X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography: A Speculative Memoir of the Kinks and the Death of the Sixties - Paperback

by Ray Davies (Author)

A work of high-concept genius--the most original rock memoir ever written.

Sir Ray Davies--the mastermind behind The Kinks and the poet laureate of British rock--doesn't do "traditional." In this subversively brilliant, one-of-a-kind memoir, the man who gave us "Waterloo Sunset" and "Lola" deconstructs the very idea of the rock autobiography.

X-Ray is not a standard autobiography. It is a psychological interrogation disguised as a rock-and-roll odyssey. Through the "X-Ray" lens of a narrator you can't quite trust, Davies deconstructs his own myth--from the jagged, distorted riffs of "You Really Got Me" to the pastoral melancholy of The Village Green Preservation Society.

This one-of-a-kind rock memoir captures the friction between Ray and his brother Dave, the crushing weight of the music industry "Moneygoround," and the melancholic genius of a man who was always Not Like Everybody Else. For fans of David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and literary rock history, X-Ray remains a gold standard of the genre.

In a chillingly familiar near-future, a global "Corporation" controls the narrative of history. Their latest assignment for a young, nameless investigator: extract the truth from R.D.D.--an aging, reclusive cultural icon known to the world as Ray Davies.

As the investigator probes deeper, the lines between the 1960s London "Swinging" scene and a sterile, controlled future begin to blur. This is a story of two brothers at war, a band banned from the very country they helped define, and a songwriter who predicted the corporate takeover of the human soul decades before it happened.

Why this is essential reading:

• The Original Rock Meta-Memoir: Experience the experimental narrative structure that predated the modern "post-truth" era.
• A Prophet of the Ordinary: Revisit Davies's uncanny social commentary on British identity, suburban isolation, and the "Moneygoround" of the music industry.
• Beyond the Music: A literary achievement that's ripe for rediscovery, proving that Ray Davies was always Not Like Everybody Else.

"In an age when everybody's in show business and writes a lousy book about it, Ray Davies is to be honored for not doing the usual thing." --Rolling Stone

Back Jacket

The shocking and edgy memoirs of Ray Davies, a dedicated enemy of fashion and the lead singer of The Kinks, is the must-read rock book of the year. Subversively brilliant, this one-of-a-kind rock autobiography, ingeniously styled as a biography, is written by a nameless, faceless writer hired by an Orwellian entity called "the Corporation" to capture the essence of Ray Davies, lead singer and song writer of The Kinks and one of the greatest rock and rollers of all time. "R.D". tells the story of his life - or does he? Tales of London and the rock scene of the swinging Sixties evolve in a labrynthine and thoroughly engrossing fashion as the Kinks frontman reveals his life and times to the young writer, often seemingly passing his stories directly into the writer's consciousness. Carnaby street, "Top of the Pops", The Cavern Club, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Who and other fixtures of the times fade in and out of this compelling narrative. Part autobiography, part social history, part psychological thriller, this elusive and daring book exposes rock stardom as the heaven, hell, and purgatory it is.

Author Biography

Ray Davies was born and still lives in north London. Together with his younger brother, Dave, he launched The Kinks in 1964. Their first number- one single, "You Really Got Me," was followed by thirty albums and a series of hit singles, including "Waterloo Sunset" and "Lola."