Ray Davies led the Kinks through a period of musical experimentation between 1966 and 1975, with notable artistic achievements and commercial success. The Kinks' early recordings ranged from covers of R&B standards like Long Tall Sally and Got Love If You Want It to the more influential power chord-based hard rock of the band's first two hit singles, You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night.
5 Part Pops for Brass is part of a new collection of Pop inspired arrangements for Brass Quintet arranged by Chris Wilcox.
We hope this repertoire will prompt a growing inquisitiveness for young brass players, and was created with a brass club or gathering in mind.
All transposed parts are included.
Ray Davies (Sir Raymond Douglas Davies, CBE) was born in North London, June 1944. He is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for The Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for theatre and television and is often referred to as the Godfather of Britpop. With The Kinks, Davies emerged as the chief songwriter and de facto leader of the band, especially after the band's breakthrough success with his early composition You Really Got Me. He began to explore the aspirations and frustrations of common working-class people, with particular emphasis on the psychological effects of the British class system. As the band began to experiment with theatrical sound effects and baroque musical arrangements, Davies' songwriting fully acquired its distinctive elements of narrative, observation and wry social commentary. His topical songs took aim at the complacency and indolence of wealthy playboys and the upper class (A House in the Country, Sunny Afternoon), the self-indulgent spendthrift nouveau riche (Most Exclusive Residence For Sale) and the mercenary nature of the music business itself (Session Man). In a similar vein, Dedicated Follower of Fashion wittily satirized the consumerism and celebrity worship of Carnaby Street and Swinging London. The Kinks have been called "the most adamantly British of the Brit Invasion bands” on account of Ray Davies' abiding fascination with England's imperial past and his tender, bittersweet evocations of a vanishing, romanticised world of village greens, pubs and public schools. In January 2004, Davies was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who had snatched the purse of his companion as they walked in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The shooting came less than a week after Davies was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. Davies was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the arts.
