Credit: Steve HocksteinThe rock memorabilia exhibition “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” opens Monday at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, featuring guitars and other instruments played by members of legendary bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles and Van Halen.
One group not represented in the exhibit is The Kinks, and that’s really got founding guitarist Dave Davies ticked off.
The 72-year-old rocker took to his social media pages this past week to express his displeasure that “Play It Loud” doesn’t include any items from The Kinks.
“appalled 2 not be in this @metmuseum #MetRockandRoll exhibit as I invented heavy powerchord distorted LOUD guitar on ‘You Really Got Me,'” Dave wrote on his Facebook page. “me & [my brother] Ray/the Kinks created the 1st heavy guitar record in ‘You Really Got Me’ — haven’t the curators heard of the Kinks[?]”
Davies expressed similar sentiments in a video posted on his Twitter feed, in which he complains, “Me and Ray are virtually responsible for heavy metal, and these losers never heard of The Kinks?! Morons!”
ABC Radio reached out to the museum for a comment regarding Davies’ complaint and received the following response from one of the exhibit’s curators, Jayson Dobney: “Play It Loud features many — but far from all — of the great bands and solo musicians that were important to rock and roll history, as it would have been impossible to include every major artist. The exhibition is not intended as to be encyclopedic, but instead is a thematic display that focuses on the artistry and stories of particular instruments.”
Visit MetMuseum.org for more details about “Play It Loud,” which is on display at The Met through October 1, then will open at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in November.
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