You Really Got Me

"You Really Got Me"
Single by The Kinks
from the album Kinks
B-side	"It's All Right"
Released	4 August 1964 26 August 1964 (USA)
Format	7" single
Recorded	July, 1964, IBC Studios, London, England
Genre	Hard rock, garage rock
Length	2 min 14 sec
Label	Pye 7N 15673 Reprise 0306
Writer(s)	Ray Davies
Producer	Shel Talmy
The Kinks singles chronology
"You Still Want Me" (1964) "You Really Got Me" (1964) "All Day and All of the Night" (1964) Audio sample file info · help

"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks. It was the group's breakthrough hit; it established them as one of the top British Invasion acts in the United States, reaching Number 7 there later in the year. It was later included on the Kinks' debut album, Kinks.

"You Really Got Me" was an early hit song built around power chords (perfect 5ths and octaves), and heavily influenced later rock musicians, particularly the heavy metal genre. American musicologist Robert Walser wrote that it is, "the track which invented heavy metal" while critic Denise Sullivan of Allmusic writes, "'You Really Got Me' remains a blueprint song in the hard rock and heavy metal arsenal."

Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number 82 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time and at number 4 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. In early 2005, the song was voted the best British song of the 1955-1965 decade in a BBC radio poll. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 9 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2009 it was named the 57^th Greatest Hard Rock Song by VH1.

History

The song was recorded by the Kinks in a number of styles in the summer of 1964 before the final sound was achieved. The group was under tremendous pressure for a hit from their record company, Pye, after their two previous single releases failed to chart. Ray Davies in particular was stubbornly persistent in forcing the Kinks' management and record company to take the time and money needed to develop the record's landmark sound and style. Davies' efforts on behalf of the career-making song effectively established him as the leader and chief songwriter of the Kinks.^{[citation needed]}

The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" guitar riff.  Play

The influential distortion sound of the guitar track was created after guitarist Dave Davies sliced the speaker cone of his guitar amplifier with a razor blade and poked it with a pin. The amplifier was affectionately called "little green," after the name of the amplifier made by the Elpico company, and purchased in Davies' neighbourhood music shop, slaved into a Vox AC-30.^{[citation needed]}

The guitar solo on the recording is the source of one of the most controversial and persistent myths in all of rock and roll: that it was not played by the Kinks' lead guitarist Dave Davies, but by then-session player Jimmy Page, who later joined The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. Among those claiming Page played lead guitar is Jon Lord of Deep Purple who also claimed to play piano on the track. Page has always denied playing the song's guitar solo, going so far as to state in a 1970's interview cited in Sound On Sound magazine that "I didn't play on 'You Really Got Me' and that's what pisses him (Ray Davies) off." Rock historian and author Doug Hinman makes a case that the rumour was begun and fostered by the established UK Rhythm and Blues community, many of whose members were resentful that an upstart band of teenagers such as the Kinks could produce such a powerful and influential blues-based recording, seemingly out of nowhere.^{[citation needed]}

Recent Kinks' releases have given full official credits for the musicians on the track. Group members Ray Davies (vocals and rhythm guitar). Dave Davies (lead guitar), Pete Quaife (bass) are joined by session men Bobby Graham (drums), and Arthur Greenslade (piano). Regular Kinks drummer Mick Avory plays the tambourine.

Ray Davies in his autobiographical release "Storyteller" (Capitol, ASIN: B00000635E, released April 21, 1998) also addresses the guitar solo on track 28 ("The Third Single"), in which he tells the story of how the Kinks needed to have a hit within their first three singles in order to maintain their record contract. "You Really Got Me" was their third chance. According to Davies, not only did his brother Dave play the solo, but he also yells "fuck off" to Ray Davies right before the solo starts. Per Ray Davies's recounting of the story:

"Halfway through the song it was time for Dave's guitar solo. This moment had to be right. So I shouted across the studio to Dave, give him encouragement. But I seemed to spoil his concentration. He looked at me with a dazed expression. 'Fuck off.' If you doubt me, if you doubt what I'm saying, I challenge you to listen to the original Kinks recording of 'You Really Got Me.' Halfway through the song, after the second chorus, before the guitar solo, there's a drum break. Boo ka, boo boo ka, boo ka, boo boo. And in the background you can hear 'fuck off.' You can, you can. When I did the vocal I tried to cover it up by going "Oh no", but in the background you still hear it 'fuck off.' And it's even clearer on CD, it's really embarrassing."

