The Kinks Vs Van Halen: Battle Finally Commences
It’s taken him more than 30 years, but the The Kinks’ Dave Davies has finally offered his opinion on Van Halen’s cover of You Really Got Me. His verdict? “I’m sure Eddie Van Halen played better when he was drunk.”
Classic Rock’s Rob Hughes met up with Davies last week and they got talking about Van Halen’s 1978 cover of The Kinks classic.
Davies didn’t seem overly impressed by the VH version. Here’s what he had to say:
“Van Halen’s version was very Middle America. It was like, ‘Hey man, look at me with my tight trousers! Here’s our version of You Really Got Me!’
“There’s the thing: good art isn’t always about having the comfiest technique. I shouldn’t encourage him, but I’m sure Eddie Van Halen played better when he was drunk. But it must be a good record if people like it.
“We got pissed off though, when we played America. The Kinks had an album out called Low Budget [1979] and we ended up touring and playing stadiums. Some kid came up to me after one of the gigs and said: ‘I like your cover of Van Halen’s You Really Got Me.’ You have to smile sometimes.”
Love playing both versions on our Classic Rock station, JFL Radio.com, check it out!
Typical of the Americans to try and take credit for the first Heavy Metal single! Have to agree with Dave, even though Van Halen were excellent, their version lacks something in earthiness and is too polished. Here’s hoping that now Dave seems to be on the mend that there may be a Kinks reunion soon to give us old rockers a chance to see this most English of bands one more time… The Kinks rule!!
Hate the Van Halen version personally, whereas the original worked for just being a standard, simple rock song, the VH cover to me just seemed to be a chance for Eddie to show off his ability on guitar, and changed the song for the worse I think.
there’s me thinking it mod song?i like van halen more cos you dont see tits in suits dance too it
Nothing like a bitter old musician who had to have studio musicians lay down solos for them. Be happy with your two hits from the sixties!
rippin on classic VH?
where have all the good times gone?
Van Halen version is better. Then again, I am American.
Give me Mott the Hoople’s heavy but ramshackle version. That said, the Van Halen version is great, and it must’ve earned the writer(s) money………
vh version made it like a freight train coming right at you
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Davies can no longer continue with this interview bashing VH as he has to go cash his Monthly Royalty check…”
Go ahead, Kink Boy…BITE the hand that keeps feeding you.
Man, we got some bitter Brits in the house eh? I love the Kinks but Van Halen’s version smokes the original. Mr. Davies should be flattered that a Yankee actually wanted to cover a song by them.
The bitterness is telling…in face of a clearly superior version, Davies can only supply derisive remarks.
The Kinks version had charm and grit and deserves props for being the original.
But the VH version was full tilt brilliance designed for maximum impact. “middle america” ? Sorry it was full on California- sex, polish, hubris and fun…how to look good, play brilliantly, pick up chicks- all at 100mph…”oh Yea!”
Sorry, DaveD your quaint version just doesn’t hold a candle to VH’s….’sides you should be thanking them for allowing you to wallow in your bitterness comfortably with all the $$ their version made you.
and i would love to hear what chuck berry thought of the kinks covers of beautiful delilah and too much monkey business. He would probably get pissed at hearing his guitar licks butchered, and say the rhythm section sounded too english.
@Shaggy……I’m guessing that you really aren’t too intelligent!?
I can envisage you saying “It’s a fookin Mod song”, whilst spittle dribbles from the corners of your mouth.
Idiot!
Don’t forget Oingo Boingo did a version of You Really Got Me too, and Danny Elfman really bought the quirky out on that one.
@chewy i guess you was one of them tits lol yes kinks song was mod song unlike vh
@Shaggy…..For fuck sake youth, the word Mod is only a tag!
Open your ears/mind a little bit and have a listen to bands like The Creation, The Action (who evolved into Mighty Baby….Fantastic band)…Small Faces….etc, and tell me that they don’t fit into the Rock category.
….But it’s more than likely beyond you!
it really sucks when somebody can play your songs better than you,and just in case that little album was named top guitar album just this past week. Middle american? he’s just SOUR and BITTER,because he’s just an average guitar player joe,I recommend you just shout the hell up,BITTER OLD MAN,you totally SUCK!!!
