I guess Van Halen just has problems with guys named "Dave". It’s taken him more than 30 years, but the The Kinks’ Dave Davies has finally offered his opinion on Van Halen’s cover of "You Really Got Me". His verdict? “I’m sure Eddie Van Halen played better when he was drunk.”
Classic Rock’s Rob Hughes met up with Davies last week and they got talking about Van Halen’s 1978 cover of The Kinks classic.
Davies didn’t seem overly impressed by the VH version. Here’s what he had to say:
“Van Halen’s version was very Middle America. It was like, ‘Hey man, look at me with my tight trousers! Here’s our version of You Really Got Me!’ “There’s the thing: good art isn’t always about having the comfiest technique. I shouldn’t encourage him, but I’m sure Eddie Van Halen played better when he was drunk. But it must be a good record if people like it.
“We got pissed off though, when we played America. The Kinks had an album out called Low Budget [1979] and we ended up touring and playing stadiums. Some kid came up to me after one of the gigs and said: ‘I like your cover of Van Halen’s You Really Got Me.’ You have to smile sometimes.” Ouch!
No comments:
Post a Comment