Revisiting The Kinks first ever live show
The Kinks were active for 33 years, breaking into the mainstream and becoming a part of the British Invasion in 1964 with their international hit ‘You Really Got Me’. The track, which hit the Top 10 in both the U.K. and U.S., became hugely influential, particularly inspiring later punk and metal musicians.
However, the band played under various names with differing members until officially becoming The Kinks in 1964. Influenced by a concoction of genres, from music hall to jazz to early rock and roll, brothers Ray and Dave Davies started playing music together. Soon, they formed the Ray Davies Quartet with friends Pete Quaife and John Start, going through a series of lead vocalists, including schoolmate Rod Stewart, who, of course, later found his own stardom.
The Ray Davies Quartet became the Ramrods before changing to the Bo-Weevils, the Pete Quaife Band and the Ravens. As the Ravens, the band were signed to Pye Records and began working with The Beatles’ promoter Arthur Howes and American producer Shel Talmy.
After drummer Mickey Willet was replaced by Mick Avory, the Ravens changed their name to The Kinks, becoming the band we now know and love. Avory arrived just a few days before the lineup played their first gig as The Kinks, which took place on February 1st 1964, at the Town Hall in Oxford, England.
Avory discussed his recruitment into the band, saying, “I actually joined the band through putting an ad in Melody Maker as a drummer seeking a rhythm and blues band. I went for an audition and they were playing the stuff I liked.” Apparently, the advertisement read, “Drummer. Young, good kit, read, seeks pro-R&B groups.”
Dave Davies recalled, “He was the best drummer we’d seen, but I didn’t have a gut feeling he was the right guy. The pressure was mounting to do stuff, and he looked good, he was a nice guy and played well.”
Regardless, the band took to the stage in support of the Downliners Sect, an R&B and blues-based rock band that hugely influenced David Bowie’s early music, with Van Morrison even referring to them as “The first British R&B I heard.”
The venue had only recently started putting on rock and roll shows, having played host to The Rolling Stones a month prior, and the crowd was relatively sparse – mainly populated by members of local bands.
However, a week later, The Kinks made their television debut on Ready, Steady Go!, playing their moderately recieved single ‘Long Tall Sally’. It wasn’t long until the band rose to become one of the most essential bands in the U.K., continuing the success of ‘You Really Got Me’ with ‘All Day and All Of The Night’, eventually releasing another one of their hit singles, ‘Lola’, in 1970.
Unfortunately, there is no video footage of the band’s first gig. Instead, check out an early recording of The Kinks playing in Paris:
