Dave Davies

Dave Davies - AFL1-3603 - 1980 - RCA Victor

For his first solo disc, Dave Davies came out swinging with the great AFL1-3603, titled after the record's catalog number and also as a slap at the bar coding that had begun to be put on nearly everything. This album rocks; from the opening "Where Did You Come From" right on through to "Run," there is a sense that Davies was out to prove that his brother Ray wasn't the only force in the Kinks. Chock-full of the best bits of the Kinks' guitar rockers, AFL1-3603 also holds lots of power pop treasures, such as the very lovely "Imaginations Real" and the nice change of pace "Visionary Dreamer." Doing all the guitars, vocals, keyboards, and most of the bass and drums, as well as producing and writing all the tunes, Dave Davies proves he can out-Kink brother Ray and do it with a refreshing style. AFL1-3603 is a winner. © James Chrispell © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/afl1-3603-r66481

Dave Davies has never been regarded as a great vocalist. However, in that respect he's part of a huge club! Great vocals don't always make a great album. Dave is a notable songwriter and superb musician. His guitar playing is impressive, and often agressive throughout, and his songs are full of great hooks. The songs stand by themselves as an example of his songwriting abilities. Dave performed much of the instrumentation himself, but there is plenty of superb assistance by several experienced musicians including Linda Ronstadt on vocals. The sound of the album, not unusually is partly caught up in the '80's swishy synth overproduced sound, but this album is miles ahead of most early 80's albums in terms of musicianship and songwriting quality. This album should not be compared to Kinks or Ray Davies material. Listen to his "The Album That Never Was"

TRACKS

A1 Where Do You Come From
A2 Doing The Best For You
A3 Visionary Dreamer
A4 Nothin' More To Lose
A5 The World Is Changing Hands

B1 Move Over
B2 See The Beast
B3 Imaginations Real
B4 In You I Believe
B5 Run

All songs composed by Dave Davies

MUSICIANS

Dave Davies - Bass, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals
Mac Gayden, Dianne Davidson - Guitar, Vocals
John Drummond - Guitar
Charlie McCoy - Bass, Guitar
Ron Lawrence, Tim Drummond - Bass
John Harris - Keyboards
Nick Trevisick, Kenny Buttrey - Drums
Linda Ronstadt - Vocals

BIO

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. The hard-rocking Bug from 2002 was his first album of new material in nearly 20 years. Davies suffered a major stroke in 2004 and used composing and painting as therapy during the lengthy recovery period that followed. The new song "God in My Brain" was inspired by the stroke and appeared on the 2006 compilation Kinked. In 2007 Davies released his first full-length post-stroke studio album, Fractured Mindz, on the Koch label. Richie Unterberger © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-davies-p16868/biography