With a little help from my friends

By Andy Welch.

Ray Davies is a formidable interviewee.

Notoriously abrupt, and sometimes even difficult, The Kinks frontman begins by saying he doesn't mind undertaking promo duties, as long as the questions are sensible.

His tone implies there will be dire consequences if my line of inquiry isn't to his pleasing.

Making a joke, I pretend to scribble out a few questions, but he remains stony-faced, staring intently.

"I'm sure it'll be brilliant," he says, dryly.

Get him off the subject of disliking interviews though, and onto his latest project See My Friends, and he instantly lights up.

The album, released last month, is a greatest hits of sorts, although instead of merely compiling songs from The Kinks's illustrious back catalogue, he's chosen some of the biggest names in music - and some of his favourite artists - to collaborate on new versions of the classics.

The album's opener Better Days, for example, sees Bruce Springsteen lend his unmistakable growl to proceedings.

"I'm proud of every track, because of the logistics and issues associated with each - getting anyone in a room was hard enough." begins Davies. "The one with Bruce, I especially love, because it came from just jamming in the studio."

"He came to London and we just played, me acoustic and he sang - it was great."

"I'd love to write with Bruce again. We had some downtime and I was playing something I'd written on the piano, and he came over with his electric guitar and joined in. He said, 'Get that worked out for next time I'm here and we'll record it'."

"I've always been a huge admirer of Bruce's work, but in the afternoon we spent together, only 45 minutes of which was recording, we talked and talked, and I found out he's a big fan of mine too, so that was lovely."

Not everyone on the album is of The Boss's stature, though. Among the most striking of the album's tracks is a hybrid of Days and This Time Tomorrow, a much lesser known Kinks track, which sees Davies perform with Mumford & Sons.

It begins not a million miles away from the original, but with the addition of the band's familiar banjo, soon turns into a hoedown.

"They wanted to do two songs," explains Davies. "Of course, we couldn't, so they came up with that idea, and we worked on it right there in the studio. It was all very quick, and a fantastic experience."

"The song I did with Jon Bon Jovi, we first performed together six years ago in Hyde Park in front of 50,000 people. So the album has been a long time in the making, even if we did only record for three or four days at a time."

There's also a touching appearance from Alex Chilton, the late singer of Big Star who died earlier this year.

He recorded his vocal around 18 months ago and the music was added at a later date by The 88, a band who caught Davies's ear when supporting him on a US tour.

It's not unfair to say that while See My Friends is a thoroughly enjoyable album, full of interesting takes on undeniable classics, none really come close to matching the near perfection of the originals.

Then again, bettering the first versions isn't really the idea, it's more about putting a new spin on 50-year-old standards.

During the Sixties and Seventies, Davies, along with his brother Dave and a rolling roster of other band members, released some era defining music at the forefront of the so-called British Invasion, which came on the back of The Beatles's success and saw UK bands rule the roost in the US.

Waterloo Sunset, All Of The Day And All Of The Night, Tired Of Waiting For You, Lola and Sunny Afternoon, to name just a few, are among the Davies-penned gems.

It's interesting to see Metallica covering You Really Got Me, The Kinks's third single, on See My Friends.

Since its release in 1964, music aficionados have raved about Dave Davies's savage, fuzzy guitar sound, created by taking a Stanley knife to the speaker cone of his amplifier, the flapping material causing a distortion effect.

Many bands have since credited the sound and thuggish riff with planting the seed of heavy rock and metal.

"Working with Metallica really did remind me of recording with The Kinks," says Davies. "Just the vibe in the studio, and I was talking to James Hetfield (Metallica frontman) who was saying what an inspiration You Really Got Me was."

"He said they didn't choose the song either; it chose them, so I liked that."

Above all, Davies enjoyed working with different bands including Paloma Faith's band, Metallica, the Mumfords and Spoon, an American band: "Since The Kinks aren't really going anymore, it was great to get involved in bands again, and I enjoyed the collaborative process," he says.

"I've worked in musical theatre before, with artistic directors and conductors, but never with other musicians, and it's something I'd definitely like to do again."

"Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol sings beautifully on the album, but we had to change the key of the song, Tired Of Waiting For You, to really bring out the lovely lower register of his voice. We didn't work it out beforehand, just did it on the spot, and I loved that challenge, and seeing other bands wrestling with my songs."

He continues: "I've already written with Paloma Faith, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. I've also had people ringing asking why they weren't invited too!"

"Pete Townsend from The Who rang to see why I hadn't asked him, but it's just about timing, so there could be another album like this, who knows?"

To end the year, Davies will perform with a full band and choir at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday, December 19. He's unsure what guests will be there, but says there's an open door policy.

"As for what comes next, I don't know. It doesn't feel like a retrospective album, it's inspired me and I've got three or four new songs going around my head at the moment."

"There'll be live shows next year, too. I'm curating the Meltdown Festival at the Festival Hall next summer, but other than that, I'm open to ideas."