Ray Davies and Dave Davies have had a heated 2014, but there is a difference between not wanting to tour together and straight-up lying to the public. The Kinks brothers have put themselves in that position, as only one of them can be telling the truth in their latest controversy.
As radio.com noted, the current squabble is over the band's use of distorted guitars. Ray claimed he was the one who originated the sound.
"My brother Dave and I played records so loud it made the speakers distort, and we thought it'd be a nice idea to make the guitar sound that distorted, and we cranked up the amplifier and I stuck a knitting needle in it," Ray told NPR.
This story upset Dave, who recently took to his Facebook page in an attempt to set the record straight.
"My brother is lying," he wrote. "I don't know why he does this but it was my Elpico amp that I bought and out of frustration I cut the speaker cone up with a razor blade and I was so shocked and surprised and excited that it worked that I demonstrated the sound to Ray and Pete."
Pete refers to late bassist Pete Quaife, who died in 2010.
"Pete didn't even like it and laughed and said it sounded like a dog barking," Dave said. "Ray liked the sound and he had written a riff on the piano which formed the basis of the song 'You Really Got Me' and I played the riff on my guitar with MY new sound. I ALONE CREATED THIS SOUND."
Tell us how you really feel, Dave.
"Ray wrote 'You Really Got Me' and we used my guitar sound to embellish the song and riff," Dave said. "He never stuck a knitting needle or anything else in my amp. I wouldn't let anybody come near it. My amp was the ONLY amp we used to create this sound and I don't know why only in the past few years Ray has started changing the whole concept. I am just flabbergasted and shocked at the depth of his selfish desire to take credit for everything. I never once claimed songwriting royalties on 'You Really Got Me' yet this song would not have happened without my guitar sound."
Whatever the true story is, we will always have this rock gem:
