Ray Davies will be appearing on Regis & Kelly on 2 / 20 / 02 . Most likely performing something from his new cd which is supposedly much better than his last release "Other Peoples Lives "

The latest albums pretty good and cheap as chips to buy!

Found a review of the new cd


Ray Davies is working out the kinks
He hits his stride with his second solo album
Ray Davies brings wry social commentary to "Working Man's Café."
Email|Print| Text size – + By Geoff Edgers
Globe Staff / February 17, 2008
"You Really Got Me." "A Well Respected Man." "All Day and All of the Night." Ray Davies wrote all those, and plenty more. His songs have been covered by everyone from the Black Keys to Yo La Tengo, sold computers and laundry detergents, and pumped life into hipper-than-thou soundtracks ("Juno," "The Darjeeling Limited").

more stories like thisBut that's history, and Davies's long-awaited official solo debut, 2006's "Other People's Lives," didn't offer much hope for the future. Murkily written and overproduced, the record was as bland as a bowl of shredded wheat left out in the rain.

So it's a welcome surprise to hear Davies on "Working Man's Café," a collection of twangy rock that might not stand up with the best Kinks work (what does?) but certainly marks his return as a maker of new music.

Recorded largely over 16 days in Nashville, the album, which will be released Tuesday on New West Records, finds the 63-year-old Davies returning to one of his strengths, the wry brand of social commentary that set the Kinks apart from the Beatles and the Stones. At his best, Davies paints pictures with lyrical detail and a Cockney accent that he can flip out faster than a Diner's Club card. And he's as guilty as the rest of us. When, as Davies sings on the title track, he buys a "pair of new designer pants, where the fruit and veg man used to stand," Davies isn't just a nostalgic bystander. He's a participant.

Sonically, "Working Man's Café" is also a triumph. Co-producer Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams) favors a live sound with limited overdubs. That helps on Davies's still-strong voice, as well, which was often buried on "Other People's Lives." In an interview, he says he pushed Davies to resist holing up for weeks of post-production (for excerpts, go to boston.com/ae/theater_arts/ exhibitionist).

"He doesn't have the young toss-it-off attitude of early Kinks, but he still has the chops, attitude, and determination," Kennedy said. "The difference now is that he is very critical of his delivery and he does his best when he's not analyzing but just belting it out."

Davies certainly does that on the album's opener, "Vietnam Cowboys," a rockabilly song that laments the spread of cheap, overseas labor. "You're Asking Me" is pure, '60s-inspired power-pop: jangly guitars, a rich hook, and soaring harmonies. The song also finds longtime Kinks drummer Mick Avory checking in on tambourine. (For those wondering, famously feuding brother Dave Davies did not participate, though Kennedy said he and Ray talked about him repeatedly during the sessions.)

The battlegrounds on "Working Man's Café" aren't only economic. They are also romantic, political and, in a few songs, a little bit of both. On "Peace in Our Time," Davies uses the language of warfare to pick the bones of a broken relationship. Kinks fans will appreciate the way the chorus resolves, a descending guitar-line that sounds as if it could have been nabbed from a "Village Green Preservation Society" outtake.

Even better is "One More Time," which links a failed courtship with a longing for the old ways. It is the prettiest song Davies has written in years, a ballad that stays in your head long after the music fades.

His new CD is very good. I even liked his last one, though the production was shabby, it has some good tunes, especially good live (saw him in Berlin).

I think he's also on David Letterman show tonight in US.

I wonder if Kelly will ask him what it was like writing "You Really Got Me" for Van Halen.

Working Man's Cafe is Very Good! but Other People's Lives is even Better! except maybe for the Morphine Song...that's Ray at his best.

He's on right now.

He's on acoustic. One other guy with him, playing electric.

Not kicking any ass at all. Makes a very weak advertisement for his tour.

Ray and Regis talked a little about Perry Como. Then Regis asked him to play Lola .... which got cut off in the middle by a commercial. Sad.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-20 17:00 by tatters.

Aw, Ray is one of my heroes. He was pretty darned good when I caught him in 2006 in NYC.

"For chrissakes, have a cuppa tea!"

I just got Ray's new album. Awesome. I like the title track and Vietnam Cowboys. Very good songs. The aforementioned Morphine song is good too. I hope he tours, cause Id like to see him live, even if it isnt with the Kinks.

Great CD from the master storyteller.

Hey Regis did you know that he was in the Kinks! I bet you got all his stuff.

Here´s a recent interview with his brother:

[www.classicrockrevisited.com]

I really like his new album, it's better than most of the stuff the Kinks put out in the '70s and '80s. Quite a few good songs on the new one. Sure would be nice to see a Kinks reunion, but I'm not holding my breath.

Ray Davies shortened appearance on the show

i can't rem if it was Monday or last week , but he was on Letterman or Leno , I think Letterman , he was good , new song was good , he got a big round of applesauce @ the end

Anyone read Ray's article in the latest Rolling Stone? I see comparisons to Jimmy Page in that all they really want to do is get "their band" back together...
So the race is on, who will we see (on the road) first, if at all?

Quote
BluzDude
Anyone read Ray's article in the latest Rolling Stone? I see comparisons to Jimmy Page in that all they really want to do is get "their band" back together...
So the race is on, who will we see (on the road) first, if at all?

Maybe Robert Plant and Dave Davies will tour together, just to spite their former band members.

Just watched the YouTube clip ... Ray is looking and sounding good. And it's pretty funny that Kelly Ripa named her daughter after a song about a transvestite.

You can still get Ray's excellent set from last year's BBC Electric Proms here:

[www.iorr.org]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-28 12:58 by Deltics.