The English rock band the Kinks staged their first concert tour of the United States in June and July1965. The sixteen concerts comprised the third stage of a world tour, following shows in Australasia, Asia and in the United Kingdom and before later stages in continental Europe. Initially one of the most popular British Invasion groups, the Kinks saw major commercial opportunity in the US, but the resultant tour was plagued with issues between the band, their management, local promoters and the American music unions. Promoters and union officials filed complaints over the Kinks' conduct, prompting the US musicians' union to withhold work permits from the band for the next four years, effectively banning them from US performance.
The programme was in the package-tour format typical of the 1960s, with one show per day, several support acts on the bill and the Kinks' set lasting around 40minutes. Concerts were characterised by screaming fans and weak sound systems. The US press, which still largely viewed rock music as simple teenage entertainment, generally avoided reporting on the tour. Some shows were poorly attended, owing to a lack of advertising and promotion, leaving local promoters sometimes unable to pay the band the full amount they were due. A payment disagreement led to the band refusing to perform at the Cow Palace near San Francisco, and an argument over a union contract before a television appearance resulted in Ray Davies, the Kinks' bandleader, physically fighting with a union official.
The relationship between Ray and the Kinks' personal manager, Larry Page, was marked by continual friction. Bothered by Ray's behaviour, Page departed to England in the tour's final week, an action that the Kinks viewed as an abandonment. The band's subsequent efforts to dismiss Page led to a protracted legal dispute in English courts. Unable to promote their music in the US via tours or television appearances, the Kinks saw a decline in their American record sales. Cut off from the American music scene, Ray shifted his songwriting approach towards more overt English influences. Ray resolved the ban in early1969, and the Kinks staged a comeback tour later that year, but they did not achieve regular commercial success in the country again until the late 1970s.
Background
In April 1965, the Kinks' personal manager Larry Page announced the band's intention to tour the United States. Initially planned to begin on 11June, the tour would run for three weeks and would be the band's first in the country. The shows formed the third leg of a world tour, following concerts in January and February in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore, and concerts in the United Kingdom in April and May. Page began co-managing the Kinks in November1963, around two months after the band's two other managers, Grenville Collins and Robert Wace. The resulting three-manager set-up was complicated, and it soon became a source of resentment for the Kinks when they saw much of their income going to other people.
After witnessing the enormous commercial success experienced in the US by the Beatles in 1964, Page was hoping to break the Kinks into the American market before the Rolling Stones, who he felt had been underpromoted. Like their contemporaries, the Kinks were part of the British Invasion, a cultural phenomenon where British pop acts experienced sudden popularity in the US. A second wave of British acts, including the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and Them, entered the American charts in early 1965, and the Kinks were initially the most popular of these. Two of their earliest US singles – "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night", released in September and December1964, respectively – had each reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while their first US album was moderately successful, peaking at number 29 in the magazine's Top LPs chart in March1965. As the Kinks appeared to be on the verge of major American success, the band and their management considered a US tour to be the next pivotal step in their career.
From 10 to 14February 1965, while returning to Britain from the first leg of their world tour, the Kinks visited the US for the first time. The original plan had the band appearing on two musical variety programmes – Hullabaloo in New York and Shindig! in Los Angeles – along with two concert dates, but only the Hullabaloo appearance went ahead. When the band appeared on the programme, they angered trade union officials by initially refusing to sign paperwork with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the US performers' union. Joining the union was a requirement of the Kinks' appearance, but the band were not convinced that it was necessary. Two weeks after the band's visit, their US label Reprise Records issued "Tired of Waiting for You" as a single in the US. It subsequently reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the Kinks' third consecutive top ten single in the US. To capitalise on the nationwide publicity the band were experiencing, Reprise rushed out a second album in lateMarch, Kinks-Size, which peaked at number 13 in the third week of June, the same week the US tour commenced.