I was gonna respond to Dave’s sour grapes, but Thor & Chuck is God put it perfectly! I’m quite certain Dave is cashing those nice fat royalty checks regularly!
Van Halen may owe a debt to The Kinks for helping them get started, but The Kinks owed at least some of their continued existence (late 70s/early 80s was a nice run in the US) to Van Halen.
In the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along”? I DO love both bands, by the way.
Why can’t one appreciate both versions? Eddie Van Halen’s playing on VH’s version of “You Really Got Me,” was fantastic, and made Eddie the most original guitarist…still…in the post Hendrix-Clapton-Beck-Page era.
However, The Kinks’ original still sounds better and more contemporary than anything else recorded in Britian or America in 1964…Has to be one of the five best rock singles ever made, a timeless classic right up there with the best Chuck Berry and Rolling Stones records.
There is one big difference between the two versions: One is an ORIGINAL. The other version VH is ok, but just aniother middle of the road cover. Well done.
The Kinks, “You Really Got Me”, is an important record. As the British conquered America and beyond with catchy pop songs, the Kinks (good on ya Dave) reminded listeners that real rock and roll was a guitar driven art form pioneered by Chuck and Bo. How in the world does Van Halen even fit into this conversation. Like this I suppose; banal, indulgent, moronic, juvenile…
Smitty – Where do you get your info? The Kinks had a few more than 2 hits in the 60’s, and you are a bigger fool than you sound if you believe the urban myth that Dave did not play all of the Kinks solos. Dave was 17 when he invented that guitar sound and laid it down. 17! How old are you and what have you done besides spray misinformation around the internet?
Get the factsstraight Smitty. Dave, at the ripe old age of 17, laid down his own track for YRGM. And the sound that was recorded had never been heard on this planet before,
smitty, your ignorance is staggering. even jimmy page admits he didn’t play any leads with the kinks, just backed up on rhythm. Two hits from the 60s? do your homework kid. the Kinks version of You Really Got Me is a landmark in recording history and is continually emulated some 46 years hence. and i’m a van halen fan, but can anyone name one van halen original that even comes within spitting distance of the original you really got me in terms of influence and lasting appeal.
@ Smitty,
Nobody ever layed down any solos for Dave Davies. Let me repeat…nobody!
Anyone can improve upon an original because they already have something to work with. The Kinks have influenced countless musicians and they practically invented heavy metal and punk rock for God sakes.
The VH version of YRGM is way over produced and too polished. It pales in comparison to the original in terms of a straightforward rock-n-roll recording.
Except for EVH, the other band members were average musicians at best, but here’s the bottom line…
The Kinks had numerous songs that will go down among the greatest in rock history. YRGM, ADAAOTN, Lola, Waterloo Sunset and Celluloid Heroes are just a few.
Van Halen has NONE!
C’mon folks. Let’s be objective about this and keep your idol worship and emotions to the side whether you are a Kinks fan or a VH fan.
One must look at these things objectively.
Yo, Smitty – Let me put this delicately…you’re an idiot. Dave Davies did all his own solos, invented the guitar sound made famous by the Kinks (and copied by countless others…to this day), has way more than 2 hits (30 + albums), and is right on about Eddie Van Halen’s playing. As pointed out above, Dave is an *original*.
yes dave is bitter as he doesent get any royalties directly from that song whether by him eddie or whoever covered it. the power chord riff came from an amalgam of chuck,big bill, jonnie johnson etc. but his solo was quite original for the times as he was only about seventeen then.
First off..Dave Davies gets no royalties,he didnt write it his brother did and what i believe he is saying like any journeyman would about a young player and in 1978 Eddie was young..was that he should loosen up it was too cultivated at the expense of feeling..it would be interesting to hear what Eddie would say himself now..Dave also says if people like it,it must be good . The Kinks created a sound we all have embraced,lets rock to both of them but i must admit my version will always be the Kinks 1980 live albums one…
Dave Davies, who`s a brilliantly original talent, gave his honest opinion on the merits of VH`s version. To anyone with a brain, the Kinks version is devastatingly original, timeless, still fresh after 46 tears!!! VH`s is cliched, one dimensional and overcooked, an entertaining, technically well played but meaningless cover. Smitty please note!! – Dave played all of the great solos on Kinks records, not session men. Also, Thor & Eighty six, you misinformed morons, YRGM was written by Ray Davies so Dave doesn`t receive any royalties from cover versions – even though some of them include vain attempts to copy his original guitar licks.
ANYONE who thinks VH’s version is better, or that the Kinks used studio musicians, has, obviously, never seen the Kinks live. They ROCK the house! They could still do it! And, I doubt if Van Halen could at this point.
Sorry, everyone who’s making the “be greatful for the royalty checks” argument: Dave didn’t write YRGM (or at least isn’t credited as a writer) so has never received a penny for it. If it was Ray speaking, you’d have a point, but since it isn’t, the argument flops.
Also, for Smitty: it’s well documented (Jimmy Page admitted it as far back as the 70s!) that Dave laid down the solo on EVERY Kinks track right from the start. The session men myth is a boring old “rock tale” chinese whispers piece a crap believed by 30 years out of date dullards.
And further for Smitty, “2 hits?” The Kinks actually achieved 16 top 50 Billboard entries, smoking Van Halen’s mere 15!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Look it up and cry.
Kinks- original song. VH copy. Dave Davies original guitarist. VH copy. Nuff said.
I like both versions. I don’t want to give anyone any ammo to attack, so lets revisit the facts. Country music (we used to call it hillbilly music) comes from the smoky mountains. The blues comes from the south; both bleed all over the place and amalgamated into different expressions. My problem is his criticism that it sounds middle american. WHERE DOES HE THINK ROCK N ROLL CAME FROM. Chuck Berry is from St. louis. Link Wray was born in North Carolina. Gene Vincent was born in Virginia. The Rolling stones played Chicago style blues. Allen Freed was raised Ohio. So Sorry. but ROCK AND ROLL WAS BORN/IS FROM CLEVELAND. It does not get any more middle american than Cleveland. VH version sounds like a bunch of gearheads took the song apart in their garage,rebuilt it, supercharged it, hotroded it put a really wicked paint job on it, and then raced it down at the speedway while high on 70’s weed and drunk on malt liqour. Which song makes you want to drive your car faster? I’ll bet most of the Englishmen who prefer the Kinks version don’t even own a car. Again, I like both versions and both bands alot. His snotty criticism however pissed me off. One more thing, In my opinion the Standells are one of the greatest pure Rock n Roll bands ever
never mind the widdlin guitar solo under pressure from big bro. how about his backing vocals? did they, not contribute somewhat to the overall sound of the kinks?.
I was in front row for VH in 1986 (sammy’s first tour) and was in front row for Ray Davies this past march. When VH are in their mid sixties and can put on a show like ray, then we’ll talk. It’s a shame Ray and Dave can’t get together and jam. I encourage people to read Ray’s autoboigraphy called X-ray. It will be then you realize the brilliance that the Kinks are.
Dave can rest assured the Kinks version will outlast VH’s version. It’s already happening. I hear the Kinks version a lot more on TV and movies.
To all those who are criticizing Ray and Dave for collecting royalty checks for the VH version, I am pretty sure they actually don’t do that.
They made their first deal when they were practically kids and got taken like so many musicians of their time. I don’t think they own the rights to their early songs. This is what their 1970 album “Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround” is about. This is why you only see their early stuff in commercials – they won’t degrade what they actually own.
So I guess, basically, you can stuff it if you think they should just shut up and buy a Mai Tai with their nice royalty money.
Dave Davies is not comparible to Eddie Van Halen…It is insulting to compare Dave to Eddie, Dave is superior in talent to Van Halen. That said, Dave should be flattered that Van Halen mimicked Dave and the Kinks, and brought more attention to the Kinks. The Kinks and Dave have and always will be under-rated, they are in my opinion the best rock group ever.