Mick Avory, born 15 February 1944, in East Molesey, Surrey, drummed with The Kinks from January 1964 to 1984, making him the longest-serving member of the band, beside the Davies brothers.
Mick started drumming when he was 13 and was influenced mostly by jazz drummers like Buddy Rich, Art Blakey, Philly Jo Jones and Joe Morello. Avory briefly played for the Rolling Stones while working as a painter/decorater and then the Ravens, who were just changing their name to The Kinks. Avory placed an advert in Melody Maker that was spotted by The Kinks management and after just one try out at the Camden Head pub in Islington Avory was hired. Within a few days of joining, he was on stage with them for a Ready Steady Go performance. As with many drummers during this period, Avory was not used for some of the early studio recordings but was featured on virtually all the albums from 1965.
Avory initially shared a flat near Queens Wood, London, with Dave but the pair soon fell out and the relationship never repaired, which eventually led to him leaving the band in 1984, although he did return to play on a few Kinks tracks in the late 80s.
Avory’s fluid style of drumming was in constrast to that of his contemporaries Keith Moon, Ringo Starr and John Bonham, and closer in style to Charlie Watts. Avory still retains close ties with Ray and works with him at Konk Studios.
In the 90s, he also formed Shut Up Frank with Dave Clarke (Noel Redding band), Noel Redding and Dave Rowberry of The Animals. They toured extensively and recorded several albums, which are still available on Mouse Records.
After The Kinks broke up in 1996, Avory started performing with ex members of The Kinks in a band called the Kast of Kinks that at times features Ian Gibbons, Jim Rodford, John Gosling, John Dalton as well as Dave Clarke. From time to time, they are joined by other ex-Kinks plus backing singers Debi Doss and Shirlie Roden who toured with the band in the seventies.
Avory together with the original bassist Pete Quaife and the Davies Brothers was inducted into both the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
Avory has performed with Ray Davies a few times since the break-up of The Kinks, including a brief stage appearance at Ray’s 2007 Royal Albert Hall performance, and when Ray made a few surprise appearances on stage with the Kast of Kinks. Avory is also a keen golfer and can be found with a club in hand on some of the finest courses of the world.