Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road: The Story - Tapa dura

"The Kinks frontman published "X-Ray", his 'unauthorized autobiography, ' in 1994, long before his peers started telling their own tales of decadence and recovery. "Americana" is alternately a sequel and parallel companion piece to "X-Ray", chronicling his later years and his lifelong relationship with the country and culture that inspired him. . . . Davies is candid and honest about his personal and creative struggles. . . . [He writes] 'the immovable "You" is always there, whether you like it or not.'" --"The New York Times"

"The Kinks frontman published "X-Ray," his 'unauthorized autobiography, ' in 1994, long before his peers started telling their own tales of decadence and recovery. "Americana" is alternately a sequel and parallel companion piece to "X-Ray," chronicling his later years and his lifelong relationship with the country and culture that inspired him. . . . Davies is candid and honest about his personal and creative struggles. . . . [He writes] 'the immovable "You" is always there, whether you like it or not.'" --"The New York Times"

"The Kinks frontman published X-Ray, his 'unauthorized autobiography, ' in 1994, long before his peers started telling their own tales of decadence and recovery. Americana is alternately a sequel and parallel companion piece to X-Ray, chronicling his later years and his lifelong relationship with the country and culture that inspired him. . . . Davies is candid and honest about his personal and creative struggles. . . . [He writes] 'the immovable "You" is always there, whether you like it or not.' The New York Times"

As a boy in post-War England, legendary Kinks' singer/songwriter Ray Davies fell in love with America—its movies and music, its culture of freedom, fed his imagination. Then, as part of the British Invasion, he toured the US with the Kinks during one of the most tumultuous eras in recent history—until the Kinks group was banned from performing there from 1965-69. Many tours and trips later, while living in New Orleans, he experienced a transformative event: the shooting (a result of a botched robbery) that nearly took his life. In Americana, Davies tries to make sense of his long love-hate relationship with the country that both inspired and frustrated him. From his quintessentially English perspective as a Kink, Davies—with candor, humor, and wit—takes us on a very personal road trip through his life and storied career as a rock star, and reveals what music, fame, and America really mean to him. Some of the most fascinating characters in recent pop culture make appearances, from the famous to the perhaps even-more-interesting behind-the-scenes players. The book also includes a photographic insert with images from Davies's own collection from the band's archive.