Kinks' Ray Davies Shot in Robbery Attempt

Yahoo ^ | 1/5/2004 | Associated Press

[JennysCool]

NEW ORLEANS - Singer-songwriter Ray Davies (news) of the celebrated British rock band the Kinks was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who snatched a purse from a woman he was with, police said Monday. He was not seriously injured.

Police said Davies, 59, and the woman were walking near the edge of the French Quarter when the shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Davies was treated and released at a hospital, said Capt. Marlon Defillo, a police spokesman.

One suspect was captured within hours and another person was being sought. The woman was not hurt. Police would not release her identity.

The shooting happened blocks away from Bourbon Street, which was awash with people in town for Sunday night's Sugar Bowl, the national college championship game between LSU and Oklahoma. Police were stationed on every corner of the area and were able to respond quickly to the shooting, Defillo said.

The Kinks, part of the 1960s British invasion, had a string of hits including "You Really Got Me," "Sunny Afternoon," "All Day and All of the Night" and "Lola." Davies founded the band, known for its hard-edged, guitar-driven sound and witty lyrics, with his brother Dave.

Last week, Davies received royal honors in London. Along with singer-guitarist Eric Clapton (news), he was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire at a ceremony on New Year's Eve.

The shooting site is a largely residential area on the border of the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny area.

[Poser]

"The area between the Quarter and Fauberg Marigny ("the Marigny Neighborhood") is one where you walk at your own risk at night. I've hung out there often, since my brother-in-law had a house in Marigny, and there are a couple of good bars and restaurants in that "border" area, but I *always* carry. "

Which direction is that and how many blocks from Bourbon Street. I never go further from the river than Burgundy and I never cross Canal or go past the French Market. I suspect the area is a couple of blocks up from Burgundy, near Basin.

[LRS]

Yours Truly, Confused N10

Written by: Raymond Douglas Davies


Dear sir or madame, I don't normally write to the press
But the neighbourhood where I grew up is really quite depressed.
Society is crumbling but the media's obsessed with boobs, bums,
Dot com, millionaires, fame, fashion, footsie shares
But people they couldn't care less.

While parliamentary yobbos shout abuse around the house
Do-gooders and reformers lead our nation to defeat.
While murderers and terrorists get compassionate release
You're out now. You're back on the street yeh, back on the street.

That's why I remain yours truly, confused N10.

I close my eyes and lay back and I think of England.
I dream about that green and pleasant land we knew as England.
That throne of kings, that sceptred isle set in a silver sea
Has turned into a laughing stock divided without harmony.

That's why I remain yours truly, confused N10

The burglars have ransacked all the houses in the street
While Mercs and Posches double park with sheer impunity.
When towed away the ponces plead to all and sundry
Referee what about me?

So forgive my lack of confidence and total low esteem
But the dog eat dog society has deemed us all has-beens.
While our smiling bland spin doctors slyly lead us down the track
to a stab in the back.

I'm much too terrified to go out at night but the television's boring.
They're vandalising all the cars on the street
but I won't lay down and take defeat.

That's why I remain yours truly, confused N10

[Mr. Mojo]

A most underrated band

They've released some absolute masterpieces over the years -- Something Else, Lola vs. Powerman & the Moneygoround, The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, and the live One for the Road are four that immediately come to mind. In concert they seemed to be either extraordinary or uninspired .....not much middle ground.

Davies has a rapier wit rarely found in this biz. Glad he's okay.

[Tall_Texan]

Don't forget to dance...

[Chi-townChief]

I think my favorite unknown Kinks' number is "Jack the Idiot Dunce."

[strongbow]

I worked in Charity hospital while in school and visited the E.R. on many occasions. The acronym was WAR for west admit room. Not on a few occasions did a fairly respectable visitor end up there after wandering off Bourbon or Royal street in the wrong direction. Davies is probably fortunate that he got away so easy. The only saving grace for that hell hole is that the police don't put up with too much crap. At least when I lived there in the 70's it was well known that cop killers or cop shooters never made it to the jail.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

I love the Kinks. Brilliant, brilliant band. They've given me so much joy over the years.

Maybe another liberal just went conservative.

Ray has convervative leanings.

In 1965, The American Federation of Musicians, in a move never explained, prevented the Kinks from performing in the USA until 1969. So Ray Davies is anything but a union man.

This is from "Get Back in Line," available on the 1970 classic Lola vs. the Powerman album as well as what may be the greatest Rock compilation LP, Kink Kronikles (1972), which documented their "Lost Period," i.e, roughly the same era the Kinks could not perform here, due to those AFM creeps.

Facing the world ain't easy when there isn't anything going
Standing at the corner waiting watching time go by
Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time
'Cos when I see that union man walking down the street
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line
Now I think of what my mamma told me
She always said that it would never ever work out
But all I want to do is make some money
And bring you home some wine
For I don't ever want you to see me
Standing in that line
'Cause that union man's got such a hold over me
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line

God Save the Kinks!

[Fresh Wind]

The tax man's taken all my dough,
And left me in my stately home,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
And I can't sail my yacht,
He's taken everything I've got,
All I've got's this sunny afternoon.

Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

More Davies closet conservatism: Ray and his brother Dave (and family) were relocated from their original neighbourhood (UK spelling) by British socialists in an urban renewal program to the Muswell Hill section of north London. It was very "Beverly Hillbillies" like, hence the title of this 1971 (virtually unheard) classic, "Muswell Hillbillies."

This song, Here Come the People in Grey, sounds like it could've been written by a FReeper. Here the government bureaucrats (The People in Grey) make their move:

I got a letter this morning with serious news that's gone and ruined my day,
The borough surveyor's used compulsory purchase to acquire my domaine,
They're gonna pull up the floors, they're gonna knock down the walls,
They're gonna dig up the drains.

Here come the people in grey they're gonna take me away to Lord knows where,
But I'm so unprepared I got no time to pack and I got nothing to wear,
Here come the people in grey, To take me away.

Me and my baby's gonna get on a train that's gonna take us away,
I'm gonna live in a tent, we're gonna pay no more rent we're gonna pay no more rates,
We're gonna live in a field, we're gonna buy me gun, to keep the policemen away.

I'm gonna pass me a brand new resolution,
I'm gonna fight me a one man revolution, someway,
Gonna beat those people in grey,
But here come the people in grey,
To take me away.

The people in grey have gone and taken away my right to voice my complaint,
Her Majesty's Government have sent me a form I must complete it today.
But it's making me blue, don't wanna tell all my secrets to The people in grey.

I'm gonna pass me a brand new resolution,
I'm gonna fight me a one man revolution, someway, Gonna start my rebellion today.
But here come the people in grey,
To take me away.

Oh, Lord, those people in grey, I gotta get back at those people in grey,
Here come the people in grey,
To take me away

Mancow, by the way, is a huge Kinks fan. Dave Davies played at Mancow's wedding.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

One more Kinks classic from a convervative viewpoint, this is the title tune from "Muswell Hillbillies"

Well I said goodbye to Rosie Rooke this morning,
I'm gonna miss her bloodshot alcoholic eyes,
She wore her Sunday hat so she'd impress me,
I'm gonna carry her memory 'til the day I die.

They'll move me up to Muswell Hill tomorrow,
Photographs and souvenirs are all I've got,
They're gonna try and make me change my way of living,
But they'll never make me something that I'm not.

Cos I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
but my heart lies in old West Virginia,
Never seen New Orleans, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
Still I dream of the Black Hills that I ain't never seen.

They're putting us in little boxes,
No character just uniformity,
They're trying to build a computerised community,
But they'll never make a zombie out of me.

They'll try and make me study elocution,
Because they say my accent isn't right,
They can clear the slums as part of their solution, But they're never gonna kill my cockney pride.

Cos I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in Old West Virginia,
Though my hills are not green,
I have seen them in my dreams,
Take me back to those Black Hills,
That I have never seen.

Stink, stank, stunk, your arse!

God Save the Kinks!

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Final one: Ray sings about European ungraciousness, when during our tough late 1970s Jimmy Carter recession, the Euro-weenies turn our back on us. From "Low Budget"

Catch me Now I'm Falling

I remember, when you were down
And you needed a helping hand
I came to feed you
But now that I need you
You won't give me a second glance
Now I'm calling all citizens from all over the world
This is Captain America calling
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees
So will you catch me now I'm falling

Help me now I'm calling you
Catch me now I'm falling
I'm in your hands, it's up to you
Catch me now I'm falling

I remember when you were down
You would always come running to me
I never denied you and I would guide you
Through all of your difficulties
Now I'm calling all citizens from all over the world
This is Captain America calling
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees
So will you catch me now I'm falling

Help me now I'm calling you
Catch me now I'm falling
I'm in your hands, it's up to you
Catch me now I'm falling

When you were broke you would come to me
And I would always pull you round
Now I call your office on the telephone
And your secretary tells me that she's sorry,
But, you've gone out of town.

This is Captain America calling
This is Captain America calling
Help me now I'm calling you
Catch me now I'm falling
I'm in your hands, it's up to you
Catch me now I'm falling

Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling

I stood by you through all of your depressions
And I lifted you when you were down
Now it's your chance to do the same for me
I call your office and your secretary tells me
That you've gone out of town

This is Captain America calling
This is Captain America calling

Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling

I was the one who always bailed you out
Of your depressions and your difficulties
I never thought that you would let me down
But the next time you're in trouble
Better not come running to me

Now I'm calling all citizens from all over the world
This is Captain America calling
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees
So will you catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling

Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling
Catch me now I'm falling

Glad Ray is okay!

[LRS]

Thanks, but you forgot to say "I guess you all know who I am; my name's Johnny Cash" ;)

The Kinks are the GREATEST, and R.D. Davies is the GREAT song writer of our time.

And just for the heck of it, Ray was being compared to Hitler by liberal idiots LONG before President Bush, simply because he would speak his mind, like in the songs you posted. One particular incident I recall was the reviewer (I think it may have been in Rolling Stone) who said something along the line of "if Hitler had been a member of a rock band, he would have been with the Kinks", because of Ray's "Black Messiah" track on Misfits.

