Why The Kinks' Ray Davies was totally unimpressed by the best Beatles album

15 September 2025, 11:51

Ray Davies and The Beatles. Picture: Alamy

By Mayer Nissim

Ray Davies didn't hold back when he was asked his opinion on his rock 'n' roll rivals.

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The Beatles were and are one of the greatest and most influential bands in the history of music.

It's hard to imagine the history of 20th century music without them, which is why counterfactual movies like Yesterday are so very silly.

And while they weren't the first UK group to score a hit in the US – Rhe Tornados got their first with 'Telstar' – they were definitely at the vanguard of the British Invasion.

So it's hard to imagine many of the other bands of the era breaking America without them.

Still, that didn't mean that their pop rivals were in a hurry to lavish everything they did with praise, especially at the time before their legend had been solidified.

Ray Davies, the songwriting genius of The Kinks, certainly wasn't afraid to express his opinion pretty frankly.

Revolver: mini-documentary clip

In 1966, shortly before the release of Revolver – arguably The Beatles' best album – Davies was asked to give his track-by-track breakdown to Disc and Music Echo Magazine.

While he did have the odd nice thing to say about the record and its sound, he also dished out plenty of insults.

'Taxman'? "Like a cross between The Who and Batman." The classic 'Eleanor Rigby'? "It sounds like they're out to please music teachers in primary schools."

The Beatles - Yellow Submarine

'Yellow Submarine' came in for an especially hard kicking.

"This is a load of rubbish, really," Ray sniffed. "I take the mickey out of myself on the piano and play stuff like this. I think they know it's not that good."

'And Your Bird Can Sing' didn't fare much better, with Davies saying: "Don't like this. The song's too predictable. It's not a Beatles song at all."

On many of the songs, Ray seemed to give half a compliment and insult at the same time.

So 'Dr Robert' is "good" but also "not my sort of thing", while Paul McCartney's vocals are praised on 'Got To Get You Into My Life' but the backing apparently "goes to prove that Britain's jazz musicians can't swing".

After a few listens, Davies did single out 'I'm Only Sleeping' ("a most beautiful song"), Good Day Sunshine' ("back to the real old Beatles") and 'Here, There and Everywhere' ("nice") as standouts, while giving an ultimately lukewarm verdict on the whole.

"This is the first Beatles LP I've really listened to in its entirety but I must say there are better songs on Rubber Soul" he said, though he added that "the balance and recording technique are as good as ever."