The Kinks legend Dave Davies, 76, rarely appears in public

He filled venues in the UK with The Kinks, but Dave Davies welcomed a more exclusive audience when he promoted his telling autobiography in New York City.

The legendary guitarist, who co-founded the band with older brother Ray in 1963, rarely appeared in public as he discussed the 2022 publication Living On A Thin Line to a small group of fans in the city’s Rough Trade.

London-born Dave, 76, was on hand to read excerpts, sign autographs and pose for selfies at the event, which served as a celebration of his life and extraordinary career.

The musician appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived wearing a wide-brimmed hat over shoulder-length gray hair and a floral-patterned bag.

Living On A Thin Line – named after The Kinks’ 1985 single – chronicles Dave’s rise to fame in the frenetic 1960s, his raucous behavior with the band, an unorthodox passing interest in the occult and his debilitating stroke in 2004.

Dave was 57 when a stroke left him temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body, but he eventually regained full mobility and has since released three solo albums.

Born in the north London suburb of Muswell Hill, Dave and older brother Ray became spokespeople for a younger generation of socially conscious teenagers in the 1960s after forming The Kinks with bandmates Mick Avory and Pete Quaife.

But the brothers have a famously awkward relationship. The professional harmony produced so many classic hits, but things didn’t go so smoothly in real life.

Perhaps the moment that best sums up their relationship was at Dave’s 50th birthday party, when Ray threw Dave’s birthday cake on the floor and stomped on it.

“I think he probably paid for the cake too, but Ray was all over that,” Dave told the Daily Mail in 2017.

“He wishes I had something like that—but then he couldn’t bear to see me with it.”

“He wants me to have things, but can’t stand it when I do. I love him. He loves me, but if we’re in the same room, it won’t work.’

He added: ‘It’s worse when there are other people around – when there are others, Ray has to perform, he has to be the center of attention.

“I like to say that Ray was only happy for the first three years of his life—until I joined. But he’s still my brother.’

He is now matter-of-fact about the realities of living in his big brother’s shadow. That Ray seems to despise him is just something he accepts.

“There’s something about me that irritates him,” he said. ‘I do not know what it is. It’s a poisonous thing. It’s vampirism. Ray is a bit of a control freak. That can be a good thing sometimes – it probably helped him write

“In any creative work — whether you’re a writer, painter, or musician — there are times in life when there’s a lot of crazy stuff going around.

“The music stirs things up and for us there were definitely periods of madness, even before the drinking and the drugs and the exhaustion.”