
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I never met Ray but I met Dave back in 1974 and he was very friendly and unpretentious. What a drag about the great genius!
ReplyDeleteAndy, don't believe everything you read.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the first "Ray behaving badly" story I've read. Stories of Ray trying to sabotage Kinks' opening acts have been circulating from sound & stage crews for years...
ReplyDeleteBut just remember, part of what first attracted alot of us to the Kinks in the first place back in our teenage years, was Ray's fragile, me -vs- the world insecurities that we all could identify with & made us feel better about ourselves & our own self-doubts & feelings of alienation...
I went back to check for comments on The Hound Blog's original post of this & noticed he had pulled the entire Pete Quaife posting. His blog's tone is usually not one of bitchiness or dissing individuals, but a celebration & education of great music & where it came from. I guess he had second thoughts about the tone of this one & pulled it...
Perhaps I should also delete this re-post. But I think an honest discussion of the complexities & many sides of the Kinks' equation helps us all understand our own fears & insecurities & what attracted us all to Ray & the Kinks & their music & philosophical stance in the first place...
T