Mick Avory

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Mick Avory
Background information
Birth name	Michael Charles Avory
Born	February 15, 1944
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Rock and Roll/British Invasion
Occupation(s)	Drummer, percussionist
Instrument(s)	drums
Years active	1962 - present
Label(s)	Pye RCA Arista Records
Associated acts	The Kinks (1964-1984)
Website	Mick Avory at Drummerworld

Michael Charles Avory (born February 15, 1944 in London, England) was the drummer for The Kinks from their formation in 1964 to 1984. In 1962, before he joined The Kinks, he briefly played drums for The Rolling Stones. He played their first show at The Marquee Club, but his tenure did not last long. He was subsequently replaced by their current drummer Charlie Watts.

1 Biography
2 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Work with the band (1964-1984)

Avory was hired by the Kinks (who had just changed their name at that time from the Ravens) in January 1964, after their management saw an advertisement he had placed in the trade magazine Melody Maker. Despite his ability, early Kinks' recordings (including hits such as You Really Got Me) commonly did not feature Avory on drums; producer Shel Talmy hired more seasoned session drummers (most notably Clem Cattini and Bobby Graham) for studio work well into 1965, with Avory commonly providing supporting percussion. After the summer of 1964, Mick played drums on virtually the majority of Kinks recordings. The first album to feature his drumming was Kinda Kinks, though his most brilliant moments would come on the albums Village Green Preservation Society and Arthur . His last recorded performance was on Word of Mouth, where he was featured on three tracks, although he had not been an official member of the band for some time. Avory is also the third member behind the Davies brothers, who had played with all the bandmembers, who have been in the different incarnations of the band.

Avory was always considered the quietest and most easy-going member of the Kinks lineup and was Ray Davies's best friend. However, his turbulent working relationship with guitarist Dave Davies resulted in many legendary onstage fights. In the most notorious (and widely mis-reported) incident, at The Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, S.Wales in 1965, Avory hit Davies with his drum pedal (not the cymbal stand, which, according to later interviews with Avory "would have decapitated him"), in reprisal for Davies kicking over his drumkit as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in Taunton, apparently won by Mick. He then fled into hiding for days to avoid arrest for Grievous Bodily Harm. Other times, fuming, he would hurl his drumsticks at Dave.

Ultimately, the relationship between Mick and the younger Davies brother would degrade to the point where Avory would leave the band. Later on, it would seem that Davies and Avory settled their differences, as Avory subsequently played the drums on "Rock 'N' Roll Cities", a track on the Think Visual album written by Dave Davies. Mick was asked to rejoin by Ray, but he declined as he wanted to rest of the non-stop touring, working and performing schedule for 2 decades.

[edit] Leaving and current work (1985-present)

By agreement with Ray Davies, he left performing and recording with the band in 1984, after his working relationship with Dave Davies had become unsustainable.

Ray explained the situation: "The saddest day for me was when Mick left. Dave and Mick just couldn't get along. There were terrible fights, and I got to the point where I couldn't cope with it any more. Push came to shove, and to avoid an argument I couldn't face....we were doing a track called "Good Day" and I couldn't face having Mick and Dave in the studio, so I did it with a drum machine. Dave said he wanted to replace Mick, and Mick had an important sound. Mick wasn't a great drummer, but he was a jazz drummer - same school, same era as Charlie Watts. I took Mick out, and we got very, very drunk. We were in Guildford, and after about five pints of this wonderful scrumpy, Mick said if any other band offered him a tour, he wouldn't take it, because he didn't want to tour. And I remember him getting the train back - because he was banned from driving; it was a very bad year for Mick - and he walked to the station and disappeared into the mist." Avory was subsequently replaced by Bob Henrit, former drummer with Unit 4 + 2 and Argent.

He has continued since 1984 in a management role with the Kinks and their Konk Studio in London. However he still performed on some tracks of their sophomore albums like Think Visual and Word of Mouth. After the band stopped working in 1996, he started playing with the Kast-Off Kinks, along with John Dalton, Dave Clarke (no relation to the Dave Clark of "The Dave Clark Five"), and John Gosling. He has performed with them ever since. He has managed to patch up his relationship with Dave Davies, and now is friends with both Davies brothers. He keeps in regular contact and continues to manage Konk studios in London. He was inducted into the both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, with original bassist Pete Quaife and the Davies brothers.

By April 2004 by request of The Animals, who were about to do their 40th anniversary tour. Chip Hawkes (formerly of The Tremeloes) was asked to form a band to tour along with them. This he did and brought together a true beat-era supergroup. The band features former original members of British 60's-era groups, including Avory, Eric Haydock (The Hollies) and Hawkes, who have now combined to perform as The Class of 64 (referring to the actual year the British Invasion took America by storm), also featuring guitarists 'Telecaster Ted' Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The band have toured around the world, and have recorded an album of their former band's hits, as well as a new single.

[edit] Subsequent Influence

Although he initially lacked studio experience during their first few albums, Avory extended his skill and range considerably during the sophomore Kinks albums, and during the next twenty years, performed on nearly all of the band's material. By his second decade with the Kinks he had become a powerful, highly professional drummer. From more than 20 albums, many of them pop and rock masterpieces, only a handful of Kinks albums do not feature his skills. He is also cited as an influence by various modern rock drummers such as Tré Cool of Green Day and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden/Pearl Jam. His solid performance is similar to that of Charlie Watts (both were jazz drummers before joining their respective bands). Avory is often praised for his steady rhythmic style – playing behind the beat, supporting the songs steadily, solidly and incessantly, rather than going out in front.

Due to his role as a mediator between the warring Davies brothers, Avory's departure is often cited as one of the main reasons for the band's commercial and critical deterioration.

[edit] External links

The Kinks
Ray Davies – Dave Davies – Bob Henrit – Pete Quaife – Ian Gibbons – Mick Avory
John Gosling – John Dalton – Andy Pyle – Gordon Edwards – Jim Rodford
Discography
Important Albums: Face to Face (1966) - Something Else by the Kinks (1967) - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968) - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969) - Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970) - Muswell Hillbillies (1971) - Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972) - Sleepwalker (1977) - Misfits (1978) - Low Budget (1979) - Give the People What They Want (1981) - State of Confusion (1983)
Songs: "You Really Got Me" – "Waterloo Sunset" – "Lola"