![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Dave-Davies-David-Davies-Guitarist-The-Kinks-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Sun 18 January 2026 13:30, UK <\/p>\n
It\u2019s often forgotten just how influential Dave Davies<\/a>\u2019 guitar technique really was.<\/p>\n His elder brother and Kinks frontman, Ray, isn\u2019t without an endless shower of plaudits and accolades, celebrated as one of the finest songwriters the UK has ever birthed, with special praise afforded to his unique lyrical pen\u2019s capture of the English sensibility. Yet, in the rock and pop canon, Dave Davies doesn\u2019t often spring to mind when considering the all-time guitar greats.<\/p>\n It\u2019s partly down to his lack of showboating. Despite boasting a dextrous handling of both rhythm and lead, Davies always remained tethered to the integrity of the song, coating Ray\u2019s lion\u2019s share of the songwriting with colourful melody lines that never distracted from what was needed in the moment. Then there were the power chords and distortion. Leaving an impression on future heavy metal and punk, \u2018You Really Got Me\u2019s meaty garage riffage would show that rawness need not impede pop appeal, the 1964 hit launching them to the States during the British invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Much of the era\u2019s guitar maestros would namecheck Davies\u2019 inventive use of sonic abrasion, Pete Townshend taking notes on \u2018You Really Got Me\u2019s aggression, the distortion providing pointers to future Yardbirds and Cream hits, and prompting heavy Black Sabbath lord Tony Iommi to down-tune his strings.<\/p>\n Another budding guitarist paying close attention was Jimmy Page. Before finding fame with Led Zeppelin, Page had racked up countless recording credits as an in-demand session guitarist, laying down tracks for everybody from The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Marianne Faithfull, plus a slew of soundtracks and stock library muzak. From this period, longstanding rumours abounded that Page, in fact, cut the lead solos on many of their early work while working with the producer behind many of The Kinks\u2019 early classics.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see, Jimmy Page was a friend of Shel Talmy\u2019s, and was a session player who used to hang around and hope that he could get in on sessions,\u201d Davies clarified to Guitar Player in 1990. \u201cAnd we locked him out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut he learned a lot, you know, like the many other people who wouldn\u2019t admit borrowing from the Kinks,\u201d Davies curtly added. \u201cAnd I suppose when he became successful himself, all credit due to him, his ego was so inflated he probably thought he invented the bloody instrument anyway, being carried along on that crystal and glamour.\u201d<\/p>\n