Ray Davies can relate to the stress and anxiety that many Metro readers experience during the daily commute to work.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and former Kinks singer and rhythm guitarist used to work on the band’s music while taking the train.
“I used to commute, going into London to go and make records with the Kinks,” he says, “I used to do the playbacks on the train with a tape recorder.”
Davies says it was these types of everyday experiences, in addition to observations on globalization and workplace pressure, that inspired Working Man’s Café, the latest solo album from the 63- year-old British Invasion icon. Inspiration also came from a 2004 mugging in New Orleans that resulted in Davies being shot. “I was just amazed how much a little dot could hurt,” he says.
Even if fans are happy with Davies’s new disc, they may be happier to know that a reunion tour is now more dependent upon his brother (Kinks guitarist) Dave recovering from a stroke rather than the end of the duo’s legendary feud.
“It would be done if he (Dave) can do it,” he says, adding, “I don’t want to do it just to play the old songs. I’d like to think that the band still has a dynamic or a chemistry that enables it to do new stuff.”
