MOJO: Self Portrait: Dave Davies

http://www.mojo4music.com/1031/dave-davies/

SELF PORTRAIT

Dave Davies

The metaphysical Kink in his own words and by his own hand.

By ROSS BENNETT JULY 15, 2013

Dave Davies’ I Will Be Me (released June 2013)

I would describe myself as… handsome, sexy, 5ft 10 and a half, 12-and-a-half stone. Dark hair. Inventor. Metaphysician. Musician. Innovator. Gorgeous. Intelligent. Fabulous father. Loving, compassionate, kind. Generous. Modest. Humble. Magnetic personality. Generally wonderful. What kind of bloody question is that to ask someone?

Music changed me… by being the most natural thing, for me. I felt I understood it even before I learned to speak, read and write. I didn’t like school at all. I didn’t like being told what to do. Music and painting seemed the most natural ways of self-expression. Music opened up
a new world of possibilities for me.

When I’m not making music… I do psychic and spiritual research – intense study and practise of Tantra and Buddhist meditations and techniques. Yoga, metaphysics and all creative and imaginative pursuits.

My biggest vice… I would love to be able to drink more but I can’t. Good booze stimulates creativity and abstract thought. But this can be done by certain meditations, so we don’t need these stimulants any more. I do, however, like a pint and to watch the Arsenal with my sons and friends.

The last time I was embarrassed was… often. It can be a good thing. Stops you being up your own arse. It shows a certain sensitivity. The ego often needs a good nudge and a shake-down to keep it in check.

“I have never felt that this planet was my home world.”

My formal qualifications are… none!

The last time I cried… was yesterday. I cry easily and find it helps me emotionally and physically. It helps relieve/release emotional and mental blockages and frees up my mind and feelings to analyse and accept the ‘stuff’ in my heart and mind as they rise to the surface. We need to understand how the heart and mind really work.

Vinyl, CD or MP3… CD mainly, but it’s very relaxing to sit and listen to vinyl – it’s an interactive thing.

My most treasured possession… is one of my few guitars.

The best book I’ve read… too many to mention. The Book Of Thoth – Aleister Crowley. Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda. I don’t read novels!

Is the glass half-empty or half-full… Why should it be either? I consider myself an optimistic realist. Pessimism is only useful in showing us a counterbalance. To caution against blind optimism. But blind optimism might be the only way forward.

My biggest regret is… not pursuing my emotional goals in adolescence. I fell in love when I was 14 years old and it changed my life. Our parents said we were too young to be ‘really’ in love, and kept us apart, and broke both of our hearts. She had my baby and I didn’t get to see my daughter until she was thirtysomething. You can never repair a broken heart – you only learn to live with it, and be ever watchful of how easily people are hurt. People that don’t know me often say I look as if I’m in another world. I have never felt that this planet was my home world.

When we die… I believe we reincarnate after a period of consideration and atonement for past deeds that helps us as ever-evolving souls to choose and appreciate future life. We keep going round until we ‘get it’. And then we go on – to other planets or other planes of existence, who knows?

I’d like to be remembered as… someone staring out of the window in class, who never did what he was told.

Preservation in Concert - The Kinks

Preservation in Concert in Six Parts - The Kinks

(uploaded to youtube by Pelacanyes45)

Recorded at Palace Theatre Providence, RI 30 November 1974
Part 1:
Preservation
Morning song
Daylight
There's a change in the weather


Part 2:
Money and corruption / I'm your man
Here comes Flash
Demolition


Part 3:
Money talks
Shepherds of the Nation
He's evil


Part 4:
Scum of the earth
Slum kids
Mirror of Love


Part 5:
Alcohol
Flash's dream (The final elbow)
Flash's confession
Nothing lasts forever


Part 6:
Artificial man
Scrapheap city
Salvation Road

The KINKS - "Listen To Me" (Kinks Kontroversy outtake)

LISTEN TO ME - THE KINKS

Uploaded by pelacanyes45 on Sep 9, 2011

Kinks Kontroversy outtake.

(via Geordi Mitchell)

A ROCK LEGEND - MEET DAVE DAVIES OF THE KINKS. An interview.

Amplify’d from www.dalispeakers.com

A ROCK LEGEND - MEET DAVE DAVIES OF THE KINKS. An interview.

