Rocktober '60s Song #4: "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks (1964)

The Kinks are one of those bands that I think a lot of people kind of forget about -- or maybe don't think about as often as they should, anyway -- but they were massively influential.  Power chords have been such a staple of rock and roll for so long, it's easy to forget that that wasn't always the case.

Power chords had certainly been used before The Kinks' 1964 hit "You Really Got Me," but the song brought power chords to the forefront, influencing countless bands and guitarists since then.  Reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on their native UK pop charts, the song established The Kinks as one of the premier British Invasion bands and kicked off a successful career for the band.

One of the myths about the song is that Jimmy Page played the guitar solo in the middle of the song.  He didn't.  It was, in fact, regular Kinks' guitarist Dave Davies.  A fun little tidbit is that, if you listen closely right before the solo (at about the 1:13 mark), you can hear someone in the background say something that sounds like "oaf."  That's actually Dave Davies telling his brother Ray to "fuck off," as Ray had apparently tried to give Dave some encouragement before his solo, but instead broke his concentration.  Ray tries to cover it up with the famous "oh no" a second or two later, before the solo kicks in.  Enjoy.