Remember When: The Kinks Got Banned From Playing Shows in the United States

The Kinks hold an esteemed place in the annals of rock and roll as a British Invasion band that was able to advance musically from their earliest efforts and sustain their commercial success over decades. Along the way, they recorded several albums considered masterpieces of the rock genre.

Just think what they might have been able to do had they been able to tour the United States, the world’s biggest music mecca, at the height of their success. Instead, an American union essentially prevented them from touring the country for five years in the 1960s. Here are the high points (or should we say low points) of this bizarre tale.

Coming to America

The Kinks put together an impressive run of three straight Top-10 U.S. hits in 1964 and 1965, making it a natural that they should visit America and press their advantage. A brief visit in February 1965 gave rise to some issues. But that was nothing compared to the chaos that would accompany the tour the band would begin in June of that same year.

To be fair to The Kinks, the touring structure for British Invasion bands was not exactly ideal at the time. Sound systems were substandard, crowd control was poor, and promoters were hit-and-miss in getting the word out about the concerts. These were package shows with many acts on the bill, meaning acts had precious little time to make an impact on crowds that could barely hear them.

As for The Kinks, despite their professional success, the band was in about as woeful a state as possible at the time. Band infighting was always a part of their makeup, but they’d taken that to the extreme right before the U.S. tour, specifically when drummer Mick Avory left guitarist Dave Davies bleeding profusely from the head after an onstage dustup.

The Tour From Hell

Right from the start, The Kinks’ 1965 U.S. tour snowballed to disastrous proportions. The band balked every step of the way when being forced to sign U.S. musicians unions’ contracts so they could play in America. Their promoters failed miserably at getting the expected crowds, meaning the band often didn’t get paid up front as they wished.

Ray Davies, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, dealt with homesickness right from the start. He lashed out at anybody in his vicinity, including Larry Page, one of the band’s three managers (a sticky situation to start) who was unlucky enough to be on the tour. At least until he wasn’t, as Page bolted with a week left on the itinerary to get away from the chaos.

The boiling point was reached when Ray verbally and physically confronted a Hollywood union worker who had been hurling insults about the British towards him. After making several threats, the band did indeed skip one scheduled show because of a lack of prompt payment.

The Fallout

Not long after the tour was over, complaints were filed by promoters and union workers to the American Federation of Musicians. Their response was to deny The Kinks work visas, without which the band could no longer play in America.

Considering the terrible time they had in ’65, you might wonder why The Kinks would even want to go back. But the promotional opportunities they were missing during the roughly four-year period while the ban was in effect meant their record sales in the U.S. plummeted. It was during this stretch they released some of their most acclaimed work, which, not coincidentally, found Ray Davies focusing on British topics and themes.

Ray Davies eventually settled with the union, allowing The Kinks to return and play in America in late 1969. The Kinks eventually became one of the most successful British touring acts in the U.S. in the ’70s, proving that all was forgiven, if not quite forgotten.