If you want a gift for The Kinks fans that is not another t-shirt or a reissue of a record they already own twice, this is the one I would point you at. My Kinks discography map art print plots all 24 studio albums from 1964 to 1993 as stations, and all 45 credited musicians as tube lines running through the albums they actually played on. It is a Giclée print in A2 or A1, from £42, unframed or in a black wood frame.
I researched and drew every line of it myself, album by album, working from the credits rather than from memory. That is the part that makes it a good present. A Kinks fan can stand in front of it and find things they did not know, which is a much rarer thing to give someone than a poster.
Only Two Lines Reach All 24 Stations
Ray Davies and Dave Davies are the only two musicians credited on every single Kinks studio album. Twenty-nine years, 24 records, no gaps. On the map their lines run the entire width of the print without a break, which is not something I can say about many bands I have drawn.
Everyone else comes and goes. Mick Avory gets close, but not all the way. Pete Quaife, the original bassist, stops at Arthur in 1969. If you are buying for someone who has argued about the Davies brothers in a pub, that unbroken pair of lines is the first thing they will notice.
Why This Gift for The Kinks Fans Starts With a Session Drummer
Here is the detail I enjoy watching people find. On the 1964 debut, Mick Avory is credited on five tracks. Bobby Graham, a session drummer, is credited on eight. The band's own drummer plays less of his band's first album than the hired hand does.
Graham then turns up once more, on "Tired of Waiting for You" on Kinda Kinks in 1965, and that is his lot. Two albums, one short branch line, and one of the most quietly surprising facts in the whole catalogue.
Jimmy Page and Jon Lord Both Get One Station and Then Vanish
The 1964 debut carries nine credited musicians, the busiest of the early records. Two of those names went on to define other bands entirely. Jimmy Page plays twelve-string acoustic guitar on two tracks. Jon Lord plays organ on one.
Neither of them ever appears again. On the map they are short spurs off a single station, and they are usually the first thing a fan points at when they get close enough to read the small type.
A rule I apply on every map is worth mentioning here. A producer only gets a line if they are also credited playing something. Shel Talmy produced the early Kinks records, but the reason he has a line on this map is that he is credited on guitar on "It's Too Late" on The Kink Kontroversy. Production alone does not earn a line.
| Musician | Album | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Page | Kinks (1964) | Twelve-string acoustic guitar, two tracks |
| Jon Lord | Kinks (1964) | Organ, one track |
| Shel Talmy | The Kink Kontroversy (1965) | Guitar on "It's Too Late" |
| Dave Rowberry | Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972) | Organ on "Celluloid Heroes" |
| Christopher Timothy | Preservation Act 2 (1974) | Announcer voice |
| Gordon Edwards | Low Budget (1979) | Piano on the title track |
| Chrissie Hynde | Give the People What They Want (1981) | Vocals on four tracks, uncredited on the sleeve |
| Mark Haley | UK Jive (1989) | Additional keyboards, one track |
John Dalton's Line Breaks in 1966 and Restarts in 1970
John Dalton first appears on Face to Face in 1966, credited on bass on three tracks including "Dead End Street", covering for Pete Quaife. Then he disappears. Something Else, Village Green and Arthur all go by without him.
He comes back on Lola Versus Powerman in 1970 as the full-time bassist and stays until Misfits in 1978. On the print that gap is visible as a broken run, and it is the kind of thing a casual listener never sees on a sleeve but a fan reads instantly.
Clem Cattini Comes Back After Twelve Years
Clem Cattini plays drums on three tracks of The Kink Kontroversy in 1965. He is not credited again until Sleepwalker in 1977, where he is down for drum overdubs. Twelve years between two stations on the same line.
Gaps like that are the reason I map credits rather than just album covers. A row of sleeves tells you what the band released. A line with a twelve-year hole in it tells you who was in the room.
The Avory to Henrit Handover Takes Five Years, Not One Album
It is often written that Bob Henrit replaced Mick Avory on Word of Mouth in 1984. Henrit does arrive there, credited on five tracks. But Avory does not stop.
Avory is still credited on three tracks of Word of Mouth, then on "Rock 'n' Roll Cities" on Think Visual in 1986, then on "Entertainment" on UK Jive in 1989, where he is also credited as a producer. His line finally ends in 1989, five years after the man who supposedly replaced him turned up. Phobia in 1993 is the first and only Kinks album with no Avory on it at all.
Preservation Act 2 Is the Busiest Station, Phobia the Quietest
Preservation Act 2 in 1974 carries 14 credited musicians, the highest count on the map. Brass, backing singers, and two credited speaking parts, including Christopher Timothy as the announcer. Ray Davies chose him to mimic his own television adverts of the time.
Phobia in 1993 carries four. Ray, Dave, Jim Rodford and Bob Henrit, and that is the whole record. Standing in front of the print you can watch the band swell into a theatre company and then shrink back to a four-piece across two decades.
"Brilliant idea... really like what you've done, Mike."
Sizes, Framing and What to Spend
Both sizes are landscape, which suits a discography that runs left to right across three decades. A2 works above a desk, in an alcove or on a record shelf. A1 is the one to choose if it is going on a main wall and you want the small type to be readable from a sofa.
| Size | UK | US equivalent | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 landscape | 594 x 420 mm | 24 x 18 in | £42 |
| A1 landscape | 841 x 594 mm | 36 x 24 in | See product page |
Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium textured matte fine art paper, archival and acid-free. Unframed for a fan who has their own framer, or in a black wood frame if you want it ready to hang on the day.
The Kinks Discography Map
All 24 studio albums from 1964 to 1993, with 45 credited musicians drawn as tube lines. A2 and A1 Giclée prints, from £42.
Explore This Art PrintRelated Music Maps
If the person you are buying for came up through British bands of the same era, the Who Discography Map Art Print is the natural companion, another London band with a long run and a drum stool that changed hands. The Rolling Stones Discography Map Art Print covers the same 1964 starting line with a far larger cast of session players.
You can see the whole range in the Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Questions I Get Asked About This Map
Which musicians appear on every Kinks album?
Only Ray Davies and Dave Davies. All 24 studio albums, 1964 to 1993, with no break in either line.
Did Jimmy Page really play on a Kinks record?
Yes. He is credited on twelve-string acoustic guitar on two tracks of the 1964 debut, well before Led Zeppelin. Jon Lord is on the same album, on organ, before Deep Purple.
Why does Mick Avory still appear after Bob Henrit joined?
Because the credits say so. Avory is credited on tracks across Word of Mouth in 1984, Think Visual in 1986 and UK Jive in 1989, alongside Henrit. The map follows the credits, not the press narrative.
Which Kinks album has the most credited musicians?
Preservation Act 2 in 1974, with 14. The fewest is Phobia in 1993, with four.
Is this a good gift if they only know the singles?
It works either way. Someone who knows "Waterloo Sunset" and "Lola" gets a readable timeline of a band they like, and someone who owns every album gets a research document they can argue with. Both look the same on the wall.
Give a Kinks fan something they will read for years
24 albums, 45 musicians, one map, deeply researched and drawn by hand in East Sussex.
See The Kinks MapNot sure which artist they would want? An art print gift card lets them choose their own map.
