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Is Ray Davies okay?

Started by Ballad of Ballard Berkley, July 03, 2019, 04:45:15 AM

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Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I don't wish to sound ghoulish, but he seems a wee bit doddery these days? Ach, he's 75. It'll happen to us all. Still, up until a few years ago he sounded as sharp as ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGrEV4pA4ow&t=844s

The wit and intellect are still there, but he's rather glassy-eyed and rambly.

Twed

I'll be happy to be that together when I'm 45

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I turn 45 in October of this year, and I can barely gather a cogent opinion about anything.

I only bring it up - and I feel like a bit of a shit for doing so - because I was slightly shocked and saddened by the sight of RD looking so frail. I love the man, that's all.

He has a history of depression so maybe long-term medication is catching up with him?

Plus one man's 75 is another's 80.

I deeply envy the fact that he has shagged some incredibly gorgeous women.

SteveDave

Is that from the Sky documentary from last year? Where he looks like Cuddles The Monkey?

Shaky

He's seems a bit Parkinson's-y, to be honest.

Inspector Norse

He had a serious illness a few years back didn't he? Was housebound for quite some time.

studpuppet

Mate. He had a stroke in 2004 which paralysed the right side of his body...

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 03, 2019, 04:45:15 AM
I don't wish to sound ghoulish, but he seems a wee bit doddery these days? Ach, he's 75. It'll happen to us all.

Tell that to Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke or Carl Reiner.

the science eel

Quote from: SteveDave on July 03, 2019, 09:38:23 AM
Is that from the Sky documentary from last year? Where he looks like Cuddles The Monkey?

Wasn't Dave lovely in that thing? I had no idea he was spilling over with anecdotes and smiles like that.

I hope Ray's OK but yeah, he's had a couple of knocks over the last few years.

Shaky

Quote from: studpuppet on July 03, 2019, 10:55:13 AM
Mate. He had a stroke in 2004 which paralysed the right side of his body...

But what happened to the other side?

SteveDave

Quote from: studpuppet on July 03, 2019, 10:55:13 AM
Mate. He had a stroke in 2004 which paralysed the right side of his body...

Wasn't that Dave who had the stroke?

PaulTMA

It was Dave, Ray did get shot around the same time though

SteveDave

Quote from: PaulTMA on July 03, 2019, 01:22:04 PM
It was Dave, Ray did get shot around the same time though

Always one-upping each other.

checkoutgirl

I thought Ray Davies was a snooker player. Turns out he's a singer.

We all get old, that's the sad fact of it. But Ray has put more beauty in the world than most and that'll always be true

studpuppet

Quote from: PaulTMA on July 03, 2019, 01:22:04 PM
It was Dave, Ray did get shot around the same time though

Shows how age gets you - I genuinely read the original message as Dave...

Norton Canes


MidnightShambler

#18
The only gig I've ever walked out of was Ray Davies at the Liverpool Philarmonic in about 2005, absolutely fucking terrible he was. People were leaving in droves, did a whole first hour of solo material (mostly from a new album that hadn't been released yet) and then a weird, Polka-esque version of Dead End Street that was a disaster.

Voice had gone, rambling anecdotes and jokes he was telling in the 70s. After he told a piss-poor tale of asking a scouse taxi driver for directions, somebody shouted 'you told us that the last time you were here. And the time before that, you fucking liar' which was the only memorable thing about the gig. There must have been easily a hundred people in the pub over the road that didn't go back for the second half.

It was heartbreaking.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I had a similar experience the last time I went to see Ray play live. I almost cried. Not because of the transcendent beauty of his music - although there were, admittedly, a few moving moments - but because of pretty much everything you've just described. He was embarrassing.

I'd seen him a few times before, so I knew he had a predilection for naff audience call-and-response routines, that's just something you have to accept, but his between song patter was actually quite funny and kept to an acceptable length on those occasions. However, on this occasion he just rambled on and on while telling crap dad jokes. Also, he was wearing an enormous pair of gleaming white box fresh trainers, which made him look ridiculous.

I'd gone along with a friend who knew how much I loved the Kinks, so you can imagine my embarrassment as this spectacle unfolded. We left before the end, it was all too depressing. All my friend could say afterwards was, "I'm really sorry, mate."   

I appear to have started a thread aimed at taking the piss out of a frail old man who may or may not have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Not my intention, I can assure you.

Beagle 2

Er, yeah I saw him maybe six years or so back and he was absolutely atrocious. We assumed he was pissed out of his mind. 

MidnightShambler

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 03, 2019, 08:08:23 PM
I had a similar experience the last time I went to see Ray play live. I almost cried. Not because of the transcendent beauty of his music - although there were, admittedly, a few moving moments - but because of pretty much everything you've just described. He was embarrassing.

I'd seen him a few times before, so I knew he had a predilection for naff audience call-and-response routines, that's just something you have to accept, but his between song patter was actually quite funny and kept to an acceptable length on those occasions. However, on this occasion he just rambled on and on while telling crap dad jokes. Also, he was wearing an enormous pair of gleaming white box fresh trainers, which made him look ridiculous.

