Mick Avory
Michael Charles Avory (born
February 15,
1944 in
London, England) was the drummer for
The Kinks from their formation in
1963 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.
Work with the band (1963-1984)
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.
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.
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.
*
The Class of 64*
Mick Avory's page at Drummerworld*
2001's Interview with Mick Avory*
Kast off Kinks fansite
