See My Friends

Ray Davies can not live without The Kinks

Almost half age ago, brothers Ray and David Davies assembled one of the most influential pop-rock acts in the history, The Kinks. Alas, the same people, failing to overcome disagreements, were to blame for the disbandment of this group. Ray Davies, who wrote the majority of The Kinks hits, seems likely to miss the band with whom he has trodden a glorious long and difficult way. His solo career started with the coming of the new millennium can no in way be considered a continuation of The Kinks story, while the reunion is out of question. Nevertheless, Davies found a reliable way to resurrect the times he longs for. In 2010, the established rock-musician delivered an ambitious record called See My Friends, a collection of The Kinks covers. Had Davies recorded them alone, the CD would not have drawn as much attention. But the thing is that this portion of classic rock remakes was made by Ray together with world’s most esteemed and loved artists, including those who work with material like that for the first time.

Old band’s songs have got new image

The project’s concept came to Davies’ mind as early as in the summer of 2009, when he re-recorded ’Til The End Of Today with Alex Chilton (Big Star). Unfortunately, the singer did not get to see the release of See My Friends because he passed away in the spring next year. Definitely, the material itself could not sound as naive and plain as it did forty or thirty years ago. Ray’s own voice is considerably lower, while the singing of the guest musicians endows each track with its own unique attraction, which makes See My Friends a pure collection, not an album, as its songs are too different. Some of the tracks came to resemble solo works of the collaborating artists. This regards particularly Better Days looking like Bruce Springsteen’s own work from the E Street Band period, and Celluloid Heroes having much in common with classic Bon Jovi’s ballads. In the meantime, the guys from Metallica did a great job processing the hit You Really Got Me. Even the original version shook the audience with hard-rock vibe so alien for those times. And we know that the legends of thrash metal have a way with speed and drive.

See My Friends is a certificate of unfading fame

As soon as you are through listening to See My Friends, you start put under question the fact that there has been at least one significant event, one considerable change since the sixties. The Kinks, a big figure of the British Invasion, several decades ago created something that is still interesting to play for the stars of the present days. The selection of guest musicians who took part in the making of See My Friends impresses surprises and even stuns. However, the fact of their consent to work on this album shows the real scale of Ray Davies’ personality. These performers found it prestigious to collaborate with him. Skeptics may argue that the whole work is just a whim of a leader whose band is long gone and who wants some more attention. It could be so in some sense, but did Ray Davies not deserve this? See My Friends will help him bring back the golden moments of his music career and remind us that the Great Britain has always been and remains a leading music power whose history was written by many acts, including The Kinks.