According to Ray Davies, the song's characteristic riff came about while working out the chords of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie." Though in 1998, he said: "I'd written 'You Really Got Me' as tribute to all those great blues people I love: Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy. The Kinks' use of distorted guitar riffs continued with songs like "All Day and All of the Night," "Tired of Waiting for You," and "Set Me Free," among others. Pete Townshend of The Who has stated that their first single, "I Can't Explain," was an intentional soundalike of The Kinks' work at the time (The Who were also produced by Talmy at that time).

The Kinks would go on to perform successfully together as a band for over 30 years, through many musical styles, and they would always play "You Really Got Me" in concert. Both Ray and Dave Davies still perform the song in solo shows, generally as a closing number.

Cover versions

• 801, the short-lived progressive rock supergroup featuring Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno, performed the song in concert, and included it on their 1976 album 801 Live.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered The Kinks' version in their 2007 Alvin and the Chipmunks video game
• Alvin and the Chipmunks also covered the Van Halen version with Honor Society for the 2009 film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
• Tom Baker covered the song for charity in 2006.
• Boyband, from New Zealand, released a version in 2006, a New Zealand #1 single.
• Ali Campbell covered the song on his 2010 album Great British Songs.
• Eve 6 covered the song and was featured on The New Guy soundtrack in 2002.
• Peter Gabriel performed the song in concert on his first post-Genesis solo tour in 1976 but never recorded it.
• The Human Instinct covered and released the song as a single in 1969, and it was also released on their album: Burning Up Years
• Dennis Leary crooned the song in the 1993 crime-comedy film National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
• Constantine Maroulis released the song as a single in 2011.
• Metallica recorded the song with Ray Davies on his 2010 album See My Friends.
• Mott the Hoople released the song as an instrumental on the 1969 album Mott the Hoople.
• Oingo Boingo covered the song on their 1981 album Only a Lad.
• Robert Palmer released the song on his 1978 solo album Double Fun.
• Robots in Disguise covered the song on their 2006 album Get RID!.
• Salt N Pepa quoted the song in their 1987 hit "Push It".
• Helen Schneider covered the song on her 1981 album Schneider with the Kick.
• Sly and the Family Stone covered the song on their 1982 album Ain't but the One Way.
• Stack Waddy covered and released the song as a single in 1972, on his 1972 album Bugger Off!
• The 13th Floor Elevators recorded a version that can be found in the bonus tracks of the 2005 reissue of their debut album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.
• Toots and the Maytals covered the song on their 1998 album Ska Father

Van Halen version

"You Really Got Me"
Single by Van Halen
from the album Van Halen
B-side	"Atomic Punk"
Released	1978
Format	7" 45 RPM
Recorded	September–October 1977
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	2:35
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Ray Davies
Producer	Ted Templeman
Van Halen singles chronology
"You Really Got Me" (1978) "Runnin' with the Devil" (1978)

U.S. hard rock band Van Halen recorded  "You Really Got Me" for their 1978 debut album, Van Halen. It was a popular radio hit which helped jump-start the band's career, as it had done for The Kinks 14 years earlier. The song was used on the soundtrack for the early Ron Howard film Night Shift. On the radio, it has been frequently played together with "Eruption," the instrumental that precedes it on the album. This version was the soundtrack of the celebrated, award-winning 1996 Nissan commercial Toys in which "Nick", driving a toy Nissan 300ZX, entices "Roxanne" out on a date, to "Tad"'s dismay. Mattel sued, but settled. It was also used by Nissan for its Japanese commercials. This version later appeared in the 2003 video game Karaoke Revolution and the 2006 video game Guitar Hero II. The Guitar Hero II version is itself a cover, however, the song was later revisited as a master recording in the Van Halen-themed Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero: Van Halen.^{[citation needed]}

The Kinks' Dave Davies has gone on record as having a personal dislike of Van Halen's cover of the song and believes "They (Van Halen) would be penniless without The Kinks". He also told of how Kinks fans have approached him and congratulated him on performing a "great cover of the Van Halen song", and how Van Halen fans have approached him to accuse him of "ripping off Van Halen". Ray Davies, on the other hand, liked it.

Use in popular culture

The main riff of the song is used for commercial break bumpers as well as the closing theme for The Mancow Morning Experience radio program.

The 1979 Live recording appears in Electronic Arts Battlefield Vietnam (2004) as a radio choice for vehicles and the loading music for Operation Flaming Dart

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1964	"You Really Got Me" by The Kinks	Pop Singles	7
1978	"You Really Got Me" by Van Halen	Pop Singles	36

Preceded by "Have I the Right?" by The Honeycombs	UK number one single "You Really Got Me" 10 September 1964 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by "I'm into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits
Preceded by "London Bridge" by Fergie	RIANZ (New Zealand) number-one single "You Really Got Me" (Boyband version) October 9, 2006 (one week)	Succeeded by "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake