The Kinks’ Dave Davies: The 11 blues songs that changed my life
Dave Davies of The Kinks has recalled the blues records that shaped his musical journey, discovered largely through Dobells record shop in London's Soho where he and bassist Pete Quaife explored vinyl as young men. These discoveries, from artists including Sleepy John Estes and Sonny Boy Williamson to harmonica masters like Little Walter and John Lee Hooker, became foundational influences on The Kinks' approach to rock and roll, blending blues guitar and harmonica techniques that would define their early work.
The former Kinks guitarist traced his musical education to specific moments, including watching a 1956 film of Big Bill Broonzy performing in Paris and finding compilation albums featuring artists like Lazy Lester and Slim Harpo. John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," with its "perfect blues groove" that merged blues sensibilities with rock elements, proved particularly influential, inspiring The Kinks to reinterpret blues traditions through their own arrangements, including references in songs like "Last Of The Steam Powered Trains" from The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society.
- Dave Davies traces The Kinks' sound to blues discoveries at a London record shop.
- Artists like John Lee Hooker and Slim Harpo shaped the band's rock approach.
- Blues harmonica and guitar techniques became fundamental to their early work.
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Dave Davies is the guitarist of The Kinks, a British rock band that rose to prominence in the 1960s and became hugely influential in rock music worldwide. He has recently recalled how American blues music shaped both his guitar playing and the sound that defined the band from their earliest days.
In the late 1950s, Davies and his bandmates discovered blues records in London record shops, listening to artists such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson. They absorbed blues techniques from these recordings and blended them with rock and roll, creating the original sound that would make The Kinks famous.
This matters because The Kinks went on to pioneer new directions in rock music, and their innovations grew directly out of their engagement with American blues traditions. Davies's account demonstrates how British rock musicians of that era learned from and transformed American blues, a process that proved central to the development of modern rock music.