<\/p>\n He\u2019s previously regaled us with his tales of Townshend\u2019s guitar-smashing exploits<\/a> and Bob Dylan\u2019s odd behavior <\/a>on the set of his 1989 film, Hearts of Fire. Here he adds three more stories of his adventures with Ray Davies, David Bowie and Keith Richards.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Dave Davies and she who shall not be named<\/p>\n When the Kinks\u2019 Ray Davies sought his guitar-playing services for his 2006 solo album, Other People’s Lives, Bolton says friends cautioned him that Davies could be difficult. \u201cThey warned me to be careful with Ray as he was a really weird guy and didn\u2019t suffer fools lightly.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I went up to his Konk Studios in North London to meet him, and he could not have been any nicer. Once he discovered I was a vegetarian too, like him, he would meet me at the studio with biscuits. He\u2019d say, \u2018Steve, have you tried these vegetarian biscuits?\u2019 He was really sweet, and we got on like a house on fire after that.<\/p>\n \n Ray Davies sits at the console at his Konk Studios, in London, 2009. (Image credit: Richard Ecclestone\/Redferns)<\/p>\n \u201cBut with that said, there are certain things with Ray Davies you don\u2019t ever talk about. And one of them is Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders.\u201d<\/p>\n From 1980 to 1984, Hynde and Davies were in a volatile relationship that produced a daughter. They subsequently broke up and were still feuding more than 20 years later when Bolton was working with him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it was an unwritten law to not mention her name,\u201d Bolton continues.<\/p>\n Which made it inevitable that he would say something he shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a control room one day with a lead from my electric guitar<\/a> going out into my amp in the studio and I\u2019m doing an overdub for this track. I\u2019ve got a really cool guitar part happening, and as I get around the chord progression, I do a couple of runs at it. One\u2019s a kind of a more regular rolling arpeggio thing, while the other is a bit more way out there, where I\u2019m taking more liberties with it.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cLater, we\u2019re listening back to both overdubs and the producer, Laurie Latham, says to me, \u2018Steve, I prefer the first one, the more regular approach.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThen Ray looks at me and goes, \u2018Yeah, Steve, I prefer the more regular approach too. I agree with Laurie.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I go, \u2018Well actually, I prefer the more laissez-faire version because the more regular approach sounds a bit too much like\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then, suddenly, a voice in my head goes, \u2018Go on! Say it, say it!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI go, \u2018It sounds a bit too much like The Pretenders!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the whole room goes eerily quiet. I look at Ray and say, \u2018No offense.\u2019 And Ray goes, \u2018No offense taken. I know exactly what you mean.\u2019 Whew, I got away with that one!\u201d<\/p>\n (For the record, Davies and Hynde patched up their differences and recorded a duet in 2009.)<\/p>\n \n Steve Bolton performs with Atomic Rooster at the 2 Days Prog + 1 festival in Italy, September 2, 2022. (Image credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n Bolton believes that the rapport he developed with Davies proved pivotal to changing Davies\u2019s approach to his guitar sounds on the recording.<\/p>\n \u201cI would go up there most days during the week to do guitar overdubs. Ray would put a bit of guitar on as well, but his guitar parts would be all sort of like flanging and chorus-y, and very \u201980s sounding. I said to him one day, \u2018Hey, no offense, but go get that Telecaster<\/a> out, and give the parts some guts like you do on \u201cAll Day and All of the Night,\u201d where you do that counter-rhythm thing.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he turned to me and said, \u2018Really?\u2019 And I answered, \u2018Absolutely! That\u2019s what people love about the Kinks \u2014 that old sound.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe was trying to follow the \u201980s fashion at that point, but I fired him up after that.\u201d<\/p>\n David Bowie concurs<\/p>\n \u201cOne day, I got a call from producer Tony Visconti who said, \u2018I’ve got a session for you tomorrow,\u2019\u201d Bolton recalls. \u201c\u2018It’s with somebody really famous and you can probably guess who it is. So, can you be at my studio, Good Earth Studios in London\u2019s Soho tomorrow?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I get there the next day, of course, David Bowie<\/a> was there. The recording sessions were for the television program The Kenny Everett Video Show. David had to remake a number of tracks because the union required that artists re-record their material for broadcast.<\/p>\n \u201cSo here I am, in the recording booth playing acoustic guitar<\/a> together with David on \u2018Space Oddity,\u2019 and I go, \u2018Oh my god, David Bowie!\u2019 And he looks at me and replies, \u2018That\u2019s right.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then we both just carried on strumming.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Ray](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rvNnX8sYaiSgDiKDhcmQX4.jpg\")
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