In 1972, the debut year for my acoustic suspension sound system, I began a tour with the Kinks, who already had nine years of hit singles and success under their belts, most recently connecting with the hit single “Lola” two years before and an FM radio staple, “Celluloid Heroes.” Attendance on this tour was very good, as the band had successfully made the transition from a ‘60s-era Top 40 act, with all the flash-in-the-pan characteristics of that realm, to a more sophisticated progressive-rock entity respected for its art. With solid musicianship and Ray Davies’s insightful lyrics about the human condition, the Kinks still had plenty to say as the group moved into its second decade.

Davies had become infamous for illustrating his songs with a sense of drama onstage, even to the point of encouraging people in some of the band’s packed venues to a near riot. My first experience with that occurred during the San Antonio show, when the singer started dumping beer on the crowd and also on my monitor speakers. I became upset since this had never happened at any show I’d ever done, but Ken Jones (Kinks’ tour/road/chief cook and bottle washer manager) laughed it off later when I accosted him. “Dinky, Ray always does that during ‘Demon Alcohol.’ Just relax, man, he won’t ruin your system. It’s all in fun.”

I got the impression that Ken did a lot of explaining on behalf of the Kinks, a theory that was supported the next night after we played Houston. The local Holiday Inn included an outdoor swimming pool surrounded by two stories of hotel rooms, so I eagerly went for a late-night dip to relax after two days of fighting off food poisoning from San Antonio. Lazily, I kicked up and down through the warm water and floated blissfully in place, my stress slowly vanishing with every passing moment in this wonderful, solitary environment.

Ker-Splash! A tremendous geyser suddenly exploded skyward in the center of the pool. I looked down into the water to see a television set swiftly heading for the bottom like the doomed Titanic. My eyes shot up the wall of hotel rooms until I spotted Ray Davies and his guitar-playing brother Dave roaring with laughter in front of several inebriated and astonished guests on their small second-floor balcony.

“Hey, Dinky!” Dave yelled down at me. “Welcome to the Kinks!” Then he picked up the first objects he could find—two deck chairs, more chairs, lamps, and probably even the room’s Gideon Bible. I surfaced and continued swimming, laughing as I pushed objects that hadn’t sunk yet out of the way. But then, when I saw the Kinks’ stage manager, Noz, struggling onto the balcony tugging a full mattress into sight, I decided that I’d better make myself scarce. Whomp! The bedding smacked the water just as I exited and toweled off, but I didn’t even look back, slowly and calmly walking off to my room, trying not to attract attention by running conspicuously. I made it to safety just before the police came, and then peered over from my own balcony to watch as Ken dealt with the cops. After a few minutes of conversation, the officers left the Kinks’ room and I sat down dumbfounded. How the hell had Ken managed that? I had a burning desire to know, but no way was I going back to the scene of the crime tonight!

The following morning Ken proudly informed me about what had happened. “I told the cops that the guys in the Kinks were celebrating a birthday. Then some unwanted visitors, perhaps fans from the concert, crashed our party. They got carried away and even began throwing items at one of our band members down in the pool! Then I thanked the officers for coming and scaring off the assholes, who probably ran out to their cars or whatever, and left.”

“What a great story!” I exclaimed, shaking my head in wonder at the unflinching ease of Ken’s performance. The police believed him too, although a couple of officers had returned a few times during the night to check the rooms and ask for autographs. The kicker was that the hotel held the Kinks blameless and the group didn’t even have to pay for damages, since their uninvited company had allegedly provoked all the trouble.