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X Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography
by
Ray Davies
Tales of London and the swinging sixties rock scene evolve as Ray Davies, lead singer and songwriter with The Kinks, reveals his life and times. Carnaby Street, Top of the Pops, the Cavern Club, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and other fixtures of the period feature in this narrative.
Paperback
,
419 pages
Published
February 1st 2008
by Overlook
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Community Reviews
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I am a huge fan of the Kinks and have been since I bought their first album back in 1964, and then a few years later the classic "Face to Face," "Something Else," "Village Green," and "Arthur"--albums that for my money are among the greatest rock records of all time (and that sound even better now in the recently released and remastered "deluxe" editions). Sadly but not surprisingly, this autobiography by Ray Davies--the genius who led the band and wrote and sang all of its greatest songs--is no
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I think this is the book Morrissey wanted to write. The prose is excellent throughout. Davies was a pioneer. He paved the way for androgynous performers like Bowie and his wilful non-rock'n'roll lyrical vocabulary (From the dew soaked hedge crawls a crawly caterpillar) can be seen as the only real precursor of Morrissey's lyrics for The Smiths. This book is a historical document of London in the 60's with an endearing take on family life in Muswell Hill's terraced streets. His introduction to th
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It's not too often I rate four stars to books that inhabit the genre of 'poptastic'. Ray Davies has written a biography that is most certainly unique. 'X-Ray' from 1994, just two years before The Kinks split, is much more than a memoir of the swinging sixties. Introduced on the front cover as 'The Unauthorized Autobiography' Davies has written this in an almost Kafkaesque style.
The man himself shape shifts in and out of shadows, dark memories, light humour with the backdrop of music business may ...more
The man himself shape shifts in and out of shadows, dark memories, light humour with the backdrop of music business may ...more
Interesting reading, if a touch gimmicky. All the texture and flavor of his best music, so the gimmick isn't too intrusive.
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