Who was a better songwriter: Pete Townshend or Ray Davies?
 

So difficult, I'm not even going to vote. However, I'd love to know your opinions and reasons!

It is close but my love for Quadrophenia tips the scale in favor of Pete Townsend compared to a very select few.

Quadrophenia's a great one but I've always prefered "Who's Next", which was the first thing I listened from The Who.
Thanks for voting!

Hey, people, you can vote. The poll is still open.

I think you don’t like double albums!

Hahaha, I prefer triple albums like All Things Must Pass.

Ray Davies by far, shame on everyone voting otherwise

Oh, now I don't want to close the poll, Marie Monday has voted for Ray Davies!

Thank you! I haven't voted because it was too difficult to choose, for me.

And by everyone you mean me :(

Ahh it's so difficult
Waterloo Sunset or Behind Blue Eyes?

Between those two I’d say Waterloo Sunset pretty easy

Mee too, but I can't think of any song from The Kinks similar to Won't Get Fooled Again to compare them.

The greatest guitar work by The Kinks is the riff for You Really Got Me which is so raw and so early it’s one of the best and most influential riffs of all but Dave played it.

Yeah, absolutely, but no one's sure who played the solo. Jon Lord (Deep Purple) played the piano on the track and told Blackmore and others that Jimmy Page had played. Page doesn't remember, although says he didn't. Ray Davies said it wasn't true and that Dave had played it.Dave Davies hasn't talked about it.. Sound engineers don't know either.
All Day And All Of The Night is cool, too, but the solo is almost identic to the solo of You Really Got Me.

Ray Davies for me. I respect Townshend's intelligent writing, but I'm just not a Who fan. Davies is a supreme melodicist, and besides, I'm a supreme Anglophile. There's also a tenderness, poignancy and playfulness with Davies, which I tend to go for.

Days is such a great song! As a fellow anglophile I relate to that, Ray Davies is certainly the quitessential English musician

Well, it was very difficult for me to vote, I voted for Townshend while listening to Roger Daltrey's scream in Won't Get Fooled Again. But now I'm not so sure. Thanks for voting!

Marie, as an Anglophile you're certainly in the right place. I'm extremely jealous!

One of my favorite places is Tea & Sympathy, a quaint English restaurant/tea room here in NY. I always hear The Kinks playing in my head when I'm there (and it's been far too long because of Covid. Usually get a pot of Earl Grey and warm ginger cake with hot custard sauce - to die for.)

https://img.over-blog.com/178x225/1/...ray_davies.jpg

my anglophilia is one of the reasons I ended up in England :)
obligatory song to go with your lovely little tea story:

Yes, Sunny Afternoon is another one that I love, too.

That'll do it! ;) This song is irresistible.

So cool! Thanks for the afternoon tea. :beer:

I like many of The Kinks' obscure songs, as well. Such as this one.

oh I didn't know that one, thanks for posting it! They sure have some amazing tracks tucked away in bonus material of albums etc. One of my favourite Kinks songs is Kentucky Moon, I'll never understand why it didn't make the non-extended version of Muswell Hillbillies

^ I don't know why they didn't include "Kentucky Moon", either - I like its late-night ambience and wandering piano chords. Maybe they thought "Kentucky" was a bit similar to "Oklahoma USA" in its escapist theme? In any event, I agree they should have included it, maybe with revisions to the lyrics.

Another of Ray's obscure gems:

oh that's a beautiful one too!

This one's gorgeous and hypnotic, imho - interesting lyrics too. OK, I'll stop now! :rolleyes::cool:

Once I get started with Ray I can't stop! :bowdown:

ah yes I know that one, also great
But you're right, this thread has now sufficiently been hijacked in favour of Ray Davies ;)

Oh, I have no idea who's gonna win.

Ray Davies, by a very wide margin—much more depth to his writing.

Both great bands and Townshend is one of the best guitarists ever, but Davies is without a doubt the better songwriter.

Gotta go with Ray for his incredible consistency, I'd argue his output from 66 to 71 trumps any other British songwriter of the era in that regard.

Pete is great of course but the main attraction of The Who for me is their musicianship rather than their songwriting.

Davies

My favourite Kinks song




Anyway, I think Ray Davies pretty easily. Townshend is great, and lately I've found much appreciation for The Who, but...

...The Kinks is a band that can be more compared to Beatles, Beach Boys and such. The Who is second tier in this category.

I cannot vote either,geez quite difficult to pick!

Both are fantastic........