A Mystical Journey

Dave Davies and his brother Ray Davies fronted The Kinks for more than 30 years, achieved world-wide stardom, and penned now-classics such as “You Really Got Me”, “Waterloo Sunset”, Death of a Clown”, and “Lola”. We talked to the younger brother, Dave Davies, founder and lead guitarist of The Kinks, about his career and his new album. You really got me - If I feel good, I play well, Dave says and seems to nail his musical nature in one sentence. Over the phone, speaking from his UK home, Dave’s voice sounds surprisingly young and clear. He’s vivid, enthusiastic, and witty to talk to – and first of all curious, interested in the world of today. Patiently and sincerely, he answers my questions though he must have heard most of them many times before. He’s eager to talk about his new record called “The Aschere Project: Two Worlds” and his passion for spirituality. Enthusiasm’s infectious, but first we dive into the days of rock and pop music’s childhood, which he became a very important part of. Watch a video of The Davies brothers and The Kinks: “Scattered” (1993). The British Invasion By 1964, the world was changing fast. The cold war was on, the Cuba-crisis almost caused a third world war, a 45 km long wall divided Berlin, and Kennedy had just been assassinated. Then into the middle of it all came a new, rebellious generation, emerging fast and transforming the world of pop culture forever. Learning from American rhythm’n’blues icons like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis, British pop culture seriously started rearing its head in the beginning of the 1960s. The outcome was the British Invasion and especially the four “big ones”: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who. And then The Kinks. As founder/lead guitarist, and occasional songwriter of The Kinks, Dave Davies became a very central part of this Invasion. What was it like for a sensitive 17-year-old working class North Londoner to be hurled into this kind of stardom, when The Kinks had their major breakthrough in 1964 with the first of a string of hit singles, the pre-heavy metal rocker “You Really Got Me”? - A contrast! It was. But there was an advantage: Being in a band, it was like an extension of the family, Davies explains. Still, when asked about the highs and lows of his career with The Kinks for more than three decades, being in a band like The Kinks wasn’t always pure happiness, and the brothers’ almost lifelong feud is now legendary: Ups and downs with The Kinks - I feel I have been fortunate. There were amazing highs – and very low ones. Also personally, in the relationship between Ray and me. We started on top in the beginning of the 1960s. There was an explosion of creativity at the time with lots of fantastic bands. Then we went a little down towards the end of the 60s, got banned in the States. Then again a built-up, a comeback in the late 70s, and in the 80s we went big in the US with records as “Low Budget”, “Give the People What They Want”, “State of Confusion”, and “Word of Mouth”. - Then in 1996, Ray decided he wanted to try out some solo material. So me and Ray decided to pause – I didn’t want to get in the way of that, Dave says, summing up the period that turned out to be the end of The Kinks so far, though they never formally split as a band. Ray and Dave Davies – observation vs. feeling Ray and Dave are known to have had a complicated, yet very creatively productive relationship. I suggest that his own songs have a slightly stronger vulnerability and sensitiveness than most of his brother’s many songs. Though Dave speaks highly of Ray’s unique songwriting and performing talents, he doesn’t disagree and reveals a little of the secret behind their success: - Ray’s songs are very observational songs. He has a problem with expressing his feelings. He feels uncomfortable with feelings. While my own songs are inner feelings. That’s a part of the problem with me and Ray. His song style is a craft, he’s dealing with external elements, mine depend fully of how I feel inside. So when these things met and we worked together, some times magic would occur. - Ray started working on his craft [songwriting, ed.] early on. A method. Mine was feelings, which I think is something I have from my mother. Like the interest in spirituality, astrology, the psyche, Dave continues. The journey The journey into the unknown, the search for something else, was always encouraged in the Davies’ childhood home, which according to Dave is part of the explanation why the brothers became so creative. - As a kid, I was lucky. I was always interested in unusual things – and we were encouraged to. Like learning guitar – my mom lend me a few pounds. I didn’t like school as a kid and I had a problem with authorities. I think I learned more from my mom and sisters – my family was a matriarchy. So I always felt comfortable with women, talking to them, picking them up, Dave laughs. I was interested in painting as well. But I found that the teacher new nothing at all about painting, Dave explains. This kind of square truth was not his cup of tea. - Who’s to say….the imagination could be more important than the “real” world. Maybe some times 2 + 2 equals to 5? Perhaps this is why the creative, open-minded world of spirituality and music suited him better. The razor blade incident So let’s go back into music history to that crucial day, when it all began and “You Really Got Me” found its form in 1964. Ray had written it as a bluesy, slower tune, and Dave wasn’t satisfied with the sound coming from the small amplifier, which was rather “sort of a radio without the radio”, according to Dave. The 17-year-old had just started shaving, and he got hold on sharp razor blades, stuck them into the speaker cone and sliced it, leaving the material/cone intact, but with scratches and holes. And that’s how the distorted, “ugly” guitar sound on “You Really Got Me” came about. Of course this song is one of The Kinks’ most well known singles. But what were the finest moments of his career besides the obvious ones? - God, that’s a tough one. But the mid to late 70s were good, Dave says. I suggest that his work on an album as “Schoolboys in Disgrace” from 1975 is under-valued and that he sounds inspired. - You’re quite right. That was a period when I felt good – I was also producing and engineering at the time. I felt inspired. And if I feel good, I play well. And me and Ray we were a well-suited team with Ray’s writing crafts and my writing and playing from the heart. What are his personal all time favourite Kinks- and Dave Davies songs? - Oh, there are so many. Shangri La is one of them, and Dead End Street, Waterloo Sunset. Of my own songs, I’ve always liked Visionary Dreamer [from Davies’ first solo album, ed.]. Dave also had a big Kinks hit with "Death of a Clown" (1967). New album and DVD During this solo career, Dave’s been more and more occupied with spiritual matters. At age 63, having suffered a stroke in 2004, he is now back and is releasing a new album, a co-work with his son Russ Davies (from the band Cinnamon Chasers), called “The Aschere Project: Two Worlds”. - It’s basically a love story, Dave explains. A science fiction-like love story about two souls, about multidimensional existence between a man and a woman and about getting access to spirituality and the deeper understanding of mankind. Breaking the codes. Two souls attracted to each other across the galaxy. The story is rooted in ancient myths from Persia and Eastern India and then he and his son have placed “something new” in it, as Dave puts it. The music is spherical and dreamlike, yet still very melodic. And the CD comes with an 8-page booklet – telling the story along with the music. Dave is very into soundtracks reflecting the inner world these days and has high hopes for this project, which he plans to turn it into a stage musical and eventually a movie in the future. Furthermore, he has recently released the DVD “Mystical Journey”, a documentary on his life with music and spirituality. See a recent, heartfelt music video by Dave, “Flowers in the Rain”. The beginning of a new world We’re coming to an end of the interview. Dave sounds fresh and is still quite optimistic when it comes to the future: - We’re just seeing the beginning of a new understanding and communication. Just think of the Internet. Now I can talk to like-minded people whenever I want. It’s fascinating now; there are so many sources of information. It’s different now…we’re a part of the change going on. - Spirituality and spiritual matters cross over everything. A song like She Love You – it’s foundation is spiritual, says Dave who’s not afraid of the future itself. - What scares me is fanaticism. I don’t believe in dooms day. It’s just an excuse. If it’s ending anyway, then why do anything at all? On the other hand, when we’re scared that’s where we really learn and develop, says Dave and defines spirituality as an energy behind all things, thoughts, and minds. A powerful, non-visual inner world, Dave concludes over the phone. Probably the same world that helped to create modern world's rock history that he was a part of during the British Invasion, Swinging London, and The Summer of Love. Thanks to Dave and The Kinks, it’s been a long journey. Living on a Thin Line on a Sunny Afternoon. See more on www.davedavies.com and www.kindakinks.net. rhj@dali.dk. Read more at www.dalispeakers.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bkp4r

