The songs of the iconic British rock band The Kinks have often been described as “quintessentially English”. More than that, however, many of them are “quintessentially London”,.
This is not surprising, as master songwriter Ray Davies has clearly never forgotten his London roots, drawing inspiration from the area for many of his songs, and has always retained a home in the area. He still lives only a few miles from the house in Muswell Hill where he and his brother, lead guitarist Dave Davies, grew up.
This site, dedicated to London locations relevant to the career of the Kinks, or mentioned in the lyrics of songs by Ray or Dave Davies, brings together an updated version of the Big Black Smoke and four suggested tours of The Kinks’ London - redesigned versions of The Great North London Kinks Tour and The Little North London Kinks Tour and, new, The Great Central London Kinks Tour and The Little Central London Kinks Tour.
The acclaimed Big Black Smoke site was first constructed in 1997, by Jim Smart and Geoff Lewis, who live thousands of miles apart, Jim in Honolulu, Hawaii, Geoff in Worcester, UK and had never even met when the original site was first published.
They did meet subsequently that year and played the famous “Jim Chickens Out” gig together at The Dragon Inn, Worcester with a band that was put together for the occasion, but continues playing gigs to this day, as The Fingers, although the venues are rather to far for Jim to attend.
The following year, they met again, on a songwriting course, given by Ray Davies himself.
Although they have of course always kept in touch, Jim and Geoff didn’t meet again until Jim visited the UK in 2010. The Jim Chickens Out line-up was re-formed to play at The Marr’s Bar, Worcester. A few days later, Jim and Geoff jammed together in the Kinks Room at The Clissold Arms, Muswell Hill. To their delight, members of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, who regularly perform with Ray Davies, and who happened to be having an after-practice meal at the pub, sang along with them. The owner of the pub, George Karageorgis, was so delighted with this that, as a result, an annual Kinks singalong now takes place in the Clissold Arms Kinks Room, led by Geoff, the evening before the yearly Official Kinks Fan Club meeting.
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