By early1965, the Kinks had developed a reputation for violence and aggression, both on and off the stage. The band's concerts were characterised by hysterical fans, whose swarming attempts occasionally left the group bruised, concussed and with torn clothing. On 9April, a concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, descended into a riot between fans and police; the incident was covered by the Associated Press newswire and reported on in newspapers across the US. The band sometimes broke into physical altercations during rehearsals, recording sessions and concerts; infighting was most common between the brothers Ray and Dave Davies and between Dave and the drummer Mick Avory. Tensions within the group were more elevated than usual following a violent intra-band dispute on 19May at a concert in Cardiff, Wales, where Avory struck Dave in the head with a hi-hat stand. Dave was briefly hospitalised, and the four remaining dates of the band's UK tour were cancelled. Britain's national press covered the Cardiff incident in detail, leading to hoteliers across the country imposing an unofficial ban on the Kinks. The band initially considered replacing Avory with a different drummer, but their managers pressured them into downplaying the incident, both to avoid police charges and to allow them to fulfil their commitments, including the imminent US tour. After agreeing to regroup, the band performed one concert and made four British television appearances in the first week of June.
Repertoire, tour personnel and equipment
The US shows were in the package-tour format typical of the 1960s. The Kinks and the Moody Blues were set to be joint headliners, but when the Moody Blues were unable to enter the country after having been denied US visas, they were replaced with different acts at various stages of the tour, including the Supremes, the Dave Clark Five and Sonny & Cher. Local groups and musicians performed as support acts, including Paul Peterson, Dick and Dee Dee, the Hollywood Argyles, the Rivieras and Dobie Gray, among others. Rather than headlining at the shows in California on 3 and 4July, the Kinks instead appeared as one of several support acts for the American rock band the Beach Boys.
The shows ran for several hours, the Kinks' set usually lasting for around 40 minutes. On Page's recommendation, they based their shows around their first hit single "You Really Got Me". To generate anticipation, they played the opening bars of the song at the start of each concert before abruptly switching to a different number. They performed a complete version of the song midway through the set and repeated it during their encore.
The band wore matching red jackets, frilly shirts, black trousers and Chelsea boots,; and : (look); : (worn during US tour). all of which were custom-ordered from Bermans & Nathans, a major theatrical costumier in London. Page commissioned the outfits in April1964 as part of his early efforts to rework the band's image, providing them with a distinctive look, similar in effect to the collarless suits the Beatles wore in 1963. Though not historically accurate to the Victorian era, the look emphasised the band's Englishness, especially to an American audience who knew little about English culture. The band were regularly taunted by Americans during the tour over their appearance, especially their long hair, which, when paired with their outfits, gave them a more androgynous and less masculine appearance than that of other contemporary pop acts.
Sound quality at the band's shows was poor, as the often weak PA systems at the venues struggled to compete with the loud screams of fans. Drums were typically not miked, and Avory later recalled struggling to hear himself play at larger venues. A local newspaper article describing a show at one of the smaller venues reported that the band's vocals were "lost in an array of electric guitars".
Dave began the tour with his main guitar, a black Guild archtop electric with two Guild humbucking pick-ups and a Bigsby tailpiece,: (began, archtop, pickups); : (Bigsby). a custom-built instrument originally meant for Beatle George Harrison. The guitar was lost by an airline when the band flew to Los Angeles, and because the band did not travel with spare guitars, Dave was obliged to find a replacement at a local music shop. He bought a 1958 Gibson Flying V, which he debuted on Shindig! on 1July. Dave played the guitar at chest-height, placing his arm through the cut-out V shape at the guitar's base.
The Kinks were accompanied on tour by Page and road manager Sam Curtis, who was hired two months earlier, before the band's recent UK tour. Page saw his own role as mainly promotional, dealing with stage management and public relations, while Curtis handled custodial duties, such as organising transport, meals and sleeping arrangements. In the final week of the US tour, California businessman Don Zacharlini stood in as temporary tour manager in Page's place. Collins and Wace, who generally focused on office work, remained in the UK for the duration of the tour. The band were regularly visited by their publisher Edward Kassner, who took time to promote Ray's songwriting catalogue; the band's publicist Brian Sommerville and booking agent Arthur Howes arrived three weeks before the start of the tour to perform advance work. The tour was booked through Ken Kendall Associates in New York City.
Tour Final preparations
After announcing the tour, Page made several changes to the itinerary. He announced different dates in press releases before delaying the start by a week to 17June, something necessitated by Dave's head injury in Cardiff. Early plans included different locations, including a Canadian show, probably for Vancouver, on 11July. By 16June, five of 16 finalised shows were cancelled, prompting the addition of hastily arranged concerts in downstate Illinois, Denver and Honolulu.