I'd gone along with a friend who knew how much I loved the Kinks, so you can imagine my embarrassment as this spectacle unfolded. We left before the end, it was all too depressing. All my friend could say afterwards was, "I'm really sorry, mate."   

I appear to have started a thread aimed at taking the piss out of a frail old man who may or may not have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Not my intention, I can assure you.

I'd completely forgotten about his gigantic trainers. They were staggering in size when compared to his pipe-cleaner legs and, as you say, made him look ridiculous. And he had the laces pulled really tight so the fronts had curled up like a like a pair of Turkish slippers. I think he lost me when I saw them if I'm honest.

It was genuinely upsetting to be there and watch one of my heroes look completely lost. I thought, somebody in his management or family needs to sit him down and tell him he's finished, he obviously won't stop of his own volition (as proven by the fact he's still going 15 years later) and it's criminal to let him carry on. It can't be good for his mental state, watching his audience leave halfway through every gig.

Not to mention charging you £45 for the privilege of seeing it.

Absorb the anus burn

Quote from: MidnightShambler on July 03, 2019, 07:38:43 PM
The only gig I've ever walked out of was Ray Davies at the Liverpool Philarmonic in about 2005, absolutely fucking terrible he was. People were leaving in droves, did a whole first hour of solo material (mostly from a new album that hadn't been released yet) and then a weird, Polka-esque version of Dead End Street that was a disaster.

Voice had gone, rambling anecdotes and jokes he was telling in the 70s. After he told a piss-poor tale of asking a scouse taxi driver for directions, somebody shouted 'you told us that the last time you were here. And the time before that, you fucking liar' which was the only memorable thing about the gig. There must have been easily a hundred people in the pub over the road that didn't go back for the second half.

It was heartbreaking.

Eek! I was at that gig...... It wasn't a great one, I admit.

I think he might have good days and bad days, I saw him at Hop Farm in 2010 and he was very sharp and played a really good set, although he was in an extremely bad mood during it and shouted at some people offstage for one reason or another.

ajsmith2

Quote from: MidnightShambler on July 03, 2019, 07:38:43 PM
The only gig I've ever walked out of was Ray Davies at the Liverpool Philarmonic in about 2005, absolutely fucking terrible he was. People were leaving in droves, did a whole first hour of solo material (mostly from a new album that hadn't been released yet) and then a weird, Polka-esque version of Dead End Street that was a disaster.

Voice had gone, rambling anecdotes and jokes he was telling in the 70s. After he told a piss-poor tale of asking a scouse taxi driver for directions, somebody shouted 'you told us that the last time you were here. And the time before that, you fucking liar' which was the only memorable thing about the gig. There must have been easily a hundred people in the pub over the road that didn't go back for the second half.

It was heartbreaking.

Weird you say that cos I've seen him 5 times ('97, '01, '02, '05 and '09) and the 2005 show I saw was by some distance the best. Great set list, and he actually seemed to be giving it some Kinks era showmanship and welly unlike the other times where it was all a bit 'I'm old now, but these are gentler recreations of my greats' cosiness.

He's definitely got very frail over the last decade, and seems to have quietly retired from touring, his last regular dates were in 2015 and his last full show in 2017. Real shame cos despite the 'voice had gone in 2005' observation in your post, he definitely still had it (at least on some nights) even earlier this decade (the 2010 live recordings on last years VGPS box are vocally stunning). Also his voice still sounds good on his last 2 studio albums from 2017 and 2018, but in a recent interview he admitted he pretty much saves all his energy for his studio work these days. Wise move given his apparent poor condition I reckon.

ajsmith2

Quote from: SteveDave on July 03, 2019, 09:38:23 AM
Is that from the Sky documentary from last year? Where he looks like Cuddles The Monkey?

Nah, tis from a Channel 4 'reunion' (spoliler: not actually reunion) themed news report from summer 2018.

are they still making that new Kinks album or what

MidnightShambler

I think the only thing we can gather from this thread is that there are in fact two Ray Davies'.

a duncandisorderly

friend of a friend, a chap of indian extraction, was working as a tape-op at konk about twenty five years ago. he did a bit of mixing during down-time, hoping to make the jump to engineering & maybe further. RD heard the tape &, to my mate's mate's face, said "not bad for a p**i."

I cancelled him immediately, & thanked him for his 'days' one last time. I find it very hard to separate shit like that from the man's art. I'd feel the same way about it if it had been gilmour, or greg lake, or anyone else. principles.

so no, he's not OK.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

What?! Bloody hell. That's... Jesus.

A lot of people, myself included, have always been willing to give Ray the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the (bloody awful) song Black Messiah. "It's just another one of his satirical character portraits, he's mocking racial prejudice." But after hearing that, well. Fuck.

Or maybe he was just trying to be edgy? Hmmm.