"See My Friends" Collaborative Album
Ray Davies became known to the music industry as the songwriter and member of the band The Kinks. The Kinks were active from the year 1964, and rocked the music world with songs such as All Day and All of the Night and You Really Got Me. They became a big influence within the industry. After their break up in 1996, Ray Davies embarked on a solo career. Now, to celebrate his active years in the spotlight, numerous famous artists have lent their talents to a new album called See My Friends, featuring a diverse range of songs that were recorded and made famous by The Kinks.
The Kinks experimented with various genres of music, but focused mainly on rock, pop and hard rock. Their distinctive sound gained them thousands of fans. To relive the memorable moments of his music career, Ray Davies has decided to record an album with various artists doing cover versions of The Kinks’ most popular hits. The hits and artists to look forward to include Better Things (Bruce Springsteen), Celluloid Heroes (Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora), Days / This Time Tomorrow (Mumford & Sons), Long Way From Home (Lucinda Williams & The 88), You Really Got Me (Metallica), Lola (Paloma Faith), Waterloo Sunset (Jackson Browne), Till the End of the Day (Alex Chilton & The 88), Dead End Street (Amy Macdonald), See My Friends (Spoon), This Is Where I Belong (Black Francis), David Watts (The 88), Tired of Waiting (Gary Lightbody) and All Day and All of the Night / Destroyer (Billy Corgan).
Ray Davies is extremely excited about the album, and explains that the project evolved purely by accident. With each track being performed by different artists, it adds a unique and thrilling edge to each song. Davies commented about the album by saying: “With some tracks I had to appreciate the style of the other artists, otherwise it would have sounded unbalanced. And I wanted the album to work as an entire listening experience, but each track had a life of its own.” Universal will be releasing the album See My Friends on 1 November 2010.