"David Watts" is a song written by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

that originally appeared on

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

' 1967 album '' Something Else by the Kinks''. It was also the American and Continental Europe B-side to " Autumn Almanac". It has been included on several

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, including '' The Kink Kronikles'' (1972) and a live version recorded at Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York, 4 March 1980 was included on '' One for the Road'', a double live album released in June 1980.

Background

The song is about the singer's great admiration of fellow schoolboy David Watts, who appears to have a "charmed life". There is an undercurrent of either deep envy or, as AllMusic put it, "a schoolboy crush". It is also, as

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage, 2 September 1953) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'' (1991). Early life and educati ...

has written, one of Ray Davies' "sharpest homoerotic songs". Despite this, Davies has commented that he sought to keep the lyric ambiguous: "When it comes to songs like ' See My Friends' or 'David Watts', I like to leave their meaning open. In ybook, I wrote about how 'David Watts' is about a gay guy but part of the thing also is like having admiration for the head boy in school. I try not to come down on one side, or the other". As Ray Davies confirmed in ''The Kinks: The Official Biography'' by Savage, "David Watts is a real person. He was a concert promoter in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

." He goes on to relate how the real Watts was gay and demonstrated an obvious romantic interest in his brother

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies ( '; born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, led by his older brother (and principal writer and singer) ...

. In this light, lines such as "he is so gay and fancy free" and "all the girls in the neighbourhood try to go out with David Watts... but can't succeed" provide a second level of interpretation based on this ironic in-joke. The band members were invited back to Watts' home for a drink one night after a concert. Ray Davies recalled to '' Q'' magazine in a 2016 interview: "My brother, Dave, was in a flamboyant mood and I could see that David Watts had a crush on him. So I tried to persuade Dave to marry David Watts because he was connected with Rutland brewery. See, that's how stupid my brain was." (Chuckles silently) "I thought: if I can get Dave fixed up with this Watts guy, I'll be set up for life and get all the ale I want. But the song's really about complete envy. It was based on someone else entirely – the head boy at my school. He was captain of the team, all those things, but I can't tell you ''his'' real name as I only spoke to him a few months ago."

The Jam version

The song was later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

the Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

, who released it on 11 August 1978 as a single, then included it on their third studio album, ''

All Mod Cons ''All Mod Cons'' is the third studio album by the British band the Jam, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for "all modern conveniences" and is a pun on the band' ...

'' (with different mixes used for the single and album versions). This version, which reached No. 25 in the UK singles chart, featured bassist

Bruce Foxton Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...

on lead vocals rather than

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

, as it was not in the right key for the Jam frontman. The track was released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

along with "'A' Bomb in Wardour Street", of which a distinct, slightly shorter version was used for the single release and which would also appear later that year on ''All Mod Cons''.

Personnel

According to band researcher Doug Hinman: The Kinks *

lead vocal, acoustic guitar *

backing vocal, electric guitar *

Pete Quaife Peter Alexander Greenlaw Quaife (born Kinnes; 31 December 1943 – 23 June 2010) was an English musician, artist and author. He was a founding member and the original bassist for the Kinks, from 1963 until 1969. He also sang backing vocals on s ...

backing vocal, bass *

Mick Avory Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984 ...

drums Additional musician *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

piano

References

Sources

* 1967 songs LGBTQ-related songs The Kinks songs 1978 singles The Jam songs Songs about fictional male characters Songs written by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Shel Talmy Pye Records singles 1978 songs Song recordings produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven Polydor Records singles {{1960s-rock-song-stub