Also here's part one of a new interview with Dave Davies from Punk Globe. Also check out the photo of Dave on the cover.

Facebook Interview #30: Dave Davies of The Kinks/Solo/The Aschere Project

Amplify’d from www.facebook.com

Facebook Interview #30: Dave Davies of The Kinks/Solo/The Aschere Project (November 21, 2010)

by Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications on Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 6:39pm

Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications

For this edition of "The Facebook Interviews", I'm chatting with DAVE DAVIES discussing THE KINKS...his SOLO work...and latest projects "DAVE DAVIES KRONIKLES - MYSTICAL JOURNEY" DVD and "THE ASCHERE PROJECT".

Dave Davies created a revolutionary guitar sound in the early 60's that turned Rock'n'Roll guitar playing on its head when he slashed the speaker cone of an Elpico amp with a razor blade and fed it into a larger amp...thereby 'inventing' pregain and a raunchy guitar sound that changed the face of rock music forever. It was featured on The Kinks first major hit 'You Really Got Me' in 1964.

As lead guitarist and co-founder of The Kinks, Dave was one of the most unpredictable and original forces in rock, without whom guitar-rock styles including heavy metal and punk would have been inconceivable. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, his massive guitar sounds have inspired countless bands and players. In addition to his dozens of albums with The Kinks, Dave has released a series of respected solo albums over the years.

Fans of Dave's 1996 book "Kink" already know his evolution as a musician, songwriter and recording artist has paralleled his passionate pursuit of spiritual knowledge. That aspect of his life is at the heart of a new DVD, "DAVE DAVIES KRONIKLES: MYSTICAL JOURNEY". The feature-length documentary is a personally-charged memoir of Dave’s long-running quest for enlightenment. At the same time, Dave has also released, with his son Russ Davies, The ASCHERE PROJECT - "Two Worlds"...a futuristic new concept album described as sounding like "Art Of Noise meets Pink Floyd".

Today, Roch and Dave tackle some of the big dualities...love vs. hate...old vs. new...sex, drugs & Rock'n'Roll vs. spiritual journeys.

Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications  Ok all, we're ready to start...thanks for joining us everybody...and welcome Dave! Let's start out with a couple of questions I Iike to warm up with...What was your first single and/or album that you bought as a youth with your own money? And what was the first concert you attended?   Dave Davies The first single I ever bought was “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” by Johnny Cash. My first album was a Buddy Holly album…I can’t recall now which one. The first concert I ever went to was Duane Eddy in Finsbury Park, North London…   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Who would you consider your most influential performer at a formative stage?   Dave Davies The most influential performers would have been Duane Eddy and Eddie Cochran, along with a host of other guitar players including Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, and Barney Kessel…there were loads of them!   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications You were the youngest of eight...from what I understand, you were also greatly influenced by the music you absorbed at home from your parents and older sisters?   Dave Davies Yes that's right. My sisters all played piano and sang; my dad played banjo. I was greatly influenced by my family and other family members.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Dave, you were regarded as the "rocker" of the family and The Kinks...were you just as comfortable with the more "pastoral-observational" English period in the later sixties and the more "theatrical" period of the '70s Arista albums, or were you more at home, musically, with the initial rock/R&B of the earlier '60s, and then the "arena rock" successes of the '80s?   Dave Davies You have to remember that we grew up with all sorts of music, The Ventures, Doris Day, Al Bowley. As a young boy, I used to mess with the wireless and listen to Beethoven and Cesar Franck. I was ready for all things music. That was a misunderstood thing about The Kinks. No one could pigeonhole us, because our music kept changing. The record company executives wanted to play the first two or three tracks on an album...they wanted all the popular tracks to be reproduced. We always felt that wasn't a creative thing to do. One has to explore things as a musician...it could be a pastoral piece, or a rocking piece. With the right intent, it doesn't matter what sort of music it is.   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Terry McGregor asks: In virtually everything I read about The Kinks, they are invariably described as the "quintessential" English rock band, presumably on the heels of "The Village Green Preservation Society", etc. But isn't that tag somewhat misleading? I mean, that dirty guitar riff in "You Really Got Me" – still powerfully resonant today – is, if anything, "quintessential Rock'n'Roll" full stop, regardless of point of origin. And songs like "Dead End Street" paint a fairly nightmarish picture of life and society in general, a million miles from "Waterloo Sunset", the village pub and freshly-mown lawns. This label, I feel, undermines the music of The Kinks, who could be every bit as down and dirty as The Who or The Stones…   Dave Davies That is a poignant observation…thank you!   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Do you still bear some regret that more of the Kinks catalogue was not credited to "Davies/Davies" given the contributions you brought on the music side? ..and Terry Flanagan asks: Dave, do you feel you haven't received the credit you are due for inventing the power chord?   Dave Davies I do feel I should have been given more credit for my involvement and work for the Kinks. It really wasn't a one-man band.  And yeah, I invented the power chord…   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications With the success of your solo single "Death of a Clown" in 1967, there was talk of you doing a solo album. That got put on the back burner when subsequent singles fared less well on the charts. Do you believe there might have been a very different trajectory for you, if you had persevered with a first solo album in the late '60s?   Dave Davies While I enjoyed the success of “Death of a Clown”, it didn't feel right to go off on my own. I felt more at home with the Kinks. It felt more like family.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Roger Clarke asks: Which Kinks song is your favorite and which Dave Davies solo song is your favorite?   Dave Davies "My favorite Kinks song is a big contest between “Dead End Street”, “You Really Got Me”, and the ‘Phobia’ album. My favorite Dave Davies song is probably “Visionary Dreamer”. From the new album, The Aschere Project, my favorite is called “Blessed of All Nights”.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Stephanie Whitlock asks: If you could go back to any time in your life and give yourself one piece of advice like something you should do/shouldn’t do/someone to not meet/someone you must meet etc., when and what would it be?   Dave Davies I wish I would have realized when I was young...I don't know what to say....we can all look back on our lives and see things we should have done differently, but not dwell on the past. We should focus on the present, which serves to create a new future...the more we look back on the past, the more we tend to just repeat it....   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Dave, you've stated before that you began investigating spirituality at a very young age. At the same time, your 1996 book "Kinked" offers up the "sex and drugs and Rock'n'Roll excess" side of life. How did you reconcile the two at the time, and also later as you started getting more involved in your spiritual journey?   Dave Davies I started my spiritual journey the day I was born. There isn't a difference between sex and lifestyle and spirituality. The problem is to bring them into balance. In all of our lives, we have to pull in the reins, as it were, and we have to control ourselves and bring things into balance so we can explore our spiritual lives, and bring that into the fore.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Dave Corbett asks: As a survivor of "Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll" who among the casualties do you feel would have had the greatest contribution to make if they had lived?   Dave Davies There are so many...John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones. George Harrison fulfilled a mission, in my view, trying to inject spiritual ideas into people through his music.   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Dave, as all your friends and fans are aware, you suffered a major stroke in 2004 that has required years of dedicated and painstaking recovery on the physical side. What is the current state of your health? And what accommodations have you had to make, if any, in terms of your singing and guitar playing?   Dave Davies I feel fine. I did have to persevere after my illness and I feel back to strength now. You can hear my singing and performance with my new album. I did this with my son, Russell, called the Aschere Project...www.aschereproject.com   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Harald Stahl asks: Do you see yourself returning to live performance again in the near future? …and Ron Lancs asks:  Many of us hope to have the pleasure of seeing you play live again…do you have any plans to do so, and if so when?   Dave Davies Yes, I expect to do future shows and hopefully tours in the near future. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we are looking at some venues in London. I hope to be playing live fairly soon.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications You also view the stroke as a concrete spiritual experience, can you elaborate on that?   Dave Davies While I was ill, I realised that all the spiritual lessons and instruction and knowledge that i learned had stirred up to that point. My illness was a redefining of everything I believed in. All that I previously thought could be true, was actually true.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Jeremy Samuel Gluck asks: Given your interest in healing, what do you feel about the healing power of music? Even pop music? When I interviewed Brian Wilson, he spoke for a while about how music impacts the spirit.   Dave Davies Of course, music has always had the major potential for healing and serves as a vehicle for the most significant healing power of all: love. Look at all the composers who have inspired and healed people throughout the centuries because of their music…   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Jeremy Samuel Gluck asks: A great many people think that a major planetary shift is due very soon. Do you think your own journey is wrapped up in reaching that time having been through your musical career and then stroke? How would you sum up your mystical perception? And how do those who know you only as a musician access that?   Dave Davies Good question. I believe that that the planetary shift has been happening...and we are all involved in this change that is happening on a day to day basis. I don't believe it will happen in one swoop. It has been happening by degree over the years.   And I don't agree with 2012 indications that something is going to happen all of a sudden. The change will happen beyond 2012. We are all connected psychically and spiritually…what we think and feel will affect everyone and everything around us. For all we know, will affect time and space itself. That is why I am so energized by the Aschere Project, which is science fiction, but much of the information may be true, who knows?   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications The Aschere Project: "Two Worlds" – is quite a departure and doesn't appear on the surface to have a lot of antecedents for you. How did the project come about, and I assume it’s a case of son influencing father as much as vice-versa?   Dave Davies The Aschere Project was a joint venture and collaboration. It started off with a few musical ideas and we started to see a vision, or a movie happening. Once we got started, the story basically unfolded before us. The project was a spiritual and emotional one. It was one of the most pure collaborations I’ve been involved with. The more we helped each other, the more the music and the story grew. That is the perfect way to work – when you support others, and it is reciprocated. Something else takes over…something higher.   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Dave Fuglewicz asks: I’ve only listened to the preview clips of The Aschere Project and am amazed at how fresh and vital it sounds, yet still carries your unmistakable sound. I've listened to your music as a youngster from back in the 1960s to now and you've covered an incredible territory in 46 years. Will you be taking The Aschere Project forward into the future with more releases and possibly live performances in the USA?   Dave Davies Russell and I hope to take the Project further because when we were growing into the story, we realized it would be a perfect stage musical and/or film. I expect to expand the ideas into bigger and more elaborate ones, and hopefully live performance. Even with a smaller ensemble of musician/performers, and both Russell and I can be involved in it. This is what I hope to see for this Project in the future.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications The DVD "Dave Davies Kronikles: Mystical Journey"...was produced with the involvement of another son...   Dave Davies “Mystical Journey” was a collaborative venture with my oldest son Martin. He is also a filmmaker, and it was wonderful being involved and wanting to make a film and program about my spiritual journey. This was a wonderful way to start the process. We hope to make a “Part Two” in the near future.   I would also really love to work with my son Daniel, who has a band called "Year Long Disaster". Hopefully this will happen in the New Year as well…   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications The DVD strives to balance (and connect) musical journey and spiritual journey...do you think you achieved the right balance between the two, and is it possible to appeal equally to both "audiences"?   Dave Davies My intention was to try and show that there are parallels between different sets of belief systems and concepts and spiritual ideas. We need to take each other’s ideas and bring them together if we are to go forward as a spiritual race. I hoped the musical people would like it because of the early years; I discovered many of these people during the Kinks years, such as Madam Blatavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Carl Jung....   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Klaire Delilah Bennett asks: Have you found since releasing your solo albums and latest works (“Mystical Journey” and “The Aschere Project”) you now have interest in your work from people who aren't and never were Kinks fans?   Dave Davies Yes...this is really exciting. I am meeting and connecting with people who have various ideas and different areas of expertise…people from many walks of life...from abroad...different landscapes of ideas and cultures....we are all one people. It is refreshing to meet those who have interests other than music and who I have never crossed paths with before. They are very inspiring.   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Jutta Hammer asks: Do you still have the aim to reach millions of people with your music? Or has music become more a vehicle to transport your spiritual ideas and thoughts to perhaps a more select audience?   Dave Davies It’s for anybody who wants to listen, haha!   Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications Sophie Stillwater asks: What is your relationship with your children like? Do you see them often and feel involved in their lives or has your career made it difficult to stay in touch with them?   Dave Davies I try to keep in touch with my kids as much as I can, because I love them and they inspire me. I love to see them as much as possible, and the older I get, the more I love spending time with them. Each has a gift of their own. It’s difficult not to interfere with their lives; I try to be cautious, haha!   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Dave, speaking of family relationships, when you wade into a public forum like this, you know a number of fan questions are going to touch on brothers and reunions. Let me try posing it this way: do you think the ongoing psychic/emotional battle between you and your brother Ray involves something karmic, or is in some other way intended/destined to develop the two of you spiritually?   Dave Davies Yes, it is of course, but any powerful karmic relationship is put there for us to work with as a valuable lesson. We must never lose sight of our own personal spiritual evolution. Our own spiritual sovereignty is the most important. We are in an important part of the spiritual evolution of the planet, so that karmic relationships are on many levels. We have to deal with our own spiritual lessons for our own self-realization. We mustn’t give up our own spiritual sovereignty…not on any level. We must find the place to make our own compromise, find our own balance.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications In a 1994 interview, you stated that "if you look at the work as the most important thing...hopefully all the personal stuff will dissipate with time, while the work will live on for years." Do you feel it’s working out that way?   Dave Davies Everything we've done, we've done, and it is more important than what has happened on a personal level. But it doesn't mean we could compromise our self-expression. One of the biggest problems is the inability to grow into our own potential. Indirectly, we put limitations or restrictions on those around us.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications In a recent interview in The Guardian, you state: "Ray sucks me dry of ideas, emotions, and creativity...it's toxic for me to be with him." Surely he can only have this power if you give it to him? With the level of spiritual awareness you've achieved, are there not personal barriers you could erect to manage or deflect this? Or to provide for enough acceptance to absorb it?   Dave Davies I hope that I am managing it as well as I can. It is difficult. I cannot be someone else and we cannot do other people’s spiritual work for them. If someone else's program is to take, then sometimes the only course of survival is to remove oneself from that toxic situation.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications What do you say to those who would suggest, if two brothers – especially ones with such a strong creative bond – can't find a way to make it work, what hope is there for the rest of us? For example, how could anyone even glimpse for hope in the Middle East, of any kind...ever...when blood and creative brothers cannot find a way?   Dave Davies The more psychic we become, the more sensitive we become to others' life conditions, needs and wants...so we need to develop our means of meditation and spiritual practice to manage the energies around us in some way.   The reason why there is so much tension and complexity involved in the Middle East is because the working relationship between peoples is out of balance. The same is true of me and Ray. It’s like a man walking lopsided....one leg wants to go one way the other wants to go another way – the man topples over.   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications You said upon his passing that Pete Quaife never really received his due for his contribution to the Kinks. Would you give it to him now for us?   Dave Davies Pete Quaife was the essential part of the Kinks. In fact, if Pete hadn't been there...he was the glue that brought me and Ray together, with his humour, his creativity and his sensitivity. He balanced the dynamic between us. He was crucial for The Kinks, and was just as important to the start of the band as me and Ray.....   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Folks, our time is up, so we must reluctantly let Dave go!   Dave Davies I would just like to mention the Aschere Project one more time, and yes, we do hope to take it to its next stage. And thanks to Roch for this opportunity on the Rocon Communications page and hopefully, we can do it again sometime. Thank you and bless you all for coming to this interview!   Roch Parisien’s Rocon Communications Dave, thank you for the time you took with us today. And thanks to Rosina Mostardini for facilitating this interview session. If you attended the interview or are reading later, I've posted a message at the top of the page for your comments and feedback...also, do check out all the links to vids, audio, and information posting further down the page...scroll and enjoy!   *************************************************** Browse transcripts for previous Facebook Interviews here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104735619580753   For more information on The Facebook Interviews: http://www.suzemuse.com/2010/02/music-journalist-finds-clever-use-for-faceboook-comments/ http://humanfacebook.com/2010/09/03/a-completely-random-friend/   For more information on Dave Davies: http://www.davedavies.com/home.htm http://www.detune.tv/ For more information on The Aschere Project: http://www.facebook.com/Theaschereproject   Follow Dave Davies here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Davies/12499331267   Read more at www.facebook.com

 

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Faintly Blowing: Dave Davies - The Album That Never Was (1967-69)

http://faintlyblowing.blogspot.com/2010/10/dave-davies-album-that-never-was-1...

Although he took a largely subordinate role to his brother Ray in the Kinks, Dave's fierce guitar work and hoarse but effective background (and occasional lead) vocals were key elements of the band's appeal. Dave also occasionally wrote songs for the Kinks that showed him to be a writer of considerable skill and wit, if not up to the same level as Ray. In the late '60s, Dave made some solo singles that met with critical success in Britain, although they were unknown in the U.S. "Death of a Clown" (also included on the Kinks' Something Else LP) made number three on the British charts in 1967, and the follow-up, "Susannah's Still Alive," also did fairly well. Dave began to consider making a solo album, but after a couple other solo singles flopped, he seemed to lose heart and abandoned his plans (some unreleased solo tracks from this period turned up on the obscure Kinks bootleg Good Luck Charm). In the 1980s, Dave finally began a solo career in earnest, releasing a series of mainstream rock albums and various collections of demos and outtakes that found little critical or commercial acclaim, before his work was neatly summarized on Unfinished Business: Dave Davies Kronikles 1963-1998.
(Richie Unterberger, "All Music Guide")

Although this is not the record as it was intended, "The Album That Never Was" (PRT Records 6.26681 / 1987) gives some indication of what the finished piece may have been, as well as collecting ten prime Dave Davies performances.
(taken from Brian Hogg's liner notes) 

Tracklist:
- Death Of A Clown
- Love Me Till The Sun Shines
- Suzannah's Still Alive
- Funny Face
- Lincoln County
- There Is No Life Without Love
- Hold My Hand
- Creepin' Jean
- Mindless Child Of Motherhood
- This Man He Weeps Tonight 

Get it here (Artwork included / vinyl rip)

 

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