RAY DAVIES
''SEE MY FRIENDS''
NOVEMBER 1 2010
48:43
1 Better Things featuring Bruce Springsteen 03:10
2 Celluloid Heroes featuring Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora 05:17
3 DaysThis Time Tomorrow featuring Mumford & Sons 04:15
4 Long Way From Home featuring Lucinda Williams, The 88 03:03
5 You Really Got Me featuring Metallica 02:15
6 Lola featuring Paloma Faith 04:31
7 Waterloo Sunset featuring Jackson Browne 04:04
8 Till The End Of Day featuring Alex Chilton, The 88 02:40
9 Dead End Street featuring Amy Macdonald 03:28
10 See My Friends featuring Spoon 03:58
11 This Is Where I Belong featuring Black Francis 03:00
12 David Watts featuring The 88 02:18
13 Tired Of Waiting For You featuring Gary Lightbody 02:47
14 All Day And All Of The NightDestroyer featuring Billy Corgan 03:52
All Tracks By Davies
The 88/Featured Artist
Seye Adelekan/Guitar
Samuel Agard/Drums
Black Francis/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Jon Bon Jovi/Featured Artist, Vocals
Jackson Browne/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Alex Chilton/Featured Artist, Vocals
Felicia Collins/Guitar, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
Billy Corgan/Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Ian Cotterill/Congas
Britt Daniel/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ray Davies/Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ted Dwane/Double Bass, Vocals (Background)
Jim Eno/Drums, Percussion
Paloma Faith/Featured Artist, Vocals
Anton Fig/Drums
Ian Gibbons/Keyboards, Piano
Andrea Goldsworthy/Bass
Kirk Hammett/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals (Background)
Lisa Harris/Grooming
Eric Harvey/Keyboards
James Hetfield/Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Will Lee/Bass, Vocals (Background)
Gary Lightbody/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ben Lovett/Piano, Vocals (Background)
Amy Macdonald/Featured Artist, Vocals
Sid McGinnis/Guitar
Adam Merrin/Keyboards, Organ, Piano
Metallica/Featured Artist
Mumford & Sons/Featured Artist
Marcus Mumford/Drums, Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Vocals
Dick Nolan/Guitar (Bass)
Todd O'Keefe/Guitar (Bass), Vocals (Background)
Dominic Pipkin/Keyboards
Rob Pope/Bass
Richie Sambora/Featured Artist, Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Paul Shaffer/Harmonium, Organ, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Bill Shanley/Guitar, Guitar (Baritone)
Keith Slettendahl/Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Spoon/Featured Artist
Bruce Springsteen/Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Robert Trujillo/Guitar (Bass), Vocals (Background)
Mark Tulin/Guitar (Bass)
Lars Ulrich/Drums, Vocals (Background)
Ben Waters/Piano
Lucinda Williams/Featured Artist, Vocals
Damon Wilson/Drums
Marshall Winston/Banjo, Vocals (Background)
Anthony Zimmitti/Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A tribute album starring the man of honor himself, who also curated the whole affair, See My Friends is a bit of a curious creature. Certainly, Ray Davies' influence is so pervasive he could rope in a number of heavy hitters from a number of different generations. Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen sign up for duets; Metallica backs the legend on a rip through “You Really Got Me,” while Spoon offers suitably spacy support on “See My Friends”; Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora harmonize on a languid “Celluloid Heroes,” and Black Francis comes in to sing “This Is Where I Belong,” a song he covered with gusto some 16 years earlier. As it turns out, “This Is Where I Belong” provides a good indication of the energy level of See My Friends in general: the older dudes are comfortable playing with Ray while the newer dudes are respectful, delivering amiably mannered performances. It’s all pleasant enough, but it’s hard not to wish that more of the record had the kick of “Til The End of the Day,” where the late Alex Chilton seems genuinely enthused to sing with his idol.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
Ray Davies was the lead singer, chief songwriter, and rhythm guitarist in the Kinks, one of the most long-lived of the British Invasion rock groups of the 1960s. In effect, the Kinks had always been merely a backup group for Davies, who wrote and sang nearly all their songs with only the occasional contribution from his brother, Dave, who played lead guitar in the group. At various times, Ray Davies made noises about dissolving the group and going solo, but for years the closest he came to it was taking solo credit for the soundtrack to his 1985 film, Return to Waterloo (which he wrote and directed), even though the music sounds as much like the Kinks as that on any regular Kinks record.
During the '90s, however, the Kinks gradually became inactive and Davies pursued other projects, starting with his semi-fictional 1995 memoir, X-Ray. He supported the book with a series of concerts subtitled Storyteller, where he played classic Kinks songs, read from the book, told stories, and showcased new songs. The Storyteller concerts sowed the seeds of a number of projects, including the music cable network VH1's recurring series of the same name. Davies himself released a book entitled Storyteller, filled with short stories, and a similarly titled album that captured one of his solo acoustic concerts. That record was his first solo effort since Return to Waterloo, and was released in the spring of 1998.
In late 2005 he released the benefit EP Thanksgiving Day. All net proceeds raised by the EP went to New Orleans music education programs. A year later the full-length Other People's Lives appeared, followed by Working Man's Cafe in 2008. A year later, in 2009, Davies released choral orchestral arrangements of some of his hit songs for The Kinks Choral Collection. Davies then devoted himself to See My Friends, an album project where he revisited his catalog with the assistance of such admirers as Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Alex Chilton, Black Francis, Jackson Browne, and Spoon.
''SEE MY FRIENDS''
NOVEMBER 1 2010
48:43
1 Better Things featuring Bruce Springsteen 03:10
2 Celluloid Heroes featuring Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora 05:17
3 DaysThis Time Tomorrow featuring Mumford & Sons 04:15
4 Long Way From Home featuring Lucinda Williams, The 88 03:03
5 You Really Got Me featuring Metallica 02:15
6 Lola featuring Paloma Faith 04:31
7 Waterloo Sunset featuring Jackson Browne 04:04
8 Till The End Of Day featuring Alex Chilton, The 88 02:40
9 Dead End Street featuring Amy Macdonald 03:28
10 See My Friends featuring Spoon 03:58
11 This Is Where I Belong featuring Black Francis 03:00
12 David Watts featuring The 88 02:18
13 Tired Of Waiting For You featuring Gary Lightbody 02:47
14 All Day And All Of The NightDestroyer featuring Billy Corgan 03:52
All Tracks By Davies
The 88/Featured Artist
Seye Adelekan/Guitar
Samuel Agard/Drums
Black Francis/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Jon Bon Jovi/Featured Artist, Vocals
Jackson Browne/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Alex Chilton/Featured Artist, Vocals
Felicia Collins/Guitar, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
Billy Corgan/Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Ian Cotterill/Congas
Britt Daniel/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ray Davies/Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ted Dwane/Double Bass, Vocals (Background)
Jim Eno/Drums, Percussion
Paloma Faith/Featured Artist, Vocals
Anton Fig/Drums
Ian Gibbons/Keyboards, Piano
Andrea Goldsworthy/Bass
Kirk Hammett/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals (Background)
Lisa Harris/Grooming
Eric Harvey/Keyboards
James Hetfield/Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Will Lee/Bass, Vocals (Background)
Gary Lightbody/Featured Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Ben Lovett/Piano, Vocals (Background)
Amy Macdonald/Featured Artist, Vocals
Sid McGinnis/Guitar
Adam Merrin/Keyboards, Organ, Piano
Metallica/Featured Artist
Mumford & Sons/Featured Artist
Marcus Mumford/Drums, Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Vocals
Dick Nolan/Guitar (Bass)
Todd O'Keefe/Guitar (Bass), Vocals (Background)
Dominic Pipkin/Keyboards
Rob Pope/Bass
Richie Sambora/Featured Artist, Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Paul Shaffer/Harmonium, Organ, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Bill Shanley/Guitar, Guitar (Baritone)
Keith Slettendahl/Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Spoon/Featured Artist
Bruce Springsteen/Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Robert Trujillo/Guitar (Bass), Vocals (Background)
Mark Tulin/Guitar (Bass)
Lars Ulrich/Drums, Vocals (Background)
Ben Waters/Piano
Lucinda Williams/Featured Artist, Vocals
Damon Wilson/Drums
Marshall Winston/Banjo, Vocals (Background)
Anthony Zimmitti/Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A tribute album starring the man of honor himself, who also curated the whole affair, See My Friends is a bit of a curious creature. Certainly, Ray Davies' influence is so pervasive he could rope in a number of heavy hitters from a number of different generations. Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen sign up for duets; Metallica backs the legend on a rip through “You Really Got Me,” while Spoon offers suitably spacy support on “See My Friends”; Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora harmonize on a languid “Celluloid Heroes,” and Black Francis comes in to sing “This Is Where I Belong,” a song he covered with gusto some 16 years earlier. As it turns out, “This Is Where I Belong” provides a good indication of the energy level of See My Friends in general: the older dudes are comfortable playing with Ray while the newer dudes are respectful, delivering amiably mannered performances. It’s all pleasant enough, but it’s hard not to wish that more of the record had the kick of “Til The End of the Day,” where the late Alex Chilton seems genuinely enthused to sing with his idol.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
Ray Davies was the lead singer, chief songwriter, and rhythm guitarist in the Kinks, one of the most long-lived of the British Invasion rock groups of the 1960s. In effect, the Kinks had always been merely a backup group for Davies, who wrote and sang nearly all their songs with only the occasional contribution from his brother, Dave, who played lead guitar in the group. At various times, Ray Davies made noises about dissolving the group and going solo, but for years the closest he came to it was taking solo credit for the soundtrack to his 1985 film, Return to Waterloo (which he wrote and directed), even though the music sounds as much like the Kinks as that on any regular Kinks record.
During the '90s, however, the Kinks gradually became inactive and Davies pursued other projects, starting with his semi-fictional 1995 memoir, X-Ray. He supported the book with a series of concerts subtitled Storyteller, where he played classic Kinks songs, read from the book, told stories, and showcased new songs. The Storyteller concerts sowed the seeds of a number of projects, including the music cable network VH1's recurring series of the same name. Davies himself released a book entitled Storyteller, filled with short stories, and a similarly titled album that captured one of his solo acoustic concerts. That record was his first solo effort since Return to Waterloo, and was released in the spring of 1998.
In late 2005 he released the benefit EP Thanksgiving Day. All net proceeds raised by the EP went to New Orleans music education programs. A year later the full-length Other People's Lives appeared, followed by Working Man's Cafe in 2008. A year later, in 2009, Davies released choral orchestral arrangements of some of his hit songs for The Kinks Choral Collection. Davies then devoted himself to See My Friends, an album project where he revisited his catalog with the assistance of such admirers as Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Alex Chilton, Black Francis, Jackson Browne, and Spoon.