Dave Davies Displeased After Guitar Magazine Publishes Claim That Jimmy Page Played on the Kinks' 'You Really Got Me'

Dave Davies is pretty peeved about a claim reportedly made by producer Eddie Kramer in a Guitar Magazine article that Jimmy Page played on the Kinks’ chart-topping classic, “You Really Got Me.” In the interview, Kramer reportedly said that he remembered Page entering the studio and recording an overdub on the 1964 single, and Davies – as he handily proved on Twitter – is absolutely not having it.

In the interview, Kramer said, “I met Jimmy while he was working with the Kinks in the early 1960s when they were doing ‘You Really Got Me.’ I know the Davies brothers will say otherwise, but I recall seeing Jimmy coming in and doing an overdub on that song.”

Kramer then goes on to add, “There’s some contention about that, but that’s how I remember it. I was still an assistant engineer in those days. But he was the guy, you know, you would always bring this young, amazing guitar player as a sessioner, 17 or 18 years old - I don't know. But damn, he was good."

Additionally, the article clarifies that Page’s presence at the sessions doesn’t necessarily mean that any contributions he may have made actually made it onto the final version of the song.

This, however, failed to satisfy Dave Davies: in short order, he took to Twitter and took the magazine – not Kramer – to task.

“I demand an immediate retraction from Guitar World and Guitar,” wrote Davies. “I spoke to [Ed Kramer] yesterday and he denies ever saying that Jimmy Page played on the Kinks’ [‘You Really Got Me’]. I played all the guitar parts on [‘You Really Got Me], Ed Kramer told me yesterday he was misquoted.”

Guitar Magazine, however, brought their receipts: they replied to Davies’ tweet with an audio clip, saying, “Hi, Dave, please find audio of our Eddie Kramer interview, where he recalls Jimmy Page recording overdubs for the Kinks. As per our story, we at no point suggest Page’s contributions appear on the final version of ‘You Really Got Me’ we all know and love.”

In reply, Davies offered “Ed’s complete statement he sent to me this week regarding the issue,” saying: “He remembers my guitar sound clearly, end of story.”

Kramer’s reply was as follows:

“Hi, Dave: My memories of the sessions I was on as a tape operator in the early sixties for the Kinks are of me standing next to your amp when you hit a big chord and I jumped about a foot off the ground as I had never heard such a loud amp in my life up until then! As for Jimmy playing on your session, that’s not clear in my memory. Best, EK”

The end result: a fresh article on Guitar World’s website bearing the headline “'He remembers my guitar sound clearly, end of story’: Dave Davies rejects Eddie Kramer’s Jimmy Page overdub claims and insists that he alone played all guitar parts on You Really Got Me.”

[For his part, Page has never claimed to have played on the song.]

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