You Really Got Me : Rolling Stone

Written by: Ray Davies
Produced by: Shel Talmy
Released: Sept. '64 on Reprise
Charts: 15 weeks
Top spot: No. 7

Convinced that the band's previous two singles had flopped because they were too pristine, the Kinks went into the studio in the summer of 1964 to record this deliberately raw rave-up, written by Ray Davies on his parents' piano. But the original recording was still too shiny, and the Kinks had to borrow 200 pounds to re-cut it. Seventeen-year-old guitarist Dave Davies took a razor to the speaker cone on his amp to get the desired dirty sound. A month later, the song went straight to the top of the British charts.

Appears on: Kinks (Castle)

Next: Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

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