1964 Rock Classic, With a Revolutionary Guitar Riff, Inspired a Generation of Rock Musicians
Some rock tracks go down in history for being trailblazers in the genre, like a 1964 rock classic by The Kinks. It's celebrated as a hit track that presaged hard rock and put power chords on the map, with conflicting details on who really recorded its legendary guitar riff.
The Kinks made a breakthrough, establishing themselves as a hit rock band out of the UK when they released their third single, "You Really Got Me." Written by Ray Davies, the track was released in early August 1964 and became known as a track that would influence generations of guitarists and rock musicians, especially in the heavy metal and punk rock genres.
Davies revealed to have been inspired to write the track during his college days with the Dave Hunt Band. He had spotted a pretty girl on the dance floor, but she was already gone by the time he reached her. "You Really Got Me." It landed on the Billboard Hot 100 charts at No. 7 and across the country.
According to Guitar Player, the song was created on a piano in the front room of Davies' home. Actually, the track wasn't meant to be a hard-hitting rock record, with Davies saying he "wanted it to be a jazz-type tune, because that's what I liked at the time. It's written originally around a sax line ..."
His brother, Dave, had other ideas and played the saxophone solo in fuzz guitar. He admits that a majority of his tracks came to life on the piano before his brother added the guitar, and they often got into fights about what was too much for a track.
Related: 1966 Rock Classic, Banned by Radio Stations, Helped Define a Generation of Music
"You Really Got Me" has a myth of Jimmy Page playing the guitar riff
The influential distortion sound of the guitar track was created when Dave sliced the speaker cone of his guitar amplifier with a razor blade and poked it with a pin. Alongside The Kinks' song becoming a rock sensation, so did the myth behind who played the guitar solo.
Rumors circulated thatJimmy Page, the future guitarist of Led Zeppelin, was the one who played the guitar riff. For years, The Kinks and Page denied that he played the riff, with Page even once commenting to Sound on Sound, "I didn't play on 'You Really Got Me' and that's what pisses him [Ray Davies] off." He did admit years later that he played guitar on some of The Kinks' albums.
"No, it's not true," Ray told Ultimate-Guitar.com. "He was there at the sessions, because I thought they worried that we couldn't play! There's no animosity, and Jimmy was a nice guy, we got on well with him. I hardly said anything to him."
In a 1998 autobiographical release of The Storyteller, Ray explains that the riff had to be perfect during the recording. He had shouted at his brother across the studio for encouragement, "But I seemed to spoil his concentration. He looked at me with a dazed expression. 'F*ck off.'" Ray challenged fans to listen to the original recording after the second chorus, which proves they tried to cover up the profanity.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 4:58 PM.