While not a particularly great song, I think the lyrics should be included at this point:

Black Messiah

by R.D. Davies

Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine

Everybody talking about racial equality
'Cos everybody's equal in the good Lord's eyes
But if I told you that God was black
What would you think of that
I bet you wouldn't believe it

There's a self made prophet living right next to me
He said the Black Messiah's gonna come and set the whole world free
He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied
And he really believed it

He said a Black Messiah is gonna set the world on fire
And he's no liar, 'cos he has truly heard the word

Everybody talking about racial equality
But I'm the only honky living on an all black street
They knock me down 'cos they brown and I white

Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine

Everyobody talking about racial equality
You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But white's white, black's black and that's that
And that's the way you should leave it

Don't want no Black Messiah to come and set the world on fire
A Black Messiah is gonna come and rule the world

Everybody got to show a little give and take
Everybody got to live with a little less hate
Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out

Everbody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine

[Elle Bee]

Thank You .... they are not very giving with info down here in Key West

.

[P.O.E.]

"Lola Vs Powerman" was one of my fave albums growing up.

[davidtalker]

The Kinks are, indeed, one of the most underrated groups ever. Their entire catalogue is sensational. I love the British Invasion stuff. "Waterloo Sunset" is a classic. The concept album "Athur And The Rise And Fall Of The British Empire" is sensational. As others have pointed out. the title song "Celuloid Heroes" is a monument to great rock. However, the best thing the Kinks ever recorded comes later. 1983.

Don't Forget To Dance

Written by: Ray Davies

Published by: Davray Music Ltd.

Lyrics:

You look out of your window,
Into the night.
Could be rain, could be snow,
But it can't feel as cold as you're feeling inside.

And all of you friends are either married, vanished,
Or just left alone.
But that's no reason to just stop living.
That's no excuse to just give in to a sad and lonely heart.

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Don't forget to smile.
Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Forget it for a while.

'Cause darling, darling,
I bet you danced a good one in your time.
And if this were a party
I'd really make sure the next one would be mine.
Yes, you with the broken heart.

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Don't forget to smile.
Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Forget it for a while.

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Forget it for a while.

You walk down the street
And all the young punks whistle at you.
A nice bit of old,
Just goes to show what you can achieve
with the right attitude.
As you pass them by
They whisper their remarks one to another,
And you give them the eye
Even that you know that you could be their mother.
You do the thing you love the most.
What separates you from the rest,
And what you love to do the most?
And when they ask me how you dance,
I say that you dance real close.

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no,
Don't forget to dance.

Albums this song can be found on:

All Night Stand
The Best Of The Ballads (Feat. Ray Davies)
Come Dancing With The Kinks
Kinky Music - Trihas & The Tapes (tribute)

[Aquinasfan]

I think my favorite unknown Kinks' number is "Jack the Idiot Dunce."

Which album?

[Chi-townChief]

I think it was from "Schooldays in Disgrace."

[Aquinasfan]

This is from "Get Back in Line,"

Great one!

I also forgot to mention one of my all-time favorites, "Waterloo Sunset."

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don’t need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset’s fine

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every friday night
But I am so lazy, don’t want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don’t feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset’s fine

Millions of people swarming like flies ’round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don’t need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo Sunset
They are in paradise

Waterloo sunset’s fine

Ray's genius was seeing the beauty in the commonplace. Here's one that every conservative/traditionalist should love:

20th Century Man

This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare,

This is the twentieth century,
But too much aggravation
It’s the age of insanity,
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem.

Ain’t got no ambition, I’m just disillusioned
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.
My mama said she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Just give me some security,
I’m a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century.

You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I’ll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough.

Girl we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to die here.

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
Cos the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.

Don’t wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman,
Gotta keep a hold on my sanity
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna die here.

My mama says she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Ain’t got no security,
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.

[Aquinasfan]

Take me back to those Black Hills, That I have never seen.

Some lines give me the chills. Sad that while everyone was singing "I Am the Walrus" gems like this were going unnoticed.

[Aquinasfan]

Can't resist another:

God's Children

Man made the buildings that reach for the sky
And man made the motorcar and learned how to fly
But he didn't make the flowers and he didn't make the trees
And he didn't make you and he didn't make me
And he's got no right to turn us into machines
He's got no right at all
'Cause we are all God's children
And he's got no right to change us
Oh, we gotta go back the way the good Lord made us all

Don't want this world to change me
I wanna go back the way the good Lord made me
Same lungs that he gave me to breath with
Same eyes he gave me to see with

Oh, the rich man, the poor man, the saint and the sinner
The wise man, the simpleton, the loser and the winner
We are all the same to Him
Stripped of our clothes and all the things we own
The day that we are born
We are all God's children
And they got no right to change us
Oh, we gotta go back the way the good Lord made us
Oh, the good Lord made us all
And we are all his children
And they got no right to change us
Oh, we gotta go back the way the good Lord made us all
Yeah, we gotta go back the way the good lord made us all