Ray Davies

Sir Raymond Douglas Davies (born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, with his younger brother Dave providing lead guitar and backing vocals; the Davies brothers were the band's only consistent members. He has also acted in, directed and produced shows for theatre and television. Known for focusing his lyrics on rock bands, English culture, nostalgia and social satire, he is often referred to as the "Godfather of Britpop", though he disputes this title. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Kinks in 1990. After the dissolution of the Kinks in 1996, he embarked on a solo career.

Raymond Douglas Davies was born at 6 Denmark Terrace in the Fortis Green area of London on 21 June 1944. He is the seventh of eight children born to working-class parents, including six elder sisters and younger brother Dave Davies. His father, Frederick George Davies, was a slaughterhouse worker. Frederick liked to hang out in pubs and was considered a ladies' man. He was born in Islington and his registered birth name was Frederick George Kelly.

Frederick's father, Henry Kelly, was a greengrocer who married Amy Elizabeth Smith at St Luke's Church in Kentish Town in 1887, and they had two children, Charles Henry and Frederick George. However, the marriage failed and Amy moved in with Harry Davies, bringing her two small children and her mother. Harry Davies, born in Minsterley in 1878, was an ostler who had moved with his family from Shropshire to Islington. Frederick George had changed his surname to Davies by the time he married Annie Florence Willmore (1905–1987) in Islington in 1924. Annie came from a "sprawling family". She had a sharp tongue and could be crude and forceful.

When Davies was still a small child, one of his older sisters became a star of the dance halls, and soon had a child out of wedlock by an African man, an unauthorised immigrant who subsequently disappeared from her life. The child, a daughter, was ultimately raised by Ray's mother. Ray attended William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School in Muswell Hill (now called Fortismere School) along with Rod Stewart. His first Spanish guitar was a birthday gift from his eldest sister Rene, who died at the age of 31 from a heart attack on the day before Ray's 13th birthday, while she was out dancing at the Lyceum Ballroom in the Strand, London in June 1957.

Davies was an art student at Hornsey College of Art in London in 1962–63. In late 1962 he became increasingly interested in music. At a Hornsey College Christmas dance, he sought advice from Alexis Korner who was playing at the dance with Blues Incorporated, and Korner introduced him to Giorgio Gomelsky, a promoter and future manager of the Yardbirds. Gomelsky arranged for Davies to play at his Piccadilly Club with the Dave Hunt Rhythm & Blues Band, and on New Year's Eve, the Ray Davies Quartet opened for Cyril Stapleton at the Lyceum Ballroom. A few days later he became the permanent guitarist for the Dave Hunt Band, an engagement that would only last about six weeks. The band were the house band at Gomelsky's new venture, the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond-upon-Thames. When the Dave Hunt Band were snowed in during the coldest winter since 1740, Gomelsky offered a gig to a new band called the Rolling Stones, who had previously supported Hunt at the Piccadilly and would take over the residency. Davies then joined the Hamilton King Band until June 1963. The Kinks (then known as the Ramrods) spent the summer supporting Rick Wayne on a tour of US airbases.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.