Exhibitionist Interview: Ray Davies's Producer

If you're a big Kinks fan, you're going to like the new Ray Davies record. At least that's what I will say in Sunday's review. And pardon me for reading the liner notes, but it was hard not to notice that “Working Man’s Café” was co-produced by Ray Kennedy.

For the uninitiated, Kennedy is one half of the Twangtrust, the other side being Steve Earle. Together, the pair produced some of Earle’s best work from the ‘90s, and such albums as Lucinda Williams’s “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.” Kennedy was kind enough to submit to an e-mail interview.

Q: What were trying to get out of Ray for this album sound-wise, and explain a bit how you did it.

A: I was hoping for a career record that would document RD's skills as a writer and performer NOW. The songs would dictate the sounds, instruments and production with no regard to past recording history.

I consider the technical choices of mics, pre-amps signal path and other gear to be the foundation from which we get a sound that is rewarding enough to inspire performance. Pat Buchanan pretty much played my guitars through my vintage Vox AC 50 & AC 30 amps. Craig Young played my 59 Jazz bass and 64 Hofner and Shannon Forrest played my Gretch drum kit except one of his toms. So I got the sound I had in my head.

One big mission for me was to capture his voice and personality, tone, performance, character and London accent. He doesn't have the young toss it off attitude of early Kinks but he yet still has the chops, the attitude and the determination. The difference now is that he is very critical of his delivery and he does his best when he's not analyzing but just belting it out. It takes a bit of reckless abandon which is contrary to trying to deliver a precise emotion. A producer has to be somewhat of a psychologist too.

I had to prove to him we could do this in a very timely matter and not mess around with a lot of editing and overdubs.

So as a long time friend I convinced him to come to Nashville for a weekend and work one day with my chosen musicians. On a Saturday we started at noon, played the tunes for the band, discussed arrangements, ten cut 2 songs to 2" tape, did a few overdubs, told stories, had dinner, some extra vocal takes and mixed both by 11:00 and took him back to the hotel with the mixes to take back to the UK. I believe his pals in London were quite impressed for a one day effort.

One track "Vietnam Cowboys" made the record and the other "Peace In Our Time" we re-cut again more aggressive.

Getting in the moment is the key to making great records. It doesn't take a year to make a record.

We then made a plan to resume and cut the entire record at my Room & Board studio with the players I chose that RD liked very much. So when he returned we spent several days together in song evaluation, pre-production and arranging.

Then I rounded up the band and we went in and tracked 14 songs in 9 days with most of the overdubs and some rough mixes. I have to say Ray's songs are quite difficult to play with intricate chord changes, dynamics, pushes, modulations and very delicate balance of tones and feel for him to feel comfortable singing what he has envisioned. The band did a very good job of playing into his comfort zone and so things went very smooth once we learned the subtleties of each song.

Q: What did you think didn't work on his first solo record?

A: I know they spent way too long laboring over "Other People's Lives" and not enough focus on getting into the spirit of a body of songs. Sonically it is a bit harsh for my ears especially the drums/cymbals and not enough meat in the middle with the guitars carrying the music bed and some of the vocals are a bit buried. Also a bit loose on the bottom, not tight and well focused on the bass.

I did a track with him at Konk before that record but realized I might have to move to England if I got involved at all. It just happens my favorite songs are the same choices you made. Life After Breakfast, Next Door Neighbor and Thanksgiving Day. These contain all the storyteller sentiments and social commentary of the Ray Davies we always knew and admired.

Q: What was the hardest part about making his album?

A: The only hard part was the sell on getting RD to commit to making the journey and trusting me enough to put all the elements together and do it in the time frame I said was possible. I don't think he really believed we could do it my way and suggested 3 weeks of tracking due to the complexity of the songs.

Q: What did you like about these songs?

A: I love Ray's songs for the most part and his view of the world from the little microcosms and slices of life. The unabashed fearless political and social commentary that most writers shy away from trying to be neutral.

On this record we had about 28 contenders that we narrowed down to 18 that we worked on in pre-production in the hotel room till it became more obvious what would work as a collection of songs that belong together.

Q: Are there Kinks songs or albums you were thinking of when you worked with these songs?

A: Knowing the Kinks songs very well I was very determined not to pay any homage to copping anything from the past but most importantly help Ray find his voice and delivery on this new collection of songs.

Q: Was there ever any talk, from Ray, about his brother? Did you all every consider bringing Dave in to contribute?

A: Yes we talked about this many times and he told me of the several attempts he made to get Dave to come live with him or next door in the other townhouse he owns. Dave is in Devon and I was hoping we could round him up for a day or two to come play guitar and sing some background vocals. Apparently the communication is not very good and I thought about approaching Dave myself with a plea for his talents but it never felt like the right thing to do.

I heard all kinds of stories about the rivalry in the Kinks and the rough times when no one spoke and they all had separate dressing rooms etc. THAT'S ROCK N'ROLL

It was a great experience from day one on and because I stayed with him at his house in Highgate while mixing we got to spend our mornings and evenings just two muso's hanging out discussing politics, music, films, stories, and our 12 year old daughters.

His is Eva and mine is Evie and we're both very proud dad's who think the world revolves around these adorable little very smart girls. They are so similar and bound to meet up in Ireland this summer as we go there every July.