Dave Davies Debunks Story Claiming Jimmy Page Played on The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’
Jimmy Page played plenty of session gigs during his stint as a freelance guitarist prior to joining the Yardbirds and founding Led Zeppelin. Was one of them the Kinks classic ‘You Really Got Me‘?
Not according to Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, who has taken to Facebook to refute a recent BBC documentary that repeats the oft-repeated claim that Page played the song’s solo. “BBC TELLS LIES ABOUT DAVE DAVIES AND THE KINKS IN THEIR NEW DOCUMENTARY,” shouted Davies in his post. PLEASE TWEET YOUR COMMENTS AT BBC DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER @KELLIEREDMOND @dannybaker5live AND @BBCRadio2. Tell them to get their facts straight…I, Dave Davies, invented the distorted guitar sound and played the solo on ‘You Really Got Me’ and Ray Davies played rhythm guitar. We never used ANY other guitarists on any Kinks hits.”
It’s easy to understand Davies’ ire, as the show in question — an episode of ‘Radio 2 Guitar Season‘ — furthers a myth that many involved in the actual sessions have gone out of their way to debunk. Page himself denied the story during an interview with Sound on Sound, saying point blank, “I didn’t play on ‘You Really Got Me.'”
Moreover, added Page, Kinks co-founder Ray Davies objected to Page’s presence in the first place. “I didn’t really do that much on the Kinks’ records,” he insisted. “I know I managed to get a couple of riffs in on their album, but I can’t really remember. I know that Ray didn’t really approve of my presence. The Kinks just didn’t want me around when they were recording. It was [producer] Shel Talmy’s idea.”
“We used Jimmy Page on some Kinks stuff so Ray didn’t have to play rhythm guitar as well as sing,” explained Talmy in a separate interview. “But, contrary to myth, Jimmy didn’t play on ‘You Really Got Me.’ Dave was a hugely underrated guitarist, too. Everyone copied his sound.”
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