A Scottish gig that lives on in rock history.When The Kinks rolled up in their Transit van outside the Kelvin Hall The Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, is a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition centre in 1927. It has been a music hall, indoor arena and barrage balloon factory, and is currently home to Glasgow's Museum of Transport and the Kelvin Hall International in Glasgow, band leader Ray Davies' heart sunk. The date was April 1, 1967 ... and the scene looked more like some April Fool joke than the setting to record their first live album. The venue was besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. by screaming girls determined to grab a piece of the group who'd shot to No.1 with the hit singleYou Really Got Me three years earlier. As Ray, his guitarist brother Dave, bass player Pete Quaife Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife, (born on December 31 1943), is an English musician, artist and writer. He was a founding member and the original bass guitarist for The Kinks, from 1963 until 1969. and drummer Mick Avory Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944 in East Molesey, Surrey, England) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for The Kinks from their formation in 1964 to 1984. walked on stage all hell broke loose. Dave struck the riff of opening number Till The End Of The Day but was barely audible above the crescendo cres·cen·do n. pl. cres·cen·dos or cres·cen·di 1. Abbr. cr. Music a. A gradual increase, especially in the volume or intensity of sound in a passage. b. of screams. But their storming set - which included Well Respected Man, Sunny Afternoon and You Really Got Me - became one of the most lauded live albums in rock history. "I remember seeing all these hysterical girls and thinking: 'Oh no ... we'll never get this on record,'" recalled Ray, laughing. "Some mics were turned towards the audience ... no wonder they sounded so loud. "The album is so typical of what doing a gig was like at that time. For the first four years The Kinks toured we couldn't hear ourselves at all. "Recording the show seemed too much of a long shot. "But when you listen to the album now it's an exciting record. "The sound quality is not perfect but it really captured The Kinks of that moment." The last time The Kinks played together was in 1996. Bassist Pete had already quit in 1969 while drummer Mick left in 1984. But now record industry buzz is that Ray plans to reform the group. "There IS a desire to do it.The thing that would make me decide 'yes' or 'no' would be whether we could record new songs," he said. "I'd be prepared to contemplate writing a new Kinks' album and taking the thing a stage further." Ray is adamant he WON'T reform The Kinks just for a big pay day. He said: "The only way to do it is for free - don't do it just for the money. "As soon as you start thinking of some big pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, disaster strikes. "Money would not be my motivation." CAPTION(S): LIVELY SET... Mobbed by fans in 1964 |
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