Ray Davies
The Kinks’ main songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ray Davies had just finished dinner with his lady friend Suzanne Despies at a restaurant in the city’s French Quarter on January 5, 2004. They were strolling nearby when a car pulled up alongside them. Two men, one of them armed, jumped out and grabbed Despies’ purse, and then ran off. Davies pursued them and was shot in the leg.
With a high law enforcement presence throughout the Quarter due to the city hosting the Sugar Bowl championship football game over the New Year’s weekend, police were able to quickly respond to the incident. Davies was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released a few hours later.
Davies’ gallantry in chasing the criminals was not a wise move. Police chief Eddie Compass said: “I’m sorry for what happened but Mr Davies showed poor judgment in running after the individuals.” Despite his injury, Ray later credited the visit to the birthplace of jazz with reviving his musical spirit.
Watch Davies perform The Kinks’ “Dead End Street”
Related: Ray Davies was knighted in 2017
Talk of a Kinks reunion picked up steam in 2018, propelled by comments that Davies himself made. Discussions have been held with his guitarist brother Dave Davies and Kinks drummer Mick Avory. “I’ve got all these great songs,” Ray Davies said. In the meantime, they celebrated their 60th anniversary with the release of three anthologies, The Journey, available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
Related: Further talk in recent years of a Kinks reunion
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2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationYet another reason, to add to many other reasons, that Ray Davies is a TOP man.
Well, Ray apparently did not heed his own lyrics about people dying on dead end streets ..it could’ve been him
He’s one of the greatest to come out of the British invasion, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing him on stage anymore. His window closed probably a good five years or more ago.